Welcome to the West Yorkshire Archive Service

Let us take the hard work out of researching your history…

Our unique records could provide you with details about the lives of your ancestors in the West Riding. This could include details of their employment, education and property ownership.

The registers for baptisms, marriages and burials pre-1837 could help you to take your family tree even further back. Are you interested in discovering more about the history of your house? The West Riding Registry of Deeds may have information that can help.

The West Yorkshire Archive Service offers a specialist Research Service that can consult a range of records on your behalf and a specific deeds research service for searches in the Registry. Our experienced staff can examine these records and help you to discover a lot more about your family.

For more information about how we can help you to find out about your family history have a look at the Research Service or if you’re interested in property ownership follow the link to the West Riding Registry of Deeds.

The West Yorkshire Archive Service exists to preserve the local heritage of historical documents and to help members of the public make use of them. The Service has offices in Wakefield, Bradford, Calderdale (Halifax), Kirklees (Huddersfield), and Leeds. Anyone interested in the history of Yorkshire, who would like to discover what records have survived, is welcome to visit or contact any of the offices of the West Yorkshire Archive Service.

WYAS collects and preserves historical records of all kinds dating from the twelfth century to the present day. More information about the kinds of archives we keep can be found in our online catalogue or in our collections guides.

WYAS offers a wide range of services including using archives in our searchrooms, our Research Service , The West Riding Registry of Deeds, learning and community support, and Conservation and preservation advice. We also offer a modern records storage service and advice to local authorities on record keeping.

Our friendly and professional staff are happy to help with your enquiries, guide you through your research and support you in getting the most out of your experience with WYAS. We are also always interested to hear from people who have records they would like to deposit with us.

The Service is funded by the five Metropolitan District Councils in West Yorkshire, and forms part of West Yorkshire Joint Services.

The Service also gives professional advice and support to the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, also in Leeds.

Also see more images and more information on our catablogue, flickr page or the nowthen website.

 

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