This page, part of Free Oxford DNB, was kindly created for us by Oxford University Press to showcase some famous Lancastrians featured in the Dictionary of National Biography. You can view their stories for free. There all also links to explore other historical figures with links to the Red Rose County and a guide to using the DNB for local history research. Use your Lancashire Library membership login to explore these links.
more History
The first link below 'Family History for All' is to more sites in our Good Web Guide which are particularly useful for Family History research.
Learn: History is a link to sites in our Learning Place, especially chosen to help children and young people with school and homework.
Click on 'Lancashire Libraries List' above to see all the lists in our Good Web Guide lists.
This separate list in our Good Web Guide has a selection of some of the best sites to get you going with researching your family tree. They include advice, information and access to some historical records that can be searched online.
This catalogue contains information about the records held at Lancashire record Office in Preston. It is constantly being updated, so if you don’t find what you are looking for try the A2A online database, or contact the record office directly.
Lancashire County Council's mapping site containing local maps and aerial photographs for the whole county. Some historic maps for the region are also available. You can select a location and then overlay historic maps, photographs and information. This site also provides interactive information on administrative boundaries and local census and social statistics.
The online versions of Old Maps of Lancashire were produced by The Environment Directorate's Archaeology Service. Part of the remit of this service is to educate and inform the public about Lancashire's historic environment.
The DNB tells the stories of people who have shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC to the present day, from royalty to rock stars. You can search by place to find out who was born, lived or died where you are ~ We've paid so you don't have to ~ You'll need your Lancashire library number to login, if you want access outside libraries.
The complete digital edition of The Times (London) from 1785 to 1985. Every page of every issue includes headlines, articles, images, editorial, birth and death notices and classifieds. Search or browse through each issue ~ We've paid so you don't have to ~ You'll need your Lancashire library number to login, if you want access outside libraries.
John Johnson Collection provides access to thousands of items selected from the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera, offering unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Categories include Nineteenth-Century Entertainment, the Booktrade, Popular Prints, Crimes, Murders and Executions, and Advertising. You will need to log in using your Lancashire Library membership number.
Pastscape is a database created by English Heritage from the National Monument Register and provides a number of user friendly ways to search for information and images on archaeological, architectural and maritime sites.
Search the records of war memorials commemorating all wars located throughout the United Kingdom. They range from familiar community crosses and statues to less common memorials like bus shelters, sundials, park benches and even an island.
A web site from the Great Britain Historical GIS Project which is based at the Dept. of Geography at the University of Portsmouth. Using censuses, maps and other sources it attempts to create an idea of life in Britain over the last 200 years. It is searchable by place name or postcode.
Use ViewFinder to find historic photographs of England. The photographs on ViewFinder are all held by the National Monuments Record, the public archive of Historic England dating from the 1850s
This Victoria County History site provides free access to reliable local history materials, produced by academics and volunteers. Photographs, paintings, drawings, maps, text, transcribed documents and audio files are organised thematically.
As well as providing information on the association, this site also contains articles, maps, photographs and a time line of the Great War on the Western Front.
The Archive gives access to the original documents which drove and reflected change on the railway, making some available for the first time. The documents include; acts of parliament and publicity material, from the first Act of Parliament to regulate railways, right up to the Railways Act 2008 and accident reports up to date.. It is of use to anyone researching UK railway history and requiring access to primary source material.
This interactive timeline will allow you to explore British Library collection items chronologically, from medieval times to the present day. It includes a diverse combination of texts: those that allow glimpses of everyday life (handbills, posters, letters, diaries), remnants of political events (charters, speeches, campaign leaflets), and the writings of some of our best known historical and literary figures.
This web site has all the County series first edition 6" to mile Ordnance Survey maps, 1840's to 1890's for the whole country. It is possible to take an A4 print, which comes out quite well, but read the 'Terms and Conditions'
Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913, a free fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.
the NRA contains information on the nature and location of manuscripts and historical records that relate to British history. Search the register by corporate names, personal names or place.