Research your Staffordshire genealogy and family history with these resources and online records, which include births, marriages and deaths, burials, convicts, wills, military records and more.
Archives
Births, Marriages, Deaths & Parish Records
- England BMDs
Search the entire collection of birth, marriage and death records for Staffordshire. - Staffordshire BMD
Staffordshire BMD (Births,Marriages,Deaths) has free access to over 4 million records from 1837 onwards. The database is continually added to and updated. - Staffordshire Parish Records
- West Midlands BMD
- Wolverhampton Parish Records
Burials & Cemeteries
- Leek Burials
A PDF with thousands of records listed by surname. - Staffordshire Memorial Inscription Collection
Census Records
- Staffordshire Census 1841-1921
Search the 11 million records from 1841-1921, plus the 1,222,000 records from the 1939 Register for Staffordshire all at once. - FreeCen
Some free census records from the county, but not complete coverage.
Criminals & Law
- Convicts Transported From Staffordshire
Hundreds of names of convicts who were transported including the offence and sentence. - Criminal Ancestor Records
- Calendars of Prisoners at Staffordshire Quarter Sessions, 1779-1880
Has many records including quarter sessions, gaol photos and workhouse admissions. - Staffordshire Law Officers 1086-1912
A book containing a list of sheriffs, escheators and justices of the peace.
Forums
Heraldry
- Staffordshire Visitation 1583
- Staffordshire Visitations 1614, 1663-4
These records include the pedigrees of prominent families. At the front of the book, there’s an index of names. - Staffordshire Coats of Arms 1272-1327
Includes images and information about the arms.
Historical Directories
- Staffordshire Historical Directories
Various directories from different years. - Directory of Staffordshire 1834
Includes a business directory, gazetteer and history of the county. - Willenhall Online Indexes
Local History
- Black Country History
Black Country History is a searchable website which allows users to find information about documents, maps, photographs, art works, objects and more held by archives and museums services within the Black Country.
The eight partners involved in this website are:- Dudley Archives and Local History Service
- Dudley Museums Service
- Sandwell Community History and Archives Service
- Sandwell Museums Service
- Walsall Local History Centre
- Walsall Museums Service
- Wolverhampton Archives and Local Studies
- Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service
- Domesday Book Staffordshire
- Lichfield Lore
- Staffordshire History (Archived)
This is a large and developing site devoted to Staffordshire’s history (i.e. pre-1888 boundaries). It is an important reference and information resource for researchers, both professional and amateur whose aim is to encourage Local History groups throughout the old historic county and to publicise their activities, meetings and achievements. - Staffordshire Past Track
Staffordshire Past Track contains thousands of digitised old photo, documents and local history interests including:- Staffordshire Working Lives
- Distinctive Staffordshire
- Crime & Punishment in the Archives
- GENUKI Staffordshire
A free family history & genealogy resource which lists links and resources for the English county of Staffordshire. - The Story of Walsall
Find out the origins of the town, plus its history since that time. Also some old pub and WWII images. - Willenhall Online Indexes
Willenhall Online Indexes contains some great indexes for family historians tracing ancestors from Willenhall, Staffordshire.
The indexes available are:- Historical directories of Willenhall for the years 1770, 1818, 1835 and 1864/5
- Willenhall War Memorial
- Portobello War Memorial
- Hearth Tax 1666
- Some St.Giles Parish Registers
- Willenhall Lockmakers & Allied Trades
Maps
Military Records
- British Military Records
- Staffordshire Home Guard
- Staffordshire Muster Roll 1539
The muster roll lists the members of military units in Staffs. - Staffordshire Roll of Honour
- War Graves
- Willenhall War Memorial
- Wolverhampton Roll of Honour (WWI)
Wolverhampton War Memorials is dedicated to the people that gave their lives during the two world wars. You will find information and names from many war memorials in an around Wolverhampton. Included are church memorials listed from A-Z, plus some rolls of honour and cemetery memorials. All for free!
Newspaper Archives
- British Newspaper Collection 1710-1953
Search millions of newspaper articles from the Staffordshire Advertiser, Wolverhampton Chronicle, County Advertiser and many more.
Obituaries
Occupations
- Lost Pubs of Staffordshire
- Staffordshire Apprentice Records
- Staffordshire Photographers Index
- Staffordshire Police Force Registers 1842-1920
Poor Law & Workhouses
- Admission to and Discharges from Poor Law Union Workhouses 1836-1900
This is an index to admissions to and discharges from Union Workhouses, taken from all surviving registers dating between 1836 and 1900, in the care of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service.
School Records
- School Admission Registers 1870-1914
There are over 250,000 records in this collection.
Societies and Groups
- Audley Family History Society
- Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry
- Burntwood Family History Group
Surnames
Wills and Probate
About Staffordshire
Population
- 1841 – 510,504
- 1851 – 630,545
- 1861 – 769,541
- 1871 – 857,333
- 1881 – 981,013
- 2014 – 860,165
Largest Towns & Cities
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Tamworth
- Newcastle-under-Lyme
- Burton-upon-Trent
- Stafford
Most Common Surnames 1881
- Smith
- Jones
- Taylor
- Williams
- Johnson
Places of Interest
- National Memorial Arboretum
- Staffordshire Regiment Museum
- Tamworth Castle
- Stafford Castle
- Wedgwood Museum
- Potteries Museum
- Apedale Heritage Centre
For family history purposes, Wolverhampton is included in Staffordshire, although since 1974 it’s been part of the West Midlands.
Stoke-on-Trent is still part of Staffordshire, but is administrated as an independent unitary authority.