South Gloucestershire Council

South Gloucestershire records and archives

Many records relating to places which are now in South Gloucestershire are held at Gloucestershire Archives, based at the Gloucestershire Heritage Hub.

Others are held by Bristol Record Office or other neighbouring county archives.

There are useful guides and other resources to help you locate South Gloucestershire records. Visit the Heritage Hub website to find information, guidance and resources on collections, and family and local history.

You can visit the Heritage Hub in person to view documents in the Archives research room. Register and make an appointment via the Archives website. You can also get expert family history advice from volunteers of the Gloucestershire Family History Society, who are on-site Hub partners.

Researching family and local history

Researching local history
Organisations to help you research local history:

• Gloucestershire Archives
• Yate Heritage Centre 
• Frenchay Village Museum
• Thornbury and District Museum
• Thornbury Research Group
• Tytherington Local History Group
• Kingswood Heritage Museum
• Bristol 2014 – The city and conflict – the impact of war on the area over 100 years to 2014
• The Long, Long Trail – researching soldiers of the British Army in the Great War of 1914-1919

Researching black history
Sources of information about local black history:

• Avon Local History Association (ALHA)
  The publications throw light on local black history and historic slavery through
  articles on topics such as the felting industry.
• Bristol Archives – black presence index
• Bristol Museums
  • Bristol’s black history
  • Historic records about black communities in Bristol
  • Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery: A textbook for schools
• Bristol Radical History Group
• Bristol Record Society – publications
• Gloucestershire Archives
  • Sources for Black, Asian & minority ethnic history in Gloucestershire
  • Slavery: Information and resources
  • Inhuman traffic
  • Black History Month events in Gloucestershire

Other useful links about black history:

• Black Cultural Archives
• National Trust – colonialism and historic slavery report
• Online Encyclopaedia of British Slave-ownership. University College, London – The Database | Legacies of British Slavery
• The Royal Historical Society – Race, Ethnicity & Equality Report
• The Transatlantic Slavery and Legacies in Museum Forum

Researching First and Second World War history
Sources of information about the First and Second World War:

• Naval and military archive 
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• International Committee of the Red Cross
• National Army Museum 
• Museum of British aviation history 

Other useful links for research

• Ancestry
• The National Archives
• Find my past 
• The Gazette – a searchable database of the British Government’s official newspaper