Can I see these records and books myself?
Yes the collections are free to access at the Record Office, libraries across Cheshire and Warrington Library. There is more information about how we can help on our service website. We are happy to answer questions about our collections that will help you plan your visit. If you can’t visit in person we can check information on your behalf for a short search fee. Our professional researcher can carry out more extensive family or local history research. We can also supply copies of most material in our collections.
Some of our archive collections are not kept at the Record Office the catalogue will indicate which ones are ‘held offsite’ and ask you to contact us. They will be brought to the Record Office and are usually available within one week
Can you search the records on my behalf?
Yes. There is more information about our short search service on our website and this usually covers checking a record for specific information on your behalf.
If you would like further or more extensive research you will need to use our research service.
Copies from parish registers, vehicle licensing records, newspapers and wills can be ordered directly using our online shop with required order details without using the catalogue.
We are always happy to advise you about the types of records we hold and to help you use this catalogue.
Which Cheshire parish registers do you hold?
Our catalogue describes the parish records we hold – use advanced search with ‘Church of England parishes’ selected under ‘Type of Archive Collection’
Church of England Parishes (cheshirearchives.org.uk) has a map and index
GENUKI: Cheshire Towns and Parishes Cheshire links a place index to detailed guides about Cheshire churches including where to find original registers and microfilm copies.
How can I find photographs?
Digitised images from our collections can be found on our Cheshire image bank Collections of original photographs (not all have been digitised) are described on the catalogue – use advanced search with ‘Visual’ selected under Format (Local Studies only).
How can I find which Local Studies items are at a particular library?
1.Select the Advanced Search option
2.Type the name of the library (eg ‘Macclesfield Library’) in the Held At field
3.You can search for specific types of Local Studies items (eg maps pamphlets) by selecting from the Format field options
Where can I find Cheshire newspapers
We have a guide online where Cheshire newspapers are indexed by place and title that will also tell you where microfilm copies are held locally as well as at the Record Office Newspaper index (cheshirearchives.org.uk) You will also find some Cheshire newspapers online with the British Newspaper Archive
I'm looking for a person but when I search for their name I don't find anything. Why is this?
Most catalogue entries don't name people. Searching for records relating to a particular place or institution is often a good way to search for records which might be relevant. For example, our catalogue will tell you if we hold a particular school collection and if it includes admissions registers, that can then be researched to look for an individual. The Cheshire Collection | findmypast.co.uk is set up for searching by name across historic church, electoral and workhouse registers and wills, you can search for free but will need a subscription to view the images of records. You can access the full site without a subscription at the Record Office and at Cheshire libraries. Our volunteers also work to create name indexes from our records that can help researchers Search our databases