Family History

Family History

Tracing your family tree can be an absorbing and time consuming hobby. This site is not a guide to doing your family tree. If you need to know how to start, read one of the many excellent books which have been published on the subject or visit a web site devoted to helping people trace their family history such as GENUKI.

If you are interested in researching your family history, Westminster Archives Centre holds a variety of sources to assist you. Our friendly and experienced staff are available to guide you through your first steps, and advise you how to progress. This site is designed to help you discover the range of the information sources we hold which may be helpful in your research. This will help you determine how you can best use your time if you visit Westminster Archives Centre. If you are in any doubt as to whether we hold particular records, you should contact us to confirm that we have exactly what you are looking for.

If you are unable to visit the Archives Centre we can supply copies of parish register entries where the exact date and church is known or census entries where the exact address is known. The charge for this service is £4.00 per entry. Cheques should be made payable to the City of Westminster and posted, along with full details of the request, to City of Westminster Archives Centre, 10 St Ann's Street, London, SW1P 2DE. Tel: 020 7641 5180.

For family history research we recommend that you use a professional record agent. Details of agents can be obtained from the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives, 29 Badgers Close, Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 5RU.

What area does Westminster cover? 

Westminster first became a city in 1540, but Westminster City Council was not established until 1900. Prior to the formation of the City of Westminster in 1900 10 civil parishes governed the area. These were St Anne, Soho; St Clement Danes; St George Hanover Square; St James Piccadilly; St Margaret and St John, Westminster; St Martin-in-the-Fields; St Mary-le-Strand; St Paul, Covent Garden; the Precinct of the Savoy and the Liberty of the Rolls. In 1965 the area of the City of Westminster was expanded to include the former Metropolitan boroughs of St Marylebone and Paddington. These boroughs had been the parishes of St Marylebone and Paddington before 1900.