From the armies who rode north during the Civil War, to the early commuters rushing to London in the Industrial Revolution, many of our travelling ancestors had to pass through Warwickshire. The county has become a hub for the entire nation — which has been reflected throughout history in its canal links, rail network and thriving motor industry.
Use our new parish records to piece together the most important events of your ancestors’ lives. Then put them in the wider context with our exclusive timeline.
Our Warwickshire parish registers let you uncover your family's births, marriages and deaths before civil registration started in 1837. Among the millions of local people, see if you can spot ancestors from elsewhere, as they pass through the region.
Discover your ancestors at birth, and look for vital clues like their parents’ names and a rough address.
Search nowPinpoint the churches where your ancestors were buried, and you could one day visit their final resting places.
Search nowGet a feel for everyday parish life by looking through these unindexed rate books, constable reports, council meetings and more!
Browse nowThe vicar in each parish recorded the names of the bride and groom, plus their occupations, ages and addresses.
Search nowStep back in time five centuries, and follow your family’s story through the twists and turns in the county’s past.
Search nowMuch of Warwickshire’s workforce was employed on the railways during the Industrial Revolution. Track your ancestors in our Railway Employment Records, 1833-1963.
Once you've built your family's timeline using our Warwickshire parish records, delve deeper into their lives with thousands of other new records. Then relate them to historical events with our Warwickshire timeline.
This collection could help you uncover some of the secrets in your family history. It’s full of fathers who left their families and had to be tracked down by the courts.
The records are actually court orders forcing these fathers to provide for their children. They reveal both parents’ names and home parishes, plus often the child’s gender and birth date.
One of the oldest ways of measuring a person’s wealth is by how much land they own. That makes these records a great indicator of your ancestors’ finances.
They include both landowners and tenants, and reveal their names, home parishes, and how much tax they paid. There are different records for each year, so you can follow the changes in your family’s fortunes.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, constant war with France had local authorities worried about invasion. Their response was to raise their own part-time armies — known as militias — to defend their counties.
This collection reveals the men who protected the West Midlands. It includes service certificates, account statements, commission notices and promotion qualifications.
Look for the key dates in your ancestors’ stories in our parish records. Then consider the wider events that impacted their lives with our exclusive timeline.
From gunpowder plots to World War II bombings, Warwickshire has always been at the centre of national events. To discover how your ancestors coped, follow these simple steps:
Follow your ancestors' lives in our new parish records and use your family tree to keep track of their birth, marriage and death dates.
Read the timeline below to see what events affected your forebears' lives. Perhaps members of your family took part in the 1607 Midland Revolt or worked on the first canals in the 18th century?
Our timeline may suggest good next steps for your research. Mass migration would point you towards passenger lists; warfare would suggest military records; while changes in working habits might have you looking in occupation records.
Follow your forebears' lives on Warwickshire’s changing landscape
While Coventry was surviving the Blitz, many of its men (and some women) were away fighting in other parts of the world. You’ll find details of all our WWII records on our military page.
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