County Library and Information Service
Community History - Guide to the Local Collections - Burnley Collection
2. Address of collectionBurnley District.
Grimshaw Street
Burnley
Lancs
BB11 2BD
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Tel: 01282 437115
Fax:01282 452869
E-mail: Burnley.CH@lancashire.gov.uk
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
9:30 - 19:00
9:30 - 17:00
9:30 - 17:00
9:30 - 19:00
9:30 - 17:00
9:30 - 16:00
4. Scope and arrangement of the collection
The Local Studies Library collects material on the Burnley area and the geographical county of Lancashire. It contains books, pamphlets, posters, maps, plans, photographs, slides, films, tape recordings, compact discs, videos and manuscripts. Three dimensional objects such as medals are not collected by the library as these are housed in the Museum and Art Gallery at Towneley Hall. The museum also has a local history collection including exhibits on local fauna and flora, notable local families such as the Towneleys, and local crafts and industries.
Many of the most popular books in the Burnley Local Studies Library, such as Walter Bennett's four volume history of Burnley are available in the lending library. Such copies are not therefore available for loan from the Local Studies collection itself. Where a title is only available in the Local Studies collection, the book may be loaned when more than two copies are in stock, and in some cases books may be obtained for home reading through the inter-library loan service.
The library is classified by the Lancashire Local Studies Classification Scheme.
5. Catalogues and bibliographies
The Local Studies catalogue is available as part of the Lancashire County Library and Information Service's Talis online catalogue. It is possible to search by author, title, keyword, subject and class number. There are public access terminals in the Reference and Local Studies Library and in all other departments of the central library.
There are no special local lists of holdings for the Local Studies collection but the library has all the volumes of the Lancashire Bibliography published to date which cover such subjects as Lancashire Acts of Parliament, business history and family history. The library also has other Lancashire bibliographies including Henry Fishwick's The Lancashire Library, published in 1875.
The Local Studies Library contains a complete set of the directories of Burnley and district published by the firm of P. Barrett and Co. Ltd., between 1879 and 1962. These cover north-east Lancashire and appeared approximately every 4 years with a 9 year gap at the period of the First World War. They contain lists of residents, street directories and classified trades sections for the towns included in each directory. There is also a regional commercial directory which includes Burnley dated 1960/61 and a Lancashire commercial directory of 1967.
Earlier years, 1792 - 1872, are covered by a series of regional directories such as the Mannex directories of 1854 and 1868. These have only a small section on each town, generally including a trade section and a list of principal residents. The Local Studies Library has a directory for approximately every decade for the years 1792 - 1872.
Directories can be found on the Library's online catalogue.
7. Electoral registers and poll books
BURNLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Burgess List, 1861 - 1862.
BURNLEY COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Burgess Roll, 1890/91 - 1904/05, 1908 - 09, 1910/11 - 1914/15.
Register of Parliamentary Electors, 1891 - 1905, 1910, 1912 - 1914/15.
Register of Parochial Electors, 1895/6 - 1902/3, 1904/5, 1911/12 - 1913/14.
Absent Voters List, 1918 - 1920.
Register of Electors, 1920 - 1939, 1946 - 1973.
BURNLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Register of Electors, 1974 - .
Pre-1974 registers cover the former County Borough of Burnley only. Since that date the registers cover the new Burnley District and therefore now also include Padiham, Hapton, Dunnockshaw, Briercliffe, Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood and Cliviger.
The Local Studies Library has the rate books issued by the Burnley Improvement Commissioners in 1852 and 1861, and one for 1800 where the compiler is unknown. The main collection of rate books for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
9. Census enumerators' returns
1841 North east Lancashire including Accrington, Burnley, Habergham Eaves, Clitheroe, Colne, Great and Little Marsden, Padiham, Trawden, Whalley and adjacent villages.
1851 Burnley District - Burnley, Habergham Eaves, Hapton, Padiham and adjacent villages; also parts of Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Districts.
1861 Burnley District - Burnley, Habergham Eaves, Hapton, Padiham and adjacent villages.
1871 Burnley District - Burnley, Habergham Eaves, Hapton, Padiham and adjacent villages.
1881 Burnley District - Burnley, Habergham Eaves, Hapton, Padiham and adjacent villages.
1891 Burnley District - Burnley, Habergham Eaves, Hapton, Padiham and adjacent villages.
1901 Burnley district - Burnley, Habergham Eaves, Hapton, Padiham and adjacent villages.
The Local Studies library has a 'head of household' index to the census returns from 1841 to 1891 which is available online on Lancashire Lantern. There is also a card index to the streets and places in the census returns for these years. The 1901 census is available on the website http://www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ can be searched by name of individual or address.
