Family History

You can start your family history research at Lincolnshire Archives even if your ancestors did not live in Lincolnshire.

Useful sources are the various indexes to wills, births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales and also the trade and professional directories.

If your ancestors did live in Lincolnshire, then you may want to look at the census returns, parish registers and the pre-1858 Lincolnshire probate records such as wills and inventories. Our reference books and other archives will help you to find out more about where and how your family lived. Please see the various ‘What can I find out about my ancestors in…’ documents which can be viewed at Lincolnshire  Archives.

Another place to start your local history search is libraries or the Registration Service.

You can also use our Lincs To The Past website where you can search over half a million resources from the County’s collections, including images of parish registers.