Tracing the history of your family is a popular activity for a growing number of people. There is a bewildering number of courses, books and websites designed to give advice on how to start and information on the sources (both online and printed) you can use, so this section of our website aims to pull together some useful advice on family history in general to assist you with your search, together with information specific to Cheshire where this exists.

How do I get started?

• Getting started in tracing your family tree

The most common records

Which records can I find at the Register Office?

• Records of Civil Registration - Birth, Marriage and Death.
• The indexes for the registers for Cheshire Register Offices are held at Cheshire Births, Marriages and Deaths.

Which records can I find at the Record Office?

Many of the records in the following pages can be found in County Record Offices. Before visiting a Record Office it is always a good idea to ring and check that they have information about:

• The area you are interested in
• Whether you need to make an appointment before visiting

Which sources can I find at my local library?

• The Library edition of Ancestry.com is available at the Record Office and in your local Library as are microfilms of census returns and local parish registers

Some common sources for family history

• Census returns
• Church of England parish registers
• Registers of other religious groups
• International Genealogical Index
• Wills and probate records
• Related Topics
• Cheshire Sources and Addresses