Tracing your Family History Online
Tracing your Family History Online
Newcastle Libraries Online Resources
We have plenty of online resources which you can use for Heritage and Family History Research. You can access most of these from home, all you need is your library card! If you are not a library member, please join online.
Ancestry and Find My Past
Ancestry and Find My Past can be accessed in any of our libraries using a public PC. You can search and view thousands of family records such as census, military records, births, marriages and deaths.
Newspapers
We have subscriptions to British Library Newspapers and Times Digital Archive's historical newspapers. Log into your account in Discover | Newcastle Libraries using your library card number and password. Then click on Research and Business Tools to find them.
- 19th Century British Library Newspapers
The Nineteenth Century Newspapers database includes three northern titles: The Newcastle Courant, The Northern Liberator and the Northern Echo. It includes a range of regional and national titles too, such as The Illustrated Police News.
- Times Digital Archive
Search through the complete digital edition of The Times from 1785 up until 2009 . You can retrieve either a specific article or a complete page. The entire newspaper is captured with all articles, advertisements, illustrations and photos.
Our Photographic Collections
We've uploaded 7,000 local historic photographs from our collection on Flickr. Find out where your relatives used to live and what it looked like.
Bereavement Services and Register Office
Find useful information on Newcastle City Council’s Registrars webpages about researching family history and how to apply for copy Birth, Marriage and Death certificates. You can find information about the city's burial sites and crematoria from our Bereavement Services. Most councils will have this information on their own websites, if you are searching for details from other areas of the UK.
Northumberland and Durham Family History Society
Based in the City centre in MEA House, Northumberland and Durham Family History Society can provide resources and help with family history research and sells a range of publications by email.
West Newcastle Picture History Collection
West Newcastle Picture History Collection includes a wonderful collection of photographs and maps etc. relating to the West End of Newcastle. The collection is based at West End Library and their representative is there on Mondays from 10am until 4pm.
St James’ Heritage and Environment Group
St James' Heritage Environment Group works to promote and share the heritage of Benwell and Scotswood. They have a programme of local history events and you can sign up to receive regular emails about their events.
Regional Resources
Some websites cover the North East region including Newcastle upon Tyne. Here are some regional resources.
Tyne & Wear Archives
This is the place to find archives relating to Tyne & Wear including company, court and school records. They have photographs and much more including an excellent online catalogue and user guides to their collections.
Woodhorn – Northumberland Record Office
Northumberland archives service is located at Woodhorn, QEII Country Park and provide information and links to National Archive catalogues.
Durham Record Office
Durham Record Office covers both Durham and Darlington. You can access some of their collections online:
National Resources
Government help and advice
The official government website Gov.uk has useful links regarding life event documents (births, marriages and deaths), and where to access National Archives and other official records.
The General Register Office keeps information on births, deaths, marriages, adoptions and civil partnerships in England and Wales. They maintain the archive for births, deaths and marriages from 1837. You can order copies of certificates directly from them.
National Archives Online Resources
The National Archives for the UK Government, England and Wales offer advice and information about researching family history and where to find the records you need. There is an online catalogue that you can use to search their holdings and those of other institutions.
Find out about your Scottish ancestors on Scotland’s People, the official Scottish Government site for searching government records and archives. It's the gateway to all the Scottish Records. You need to register to use parts of this site and there are charges to access records.
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is the official archive for Northern Ireland. Access records on Northern Ireland's PRONI website.
We've included records for Ireland too for ease of reference.
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