The library has the complete 1881 census returns on microfiches for the following counties: Cheshire, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire.
The Local Studies Library has a complete set of the Lancashire Parish Register Society volumes from 1898 to date. A new volume is published approximately every year and a complete list of those issued so far is available. These cover the older churches in Lancashire, so that for the Burnley area copies are only available for the early years of St Peter's Church, Burnley, St Leonard's Church, Padiham, and St John-the-Divine Church, Cliviger. Each volume is very well indexed. Several recent volumes are on microfiche only.
The library also has Dr J. Laycock's transcriptions of the Whalley Parish Church registers, 1605 - 1835; the Padiham Parish Church registers, 1573 - 1826, and has transcriptions of, and abstracts from, other local church registers.
Also in stock are microfilms of the registers of the following churches:
Burnley St Peter's Church Baptisms 1653 - 1943
Marriages 1653 - 1956
Burials 1653 - 1896
Burnley St James's Church Baptisms 1845 - 1960
Marriages 1849 - 1950
Burials 1850 - 1856
Gannow St John the Baptist's Church Baptisms 1878 - 1968
Marriages 1880 - 1979
Microfiche copies of the registers of many of the Anglican churches of the diocese of Blackburn, dating up to and including 1900, microfilm copies of the bishop's transcripts for this diocese and of a small number of the registers of some local Roman Catholic and Nonconformist churches are also in stock.
A list of the library's holdings of church registers on microfilm and fiches is available for reference use.
The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) is held on microfiche.
Monumental inscriptions are held in various forms for many churches in the Burnley, Pendle and Ribble Valley districts (Church of England unless otherwise stated):
Barnoldswick St. Mary le Gill
Briercliffe St. James
Brierfield Providence Chapel
Marsden Society of Friends Meeting House
Burnley Bethesda Congregational Chapel
Habergham All Saints
Holy Trinity
St. Peter
Bury Holebottom Unitarian Church
Chatburn Christ Church
Chipping St. Bartholomew
Colne St. Bartholomew
Winewall Inghamite Chapel
Fence St. Anne
Foulridge St. Michael and All Angels
Great Marsden St. John
Grindleton St. Ambrose
Methodist Free Church
Haggate Haggate & Hill Lane Baptist Church
Hapton St. Margaret
Haslingden Haslingden Congregational Church
King Street Methodist Chapel
Hey Houses, Sabden St. Nicholas
Higham Weslyan Chapel
Holme-in-Cliviger St. John the Divine
Hurstwood Hurstwood Baptist Church
Lytham St. Anne Heyhouses
Mereclough Mereclough Methodist Chapel
Nelson St. Paul
Newchurch-in-Pendle
Padiham Hall Hill Methodist Chapel
Nazareth Unitarian Chapel
St. Leonard
Ramsbottom Park United Reformed Church
St. Andrew
Rawtenstall St. Mary
Read (in Whalley) St. John the Evangelist
Ribchester St. Wilfrid
Sabden Baptist graveyard
Pendle Methodist
St. Helens St. Mary
Slaidburn St. Andrew
Waddington St. Helen
West Bradford Methodist Free Church
Old Methodist Church
St. Catherine
Whalley St. Mary and All Saints
Wheatley Lane Methodist Chapel
Worsthorne St. John the Evangelist
Worsthorne Methodist Chapel
Weslyan Methodist Chapel
Burnley and Padiham Cemetery records on microfilm:
Burnley Cemetery – Burial Registers 4 June 1856-11 Dec 1975; Grave Number Registers; Family Grave Registers 3 Jan 1856-19 Oct 1993.
Padiham Public Cemetery – Burial Registers 21 Mar 1872-13 June 1980; Family Grave Registers 23 Feb 1857-28 Nov 1986.
Padiham Parish Church Cemetery ( St Leonard’s) – Burial Registers 23 Aug 1875 – 18 Sept 1903; Family Grave Registers 1850-1990.
The main collection of parish records for the county is held at the Lancashire Record Office.
