Record summary list

In summary the types of record held include the following:

Local Government records from:

• Wiltshire County Council
• Boroughs of Calne, Chippenham, Devizes, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Salisbury, Swindon, Wilton and Wootton Bassett
• Urban and Rural District Councils
• District Councils
• Parish Councils – see our quick access links to the catalogue listings for parish councils

Court records from:

• Quarter Sessions
• Petty Sessions
• County Courts

Records of other official services:

• Water authorities
• Health services
• Poor law unions
• Probate records
• Tithe awards
• Inland Revenue
• Charity Commission

Records of the Anglican Church:

• Salisbury Diocese – central diocesan records
• Parishes – see our quick access links to the catalogue listings for Wiltshire parishes
• Salisbury Theological College

Records of Nonconformist Churches

Charities

Newspapers, directories and other printed sources

• See our guide to printed sources

Family and Estate records

• See our family and estate record summary list

Miscellaneous societies and organisations including:

• Trade unions
• Community organisations
• Political parties and members of parliament
• Wiltshire Friendly Society
• Rural Development Commission
• Women’s Institutes

Solicitors including:

• Andrews and Hepworth, Pewsey
• Awdry & Co, Devizes
• Bevan Ashford, Swindon
• Bevirs, Wootton Bassett
• Creswicks, Chippenham
• Elwells, Highworth
• Farnfield & Nicholls, Warminster
• Forrester & Forrester, Malmesbury
• Goughs, Calne
• Hoare’s Bank, London
• Mann, Rodway and Green, Trowbridge
• Merriman, Marlborough
• Mullings, Cirencester
• Parker Bullen, Salisbury
• Pinniger Finch, Westbury
• Trethowans, Salisbury
• Wilkins & Hill, Bradford on Avon
• Wilsons, Salisbury
• Woods & Awdry, Chippenham

Businesses including:

• Avon Rubber, Melksham, tyre manufacturers
• Beavens, Holt, tanners
• Bowyers, Trowbridge, sausage manufacturers
• British Gas
• British Rail, Western Region (including Great Western Railway)
• Butcher’s, Warminster, builders
• Case’s, Westbury Leigh, tanners
• Chivers, Devizes, builders
• Clarks, Trowbridge, cloth manufacturers
• Colliers, Trowbridge, cloth merchants
• Cow & Gate, Trowbridge, baby food manufacturers
• Cunningtons, Devizes, wine merchants
• Higgins, Salisbury, chemists
• Lavertons, Westbury, cloth manufacturers
• Nestle, Staverton, milk products
• Reeves, Bratton, machine makers
• Rendells, Devizes, builders
• Salters, Trowbridge, cloth manufacturers
• Sawtells, Melksham, feather purifiers
• Spencers, Melksham, engineers
• Spencer Moulton, Bradford, rubber mfrs
• Sykes, Warminster, farmer
• Swindon Cable TV
• Swindon Permanent Building Society
• Unigate, Trowbridge, milk products
• Ushers, Trowbridge, brewers
• Wadworth, Devizes, brewers
• Westinghouse, Chippenham, engineers
• Wilton Royal Carpet Co

Professional firms including:

• A Borthwick, archaeological research
• Bothams, Salisbury, architects
• Brakspear, Corsham, architects
• Carter Jonas, Marlborough, estate agents
• Fielder & Jones, Malmesbury, estate agents
• Humberts, Salisbury, estate agents
• Imrie Porter and Wakefield, Warminster, architects
• Strutt and Parker, Salisbury, estate agents
• Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, auctioneers
• Wyvern Group, Devizes, architects

Maps and plans

• See archived maps for further information

Catalogues

These on-line catalogues act as a kind of ‘travel brochure’, offering a way of browsing the extensive information we hold. However, like any good brochure, we hope it will also whet your appetite to visit us in person, or, if appropriate, to visit one of the county’s libraries, monuments, museums, or sites.

It should be noted that the catalogues are far from complete. Not everything may be catalogued yet, or it may be considered confidential.

If you have any query, please contact our staff using the contacts given within the homepages for each catalogue shown below.

There are hard-copy catalogues available in our searchroom near to the help desk. There are also indexes to some subjects, collections and transcripts. Our help desk staff will be happy to assist you with finding and using these.

Archives

The main archive catalogue is available in two places:

• Our own catalogue site. This has been revised as of 2016 and is based on weekly extracts from our in-house database. It contains catalogues of most of our holdings excluding a small but significant minority such as school records, non-conformist records and other collections still awaiting conversion to database format. You can use this Subject Index to find terms to input into the ‘Subject’ field of the online catalogue.
• The National Archives Discovery. This site acts as a portal to catalogues from public archives throughout the country, including the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives. Discovery covers the minority of records not yet available on our own in-house catalogue. However it is not being kept updated so should be a last resort rather than first resort.

The archive catalogue and offensive terminology

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre holds diverse archive collections spanning nearly a thousand years. We recognise that some of these archives contain terms describing race, gender, class, sexual orientation, disability and mental health which may be offensive. Original titles, historical place names and terms used in the original source may appear in the catalogue descriptions of such items. These terms inform of the nature and content of the source and are representative of the time and context of their creation; such information is an essential part of the record and as such will not be edited or removed in a way that affects the authenticity of the record.

Such terms may be derogatory, inappropriate, abusive, harmful and offensive and can be upsetting for many people, creating a barrier to access. This statement is intended to make clear that the use of these terms in a catalogue description is not an endorsement of this language or content. The use of original file titles and other language which appears in the original record will be placed in quotation marks to make this distinction clear. Note that there may be offensive language within the archive document which does not appear in the catalogue descriptions.

Language use and meanings change over time and where catalogue descriptions contain offensive terminology which is not part of the original title of the record or a quotation from the record, we aim to update these to contain more neutral and inclusive language. This is an ongoing process and we welcome suggestions and comment or the report of harmful material where you feel this could be addressed. Please email archives@wiltshire.gov.uk with the relevant collection reference and your comment for review.

We will be producing finding aids to help researchers discover records relating to disability and mental health; LGBTQ+; Black history, people of colour and ethnic minorities; and Non-Christian religious groups. In the meantime, there are online glossaries and guides available to help you know what terms can be worth searching for to help locate records.

Disability History Glossary – Historic England

How to look for records of gay, lesbian and bisexual history – The National Archives

Black British history – Black British History – The National Archives

Wills and probate records

As the principal depository for the Diocese of Salisbury, we hold the historic wills verified by the church between 1540 and 1858. This collection not only covers Wiltshire but also parts of Berkshire, Dorset, Somerset and other surrounding counties.

It is possible to search the catalogue of wills using our catalogue site.

Access to online wills is now available via the Ancestry website

Local studies

Search the Wiltshire Studies collection held both within the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre and at libraries across Wiltshire.

Sites and Monument Record

Search the Sites and Monuments Record for details of the county’s archaeology and ancient monuments.