NOTTINGHAM LOCAL STUDIES LIBRARY

Deceased Online allows you to search UK cemetery records by country, region, county, burial authority or name.  Search for free and get a brief summary – note: there is a charge for access to more details.

www.deceasedonline.com

Family Search contains thousands of family history records from around the world which are free to search.  Note: registration is required to use the website, but there is no charge for use.

www.familysearch.org

FreeBMD provides free to search Civil Registration indexes of birth, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, from 1837 to 1983.

www.freebmd.org.uk

Use FreeREG to search transcripts of parish registers for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales for free.  Records include Anglican, Catholic and non-Conformist records.  Note: coverage varies.

www.freereg.org.uk

Use the GRO website to search some birth and death indexes.  The birth indexes include mother’s maiden name, and death indexes include age at death.  Registration is required to search for free or to purchase certificates – to register choose the ‘order certificates’ option.

www.gro.gov.uk

Genuki is an online reference library of genealogy information for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  Find out historical details about counties and places, as well as a wealth of subjects from wills to census returns, churches to maps.

www.genuki.org.uk

The Nottinghamshire Great War Roll of Honour is a free to use, searchable archive as well as permanent tribute to local men and women who died during the world wars.

https://rollofhonour.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/

The Wills and Probate website holds an index of English and Welsh records from 1858 to the present day.  Search is free with an option to purchase a copy of the will for a small charge.

www.gov.uk/search-will-probate

The Nottinghamshire Heritage Gateway hosts a wide range of local heritage resources which can be searched by people, place, themes and events.

www.nottsheritagegateway.org.uk

The Nottinghamshire History website hosts a wide range of digitised books and articles reflecting the rich and fascinating history of the county.  Browse ‘people’ or ‘places’ or search for a specific name or place.

www.nottshistory.org.uk

The Nottinghamshire Local History Association was established in 1953 to bring together people and organisations interested in history and heritage in Nottinghamshire.

www.nlha.org.uk

The Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire was established in 1897 and named after Dr Robert Thoroton who published the first history of Nottinghamshire in 1677.  Find out about the society, their current projects, newsletters and publications.

www.thorotonsociety.org.uk

Our extensive collection of maps covers both Nottingham and Nottinghamshire and is made up of Ordnance Survey and non-Ordnance Survey maps.

The Ordnance Survey maps date from around 1880 through to the current day and encompass a range of scales. Our holdings of non-Ordnance Survey maps can be searched on the pdf document below.

Local Ordnance Survey maps can also be viewed online through our website Nottingham Insight https://maps.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/insightmapping/. Click on the historical option from the drop-down menu and move the slider through time to see how an area has changed. There is also an option to overlay a current map to find the location of long demolished streets.

Please contact the Local Studies Library localstudies.library@nottinghamcity.gov.uk prior to your visit as some items are held in offsite storage.

The Local Studies Library holds the main newspapers for Nottingham on microfilm. Newspapers for other parts of the county can be found on microfilm at the most appropriate library for the coverage.

Nottingham City Libraries also offer free access to the British Newspaper Archive online at any of our library premises. A selection of local newspapers including the Nottingham Evening Post can be searched by keyword as well as date, making the website incredibly useful for researchers.

The Newsplan project has created a searchable database of newspapers in the East Midlands, detailing where the newspapers are held and the dates that are covered. To find out more about the project and to search the online database, follow https://www.liem.org.uk/newsplan/

To book a microfilm scanner, or if you have any further queries regarding newspapers in our collection, please email the Local Studies Library localstudies.library@nottinghamcity.gov.uk.

Electoral Registers

The Nottingham Local Studies Library holds the following electoral registers:

• County of Nottinghamshire from 1838 to 2000
• City of Nottingham from 1838 onwards, excluding the years 1913-1932.

Electoral registers prior to 2012 are held on microfiche and can be viewed in the Local Studies Library without appointment. Please contact staff on the email below for further information and if you would like to reserve a microform scanner.

Viewing the current electoral register

The current register for the city of Nottingham must be viewed in person either at the Nottingham Local Studies Library in Nottingham Central Library or at Electoral Services in Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham. Staff cannot respond to requests to check the register by telephone or email.

To make an appointment to view the current register, either email the Nottingham Local Studies Library on localstudies.library@nottinghamcity.gov.uk or email or call Electoral Services on elections@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

(0115) 876 4111.

Please note that you will be asked to complete a form prior to viewing the register, and be aware that the register is arranged by electoral ward and street – there is no surname index.

The current electoral registers for locations outside of Nottingham are held at the relevant borough council for that area.

The oral history collection offers a fascinating insight into how people lived, recorded in their own words.

The collection is made up of over 1000 interviews covering a range of topics including memories of childhood, home life, working life, health and social life as well as specialist topics.

The Local Studies Library holds transcripts and tapes of the interviews within our oral history archive. Over 100 interviews have been uploaded to the British Library Sound website.

Please contact the Local Studies Library localstudies.library@nottinghamcity.gov.uk prior to your visit as some items are held in offsite storage.

A clip from the collection can be heard here:

The Local Studies theatre collection covers the major theatre venues in Nottingham from the late 1800s onwards. It contains playbills, programmes, posters and reviews as well as books about local theatres and personalities.

There is a chronological and alphabetical index detailing productions and material held.

Please email the Local Studies Library localstudies.library@nottinghamcity.gov.uk for further information or if you wish to search or view items from the theatre collection as they are held in offsite storage.