Family history
We hold a wide range of resources to help you discover your family history, including:
- indexes and transcriptions - these include printed indexes to baptisms, marriages and burials in several Hillingdon parishes, transcriptions of early wills, rate books and monumental inscriptions, which can be accessed via our search room
- street directories of local areas (1840 to 1977) - these are held in our search room and can be used to check the householder or business at a specific address
- telephone directories (from 1954) - earlier ones can be found on Ancestry Library Edition
- electoral registers (bound volumes: 1838 to 1839, 1890 to 1897, 1899 to 1914; on microfilm: 1920-1993); bound volumes: 1994 to present date) - there are substantial gaps in the Uxbridge registers and we have none between 1931 and 1965 but some of the early electoral registers for Uxbridge have been digitised by Ancestry Library Edition making them considerably easier to search (you will need an address in order to find an individual)
- local newspapers (dating back to 1854) are available on microfilm at Uxbridge Library. Some are only available as hard copies from which no photocopying is allowed, and 3 days' notice is required for their production.
- photographs of local places - many of these are digitised and available in our online catalogue (search in the Museum collection for photos by keyword, place or date)
- maps - including Ordnance Survey maps (dating from 1866 onwards), enclosure and estate maps from earlier periods
- archives - these contain thousands of original documents relating to the local area which can help with your family history research, including rate books, valuation lists, and the parish church of St John's, Hillingdon (we require 3 working days' notice if you would like to view a document)
- books and periodicals - these include introductory guides to family history and some can be borrowed; some are reference only
In our local studies room, we hold the following family and local history periodicals, which are available to browse:
- Hillingdon Family History Society Journal, 1989 to present
- The Home Counties Magazine, 1899 to 1912
- LAMAS Transactions, 1860 to present
- Middlesex and Herts Notes and Queries, c1895 to 1898
- Records of Bucks, 1854 to Present (gaps)
- West Middlesex Family History Society Journal, 1978 to present
Search our full range of family history books and periodical
How to begin your family history research
- Write down as many dates, places and names of family members as you can - this will help show what you know, what you may have forgotten and what you have yet to find out.
- If possible, ask the oldest member(s) of your family about their life stories and try to gather as many names, dates, locations and occupations of as many family members as you can.
- Start looking at original documents, such as old family photographs, birth certificates, medals, wills and postcards, which can provide all sorts of insights into their owners' lives and be used to build up a detailed family tree.
- Get in touch with our Hillingdon Museum and Archives Service about how we can help take your research to the next level - email archives@hillingdon.gov.uk