The School of
Historical Studies

Useful links to local history websites

This page provides links to the following archive directories, county societies, online tutorials and local history internet resources.

Websites

• The British Academy Portal for Sources in Early Modern History This is a list of links to online primary sources for early modern Britain and the wider world.
• The British Association for Local History This website is a useful hub of information for local historians, including links to the websites of 353 local history societies.
• British History Online Link to the local history section of this important gateway to online primary sources.
• Clergy of the Church of England Database Biographical information for Church of England clergy, 1540-1835.
• The English Place Name Society Details of over 80 of the English Place Name Society volumes.
• The Centre for Hearth Tax Research Publications on the Hearth Tax and an AHRC project at Roehampton University.
• The Institute of Historical Research An important gateway to historical resourecs and the London meeting place for researchers of history.
• The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online biographical essays of 57,000 individuals important to British History.
• Oxfordshire History Website An online guide and reference sourse for Oxfordshire history, archaeology, landscape and buildings provided by the Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society
• University of Leicester Library History Subject Room A gateway to online resources and the library's holdings in history.
• The UK Battlefields Resource Centre Useful information, commentaries and online resources for visiting British Battlefields, provided by the Battlefields Trust.
• The Victoria County History The first port of call for researcher sinto English local history, it publishes encyclopaedic volumes, county by county.
• Vision of Britain Through Time Online resource for historical maps, landscape history, travel writing and census reports.
• Warwick Network for Parish Research This provides a useful bibliography, a guide to parish sources and details of the Warwick Symposium of parish research.

Archive directories

• Access to Archives Describes holdings of archives in England and Wales.
• ARCHON This website gives contact details for archives and record repositories in the UK to help you plan your research visits.
• The National Register of Archives Information on the nature and location of manuscripts and records relating to British history.

Online primary sources

• Cases in the Court of Chivalry, 1634-1640 Legal records from over 700 court cases in early modern England.
• Cause Papers in the Diocesan Courts of the Archbishopric of York, 1300-1858 An online searchable catalogue of the papers of the Church courts of the diocese of York
• British Printed Images to 1700 A searchable digital library of printed images from early modern Britain.
• Early English Books Online (EEBO) Fully s earchable website that contains images page by page of almost every published work in English from 1473 to 1700.
• Eighteenth-Century Collections Online Fully searchable database of books, pamphlets, essays and broadsides published in the eighteenth-century.
• Foxe's Book of Martyrs Online Digitisation of several editions of Acts and Monuments of the English Church by the Elizabethan martyrologist, John Foxe.
• Old Bailey Records Online, 1674 to 1913 Fully searchable proceedings of the Old Bailey, relating to 197,745 criminal trials.
• The Records of Earl's Colne, Essex, 1375-1854 Maps and transcriptions of hundreds of historical documents relating to this parish.
• Revolutionary Players Primary sources relating to the Industrial Revolution in the West Midlands from 1700 to 1830.
• The Virtual Norfolk Project This website constructed at UEA from 2000-2003 provides archival primary source material for the history of Norfolk, c1400-1800.

Online tutorials in palaeography

• The National Archives online palaeography tutorial The National Archives tutorial in reading old handwriting, 1500-1800.
• The National Archives online beginners' latin tutorial A guide to latin used in documents from 1086 to 1733.
• Dr Postles's medieval and early modern online palaeography tutorials Created by Dr Dave Postles, formerly Marc Fitch Research Fellow in the Centre.
• University of Cambridge online palaeography tutorial This website covers English handwriting from 1500-1700.
• University of Keele latin and palaeography summer schools These annual week long summer schools are held in July and directed by Dr Nigel Tringham.
• Early Modern Scottish Handwriting online tutorialThe palaeography of Scottish historical documents, 1500-1800

County societies

• The Chetham Society List of volumes of primary sources relating to Lancashire and Cheshire published since 1843.
• The Devon and Cornwall Record Society Membership details and a list of their publications of primary sources.
• The Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Leicestershire's main archaeological and historical society.
• The Victoria County History for Leicestershire Recent resumption of work on the Leicestershire volumes.
• Lincoln Record Society Published records and documents relating to the county and diocese of Lincoln.
• Norfolk Record Society membership, publications, events and prizes for young researchers.
• Northamptonshire Record Society Membership, events, record series and journal.
• Rutland Local History and Record Society Includes links to digitised primary sources.
• The Suffolk Records Society Details of published volumes of primary sources, including a series of Suffolk charters.
• The Somerset Record Society Membership and list of titles of published primary source volumes.
• The Surtees Society Published primary resources chiefly relating to Durham, Northumberland and Yorkshire.
• The Thoroton Society Nottinghamshire's principal archaeological and historical society.
• The Warwickshire Local History Society News, membership and publications.
• The Worcestershire Historical Society Publisher of printed primary sources for Worcestershire, with an online shop.
• Yorkshire Archaeological Society Publications include a records series, parish register series and occasional papers on Yorkshire history and archaeology.