Swindon Local Studies

Swindon Local Studies The Local Studies collection for the Borough of Swindon, held at Central Library. The official Local Studies collection for the Borough of Swindon.

Key resources:

Complete GRO index of Births, Marriages & Deaths, for the whole of England and Wales (1837-1999)
GRO Overseas index
International Genealogical Index (The LDS or Mormon Index)
Census records (1841-1901) with surname and street indexes where available
Parish registers, bishops transcripts and surname transcriptions where available (from 1538)
Free access to Ancestry, British New

spaper Archive, Find My Past and other great online resources. All available local parish magazines, newsletters and journals, including staff magazines for the Great Western Railway, Wills To***co, Garrards and Vickers. Complete microfilm run of all local newspapers, including the Swindon Evening Advertiser (from 1854) and the North Wilts Herald (from 1861).
4 microfiche readers and 3 microfilm/fiche readers with printing
Large collection of all available books, scrapbooks, leaflets, reports, and other ephemera. Voters lists & electoral rolls for Swindon and Thamesdown (from 1945 to date)
Street, trade and telephone directories (including Kelly's 1848-1939)
Local authors collection with an emphasis on Alfred Williams and Richard Jefferies. Extensive collection of local maps (including earliest Ordnance Survey maps, geological, GOAD, political, street maps - even Soviet "Red Army" maps)
Large historical photographic collection (over 50,000 items)
Fully searchable online catalogue

It’s half term again! Do you have your holiday wear ready? In 1933 McIlroys could provide beach suits, riding breeches, ...
26/05/2026

It’s half term again! Do you have your holiday wear ready? In 1933 McIlroys could provide beach suits, riding breeches, tennis rackets and all-wool bathing suits - everything a girl could need to make the most of summer!

Local Studies will be closed on Saturday 23rd May due to a shortage of staff. We apologise for any inconvenience.
19/05/2026

Local Studies will be closed on Saturday 23rd May due to a shortage of staff. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Save the date! Our next family history drop-in session will be taking place on Tuesday 9th June, 10:30am-12:30pm.
11/05/2026

Save the date! Our next family history drop-in session will be taking place on Tuesday 9th June, 10:30am-12:30pm.

We can’t believe it’s already May! This picture of May Day celebrations was taken at Wroughton Girls’ School around the ...
09/05/2026

We can’t believe it’s already May! This picture of May Day celebrations was taken at Wroughton Girls’ School around the year 1900 and shows pupils dancing around the maypole.

Can you help Swindon & Wiltshire Pride uncover Wiltshire’s hidden LGBTQIA+ social history.We Were Always Here is a year-...
06/05/2026

Can you help Swindon & Wiltshire Pride uncover Wiltshire’s hidden LGBTQIA+ social history.
We Were Always Here is a year-long project to discover how ordinary q***r Wiltshire folk lived and loved, suffered and triumphed against social attitudes... and share it through an exhibition, illustrated book and online.
Find out more about the project, volunteer to help as a researcher or in community engagement at The Pride Hub, Brunel Centre, Swindon on Saturday 9th May from 12–2pm.

Are you having trouble researching your family history? Come along to our free drop-in session next Tuesday and speak to...
07/04/2026

Are you having trouble researching your family history? Come along to our free drop-in session next Tuesday and speak to one of our expert volunteers from the Wiltshire Family History Society.

Our wonderful volunteers from the Wiltshire Family History Society will be on hand to help with all of your family histo...
31/03/2026

Our wonderful volunteers from the Wiltshire Family History Society will be on hand to help with all of your family history queries and stumbling blocks on Tuesday 14th April. This is a free, drop-in session – there is no need to book.

We all know that Valentine is the patron saint of lovers… of history! So if you are a history lover and are aged 14-18, ...
14/02/2026

We all know that Valentine is the patron saint of lovers… of history! So if you are a history lover and are aged 14-18, come to Central Library today to find out about study and career options.

We’re so excited for Choosing History, and can’t wait to give tours of the Local Studies collection! We’re thrilled that...
04/02/2026

We’re so excited for Choosing History, and can’t wait to give tours of the Local Studies collection! We’re thrilled that the North Wiltshire Young Archaeologists’ Club will also be joining us with an information stand and a handling collection 🥳

Roses are red, violets are blue, we have a heritage careers day for you! (Plus tours of Local Studies at 11am and 12pm!)
27/01/2026

Roses are red, violets are blue, we have a heritage careers day for you! (Plus tours of Local Studies at 11am and 12pm!)

Address

Swindon Central Library, Regent Circus
Swindon
SN11QG

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 1pm

Website

http://www.flickr.com/swindonlocal/, http://twitter.com/SwindonLocal

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Swindon Local Studies posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organisation

Send a message to Swindon Local Studies:

Shortcuts

Share

Category