North Yorkshire Archives

Yes. Visitors are recommended to make an appointment before arriving. You can book by email, phone, post, or in person. Walk-in visitors will be accommodated if there is space in the search room.

The Archives hold historic and contemporary records from the 12th century to the present day, including:

• Records of local administration (North Riding Quarter Sessions, records of County, District and Borough Councils, Poor Law Unions and workhouse records).
• Public records (records of the Coroner, hospitals, Magistrates Courts, shipping registers, railway plans).
• Parish records and faith-based groups (baptism, marriage and burial records for around 300 Church of England Parishes, other records relating to parish life, non-conformist records include Methodist and Quaker collections).
• Estate, Land and Property records (records of many of North Yorkshire’s landed estates and prominent families, the North Riding Register of Deeds recording freehold land transactions from 1736-1970, records of manor courts, and historic maps and plans).
• Records of business, societies and organisations (key business collections include Cochranes Shipyard of Selby and records on Lead mining).
• Significant photographic collections covering people and places from across North Yorkshire.

No. There are many thousands of records within our collections with only a small proportion available to access and view online.

You can search the online catalogue for descriptions of the collections and use the online shop to view and order copies of historic maps and photographs, access research services and more.

Many parish registers and electoral rolls are available to search and view through the subscription websites Ancestry and Find my Past. Information and images of collections can also be found on the North Yorkshire Archives blog.

Facilities include a public search room, digital and manual microfilm readers with copying facilities, free wi-fi, a public PC with access to Ancestry and Find my Past, local history books, and a self service refreshment area with a fridge.

The Archive building is based on Malpas Road, Northallerton DL7 8TB. The building is accessible on a single level, with a designated disabled parking space and 9 general parking spaces available.

No, birth, death or marriage certificates for North Yorkshire can be ordered from North Yorkshire Council Registration Services, see Certificates – birth, death, marriage and civil partnership | North Yorkshire Council. Parish copies of baptism, marriage and burial records may be found within our collections and often pre-date civil registration, which began in 1837.

The Archives started collecting records linked to the historic North Riding of Yorkshire in 1949 when the North Riding Record Office was set-up. In 1974 the North Riding was abolished, and the county of North Yorkshire was created. This altered our collecting area to remove places now covered by Teesside (including Middlesbrough, Redcar and Saltburn), add parts of the former West Riding (including Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Skipton, Settle, Bentham, Tadcaster and Selby), and add part of the former East Riding (including Filey). Further boundary changes took place in 1996 with the establishment of the City of York Council.

Due in part to boundary changes, material relating to North Yorkshire is held at several other archives including the West Yorkshire Archive service, Teesside Archives, East Riding Archives, and The Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York.

We don’t currently have any spaces available within our volunteering programme.

If you cannot visit the archives in person, our in-house research service can help you to explore our collections for a fee. Our experienced staff can undertake research using our full range of records including parish and non-conformist registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, electoral registers, tithe maps and many other sources. Alternatively, we can, in many instances, provide digital or paper copies of the records in our collections. Just get in touch and we’ll be happy to provide a quote or further information.

Yes.  Please contact us if you have records that may be suitable to add to our collections and we can advise further.

Yes, we hold regular public tours behind the scenes at the Archives with a short introductory session on how to start your research and the collections we hold.