Local and family history

Welcome to the Local and Family History section.

In our libraries we have resource material and information to help guide you through researching local and family history. This includes access to historical photos, newspapers from the 1900’s on microfilm, maps, books and registers.

Please take a look at the information below and at each of our libraries to see what resources they hold.

• Ancestry Family history - access to over 20 billion historical and genealogical records. Ancestry Library Edition is available to access on library computers only.
• The 1911 Census
• British History Online - Collection of nearly 1300 volumes of primary and secondary content relating to British and Irish history.
• Commonwealth War Grave - Database of the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth who died during the two world wars.
• Familysearch(IGI) - World genealogical data, including the 1881 British Census and parish registers.
• FreeBMD - Civil registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, 1837-1919 and beyond.
• FreeCEN - 19th century UK census returns.
• FreeREG - Transcriptions from many UK parish and non-conformist registers.
• GENUKI - Genealogical information pages for the British Isles.
• Historical Directories - Local and trade directories for England and Wales, 1750 - 1919.
• Maidenhead Heritage Centre - Explore the history of Maidenhead.
• Thames Pilot - Images and documents that chart the history of the River Thames.
• Windsor & Royal Borough Museum - The webpages for the Royal Borough's own museum, based at the Guildhall in Windsor.