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More Family History Resources

Sources to take you further.  Follow the links to see lists of material relevant to your search.

Records for Criminals

  • Admission registers and other records of the County Gaol and Houses of Correction, 1780s to 20th century (Q/SG, Q/GC, Q/Gh, Q/Gla, Q/Gli, Q/Gn)
  • Records of the Gloucestershire Quarter Sessions from the mid-17th century and the Petty Sessions from the mid-19th century (Q, PS)

Records for the Poor

  • Parish settlement, apprenticeship and bastardy records for many parishes in Gloucestershire, mainly 18th and early 19th century (you will find these by searching for P[parish number]/OV/ in the Finding Ref box in the online catalogue). Records of the Boards of Guardians including admission and discharge registers for the Union Workhouses, 1834 to early 20th century

Mental health records

  • Records for the 1st and 2nd County Asylums in Gloucester, 19th and 20th century including admission and discharge registers and case papers. Please note that medical records less than 100 years old are not available for research but can be accessed through the NHS Partnership trust. Records of the private asylums in Gloucestershire

Coroner's records

  • Records from the county Coroners from 1844 including registers of inquests and inquest files. Please note that these records can be incomplete, especially for the Cheltenham/north Cotswold area and that records less than 75 years old can only be accessed through the Coroner's Office
  • Some earlier records survive for Gloucester (GBR, D1406), Tewkesbury (TBR) and the south of the county (D260)
  • Local newspapers often include detailed reports of Inquests

School Records

  • Records of many of the schools in Gloucestershire (enter the name of the place or school that you wish in the Any Text box on the online catalogue, and look for Finding Refs beginning with S or P prefixes)
  • Lists of evacuee children who were admitted to county schools during WW2

Records relating to Employment

Electoral registers and Poll Books

  • The poll books from 1763 and electoral registers from 1832 include the names of those entitled to vote. They cover the whole county but do not include every person over 21 years old until 1928

Trade and Street Directories

  • These survive from the late 18th century and cover the whole county with individual volumes for Gloucester, Cheltenham and some of the market towns in the county.  A range are available for you to view in the research room (GAL).

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