2nd Floor
Central Library
Calverley Street
Leeds
LS1 3AB
Tel : 0113 247 8290
Fax : 0113 247 8290
Opening Times
09.00 - 20.00 Monday
09.00 - 20.00 Tuesday
09.00 - 20.00 Wednesday
09.00 - 17.00 Thursday
09.00 - 17.00 Friday
10.00 - 17.00 Saturday
13.00 - 17.00 Sunday
The Local and Family History Library aims to acquire, conserve and make available to the public all materials published on Leeds and significant publications on Yorkshire, with the emphasis on West Yorkshire. The library holds about 180,000 items including books, journals, directories, maps, photographs and prints, playbills and microfilms. The library is concerned with two distinct subject areas Local History - anything to do with Leeds and Yorkshire – history, geography, religion, education, natural history and Family History – a fast-growing area of popularity, for which we have a wide variety of resources.
Research services
If you are unable to visit the library, staff will answer quick enquiries received by e-mail, letter or telephone free of charge. For more detailed research requests a charge is made, £4.90 per 30 minutes for Leeds residents and £9.80 per 30 minutes for customers who live outside Leeds. Contact the Local and Family History Library for more information.
You can use our online form to make a request for local and family history information.
Details of collections of note are listed below.
Trade directories
Many Yorkshire trade directories are in stock but the collection is particularly strong in directories of Leeds and the West Riding dating from the 1780s. The last Kelly's directory of Leeds was published in 1947 and the last Barrett's in 1966. After this date telephone and other classified directories are available.
Voters lists (electoral rolls/registers)
There is an almost complete run of voters' lists of Leeds, dating from 1832.Before 1974 the lists cover the old Borough of Leeds and after that date the Leeds Metropolitan District. No lists were compiled during the World Wars.
Local newspapers and journals
The library holds microfilm copies of all the major Leeds newspapers back to the eighteenth century, including the Yorkshire Post and its fore-runner the Leeds Intelligencer, the Leeds Mercury, which merged with the Yorkshire Post in 1939, the Yorkshire Evening Post, and Yorkshire Evening News. Other current and historic local Leeds newspapers are also kept e.g. Pudsey News as well as Leeds and Yorkshire journals. An index to local newspapers has been maintained for the past thirty years covering major local news items, obituaries and biographical articles on Leeds people which can now be searched online at www.leedslocalindex.net.
One newspaper microfilm viewer is available for booking at a charge of 50p per hour. Other viewers are available on a first come, first served basis
Maps
An extensive collection of maps covering all of Yorkshire, but specialising in Leeds and the north part of the West Riding, is held in the library; maps date from around 1500. Ordnance survey maps are available from 1850.
Print collection
This consists of photographs, prints and engravings of Leeds and Yorkshire subjects, mostly topographical in scope and including photographs of Leeds taken by the City Engineer's Department between 1890 and 1960. Most of the images can be viewed online at www.leodis.net
Parish registers
The library holds a wide range of printed transcripts and microform copies of manuscript registers. Coverage is mainly centred on Leeds, but parish registers for some other parts of Yorkshire are held. There are also microfilm copies of the non-parochial (i.e. non-conformist) registers of Yorkshire taken from the originals in the Public Record Office, London, most of which end in 1837.
Census enumerators returns
Microfilm copies for the whole of Yorkshire 1841 -1901 are available for consultation on open public access in the Family History Room within the Local Studies Library. Microfilm and microfiche reading machines are available here and in other locations in the department; there is a booking system for the use of some of these machines at a cost of 60p per hour. Other machines are available on a first come, first served basis.
Various indexes to the Census returns are provided to help researchers.
We also sell 1901 on-line census vouchers, available from the Local Studies Library and some of the larger branch libraries at £5 each.
Births, deaths and marriages
The Register General's (formerly St.Catherine's House) Indexes of births, deaths and marriages in England and Wales, 1837 - 2000 are available on microfilm and microfiche for consultation and a booking system for the use of some of the viewing machines is in operation. You can get copies of Leeds certificates from the Register Office in the Leeds Town Hall.
Ancestry.com and Origins.net
There is free internet access in Local Studies to Ancestry.com and also Origins.net. Ancestry includes the census returns for England from 1841- 1901 as well as the births, marriages and deaths indexes. Origins has some English, Welsh and Irish census returns, plus other resources such as Boyd's Marriage Index, London Apprenticeship Records, and Griffiths Valuation. Please note you will need to bring proof of your name and address to access this resource.
International Genealogical Index
Also available on open public access are the microfiche copies of the sections for the British Isles extracted from the Mormon Church's Computer File Index of Genealogical Source Material (about 3,000 fiches). This index is no longer updated on microform, but the on-line version can be seen on the Family Search website.
Burial registers
A recent acquisition is the microfilmed burial registers from Lawnswood Cemetery. These registers are of the records in all 22 Leeds municipal cemeteries, and cover both burials and cremations.
Copying services
Copies of material may be obtained in the form of photocopies and photographs, subject to copyright restrictions, and on payment of the current charges, which are available on request. Microfilm reader-printers and microfiche are available, for public use, in the Local Studies Library.
Archives
The Leeds Archives Office is a separate organisation located in north Leeds and is part of the West Yorkshire Archive Service.
Community libraries
Most community libraries have collections relating to their local area; much of the material is available for loan. Morley, Rothwell, Horsforth, Armley and Pudsey libraries have the most extensive collections.
Online resources
Check out 100s of online reference books, encyclopaedias and articles free.