Address
40 Northampton Road
Clerkenwell
London
EC1R 0HB
Telephone
020 7332 3820
Websites
Notes
The Archive’s holdings cover the former County of London and Middlesex which were both established in 1889. The County of London, administered by the London County Council, was formed from the metropolitan or ‘central’ areas of the ancient counties of Middlesex, Kent and Surrey (Lambeth, Southwark, Newington and Wandsworth). The remaining areas of Middlesex survived as a small county council. Following further reforms in 1965, the London county council and the Middlesex county council were abolished and Greater London was formed taking in further areas of Kent and Surrey as well as parts of Essex. The archives also holds the records of the former Inner London Education Authority. See London Parishes & Boroughs for more details on the administrative changes in London. Guides to place names and parishes and their present-day boroughs covered by the London Archives are available at London Generations.
The main London Archives online Collections Catalogue provides access to over three million descriptions of books, maps, images and films held by the Archives. Over 250,000 digitized photographs, prints, maps and films are available to use online at the London Picture Archive (formerly Collage) from the collections from The London Archives and Guildhall Art Gallery. The London Generations family history catalogue is a database of sources for family history research in London. You can download guides for each London borough. It includes a variety of indexes to our major family history sources. The London Archives Collections Catalogue can also be searched from The National Archives Discovery catalogue under ‘search other archives’.
The London Archives holdings include:
Parish registers
Wills
Poor law records
Workhouse record
Boards of Guardians registers
Electoral registers
Quarters session records
Prison registers
Business and employment records
Maps
Photos
The London Archives also hold the records formerly held by the Corporation of London Record Office which consist of official archives of the Corporation of London. Please note that the corporation’s jurisdiction extended beyond the city boundaries. A series of information leaflets covering many topics of interest to the family historian is available at the London Archives website.
The following London Archive sources are available to use on the Ancestry website: Parish records consisting of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials from the original Church of England registers and Bishops’ Transcripts, Nonconformist chapel and congregation registers, workhouse admission and discharge registers, poor law records, school registers, wills, LCC school admission and discharge registers, City of London Freedom records, electoral registers, poll books, land tax, marriage bonds and allegations and transportation papers. An A to Z of London Parishes showing what London parish records can be found on Ancestry sites or at The London Archive and other locations is available here compiled by The London Archive.
Also see
County & Local Histories
