Our Collections

We are the County Archives and Local Studies service for the historic county of Buckinghamshire. Our collections cover today's Buckinghamshire, as well as those areas of the county that are now in Berkshire and Milton Keynes. We aim to acquire and preserve archival and research materials relating to the historic county of Buckinghamshire and promote their use and enjoyment to serve cultural, educational, recreational and administrative needs of present and future generations.

Archives

The core of the archive collections are the records of local administration in Buckinghamshire. The County Council's own records are held alongside those of the District Councils and the local courts of Quarter Sessions and Petty Sessions. As the Diocesan Record Office for the Archdeaconry of Buckingham, we hold the records of the Church of England in Buckinghamshire, the oldest of which date back to the 15th Century. The collection includes the parish registers for the county and approximately 35,000 wills of ordinary people in Buckinghamshire proved by the Archdeaconry court.

We hold large collections of estate records from many of the landed estates of Buckinghamshire, including the estates of the Aubrey-Fletcher, Hampden, Carrington and Fremantle families. These are complimented by records of a number of firms of solicitors who acted as land agents such as Horwood and James. A large number of deeds of land transfers can be found in the collections deposited with us by the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society.

In terms of maps, we hold tithe and inclosure maps from many of the parishes in the county as well as other miscellaneous maps dating back to the Tudor period but being most plentiful from the 19th Century onwards. These include copies of the Old Series Ordnance Survey maps, some First Edition O.S. maps and many of the 'Domesday' maps drawn up from 1910 onwards.

Local Studies

The Local Studies library is home to the widest range of local history books in the county. Duplicate copies of many titles in the library are available for loan using a Buckinghamshire Library membership card.

The book stock is supported by a collection of pamphlets and articles of local history interest arranged by place and subject. There are microfilm readers to provide access to many of the local newspapers covering the county as well as to the majority of the parish registers of baptism, marriage and burial. Access to the General Register Offices index of births, marriages and death from 1837 to 2004 and the National Probate Index 1858-1943 is provided on microfiche. Maps in the library start with the First Edition of the Ordnance Survey (c.1880) on microfilm and continue up to present day GOAD maps and the Definitive Map of Buckinghamshire.

We also have a series of computers through which we can provide free access to Ancestry.com, FreeBMD, the Victoria County History and other sites of local and family history interest.