LONDON DIRECTORY
ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES Barking And Dagenham Archives And Local Studies Centre
a Valence House Museum, Becontree Avenue, Dagenham RM8 3HT t 020 8227 2033 e localstudies@lbbd.gov.uk w valencehousecollections.
co.uk/visit-us
The centre holds a multitude of records, and its website has subject guides and indexes covering the archives of local companies and businesses such as the William Hudson Group, alongside parish, school, local authority records and rate books.
Barnet Local Studies Centre
a 1st Floor, Hendon Library, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BQ t 020 8359 3961 e library.archives@barnet.gov.uk w barnet.gov.uk/citizen-home/ libraries/local-studies-andarchives.html
Access to the archives is by appointment only. Some of the thousands of photos and postcards held here can be seen at boroughphotos.org/barnet.
Brent Archives
a The Library at Willesden Green, 95 High Road, Willesden, London NW10 2SF
t 020 8937 3600 e museum.archives@ brent.gov.uk
w brent.gov.uk/archive
Here you’ll find council records, maps, building plans and street directories, electoral registers, school records, photographs, postcards, and newspapers dating back to 1870.
British Library
a 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB t 01937 546060 e customer-services@bl.uk w bl.uk India Office records are held here, as well as UK electoral registers, a large oral history collection and useful reference works.
Camden Local Studies And Archives Centre
a Holborn Library, 32–38 Theobalds Road, London WC1X 8PA t 020 7974 6342 e localstudies@camden.gov.uk w camden.gov.uk/localstudies
Resources here include maps, parish vestry and council records, valuation lists, and registers from Highgate Cemetery.
City Of Westminster Archives Centre
a 10 St Ann’s Street, Westminster, London SW1P 2DE t 020 7641 5180 e archives@westminster.gov.uk w westminster.gov.uk/archives
The centre’s collections include directories, maps, newspapers, images, electoral and parish registers, and census returns. The website has a useful guide to research here, plus details of the theatre collection which includes more than 100,000 programmes. They’ve also nearly completed a performance database project, which will allow remote access to their playbill collections.
Ealing Local History Centre
a West Ealing Library, Melbourne Avenue, Ealing, London W13 9BT t 0203 700 1065 e ealing.localhistory@laing.com w ealing.gov.uk/info/201244/
local_history_centre
The centre is home to 45,000 archival items and some 20,000 photographs.
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And Archive a The Dugdale Centre, 39 London Road, Enfield EN2 6DS t 020 8379 2724 e local.history@enfield.gov.uk w bit.ly/enfield-archive
Head here for records from the former authorities of Edmonton, Enfield and Southgate.
Hackney Archives
a Dalston CLR James Library, Dalston Square, Dalston, London E8 3BQ t 020 8356 8925 e archives@hackney.gov.uk w www3.hackney.gov.uk/archives
Offerings include the archives of local government in Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington from the late 17th century.
Hammersmith & Fulham Local Studies And Archives Centre
a 1st Floor, Hammersmith Library, Shepherds Bush Road, London W6 7AT t 020 8753 3850 e archives@lbhf.gov.uk w lbhf.gov.uk/libraries/local
studies-and-archives
The centre brings together collections once located in libraries in Shepherd’s Bush, Fulham and Hammersmith.
Haringey Archive Service
a Bruce Castle Museum, Lordship Lane, Tottenham, London N17 8NU
t 020 8808 8772 e museum.services@haringey. gov.uk
w bit.ly/HaringeyArchive
The archive has collections from Haringey Council and its predecessors Tottenham, Wood Green and Hornsey, alongside other records.
Hillingdon Heritage
a Uxbridge Library, 14–15 High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1HD t 01895 250702 e archives@hillingdon.gov.uk w bit.ly/HillingdonHeritage
Hillingdon Heritage’s archives include those of the Minet Estate in Hayes from 1766, local churches, and government, particularly predecessors of the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Hounslow Local History And Archives
a Chiswick Library, Duke’s Avenue, Chiswick, London W4 2AB / Feltham Library, The Centre, High Street, Feltham TW13 4GU
t 020 8583 5577 (Chiswick) 020 8583 5497 (Feltham) e localstudies@hounslow.gov.uk w bit.ly/HounslowArchives
The borough’s local history and heritage department runs services in both Feltham and
Chiswick public libraries – you should check the website to find out what is held where.
Islington Local History Centre
a Finsbury Library, 245 St John Street, London EC1V 4NB t 020 7527 7988 e local.history@islington.gov.uk w bit.ly/IslingtonLHC
Note that the centre is open by appointment only. In addition to the usual local records, it holds the Sadler’s Wells Theatre Archive with playbills, prints, photographs and newspaper cuttings.