The following local newspapers are part of the Local Studies collection:
Blackburn Mail , 1793 - 1829. Not indexed. Microfilmed.
Blackburn Gazette, 1832 - 1839. Not indexed. Microfilmed.
Blackburn Standard , 1841 - 1852. Not indexed. Microfilmed.
Burnley Advertiser , 1852 - 1880. Incomplete file. Card index. Microfilmed.
Burnley Advertiser , 1968 - 1992. Complete file. Not indexed or microfilmed. (An "advertising" not a "news" paper).
Burnley and East Lancashire Mid-Weekly Gazette , 1884 - 1888. Complete file. Card index. Microfilmed.
Burnley Evening Star , 1965 - 1983. Incomplete file. Not indexed. Microfilmed.
Burnley Express , 1877 - to date. Complete file. Card index 1877 to date. Microfilmed 1877 to date. Current copies are microfilmed as each twelve month period is complete.
Burnley Free Press and General Advertiser for East Lancashire , 1863 - 1864. Complete file. Card index. Microfilmed.
Burnley Gazette , 1864 - 1915. Complete file. Card index. Microfilmed.
Burnley Mentor , 1852 - 1853. Complete file. Card index. Microfilmed.
Burnley News , 1912 - 1933. Complete file. Card index. Microfilmed.
The Journal , December 1978 - January 1979. Complete file. Not indexed or microfilmed.
Manchester Guardian ( later The Guardian), No. 1, 1821 to date. Not indexed. Microfilm only.
All newspapers cover north-east Lancashire, apart from the later twentieth-century Burnley Express which limits itself to the Burnley District. When a paper has been microfilmed, the originals are retained locally, (except for the Evening Star) but are not generally available for public use.
It is hoped to transfer all the index entries from card to a computer database which will be available on public terminals; the index to articles from the year 2000 to date is available online on Lancashire Lantern.
An index to holdings of North West newspapers is available on the Museums, Libraries and Archives website.
Lancashire Lantern includes an index to stories from local newspapers covering several areas of the county.
The Local Studies collection of periodicals includes church magazines, school magazines and newsletters, etc., published by local societies, as well as regional magazines, such as Lancashire Life (filed from 1950) and periodicals of more general interest such as Family Tree Magazine, Local History Magazine and Local Historian.
A complete list of periodicals taken by all the libraries within Lancashire is available for consultation.
The Burnley Local Studies library also has sets of the following:
BURNLEY AND DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Retrospect, vol. 1- , 1980 -
BURNLEY LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC CLUB. Transactions, 1874 - 1923.
CHETHAM SOCIETY. Remains...., vol. 1- , 1844 - , (including the index volumes to vols. 1-114, 1844 - 1886).
HISTORIC SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. Proceedings, vol. 1- , 1848 - 1854, and Transactions, 1854 -
Lancashire (LANCASHIRE FAMILY HISTORY AND HERALDRY SOCIETY), vol 1, no. 1- , January 1975 - , (incomplete file).
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY. Transactions, vol. 1- , 1883 - , (including index volumes).
RECORD SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. Publications, no. 1- , 1879 -
The Local Studies library has a large collection of maps and plans, both printed and photocopied. There are photocopies of Yates' map of Lancashire, 1786, and Greenwood's map of Lancashire, 1818, and a series of maps of the town of Burnley from 1827 to date, including Fishwick’s map, 1827, Merryweather’s map of 1841 and a “Map showing line of water and gas pipes….1861. (Rev 1851 OS map with index map for 1882”.
Photocopies of tithe maps for Habergham Eaves, 1842, Ightenhill Park, 1839, Burnley, 1846, and printed tithe maps (undated) for Briercliffe-with-Extwistle, Burnley, Colne, Foulridge, Great and Little Marsden, Habergham Eaves, Ightenhill Park, Laneshaw Bridge and Trawden are also in the collection.
The library has photocopies of the 'rights of way' or 'footpath' maps for the Burnley District, on the 1:5000 scale 1973 and the 1:10,560 scale based on the Ordnance Survey edition of 1955-56.
The Local Studies library's collection of Ordnance Survey maps includes the following scales, dates and areas:
1:1000 1980-current GOAD map of Burnley Centre
1:500 1893 Burnley, except outskirts of the town
1:1056 1851 Sheets 1 - 13. Borough of Burnley.
1:1250 1958-1991 Burnley District.
