USEFUL SITES FOR RESEARCHING ANCESTORS
A list of websites to which I regularly refer. This is divided into topics, and then subdivided into ‘General’ – those sites which contain information which is not specific to Staffordshire and the Black Country – and ‘Staffordshire/Black Country’ – which should, I hope, be self-explanatory.
At the end, you’ll find links to sites containing information relating to Australia and Ireland.
On the whole, this page does not include links to the big commercial sites. Click on the hyperlinks to enter the sites.
This page is not definitive and is definitely a work in progress…. please let me know of any useful websites which you would like me to add.
ARCHIVE CATALOGUES
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.blackcountryhistory.org – Online Catalogue for Museums and Archives in the Black Country
Gateway to the Past – the online catalogue of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service and the William Salt Library
BMD
General
www.freebmd.org.uk – for indices of BMD certificates throughout England and Wales.
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.staffordshirebmd.org.uk – indices of Staffordshire BMD certificates. May show the name of the church where a marriage took place.
www.westmidlandsbmd.org.uk – indices of West Midlands BMD certificates. May show the name of the church where a marriage took place.
CENSUS RETURNS PRE 1841
General
www.census-helper.co.uk – a useful website which lists many of the abbreviations used by census enumerators, and includes a handy age calculator besides much more.
CRIMINAL RECORDS
General
LOCAL HISTORY
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.lostwolverhampton.co.uk – Local historian Billy Howe’s blog and forum.
www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk – Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website
www.cityofwolverhampton.com – website of the Wolverhampton Civic and Historical Society
www.nedwilliams.co.uk – the website of that excellent man (and historian)Ned Williams
www.bmsgh.org – the website of the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry. Join now!
www.distinctlyblackcountry.org.uk – Black Country history and how it informs the modern landscape
www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk – Local newspaper ‘The Black County Bugle’
www.blackcountryimages.com – Photographs and much, much more…
www.sedgleymanor.com – covers Sedgley, Coseley, Upper Gornal, Lower Gornal, Gospel End, Woodsetton, Cotwall End, Ettingshall and Brierley. A plethora of useful information – also a useful dictionary of medical terms and diseases
www.historyofwollaston/info – excellent website for the history of Wollaston (near Stourbridge)
www.whittingtonhistorysociety.org.uk – history of Whittington, including census transcripts and trade directories
www.blackcountrymuse.com – I can do no better for a description than to quote from the site itself: “Black Country Photographs, Postcards, Stories, Recollections, Memories, History, Folklore, Murder, Genealogy Tips, and Forums. Social History Events,Time Lines, and General Regional Mining History.”
www.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk – resources from archives, museums and libraries illustrating the history of the Midlands during the Industrial Revolution.
www.staffshistory.org.uk/members.htm – list of societies concerned with the history of Staffordshire, including contact details and links to their individual webpages
LONDON GAZETTE
General
www.london-gazette.co.uk – for details of insolvencies, bankruptcies, honours and awards. Home page also contains links to the Edinburgh Gazette and the Belfast Gazette.
MUSEUMS AND PLACES TO VISIT
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.bclm.co.uk – Website of the Black Country Museum
www.cms.walsall.gov.uk/leathermuseum – Walsall Leather Museum
www.ironbridge.org.uk – Ironbridge Gorge Museums. Not Staffordshire, but well worth a visit
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/birmingham-back-to-backs – Birmingham’s last surviving court of back to back houses
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wightwickmanor – former home of the Mander family
www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/bantock – former home of the Bantock family
NEWSPAPERS
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.wm.newsplan.co.uk – the NEWSPLAN database, giving details of some 1100 newspaper titles published in the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, together with the repositories in which they may be found.
PLEASE NOTE: this is a finding aid only.
ONLINE BOOKS
General
http://books.google.com – an amazing collection of published books, worth exploring.
books.familysearch.org/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=1&dstmp=1383294277755&vid=FHD_PUBLIC&fromLogin=true – parish registers, family histories and more.
ONLINE FAMILY TREES
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.bcconnections.tribalpages.com – over 110, 000 names of Black Country families
PARISH REGISTERS (see also ‘Archive Catalogues’ above)
General
archive.org/search.php?query=parish%20registers Over 1000 parish registers, few (if any) of which are any later than 1812. Searchable only by volume.
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.dudley.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/local-history–heritage/archive-and-local-history/guide-to-sources-held/church-of-england–anglican-parish-records – list of parish registers held at Dudley Archives
Holy Trinity Heath Town, Old Ground burials, 1909 – 1931 (from Parish Registers)
PHOTOGRAPHS
General
www.sharehistory.org – for photographs and more. A wonderful website to which we all can contribute
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.staffspasttrack.org.uk – for photographs and more
www.thornber.org – over 600 photographs of Staffordshire
www.west-bromwich-photos.co.uk – old photographs of West Bromwich
TRADE DIRECTORIES
General
Local and trade directories: http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/
TRANSCRIPTS & INDICES
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.wolverhamptonhistory.org.uk/resources/indexes – transcriptions of some parish registers and other indices held by Wolverhampton Archive. Always worth looking at first if you have ancestors from this area.
www.genealogylinks.net/uk/england/staffordshire/staffordshire_parish_registers.htm – transcripts of registers from a variety of Staffordshire parishes
www.dudley.gov.uk/community-and-living/deaths-funerals-cremations/genealogy-research-service – transcription of records and information on individuals buried in the seven cemeteries that are under the control of Dudley Council
www.midlandshistoricaldata.org – subscription site with a wealth of information for Midlands counties
www.whittingtonhistorysociety.org.uk – parish registers and more for the village of Hollinsclough
www.hints-village.com – a variety of records for the parish of Hints with Canwell
www.betley.net – variety of sources for the village of Betley
WARS
General
www.britisharmedforces.org/pages/nat_british_badge_gallery.htm – a useful site for identifying cap badges, etc
Staffordshire/Black Country
www.wolverhamptonwarmemorials.org.uk
www.britisharmedforces.org/pages/nat_british_badge_gallery.htm – a useful site for identifying cap badges, etc
OTHER
Australian Newspapers
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ – free access to Australian newspapers from 1803 – 1954.
The Irish Connection
Wolverhampton itself was home to a large number of Irish immigrants: an interesting blog on Irish genealogy can be found at www.kevsirishresearch.blogspot.com
www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie – website of the National Archive of Ireland, which promises free access to a wide variety of records
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