Local studies at Kendal Library

Resources

We have:

• Births, Deaths and Marriages, England and Wales Registrar General’s Indexes from 1837 to 2003 (microfiche)
• Ancestry, Find My Past and the British Newspaper Archive are all available free of charge through the public access computers - find out more about our online resources
• Census returns 1841 to 1901 on microfiche
• International Genealogical index (IGI) 1992 edition for England, Wales and Scotland on microfiche

Parish registers

Microfilm copies of parish registers relating to:

• the historic County of Westmorland
• Sedbergh and Dent district formerly in the West Riding of Yorkshire
• the Cartmel District formerly Lancashire North of the Sands - some transcripts and published sources

Directories

County and regional directories from 1829 to 1938. Kendal and neighbourhood directories for:

• 1953
• 1963
• 1965
• 1974

Unpublished indexes

A large proportion of the books are not included in the online catalogue but are listed in an unpublished catalogue within the library. Card index for ephemeral files and photographs

Maps

Large selection of Ordnance Survey maps from 1st edition, including county series 6” and 25” to 1 mile through to modern day on various scales Additionally, there is a small collection of pre-OS county maps dating back to the early 18th century.

Photographs 

Large collection of photographs from the mid-19th century to modern day. Notable collections include Geoffrey Berry Photograph Archive, works of Moses Bowness, Joseph Hardman, postcards and personal scrapbooks. There is an extensive collection available online at the Cumbria Image Bank.

Newspapers

Microfilmed copies of local newspapers. 

Journals

Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society.1874 to present

A collection of newsletters published by local societies and interest groups.

Ephemera collection

Several thousand items such as:

• handbills
• posters
• pamphlets
• annual report
• newspaper cuttings
• other printed material.

Kendal oral history group

Indexes and transcripts available including for the Kendal Flood Archive.

Find out more about the Kendal Oral History Group