Digital library

Family and local history

Red Rose Collections (Lancashire County Council)

Image archive with over thirty thousand historic photographs digitised from the collections in Lancashire Libraries
Indexes to other resources, held at Lancashire Archives and libraries, such as old local newspapers, local books, Preston Guild Rolls and the Lancashire Police index

Parish records - images of Church of England baptism, marriage, and burial registers from parishes in Lancashire.
*Available at archives/libraries only. Please note that using Ancestry on archives/library PCs will enable you to search Ancestry's records, but not access some Ancestry features such as Family Trees and you may have difficulties attempting to use a personal Ancestry login on an archives/library PC.

Census records, birth, marriage and death indexes, military records, immigration and emigration, and many more public records from the UK.
*Available at archives/libraries only. Please note that using Ancestry on archives/library PCs will enable you to search Ancestry's records, but not access some Ancestry features such as Family Trees and you may have difficulties attempting to use a personal Ancestry login on a archives/library PC.

Find My Past* (external link)

Public records from England and Scotland going back to 1200, including many from Lancashire Archives.
Includes census records, parish registers, occupational records, travel and migration, and many more.
*in Lancashire Archives and Libraries only.
Please note that, although the 1921 Census for England and Wales was released by Find My Past on January 6 2022, it will not be available for free on any subscription, including libraries and archives, but only by pay per view. Customers with a subscription account will not be able to use this on public PCs or Wi-Fi in our libraries or Lancashire Archives and the pay per view option is not available via our Library account. The 1921 Census can only be accessed for free at Manchester Central library and the National Archives in Kew.

Stories of people who have shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC to the present day, from royalty to rock stars.
Search by place to find out who was born, lived or died where you are. It also includes a special page devoted to Lancashire Lives.

Published annually as a book since 1849, Who's Who lists people who influence British life, entries including notable figures from government, politics, academia, business, sport and the arts.
Who's Who contains over 30,000 autobiographical entries of noteworthy and influential people who impact British life, and Who Was Who over 90,000 entries, for people now deceased.

Includes the Burnley Express, Lancaster Gazette and Preston Chronicle
National, regional and local newspapers from the Eighteenth to Twentieth centuries taken directly from the holdings of the British Library.

The complete digital edition of The Times (London) from 1785 to 2010.
Every page of every issue includes headlines, articles, images, editorial, birth and death notices and classifieds.

The collections at Lancashire Archives document the history of Lancashire and the people who have lived here over the last 900 years.

Mario interactive maps (Lancashire County Council)

Mario Maps is Lancashire's online mapping service. You can zoom in to any location in Lancashire and find a wealth of information embedded within the map which can be displayed.
This is a new version of Mario updated April 2022
This includes historic maps and photographs of the County
This site also provides interactive information on administrative boundaries and local census and social statistics, local services, schools, transport, council facilities and much more.
Lots of guides and videos are available to help you get the most from Mario.
The old version of Mario will remain accessible until 26 May at this location: http://mario.lancashire.gov.uk/agsmario/default.aspx

Lancashire Old Maps (Lancashire County Council)

In our Good Web Guide, there is a selection of some of the best sites to get you going with researching your family tree. They include advice, information and access to some historical records that can be searched online.

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