Genealogy Chat

Has anyone been to Durham County Record Office and if so how good is it for research? I live in B'ham and have only ever used B'ham central library which has extensive archives. Is Durham the same? I am planning a trip soon as that is where my husbands family are from, I have checked out several websites, Durham & Darlington(which is what I am especially interested in) genuki and they sound very good but I would appreciate feedback from someone who has actually been there. Karen Birmingham

Hi Karen I have only visited, not used it, the records office at Durham but looks very good, but of course you will have to book a session. I live in Darlington and the Local Studies dept at the local library are very good have used them a lot and are very helpful. You should book a session but maybe at this time of year you will have no difficulty getting a session booked. Ann,Darlington

Ann Thanks for the reply. Darlington is the area I'm interested in at the moment as thats where all the christening records should be. Do they have the parish registers of the various churches as I would be interested in having a look at them? Hoping to move further north as more information comes to light. Karen

Karen Yes there are parish records on reel so if you are booking tell them you want to use a reel reader as ther are'nt many but there are more fiche readers.Photocopies are about 30p a copy which they will do for you at the time. If by any chance you can't get up then mail me and I will do any look ups for you. Ann,Darlington

Ann many thanks for the info and the offer of help. If I can't get up fairly soon I will take you up on it. Best Wishes Karen

Karen, I drove up to Durham Records office about 8 weeks ago, from Berkshire. They have a fantastic amount of info there and quite a few film readers, I was on no. 11, also, don't know if it was because I was on my own up there, but other people using the facilities were so nice to me. There is also a brilliant resturant. You will probably need a reader for the whole day, I only ordered it for half a day, but was lucky that there was one free for the afternoon as I had only got part way through what I wanted to look at, and could have stayed longer! You do need to book, I booked 3 weeks in advance, but there were some there who book for every week. The directions they give are very acurate. Try and make the trip, I did and had a ball!!! Good luck with your search Kim Sandhurst

Thanks for all your input, I will certainly try and make the trip soon. Sorry It took time to say thanks but I got an error message last night and could not view the tips board. Many thanks again. Karen B'Ham

Hi Karen, I'm just catching up with some of the messages on the boards. I too am in Darlington like Ann so can offer help if needed. Durham Record Office is well worth a visit...you can book online and search their database online too. Happy hunting, Beryl, Darlington DUR