Dig up your roots at the library

Date published: 02/07/2009

The fast-growing hobby of genealogy is sure to get bigger with new 1911 census records available to the general public.

The entire 1911 census for England and Wales is now available online. It includes records of people living in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, and British Army personnel and their families stationed overseas.

These records have been released three years earlier than scheduled as a result of public demand. Nearly a quarter of the population (23 per cent) have actively researched their family tree, which makes it one of the nation’s favourite pastimes.

To access the website you will need a payment voucher before you can view the full images of census pages. Bury library service is selling these vouchers for £5 each and this will give you 40 credits.

Although the 1911 census is not available through the FREE library link to Ancestry.com, members of Bury library service can access the vast databases in ‘Ancestry.com’ at any local branch.

This site contains a variety of sources essential to family history research such as access to civil registration indexes (births, marriages and deaths) from 1837 onwards and census returns for England and Wales for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901.

The Reference and Information Services section has also put together two information packs for people wishing to undertake their own family history research.

The Family History pack (£15) contains three census vouchers, a copy of “Routes – guide to family history in the Bury area”, a list of family history web sites and other useful leaflets. The Local History pack (£5) contains a local historical map, an issue of the Bury Local History Society Journal and a selection of leaflets relating to local history.

For help in researching family history, a weekly drop-in session – free of charge – is held on Thursdays (10am to 12.30pm) at the Reference and Information section, Bury Library.

For information on all library and adult learning services please see our website www.bury.gov.uk/libraries.