Family history

The library keeps material and other reference resources useful to those researching family history or with an interest in genealogy.

The collection includes:

• Censuses
• Parish registers
• Directories
• Indexes
• Registers of electors
• Publications
• Periodicals
• Maps
• Microform
• Online resources

Censuses

In the United Kingdom, censuses have been taken every ten years since the first in 1801 (except 1941). The first genealogically useful census was taken in 1841, when names were recorded.

We have the following census records available, some on microform and some online. Please email ref@plymouth.gov.uk in advance to book either a microform reader or a computer.

The census records in microform and online, are copies of the original enumerators' books. They are handwritten and sometimes difficult to read. The books follow the enumerators' routes around their area.

1841 (6 June)

• Microfilm copies of the original enumerators' books for Plymouth, with street indexes.
• Online access in libraries (not Eggbuckland or Estover) to Ancestry: Library edition. Details include name of street, place, road, etc.; house number or name; name, age (approximate), sex, occupation and place of birth (county) of each person present that night. (England, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and Scotland transcripts)

1851 (30 March)

• Microfilm copies of the original enumerators' books for Plymouth and the surrounding area, with street indexes.
• Microfiche copies of the Latter-day Saints transcriptions for Devon, with surname, birthplace, institution and census place indexes.
• Online access in libraries (not Eggbuckland or Estover) to Ancestry: Library edition. Details include name of street, place, road, etc.; house number or name; name, age, sex, marital status, occupation and place of birth of each person present that night; their relationship to the head of the house; and whether they were blind, deaf or an idiot. (England, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and Scotland transcripts)

1861 (7 April)

• Microfiche copies of the original enumerators' books for Plymouth, with street indexes.
• Online access in libraries (not Eggbuckland or Estover) to Ancestry: Library edition. Details include name of street, place, road, etc.; house number or name, and whether the property was occupied; name, age, sex, marital status, occupation and place of birth of each person present that night; their relationship to the head of the house; and whether they were blind, deaf or an idiot. (England, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and Scotland transcripts)

1871 (2 April)

• Microfilm copies of the original enumerators' books for Plymouth, with street indexes.
• Online access in libraries (not Eggbuckland or Estover) to Ancestry: Library edition. Details include name of street, place, road, etc.; house number or name, and whether the property was occupied or part-occupied; name, age, sex, marital status, occupation (and whether employer, employee or neither) and place of birth of each person present that night; their relationship to the head of the house; and whether they were blind, deaf, dumb, an imbecile, an idiot or a lunatic. (England, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and Scotland transcripts)

1881 (3 April)

• Microfilm copies of the original enumerators' books for Plymouth and the surrounding area, with street indexes.
• Microfiche copies of the Latter-day Saints transcriptions for Devon and Cornwall, with surname, birthplace, institution and census place indexes.
• Online access in libraries (not Eggbuckland or Estover) to Ancestry: Library edition. Details include name of street, place, road, etc.; house number or name, and whether the property was occupied or part-occupied; name, age, sex, marital status, occupation and place of birth of each person present that night; their relationship to the head of the house; and whether they were blind, deaf, dumb, an imbecile, an idiot or a lunatic. (England, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and Scotland transcripts)

1891 (5 April)

• Microfiche copies of the original enumerators' books for Plymouth, Tavistock and Okehampton:, with street indexes.
• Online access in libraries (not Eggbuckland or Estover) to Ancestry: Library edition. Details include name of street, place, road, etc.; house number or name, and whether the property was occupied or part-occupied; name, age, sex, marital status, occupation (and whether employer, employee or neither) and place of birth of each person present that night; their relationship to the head of the house; and whether they were blind, deaf, dumb or a lunatic. (England, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and Scotland transcripts)

1901 (31 March)

• Microfiche copies of the original enumerators' books for Plymouth and the surrounding area, with street indexes.
• Online access in libraries (not Eggbuckland or Estover) to Ancestry: Library edition. Details include name of street, place, road, etc.; house number or name, and whether the property was occupied or part-occupied; name, age, sex, marital status, occupation (and whether employer, employee or neither) and place of birth of each person present that night; their relationship to the head of the house; and whether they were blind, deaf, dumb or a lunatic. (England, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, and Scotland transcripts)

[Back to top]

Parish registers

• Baptisms, burials, and a few marriage records for Plymouth; held on microfiche, with printed indexes.
• Selection of transcripts of Devon and Cornwall parish registers.
• Marriage and burial indexes for Cornwall, arranged by parish.
• Online access in libraries (not Eggbuckland or Estover) to Ancestry: Library Edition, includes 560,000-plus Devon Parish and Probate Records, dating from the early 1500s to the mid- to late-1800s. The records include baptisms and christenings, burials, marriages, tombstone inscriptions, obituaries, tax lists, wills and other miscellaneous material.

