South Gloucestershire records

Introduction

Boundary changes over the years can pose a challenge to researchers. This is particularly true for parishes which, until 1974,  were in the south of the county.  We have therefore produced the following resources:

• This South Gloucestershire Research Mini Guide provides a basic introduction and overview
• We have also compiled the more in depth South Gloucestershire Guide. (PDF, 5.3 MB) This gives a full account and a detailed breakdown of the available records and their location. It can be searched by place or topic.

Background

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) controls an area that used to be part of the historical county of Gloucestershire.  Many records relating to parishes now in South Gloucestershire are still held at Gloucestershire Archives as we provide SGC with an archive service.  But boundary changes and other factors have meant that some records relating to this area are held by Bristol Record Office or other neighbouring county archives.

How does this affect key records?

Parish Records

Gloucestershire Archives holds records for churches that used to be in the Diocese of Gloucester, under the control of the Bishop of Gloucester. Some parishes close to Bristol in South Gloucestershire were in the Diocese of Bristol, under the control of the Bishop of Bristol. This generally includes parishes south of Thornbury and Yate. These records are held at Bristol Record Office. To find out where the records of the parish you are looking for are held, please see the Parish Register Guide. For more information on parish registers please see Research Mini Guide 4: Parish Registers.

Workhouse and Poor Law Records

Gloucestershire Archives holds the records of the Sodbury (reference: G/SO) and Thornbury (reference: G/TH) Poor Law Unions. Unfortunately few records relating to the workhouses have survived. Some of the parishes close to Bristol are in the Bristol or Keynsham Poor Law Unions. The records of the Bristol Poor Law Union are held at Bristol Record Office. The records of the Keynsham Poor Law Union are held at the Somerset Record Office.

District Council Records

The district councils and their boundaries changed in 1974, so the records are often split into pre-1974 and post-1974 groupings.

Pre-1974

Gloucestershire Archives holds records of:

• Kingswood Urban District Council (Reference: DA8)
• Mangotsfield Urban District (Reference: DA10)
• Sodbury Rural District Council (Reference: DA33)
• Thornbury Rural District Council (Reference: DA38)
• Warmley Rural District Council (Reference: DA39)

Bristol Record Office holds records of:

• Barton Regis Rural District Council
• Horfield Urban District Council

Post 1974

Records of Kingswood Borough Council and Northavon District Council are held at Gloucestershire Archives. In addition, some records of South Gloucestershire Council (1996 onwards) are held at Gloucestershire Archives.

School Records

We encourage schools to deposit their archives for safe-keeping with a public archive service. Generally schools in South Gloucestershire deposit their archives at Gloucestershire Archives. However, some (especially those which are close to Bristol) deposit their archives at Bristol Record Office.

Electoral Registers

The South Gloucestershire parishes were covered by these districts:

• 1832-1885     Western Division of Gloucestershire
• 1886-1948     Thornbury Division
• 1948-1974     Split between South Gloucestershire Division and Thornbury & Stroud
• (In 1954 the Thornbury & Stroud Division separated and the southern parishes moved to the South Gloucestershire Division.)
• 1974 onwards  Kingswood, North Avon and South Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire Archives holds registers for the Western, Thornbury, Thornbury & Stroud, and South Gloucestershire divisions, up to 1974.

From 1974 onwards Gloucestershire Archives holds the Kingswood registers for 1974-1987 and for South Gloucestershire 1983/1984.  Other Kingswood, North Avon and South Gloucestershire registers are held by South Gloucestershire Electoral Services (tel:01454 863030 email:Electoral.Services@southglos.gov.uk) 

Bristol Record Office holds Bristol poll books, 1715-1847; Bristol electoral registers, 1843-1900

How to find the records

For a full list of the location and references of records relating to South Gloucestershire, please see the detailed South Gloucestershire Guide.

If the records are held at Gloucestershire Archives, you can search our online catalogue to view a list of records in the collections www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives. (See our online Help page & FAQs for further guidance, or watch our short YouTube tutorial)

Many of our parish registers and electoral registers have been digitised and can be viewed and searched via the Ancestry website www.ancestry.co.uk (see the relevant research mini guides for more information).