Online resources
Here is a selection of recommended websites for local and family history.
Ancestry
Ancestry- the leading genealogy resource on the internet which provides access to a vast range of worldwide genealogical resources. These include access to the England and Wales Civil Registration Index and to the census for England and Wales for 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911. Staffordshire Libraries has a subscription, which means when you access it from our webpages, you don’t need your own subscription.
Visit Ancestry.
Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry
The principal family history society for Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands.
Visit BMSGH.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Debt of Honour Register provides personal and service information and details of the memorials for the 1.7 million members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the First and Second World Wars.
Visit CWGC.
Family Search
The site of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints provides access to a vast international library of family history records, offering the opportunity to search for ancestors by name online. The site also contains the 1881 Census.
Visit Family Search.
Find My Past
Exact replicas of the indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths for England and Wales from 1837 to 2001, and free access to nearly all Staffordshire Parish Registers. These images are available to search and view (including zooming in on those awkward-to-read names).
Visit Find My Past.
Genuki
The UK and Ireland Genealogical Information Service. The site provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information with details on getting started in genealogy, useful contacts, societies and a surname index.
Visit Genuki.
The National Archives
The site of the National Archives of England, Wales and the UK.
Visit the National Archives.
Staffordshire Past Track
A fantastic online archive of images, documents, audio and video content relating to the heritage, community, history and culture of Staffordshire.
Visit Staffordshire Past Track.