Articles

Katie Amos follows up on an episode from the 2018 series of Who Do You Think You Are? ...

In this the final instalment, Jean Harland continues her recollections of living in a rural village during World War ...

What then happened to Charlie? Charlie had concluded his letter of 22 October 1915 by informing his parents from Plymouth that “we are going at 12 o’clock this morning”. We learn later that his Unit had been posted to Egypt. He sent to his young brother Jack a Christmas card...

In 1634, Reading was a medium sized town well positioned for trade with good water and road transport links. Woollen cloth production employed nearly one third of the town in the early 17th century and some people made a lot of money. There was a decline in this trade over...

Kintbury St Mary CD includes Baptisms 1558-1953, Banns 1754-1932, Marriages 1557-1981, Burials 1558-1972....

What new archives are now available at the BRO? What’s going on at the BRO? World War One Exhibition...

The Museum is open to the public on the first and third Sundays in the month from 2.00pm to 4.30pm. It is open at other times by arrangement for group bookings (please phone 0118 9549371). See below for specific archival enquiries....

This updated version has added approx.150 more memorials including many Commonwealth war graves. Of the CD content 56% now has images including all the new memorials and many more of the Edition 1 entries. The disc provides a variety of finding aids. Edition: 2018...

For many family historians the issues with parish registers during the English Civil War and Interregnum are a brick wall. Catherine Sampson explores these issues in the parishes in and around Reading, and also highlights a few of the many opportunities within this period....

It is a popular belief that researching your Irish ancestry is not for the faint-hearted. Drawing on recent research, Derek Trinder offers a brief overview to help you to start a journey into your Irish ancestry...

James and Charles Butler both responded in early 1915 to the call to arms and volunteered for army service. Jim was 17 and Charlie was 15. They were amongst some 2½ million men who joined the British army voluntarily between August 1914 and December 1915. This is their story...

The Reading Central Library’s illustration collection is one source of photographs that the Berkshire Family Historian uses to illustrate its articles. In case you hadn’t realised that such a thing existed, or that it is easily viewable online, and that you can have your very own copies too, here...

I came to the article ‘Ancient Oak?’ by David Wooldridge and saw that it was about HMS Foudroyant. I thought “I remember seeing Foudroyant moored in Portsmouth Harbour when sailing there in the 1970s and 80s. It was a dismasted warship of Nelson’s era used as a training ship.”...

A rather splendid clock and barometer mounted in a wooden anchor graced a wall in my Grandmother’s house and was regularly tapped by everyone passing through the middle room. One day my Grandmother told me that the wood was oak from a famous warship. Here is the tale of...

- Over 250,000 baptisms - Over 777,000 names - 102 parish and non-parochial registers of the "old" Royal County of Berkshire. Update available for first edition...

More than 900,000 transcriptions (not an index) – More than 270 churchyards, cemeteries, burial grounds and workhouses – 71,000 more entries than 11th Edition – Covers ALL of ‘old’ Berkshire – Updates available for ninth, 10th and 11th editions...

More than 900,000 transcriptions (not an index) – More than 270 churchyards, cemeteries, burial grounds and workhouses – 71,000 more entries than 11th Edition – Covers ALL of ‘old’ Berkshire – Updates available for ninth, 10th and 11th editions...

Images from the 39 parts of Berkshire and the War published by the Reading Standard in 1923. Nearly 12,000 names, over 700 civilian organisations together with many of the Army regiments,...

Wills are a valuable resource for family history researchers and are particularly important once the research progresses back into the parish registers and we no longer have the censuses to provide confirmation of family groupings. Berkshire Probate Index: an index to the probate documents of the Archdeaconry of Berkshire 1480...

This new edition is almost half as large again as it’s predecessor (published in 1998), with 74 articles on Berkshire’s history (and pre-history) from the Palaeolithic period to the twenty-first century, each accompanied by specially-drawn maps in full colour, and with numerous illustrations. Most of the original articles have been...

Index to the probate documents of the Archdeaconry of Berkshire. 39,000 probate records are included. It is easy to search or to browse....

74 articles on Berkshire’s history (and pre-history) from the Palaeolithic period to the twenty-first century, each accompanied by specially-drawn maps in full colour, and with numerous illustrations. ...

6 inch to the mile scale, first edition OS maps of Berkshire, scanned from the set held at Berkshire Record Office ...

It is generally thought that papers relating to Coroners' Inquests have been lost. However, the Berkshire Record Office has evidence of over 10,000 inquests between 1688 and 1926 - all of which are indexed on this CD. Edition: 2009...

Following September 2008's opening of the Broadmoor archives to the public, Mark Stevens of the Berkshire Records Office describes some of the challenges facing conservators...

Records dating from before 1834 arranged by Poor Law Union. Includes all the volumes and a master index....

The museum at the Thames Valley Police Training College at Sulhamstead contains an exceptional collection, including uniforms and equipment, and accounts of notorious crimes committed in Berkshire in Victorian times. The Metropolitan Police Force was created by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel in 1829, but it took another 27 years...