Digitising the records
Family historians around the world are now able to use the internet to tap into over a million parish records from Warwickshire’s archives. Warwickshire County Record Office has agreed a partnership with Ancestry.co.uk to make parish and early court records available to the public online.
Ancestry is a market leader in providing researchers and enthusiasts from around the world with access to digital copies of vital records. Users access information either on a pay as you go basis or via subscription, using surname indexes to track their ancestors and purchase digital copies to add to their research notes.
Only records over one hundred years old will be made available which means that researchers will be able to view entries from parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials up to 1911. As part of the agreement the Record Office has negotiated FREE access for people in Warwickshire at local libraries as well as at the County Record Office itself. This means that within Warwickshire it will now be possible to view the records of your local parish free at your nearest library or at the County Record Office, or to pay for a subscription to research them at home.
Through this partnership an anticipated 1.6 million records will be available for public use. If that sounds like a lot to look through, volunteers will be on hand at the Record Office for bookable sessions in November explaining how to find the records that matter to you.
One 2 One Help with Ancestry.co.uk
Monday 14 November 2 pm to 4 pm and Tuesday 15 November to Friday 19 November 10 am to 4 pm at Warwickshire County Record Office, Cape Road, Warwick
Book a one to one consultation with a Record Office volunteer to learn how to use the latest version of Ancestry.co.uk, one of the market leaders in family history websites. To celebrate the County Record Office's partnership with the online genealogy site. Sessions last half an hour and must be booked in advance by calling 01926 738959.
NOTE: It is possible to take out a 14 day free trial of Ancestry.co.uk so there is a way of accessing these files for free from your own home for a limited period!
Early in 2012 we plan to release a new Action Guide for the Toolkit that identifies where all the records are that relate to the parishes in our Diocese and how to access them.
