Archives & resources for Wiltshire
Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre
Cocklebury Road, Chippenham SN15 3QN 01249 705500 heritageadmin@wiltshire.gov.uk wshc.eu
Has parish registers dating back to 1538, plus probate material, local authority records, court records, and records of schools, hospitals and businesses. The website has all sorts of guidance including a records summary list, parish register list, catalogues and guides to family history, house history and the First World War. There’s free car parking, good access for customers with disabilities, and it is just a ten-minute walk from the railway station.
Swindon Central Library – the Swindon Collection
Regent Circus, Swindon SN1 1QG 01793 463238 central.library@swindon.gov.uk www.swindon.gov.uk/ libraries
The local studies collection for the Borough of Swindon can be found on the second floor of the library. Alongside the photographic collections ( www.flickr.com/photos/swindonlocal), there are GRO indexes, local census records with surname and street indexes where available, local parish registers and bishops’ transcripts (from 1538), free access to Ancestry and the British Newspaper Archive, staff newsletters for local firms (Austin Rover, British Rail, Great Western Railway, Vickers), complete runs of local newspapers, electoral rolls, poll books, directories and more.
Wiltshire Museum, Archive and Library
www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/ library
The museum in Devizes has various useful resources including parish register transcripts, pedigrees and family histories, MIs, newspapers, poll books, electoral registers and photographs. The online collections database records some 109,000 objects and 10,000 images held here.
Wiltshire FHS
Wiltshire FHS Resource Centre, Unit 3, Bath Road Business Centre, Bath Road, Devizes SN10 1ZA 01380 724379 society@wiltshirefhs.co.uk wiltshirefhs.co.uk
The society’s monthly meetings are held in Chippenham, Devizes, Malmesbury, Salisbury, Swindon, Trowbridge and Westbury. You can order Society publications via GenFair or Lulu ( www.lulu.com/ spotlight/ WiltshireFHS), or by post through the resource centre. Some material is also available through Findmypast.
Salisbury Cathedral Archives
The Chapter Office, 6 The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EF 01722 555107 www.salisburycathedral.org.uk
The archive holds documents and records created by Salisbury Cathedral (specifically the Dean and Chapter) spanning 900 years. These records include minute books, correspondence, photographs and illustrations, financial records, property deeds and audio recordings.
STEAM The Museum of the Great Western Railway
Fire Fly Avenue, Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2EY 01793 466637 adminsteam@swindon.gov.uk www.steam-museum.org.uk
The museum is located in old railway works in Swindon. You can find out more information about the museum’s library and archive via the collections page on the website. Alongside timetables, photographs, drawings and plans, you’ll find bound volumes of the Great Western Railway
Magazine and there’s also the www.steampicturelibrary.com.
The Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum
The Wardrobe, 58 The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EX 01722 419419 curator@ thewardrobe.org.uk www.thewardrobe.org.uk
Holds more than 36,000 objects, thousands of which have been photographed and can be viewed online. There’s also war diaries and a useful soldier search facility based on discharge records and militia material. Royal Artillery Archive www.theraa.co.uk/ blog/ article/ royal-artillery-archive-arrives-in-larkhill
The new archive is currently being set up in Larkhill.
REME
www.rememuseum.org.uk/archive This museum preserves the heritage of Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
Royal Voluntary Service archive
www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/contact-us/archive-and-heritagecollection
Salisbury Museum
King’s House, 65 The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EN www.salisburymuseum.org.uk
Science Museum Library
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ about-us/ collections-and-research/ activities-and-projects/ dana- centre/ wroughton-library Based at Wroughton.
The Merchant’s House Marlborough
www.themerchantshouse.co.uk A restored 17th- century silk merchant’s house.
Wiltshire Museums
www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/ things-to- do/ history-and-heritage/ museums Find details of other museums here.
Oxford College Archives
www.oxfordarchives.org.uk
Some Oxford colleges owned manors in Wiltshire and many have estate and property records relating to the county.
Historic England Archive
historicengland.org.uk/servicesskills/archive-services
Swindon-based archive and reference library. Search more than a million items using the Historic England Archive website, or there are 95,000 oblique aerial photos on the Britain from Above website.
The National Trust
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/contact- our-teams The HQ of the National Trust is also in Swindon.