How to research the history of a person

Our local studies librarian delves into the archives

In our local studies and archives there are a number of sources available to you, should you want to investigate the history of a person. Note the following information is intended for research on deceased people. For sources on living people please visit the Reference Library.

Researching notable or famous people
Researching your family history

Researching notable or famous people

There are a number of sources available to you, should you want to investigate the history of someone who was notable or famous.

Nationally famous people

For nationally famous people, the following sources of information may prove useful:

Dictionary of National Biography (DNB), Who was who (for people who had entries in Who’s who when living), and our biography collection
Chelsea index, Kensington biographical, streets, manuscripts and history indexes. There are also indexes in published books for example the "Survey of London".
Censuses, electoral registers, rate books, and parish registers
Local newspapers – for obituaries

Local notable people

For local residents as well as the above mentioned sources you could try official records such as Council and Vestry minutes, Council diaries and Committee papers.

Researching your family history

When researching your own family history you may find the following sources useful to you.

Tracing someone by name

If you only know the name of one of your ancestors it can be hard to trace them. You may have to look at more than one local studies collection to find information.

The following sources maybe useful:

Local studies indexes
Parish Register indexes 1760s – 1837 (Civil registration begins), name indexes to some censuses.
Residents and commercial indexes in London and Local Kelly's directories
IGI (Mormon) index – English parish registers (does not include Kensington)
Census websites with searches by name – Public Record Office: www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk or www.ancestry.co.uk.

Tracing someone by name and address

It is slightly easier to trace a family history of someone if you have a name and address of where they lived. This is because you can narrow the search to records of a specific local studies department or parish register.

Note that names of streets and numbers of houses have changed in some cases. Naming and numbering records are available for many addresses.

The following sources may prove useful:

Censuses, rate books, electoral registers – all based on address
Kelly's directory – street directories
Post 1890 check electoral registers

Other London sources

If you know they lived in this part of London but are not sure where, you may find these sources useful to help narrow down your search.

The Family Records Centre, www.familyrecords.gov.uk
The London Metropolitan Archive or The Guildhall Library (both can be found at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk)/
Other local authority Local Studies departments, for example, Westminster City Archives (www.westminster.gov.uk/archives

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