Local and Family History
at Dunstable Library

 Local and Family History by library > Dunstable Library

• Ancestry Library Edition
  Free access in the library to 'Ancestry Library Edition', a web site that has a huge range of resources for family historians. For details, see the top of Local and family history A-Z page
   
• Armed services
  See Armed services records at Dunstable Library
   
• Baptism records
  Register of Methodist baptisms in Dunstable 1843-1960s
  Register of Methodist baptisms in Luton 1830-1960s
   
• Books
  Dunstable: its history and surroundings, by Smith Worthington G
  Dunstable in detail, by N. Benson (Book Castle, 1986)
  Proud heritage: a brief history of Dunstable, by V. Evans (Book Castle, 1999)
  Streets ahead: an illustrated guide to the streets of Dunstable, by R. Walden (Book Castle, 1999)
  The book of Dunstable and Houghton Regis, by V. Evans (Barracuda, 1985)
  For further details please see the library catalogue
   
• Burial and cemetery records
  Dunstable cemetery records 1861-1987, on microfiche
   
• Census indexes
  Surname index to 1851 Bedfordshire census
   
• Census records
  Free access to census records 1841- 1911 on 'Ancestry Library Edition' web site
  Dunstable and local area census records from 1841-1901 on microfilm
   
• Council papers
  Dunstable Town Council Minutes 1 year back file
   
• County guides and directories
  Kelly's directories on microfiche
  Kelly's Post Office Trades Directory of Bedfordshire 1847 on CD-ROM
  Guides from the 20th century
   
• Electoral registers
  South Beds Electoral Registers 1957-to date on microfiche (1976/77 not available; from 2003 onwards, edited version only)
   
• Highway Board minutes
  Luton Highway Board Minutes 1863-1868, 1873-1881
   
• Photographs and prints
  A collection of photographs, prints and slides of Dunstable
    
• Magazines and journals
  Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal volumes 2  (1964) to 15 (1981)
  Bedfordshire Archaeology volumes 16 (1983) to date
  Bedfordshire County Life magazine, current copy plus 5 year back file
  Bedfordshire Historical Record Society volumes 1 (1912) to 84 (2005)
  Bedfordshire Magazine volumes 1 (1947) to 20 (1987) plus index, volumes 21 (1988) to 26 (1999), not indexed
  Bedfordshire Naturalist volumes 1 (1946) to 42 (1988)
  Manshead Magazine: journal of Manshead Archaeological Society of Dunstable volumes 1 (1958) to date
   
• Maps
  Historical 19th and 20th century maps, town and villages in Bedfordshire 1950s-2014 (102kb pdf), town centre maps showing individual buildings and their uses 1970s to present, street maps of Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Luton 1960s-1990s (scale 1:1250)
   
• Newspaper cuttings
  See Topic files below
   
• Newspapers
  Dunstable Chronicle and Advertiser 1856-1860, on microfilm
  Dunstable Borough Gazette 1869 -1948, on microfilm
  Dunstable Gazette 1949-date, on microfilm (years 1969-1985 on microfilm and in bound volumes)
  Luton News June 1979-1988, on microfilm
  British Newspaper Archive
  Times Digital Archive
   
• Parish registers
  Complete set of transcribed Anglican parish registers from 1500s to 1812 (dates vary for different events and places), in book format
  Surname index to complete set of Bedfordshire Anglican Parish Registers, on CD-ROM
  Parish registers for Dunstable and local area 1813-1930s, on microfiche
   
• Poor Law Union minutes
  Woburn Poor Law minute book Vols 1-3
   
• Statistics
  Summary census data for Bedfordshire towns and villages from 1841 to date
   
• Telephone directories
  Recent back file of the local area
  Telephone directories between 1880 and 1984 are also available on Ancestry which is accessible via the public computers in all libraries.
   
• Topic files
  Files of newspaper cuttings and pamphlets on popular topics. There is a set of files relating to Dunstable and another set relating to Bedfordshire. Click to open a list of the Dunstable topic files (Word file, 35 KB)
   
• Town guides and directories
  Dunstable guides and directories from the 20th century
   
• Victoria County History of Bedfordshire
  Volumes I, II & III, plus index

Dunstable Library contact details and opening times

Page last updated: 6th February 2020