Lambeth Archives
a Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road, London SE5 9QY t 020 7926 6076 e archives@lambeth.gov.uk w lambeth.gov.uk/places/
lambeth-archives
The archive’s collections include parish, cemetery, law and school records, as well as images (see boroughphotos.org/lambeth).
Lewisham Local History And Archives Centre
a Lewisham Library, 199–201 Lewisham High Street, Hither Green, London SE13 6LG
t 020 8314 8501 e local.studies@lewisham. gov.uk
w lewisham.gov.uk/inmyarea/
history/archives
Lots of districts are covered here, including parts of Beckenham and Blackheath, Brockley, Catford, New Cross, Southend and Sydenham.
London Metropolitan Archives
a 40 Northampton Road, Farringdon, London EC1R 0HB t 020 7332 3820 e ask.lma@cityoflondon.gov.uk w bit.ly/LondonMetArchives
The LMA is the principal local government archive repository for Greater London, including the City of London, and is the most important archive for London researchers. It looks after vast collections of parish registers, electoral registers, land tax and school records, parish poor relief and workhouse records, many of which are available through the archive’s longstanding agreement with ancestry.co.uk.
The National Archives
a Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU t 020 8876 3444 w nationalarchives.gov.uk
No research trip to London would be complete without a visit to The National Archives.
Newham Archives And Local Studies Library
a 1st Floor, Stratford Library, 3 The Grove, Stratford E15 1EL
t 020 3373 6881 e archiveslocalstudies@ newham.gov.uk
w bit.ly/NewhamArchives
The archive includes records from East and West Ham County Borough Councils dating from the 17th century, plus records of the West Ham Board of Guardians. Browse local photographs via newhamphotos.com.
Parliamentary Archives
a Houses of Parliament, London SW1A 0PW t 020 7219 3074 e archives@parliament.uk w archives.parliament.uk
The archive is open by appointment. Online resources here include photos, digitised Acts of Parliament, and the Protestation Returns of 1642.
Postal Museum Archive
a 15–20 Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DA t 0300 0300 700 w postalmuseum.org/archive
The archive holds staff records for the General Post Office (GPO). Booking is necessary to view original documents.
Redbridge Heritage Service
a 2nd Floor, Redbridge Central Library, Clements Road, Ilford, Essex IG1 1EA t 020 8708 2422 e info.heritage@visionrcl.org.uk w redbridge.gov.uk/libraries/
archives-and-history
The archive covers Ilford, Redbridge, Wanstead and Woodford, and includes hearth tax assessments, a name index to Poor Law settlement papers, and 1873 returns of owners of land.
Richmond Local Studies
a Old Town Hall, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond TW9 1TP t 020 8734 3309 e localstudies@richmond.gov.uk w richmond.gov.uk/local_
studies_collection
The service looks after collections that were previously held by the former boroughs of Barnes, Richmond and Twickenham. You can search cemetery burial records at bit.ly/burialregister. Royal Greenwich Museum Collections And Archive a Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust, Charlton House, Charlton Road, London SE7 8RE t 020 8856 3951 e archive@rght.org.uk w greenwichheritage.org
The research space here is open to the public by appointment.
Society Of Genealogists
a 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, Clerkenwell, London EC1M 7BA t 020 7251 8799 e genealogy@sog.org.uk w sog.org.uk
The society’s resources include London-centric holdings such as London City Apprenticeships and Boyd’s Inhabitants of London.
Southwark Local History Library And Archive
a John Harvard Library, 211 Borough High Street, London SE1 1JA t 020 7525 0232 e LHLibrary@southwark.gov.uk w heritage.southwark.gov.uk
The library has photos, cuttings, newspapers, electoral registers and rate books, maps, parish registers and Poor Law records.
Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives
a 277 Bancroft Road, Bethnal Green, London E1 4DQ
t 020 7364 1290 e localhistory@tower hamlets.gov.uk
w bit.ly/TowerHamletsLH
Until 1965 Tower Hamlets included Bethnal Green, Poplar and Stepney. You can explore the archive’s collections via ideastore.co.uk/local-history.
Waltham Forest Archives And Local Studies Library
a Vestry House Museum, Vestry Road, Walthamstow, London E17 9NH
t 020 8496 4381 e vhm.enquiries@waltham forest.gov.uk
w bit.ly/WFarchives
The archive has collections relating to Chingford, Leyton, Leytonstone and Walthamstow, including Poor Law material and school admission registers.
Wandsworth Local History And Heritage
a Battersea Library, 265 Lavender Hill, Battersea, London SW11 1JB t 020 7223 2334 e heritage@gll.org w bit.ly/WandsworthHeritage
The archive has records from Balham, Battersea, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth, as well as some information for Clapham and Streatham (which were part of the borough until 1965).