Your first visit to the Record Office

[MaryA]

The Liverpool Record Office is on 3rd Floor of the William Brown Street Library, L3 8EW, there is limited parking in William Brown Street itself but a better car park in the road behind, all are pay and display.

The catalogue is here http://liverpool.gov.uk/libraries/archi ... y-history/ but I think everybody agrees that it's not ideal for finding whether the references you want are held on microfilm or in document form. It is usually best if you check the catalogue for any document you might wish to view and then email the library and ask them to check. If the records are in document form you will need to book them together with a space in the Archive Room, giving at least 24 hours notice. If your records are on microfilm/microfiche/on the shelves, then the machines are freely available and don't need to be booked.

It will be best to bring some ID (perhaps a utility bill) so that you can get a library card and pin number, this will enable you to use one of the many computers which have free access to Ancestry and Findmypast among other software.

If you can arrange your visit to include a Tuesday afternoon, the Society hosts a Help Desk at the Record Office between 1.30 and 4.00 pm where we will try to help and point you in some helpful directions.

If you are just beginning to research your family, try to draw out the beginnings of your tree with as many names and dates as you know, especially after chatting to any older family members who you can gather information from. It doesn't matter if this information is quite sketchy as you will be verifying this from facts for yourself.