1:2500 1892-93, 1911-12, 1930-32 Altham (1893 and 1912 only); Briercliffe; Brierfield - Marsden Heights (1893 and 1912 only); Brierfield - Reedley Hallows; Burnley; Catlow - Lane Bottom; Cliviger - Easden Wood/Holme/Thieveley/Walk Mill; Cliviger – Cornholme (1911 only and 1930 Cliviger section only); Clowbridge – Gambleside; Crown Point; Deerplay (1930 only); Dunnockshaw; Hapton; Hapton Park; Heald Moor (1893 and 1930 only); Higham; Hurstwood; Long Causeway (Cliviger end); Padiham; Simonstone; Thursden Valley (1893 and 1912 only); Worsthorne (1893 and 1931 only).
1:2500 1960-91 Burnley, Padiham & surrounding area (incomplete).
1:2500 1994 Burnley, Padiham & surrounding area.
1:2500 2000 Burnley, Padiham and surrounding area (not as complete as 1994 set for rural areas).
1:10,000 1974-1993 Lancashire (incomplete).
1:10,560 1848 Sheets 55 (Whalley, Padiham etc), 56 (Burnley North, Nelson etc), 63 (Great Harwood, Accrington etc), 64 ( Burnley except North etc)
1:10,560 1894-96 Burnley District.
1:10,560 1910-15 "
1:10,560 1929-33 "
1:10,560 Provisional edition 1938 "
1:10,560 1947 Worsthorne only
1:10,560 1955-56 Burnley District
1:10,560 1965-70 "
1:25,000 1946-47 North-east Lancashire.
1:25,000 1950-55 1st series North-east Lancashire.
1:25,000 1970-78 2nd series South and west Lancashire.
1:25,000 1981-91 Pathfinder Lancashire.
1:50,000 1991 Blackburn and Burnley.
1:50,000 1994 Blackburn and Burnley.
1:63360 1924 Blackburn and Burnley
1:63360 1961 Blackburn and Burnley
Agricultural land classification of England and Wales:
1:50,000, 1961-1966: Lancashire sheets 88-90, 94-96, 100-102, 109.
14. Council minutes and minutes of official bodies
BURNLEY AND PENDLE JOINT TRANSPORT COMMITTEE. Minutes, 1974 - 1986.
BURNLEY , COLNE AND NELSON JOINT TRANSPORT COMMITTEE. Minutes, 1942 - 1974. Incomplete.
BURNLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Minutes, 1973 - .
BURNLEY COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Minutes, 1889 - 1974.
BURNLEY IMPROVEMENT COMMISSIONERS. Minutes of Meetings, 1856 - 57.
BURNLEY JOINT HOSPITAL BOARD. Minutes, 1904 - 1948.
BURNLEY , PENDLE AND ROSSENDALE COMMUNITY HEALTH COUNCIL. Minutes, 1975 - .
BURNLEY , PENDLE AND ROSSENDALE HEALTH AUTHORITY. Minutes, 1982 -.
EAST LANCASHIRE HEALTH AUTHORITY. Minutes, 1994 - .
LANCASHIRE AREA HEALTH AUTHORITY. Minutes, 1974 - 1981.
LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL. Minutes, 1983 - .
MANCHESTER REGIONAL HOSPITAL BOARD. Minutes, 1951 - 1961, 1964 - 1974. Incomplete.
NORTH WEST WATER AUTHORITY. Minutes, 1975 - 1979.
NORTH WESTERN REGIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITY. Minutes, 1974 - .
PADIHAM URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL. Minutes, 1896/97 - 1964/65. Incomplete.
The library has a very large collection of photographs and postcards, mainly black and white, and of aerial photographs, both black and white and colour. Copies can be made to order from most of the photographs.
The slide collection consists of approximately 800 2" x 2" black and white, and 400 2" x 2" coloured transparencies and a much larger number of 3" x 3" black and white glass slides. (Booking is required in advance of a visit).
The library also has a few prints, drawings and paintings. Most of the illustrations are of the Burnley district with small numbers of the adjoining areas of Pendle, Ribble Valley, and Hyndburn.
The Library is currently developing an online database of photographs from the county’s various library collections; this is available as part of Lancashire Lantern.
