Archives & resources for The Borders
Berwick-upon-Tweed Record Office Walkergate Building, Walkergate, Berwick TD15 1DB 01289 301865 berwickarchives@ woodhorn.org. uk experiencewoodhorn.com/ berwick- record A branch of the wider Northumberland County Archives Service, whose headquarters is at the Woodhorn Museum, Ashington. There’s a useful family history page, including guides relating to Anglican registers, the census, civil cemeteries, newspapers and more. Berwick Borough Archives include records of admission for the Berwick Guild of Freemen, plus quarter sessions records and poll books. Archivist Linda Bankier reports that it has just produced the book Tracing Your Family History in Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal (£8.99 plus £2.50 postage), obtainable from the record office. Scottish Borders Archives Heritage Hub, Heart of Hawick, Kirkstile, Hawick TD9 0AE 01450 360699 archives@ liveborders1.org.uk www.heartofhawick.co.uk Scottish Borders Heritage Hub opened in 2007. It looks after 800 years of archives from the historic counties of Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire. This includes records of local government, police, courts,
business records, and records of schools, churches, charities, societies and families. The online catalogue is at www.calmview.eu/ HUBCAT/
CalmView/. The search room includes four PCs, one of which is linked to a microfilm reader, and there’s free wi-fi. Cumbria Archive Service cumbria.gov.uk/ archives Runs four archive centres in Carlisle, Kendal, Barrow and Whitehaven, and together they collect records reflecting Cumbrian life – church, school, business, estate archives, photographs, maps, hospital, Poor Law union, local government, court and taxation records. Carlisle looks after the most northerly border region. You can find out more via Twitter (@ CumbriaArchives) or Instagram (@ conservation.unit). There’s also the online catalogue CASCAT ( archiveweb.cumbria. gov.uk/ CalmView/default. aspx), which has 750,000 descriptions of historic Cumbrian records. Dumfries & Galloway Archives Ewart Library, Catherine Street, Dumfries DG1 1JB 01387 260285 libarchive@ dumgal.gov.uk dumgal.gov.uk/ article/15308/ Local- archives Looks after records of the council and its predecessors (from 1425 onwards), the local health board (from 1775 onwards) and more. The catalogue is at archives.
dumgal.gov.uk. The left- hand menu leads to some valuable local newspaper indexes and historical indexes, which have been compiled by the Friends of the Archives of Dumfries and Galloway. ScotlandsPeople scotlandspeople.gov.uk If your research is north of the border, ScotlandsPeople will naturally be the most important online resource. If you’re in the area, remember that the Heritage Hub is a ScotlandsPeople Centre, meaning for £15 a day you have unlimited access to almost 100 million records that include census material, wills, statutory BMDs, Old Parish and Roman Catholic records and valuation rolls. Borders FHS bordersfhs.org.uk Cumbria FHS cumbriafhs.com Dumfries & Galloway FHS dgfhs.org.uk Northumberland & Durham FHS ndfhs.org.uk Local studies libraries Check what local studies libraries are available. Details of Cumbria libraries can be found at cumbria.gov.uk/ libraries/localstudies, while Northumberland’s Woodhorn has a local studies library and Woodhorn Mining Museum Library collection. Durham University Library Special Collections, Palace Green Library, Palace Green, Durham DH1 3RN 0191 3342972 pg.library@ durham.ac.uk dur.ac.uk/ library/ asc An image- linked catalogue of pre-1858 wills held here is available at familyrecords.dur. ac.uk/nei. Friends of Berwick & District Museum and Archives berwickfriends.org.uk