Getting started
Family history research is a rewarding pastime, but it is not always easy. You will need to prepare yourself for patience, as it can involve a lot of reading through different types of records.
Like all good adventures, you must start from home. Gather together as much information and records from your family before going elsewhere. Certificates, letters, photographs and family bibles can form your first outline of a family tree, and give you pointers where to start researching.
What to research
Browse through the types of records we hold to find out what you can use for research. Baptism, marriage and burial registers will provide obvious links to family line, but you can find useful information plus context for the lives your ancestors lived in other records too. Censuses can help find names and addresses of families.
Visit the archives
Book a seat in the research room at the Treasure House, in Beverley. Here you can look at historic records and view all our public artefacts. You're welcome just to pop by during opening times, but to make sure you get a seat and have our staff prepare any items before you arrive, it is best to book a seat online. Can't search yourself but know what you need? You can also pay for research on your behalf.
You can try searching for names in our online catalogue. Staff and volunteers are always adding family names and other descriptions for various historic records into the catalogue to help you find relevant items. This is an ongoing part of our work, and not all items will have been covered.
You can also find local area history, town records, maps and newspapers for Goole and Bridlington at their Local Studies Libraries. Each has a special collection of photos and ephemera relating to their area.
Visit the ArchivesImage: Mothers and babies at Baptist Chapel, Lord Roberts Road, Beverley 1908 (archive ref PH-4-7)
Research for free with East Riding Libraries Join East Riding Libraries and you can borrow, download and access lots of helpful guides and research all for free.
Online study Supplement your research with great online resources
There are lots of useful websites to help you in your family history research. Building a family tree is an ongoing task and cannot be done with online research alone, but by using both visits to archives repositories and online resources to supplement your research, you will make great progress. Here are some useful websites.
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