16. Sound and video recordings
The Local Studies Library has a small collection of sound recordings on disc, tapes, cassettes and compact discs. These consist principally of performances by local choirs, talks by local historians and Lancashire dialect poetry and stories. Some of the more recent material is also available for loan in the Music and Audiovisual Library.
The majority of the documentary material formerly kept in the Local Studies library has now been deposited on permanent loan with the Lancashire Record Office in Preston, this being the main repository of archives for the county.
None. The original library of the Burnley Grammar School comprising 875 volumes, mainly from the seventeenth century with some sixteenth and eighteenth century works, formed part of the local studies collection until 1979, when it was transferred at the request of the Governors to Lancaster University Library. Subjects covered include literature, philosophy, theology, history and topography. They are housed separately within the University Library and may be consulted by appointment. A printed catalogue of the collection is available at Burnley Central Library and at Lancaster University Library.
The Lancashire County Library's Local Information database, containing information on local societies is available on all the public access terminals. The Local Studies library also has, on computer database available on the public access terminals, an index to the obituaries in the local newspapers from 1852 to date and a "head of household" index to the census returns for the Burnley District, containing approximately 100,000 entries. A card index of street and place names on the census returns is also available.
There is also a selective index on cards for the following newspapers:
Burnley Advertiser , 1852 - 1880;
Burnley and East Lancashire Mid-Weekly Gazette , 1884 - 1887;
Burnley Free Press , 1863 - 1864;
Burnley Gazette , 1864 - 1915;
Burnley Mentor , 1852 - 1853,
Burnley News , 1912 - 1933
Burnley Express 1877 - 1995.
There are five microfilm readers, two microfiche readers, one microfiche/film reader/printer, one microfilm reader/printer, an iBase scanner and system, and a photocopier in the Reference Library. It is also possible to obtain print-outs from the census index database. In addition, there are eight computers available for free public use with Internet access and Microsoft applications with another computer which is for 30 minutes quick use only, it also includes the Internet. There is a stand-alone PC for CDs.
21. Books useful as introductory reading
ASHWORTH, Frank. Burnley; Town Amidst the Pennines. Mid-Pennines Arts Association, 1984.
BENNETT, Walter. The History of Burnley, part 1: to 1400, and part 2: 1400 - 1650. Burnley Corporation, 1969.
BENNETT, Walter. The History of Burnley, part 3: 1650 - 1850. Burnley Corporation, 1948).
BENNETT, Walter. The History of Burnley, part 4: from 1850. Burnley Corporation, 1951.
BURNLEY COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL. County Borough of Burnley Official Handbook: Centenary Issue. Pyramid Press, 1961.
BURNLEY COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Burnley: Official Guide. Pyramid Press, 1990.
CHILD, Stephen Martin, From Saint Peter’s to Saint Mark’s; A history of the Anglican Churches of Burnley. Burnley & District Historical Society. 2006
CHILD, Stephen Martin. From the Towneley Chapel to Christ Church Ecumenical Centre; A History of the Catholic Church in Burnley and Pendle. Burnley & District Historical Society. 2008
The COUNTRYSIDE around us: a natural history of East Lancashire. Lancashire County Library, 1989.
FROST, Roger. A Lancashire Township: the Story of Briercliffe-with-Extwistle. Rieve Edge Press, 1982.
HALL , Brian . Burnley: a pictorial history. Phillimore, 1993.
HALL , Brian . Burnley: a short History. Burnley and District Historical Society, 1977.
HALL , Brian . Lowerhouse and the Dugdales: the Story of a Lancashire Mill Community. Burnley and District Historical Society, 1976.
KNEESHAW, John W. Burnley in the Nineteenth Century. Burnley Express, 1897.
LOWE, John. Burnley. Phillimore, 1985.
OMEROD, Thomas. Calderdale: a Descriptive Account of the Streams Forming the Lancashire Calder. Lupton Bros., 1906.
THORNBER, Titus. APennines Parish: the History of Cliviger. Rieve Edge Press, 1987.
WALLIS, John. A History of the Church in Burnley, 1122-1922. George Anderson, printer, 1923.
22. Other Family History Sources
Indexes on CD-Rom:
Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1918
Army Roll of Honour, World War II, Soldiers Died in the Second World War, 1939-1945
A website http://burnleyinthegreatwar.info
All our libraries provide free access to the Ancestry website which gives access to Census Records for England, Wales and Scotland 1841-1901) and indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales (1837-2005).