Berkshire Family History Society
Help for all family historians
wherever your ancestors came from
page last reviewed and revised 18 May 2012
Berkshire Archdeaconry probate records 1480 - 1857 - over 9,000 distinct surnames. Puts 38,000 people and 39,000 documents at your fingertips - have you seen it yet?
Find out more Buy the Berkshire Probate Index CD
All Berkshire parishes by Poor Law Union (administrative districts of civil registration and of censuses from 1841 onwards)
Something here for all researchers(not just Berkshire) and there will be a change in opening hours from 1 June
Browse the catalogue Search the catalogue
Second Edition has 450,000 named people in 140,000 transcriptions (over 33,000 SURNAMES), another 20 parishes added (easily searched using Adobe Reader 7.0 or above - copy supplied) just £20 (First Edition update £5) + p and p for online/mail orders Find out more
What better time to join? Membership brings you many benefits Discover more
These articles will help you... and Web Links have been updated too
outreach events and meetings too - follow links
Saturday 19 May - NEW - Faringdon Library
Tuesday 29 May - More help at Mortimer and Wokingham
Saturday 9 June - Museum of English Rural Life - Summer fete
Tuesday 12 June - Help and advice at main Bracknell Library
Tuesday 26 June - Mortimer and Wokingham once again
Society transcriptions of Berkshire parish records
See Parish Records collection at Findmypast and search Findmypast at the Research Centre Original records of pre-1974 Berkshire are held at Berkshire Record Office and that includes those of the Vale of the White Horse and North Berkshire
Now with over 47,000 SURNAMES, this CD brings you 773,000 transcriptions of records of pre-1974 Berkshire from over 230 churchyards, cemeteries and burial grounds at just £20 (that's 2.5p a 1,000!). Updates for earlier versions. Search by name, place and date (uses Adobe Reader 7.0 or above - copy for Windows supplied)
Buy Berkshire Burials 10th Edition Learn more about this CD
18 May - Bracknell - Huguenot ancestry
21 May - Abingdon - Common lodging houses
29 May - Windsor - Researching Irish ancestors
31 May - Reading - Finding domestic servants
13 June - Newbury - Tudor Newbury
15 June - Abingdon - Visit to Science Museum archives
15 June - Bracknell - Great Western Railway
20 June - Woodley - Four short presentations
26 June - Windsor - Society Annual General Meeting
+ talk 'Using photographs and memorabilia in Military Family History' with Captain Graham Bandy
Notice of Annual General Meeting
INTERACTIVE MAPS linked to parishes and articles
REGULAR FEATURES
- DISCUSSION LIST - all topics - not just Berkshire
- searchable Discussion List archive
- summaries of past meetings
- definitive Berkshire gazetteer
- 9,500 SURNAMES - Surname Interests
- 35,000 names - Ancestral charts
- Berkshire Family Historian - about the magazine or read a copy (and lots more in the magazine archive)
Most members have registered - Have you?
- Berkshire Marriages - Find out more
- Berkshire Burials -Find out more
- Berkshire Probate Index (1480 - 1857) - Find out more
- Berkshire OS Maps - First Edition - Find out more
You pay £9.25 from the GRO (ordering online) and £10 for a copy certificate from a Local Register Office (with a local reference or event date). Ignore the company or website that wants to charge you more. Use Berkshire BMD to find local references for Reading and Bradfield Registration Districts and FreeBMD for elsewhere in England and Wales.
Society volunteers have transcribed many Berkshire Parish Registers and Monumental Inscriptions and are busy transcribing more. Why not join in and help to make more of Berkshire's records easily accessible?
Much can be done remotely - even out of country! But vital checking against original records (it must be done!) has to be carried out in Reading at Berkshire Record Office Find out more
Transcribing is not the only way to help the society involved - discover what else is going on - get in touch today
Come to Reading to research your ancestry - worldwide, in the UK, even in Berkshire - search Findmypast, FreeBMD, Berkshire BMD and Ancestry Library Edition (not just UK) and explore many more resources in CD, microform and print. Opening times
Wherever they came from - at the Centre you can delve into your family history - and get friendly help and advice from society members should you need it. So much is easily accessible here - births, marriages, deaths, census returns, parish records, wills and probate records, maps, directories, military records, migration records and more
Perhaps what you need is waiting among over 7,000 library items ~ why not search the library catalogue now ~ for every Berkshire item, four more relate to UK or overseas locations.
The Centre is next to Berkshire Record Office - where you can consult the original records for all of pre-1974 Berkshire and there is FREE on site parking too
NOTE: The Research Centre will not be opening on Tuesday 5 June
page last reviewed and revised 18 May 2012
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