Directories

Street directories are arranged by street name, and then by property number. Because some streets have been renumbered in the past, it is best to double-check the numbering against some fixed point, such as another street or a public house.

Directories generally contain just one name for each property. As many properties had more than one family living there, you may not easily find the person you are looking for. Most directories also have a name index which will refer you to the correct address.

Our sets of local directories are:

• Plymouth: 1812 to 1970 (some years held on microfiche)
• Cornwall: 1823 to 1939: various dates (some years held on microfiche)
• Devon: 1720 to 1939: various dates (some years held on microfiche)
• Exeter: 1950 to 1973: (some years held on microfiche)
• Torbay: 1946 to 1972: (also 1973 on microfiche)
• BT local telephone: 1963 to date (incomplete)
• BT national telephone: 1880 to 1984 (London and home counties), on Ancestry: Library edition
• Local Yellow Pages: 1982 to date (incomplete)
• Navy lists: 1783 to date

[Back to top]

Indexes

• International Genealogical Index (IGI): 1992 edition.
• General Register Office (GRO) indexes (on microfiche):
  • Births, marriages and deaths: 1837 to date
  • Adoptions: 1927 to date
  • Civil partnerships: 2005 to date
• GRO Overseas indexes: births, marriages and deaths up to 1994. Includes World War 1 and World War 2 deaths.
• Biographical indexes include local and naval personalities who appear in newspapers and periodicals (card indexed up to 1999; online catalogue from 2000).

Registers of electors

Officially known as Registers of Electors, these are also referred to as Electoral Registers or Voters Lists.

The current Register of Electors is held in its full version by the Central Reference Library. Since 2003, use of the Register of Electors has been restricted.

Use of historical registers is not restricted. These are held on microfilm. Please email ref@plymouth.gov.uk to book a microform reader.

Registers are arranged by street and then property number. Street indexes are held for 1966 and 1970.

Our holdings up to 1981 are:

• Plymouth Devonport: 1934, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1946, 1952, 1954 to 1965, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980
• Plymouth Drake: 1934 to 1939, 1946, 1952, 1954, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981
• Plymouth Sutton: 1935 to 1937, 1946, 1952, 1954 to 1965, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978

Publications

Selected publications held:

• Plymouth Civilian War Dead: World War 2
• Plymouth Naval War Memorial.
• Various biographies, genealogies and pedigrees of notable families, and Monumental Inscriptions (gravestones in Plymouth).
• The Visitation of Devon and the Visitation of Cornwall.

[Back to top]

Periodicals

• Cornwall Family History Society Journal: 1977 to date.
• Devon Family Historian: 1977 to date.
• Family History: 1962 to 1964.
• Family History News and Digest: 1977 to 1995.
• Family Tree: 1985 to date.

[Back to top]

Maps

• Ordnance Survey county series in second and third editions for most of south and west Devon and Cornwall, in 6" and 25" scales.
• Ordnance Survey county series first edition for most of south Devon, in 25" scale.
• National Grid 1:2,500 plans for southwest Devon and 1:1,250 for Plymouth.
• County series 1:500 for Plymouth in the 1890s: 1st edition on microfiche.
• Historical maps for Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall.
• Specialist geological and land use maps, navigation charts and street plans.
• Reproductions of early Plymouth maps, from 1643 to 1939, which can be purchased.

[Back to top]

Microform

• Admiralty records of Dockyard and Royal William Yard employees.
• Cornwall Protestation Returns.
• Devon taxes: 1581 to 1660.
• Musters of militias in Cornwall, Devon East, Devon North, Devon South, Dorset and Somerset: 1781 to 1782.
• Public Records Office criminal register indexes for Devon (1805 to 1828).
• Public Records Office criminal register indexes for Cornwall (1805 to 1840).
• Public Records Office criminal register indexes for Bristol (1817 to 1828).

Please email ref@plymouth.gov.uk to book a microform reader.

Online Resources

• Links to specialist family history and genealogy web sites are available on the Family History section of the cyberLibrary.
• Ancestry Library Edition is available using the computer in a Plymouth library. Ancestry provides census records in England, Wales, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and Scotland for 1841 to 1901 inclusive, other United Kingdom records, and US and Canadian census and other records.

[Back to top]