For family history researchers in Berkshire and for researching Berkshire ancestry
page last reviewed and revised Monday 10 June 2013
Next Monday, 17th June—AGM—Abingdon meeting details
All renewals due by 1 July—have you renewed yet? how to renew
150th Anniversary of Broadmoor Hospital article
Online now in the Members' Area:
Berkshire Family Historian, June 2013
NEW Berkshire Baptisms CD ◊ Details of content and coverage
Berkshire Marriages CD◊ Places and dates
Latest 11th Edition Berkshire Burials CD ◊ Places and dates
NEW Berkshire Probate Index CD 1480-1857 ◊ What wills can tell you
NEW An Historical Atlas of Berkshire ◊ read a review
Berkshire Maps CD OS First Edition 1881-1887 ◊ 51 maps, gazetteer and index
Berkshire Parish Registers ◊ 26 CDs of transcriptions ◊ details in the Shop
Berkshire Monumental Inscriptions ◊ CDs include Ascot, Crowthorne, Reading and more
CDs and all publications are available at the Research Centre
Berkshire Family Historian ◊ June 2013 + archive
Sample datasets: including Berkshire Probate Index, Berkshire Overseers Papers, Berkshire Maps, Berkshire Directories and pages from the new Historical Atlas of Berkshire—and more data coming soon
Surnames from Berkshire CD publications
Monumental Inscriptions
Discussion List and archive
Interactive maps ◊ Gazetteer
Pedigree Charts ◊ 35,000 names
Meeting Summaries
Abingdon, Hungerford, Newbury, Reading, Windsor - explore the Royal County of Berkshire
Help with your research - wherever they came from!
Tuesday 11 June—Drop in advice at Bracknell library
Wednesday 12 June—Drop in advice at Slough library
Friday 14 June—and each Friday—advice at Thatcham library
Tuesday 25 June—advice at Mortimer and Wokingham libraries
Wednesday 12 June—Newbury—19th century Berkshire squires and estates
Monday 17 June—Abingdon—short Society AGM, then Children and War
Wednesday 19 June—Woodley—Your relative's place in history
Friday 21 June—Bracknell—Queen Victoria's soldiers
Tuesday 25 June—Windsor—Clothes our ancestors wore
Thursday 27 June—Reading—My Ancestor came from Hampshire
... you can find them at the Research Centre in Reading—Berkshire's foremost facility for family history research—help and advice on hand if you need it. For UK, International—and Berkshire!—research. Use a full range of online, CD, microform and printed resources. Free parking too
Origins - with the National Wills Index and new Irish material
British Newspaper Archive - new pages added regularly
Findmypast - with NEW Irish and parish records
Ancestry (worldwide) not just UK version
Browse library catalogue Search the catalogue
Opening times Remember! It's not all online!
The Research Centre is in Reading, next to Berkshire Record Office—home of the original records of the Royal County of Berkshire—including those of the Vale of the White Horse and North Berkshire.
Some (not all) of the society's transcriptions are included in the Parish Records collection of Findmypast All of the society's data can be accessed at the Research Centre in Reading.
Order a copy certificate online for £9.25 from the GRO - or for £10 + postage from a Local Register Office. Berkshire BMD offers local references for Reading and Bradfield Registration Districts. Try FreeBMD with its 290 million records for England and Wales too.
Quality is key.
Unlike some societies, Berkshire Family History Society will not publish unchecked material. And unlike some, almost all Berkshire FHS CD publications are fully browsable and searchable too.
Society volunteers have transcribed millions of Berkshire records (the first Berkshire Baptisms CD is now out) and are busy transcribing more. You could join in - and help to make even more Berkshire records more accessible for more researchers.
Maybe you could help to check against original records at Berkshire Record Office in Reading?
What is involved? Find out more today
page last reviewed and revised Monday 10 June 2013
Optimised for browsers such as Firefox (latest version 21) and Google Chrome. (latest version 27) A few pages may not display perfectly with older versions. Society volunteers build and maintain this website and new content is added regularly. Please tell us if you find that something is not working as it should. And Bookmark this page.
Berkshire Family History Society 



