CUMBRIA ARCHIVES (CARLISLE):
The new Cumbria Archives is now open!
Petteril Bank House (Lady Gillford’s House)
Petteril Bank Road
Carlisle
Cumbria CA1 3AJ
Tel: 01228 227285/227284
Fax: 01228 607270
Email: carlisle.archives@cumbriacc.gov.uk
Copying facilities: Photocopies can be provided subject to conservation and copyright restrictions. A microfilm camera is provided on site. Digital photography is permitted for a small fee and can also be arranged to be done by archive staff (please enquire for fees)
Scope of collection: With some exceptions, all records relating to the City of Carlisle and the historic county of Cumberland north and east of the River Derwent are held at the Carlisle Record Office. For catalogues see general guide on this website to Cumbria Archive Service.
Books:
An extensive collection mainly relating to the historic county of Cumberland and the city of Carlisle.
Periodicals/Journals:
Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society (complete series).
Newspapers in original format:
Carlisle Journal 1802-1967;
Cumberland Evening News/News & Star 1949-1971 (almost complete series);
Cumberland News 1931-1973 (incomplete series);
Cumberland Pacquet 1774-1914 (incomplete series);
Penrith Observer 1861-1968 (some available on microfilm);
Whitehaven News 1873-1956.
Maps/plans:
Enclosure maps and awards for Cumberland (guide available);
Tithe maps and awards for Cumberland (guide available);
Estate maps and plans for Cumberland and north Westmorland (guide available);
Good series of Ordnance Survey maps for Cumberland: 1st edition c.1865, 2nd edition c.1900, 3rd edition c.1925;
Land valuation maps and registers for Cumberland c.1910-14. Incomplete but still exceptionally full series – see Brian Short, Land and Society in Edwardian Britain (Cambridge University Press, 1997) for extent of holdings.
Photographs/audio-visual:
Photographs occur in many collections but there is no separate finding aid.
Other non-paper based holdings:
Sound recordings of BBC Radio Cumbria broadcasts.
Manuscript/archive collections:
These include:
Business records: 18th century onwards covering transport; architects, builders and decorators; auctioneers; bakers, biscuit manufacturers, food producers, grocers, potato merchants; blacksmiths; candlemakers; carpenters and joiners; carriers; chemists; theatres and cinemas; coal merchants; co-operative societies; textile manufacturers, drapers, dyers and tailors; civil engineers; estate agents and their clients; farms; garages; ironmongers; jewellers and watchmakers; laundries; metalworkers; mining and quarrying; paper and pencil manufacturers; pawnbrokers; photographers; printers and newspaper publishers; saddlers; seedsmen; shoemakers and cloggers; tanners; timber merchants; vets; breweries; undertakers; stonemasons. Collections of particular interest include: Suttons, tanners; Cowans Sheldon civil engineers; Carr’s Biscuits; Mayson’s photographers of Keswick;
Carlisle City records: 1293 onwards;
Coroners’ records: 1835 onwards;
Cumberland and Cumbria County Councils: 1889 onwards;
Cumbria Police Authority: 1857 onwards;
Dean & Chapter of Carlisle Cathedral: 1092 onwards including Register of Wetheral Priory 1092-1298; Register of Holme Cultram Abbey 1150-1300; Machell family of Crackenthorpe title deeds 1182-1798; Richard Bell manuscripts for the history of the Borders late 16th-early 17th centuries; Revd. Thomas Machell antiquarian manuscripts for a history of Westmorland and Cumberland 1670-1709; John Hill antiquarian manuscripts for a history of Westmorland c.1860;
Diocese of Carlisle: 1292 onwards including Bishops’ transcripts of parish registers, Tithe maps and awards, clergy and churchwardens visitation queries and returns;
Probate records: 1564-1941;
Draft land valuation registers and maps: the Finance Act, 1910;
Family and estate archives: including significant collections relating to Aglionby family of Carlisle; Ewart and Routledge families of Bewcastle; Howard family of Corby Castle; Howard family of Greystoke Castle; Hudleston family of Hutton John; Kennedy family of Crosby on Eden; Lawson family of Brayton Hall, Aspatria; Lowther family of Lowther and of Whitehaven (Earls of Lonsdale); Mounsey-Heysham family of Rockcliffe; Musgrave family of Edenhall; Senhouse family of Maryport; Walton family of Alston;
Personal archives including: Thomas Heysham (naturalist, ornithologist and entomologist of Carlisle); Revd. Hugh MacPherson (naturalist and ornithologist and author of The Vertebrate Fauna of Lakeland); Esme Howard of Greystoke (diplomat); Catherine Marshall of Keswick (suffragist, pacifist and feminist);
Hospital records from 12 institutions including Garlands mental hospital;
Maryport Harbour: c.1750 onwards;
Nonconformist churches: 17th century onwards (Congregational or United Reformed, Society of Friends, Presbyterians, Methodists);
Church of England parish records: 16th century onwards (registers and records of 110 parishes);
Parish Councils: 1894 onwards;
Poor Law Unions: 1834-1929;
Quarter Sessions of Cumberland: 1668-1971;
Rural and Urban District Councils: 1894-1974;
Schools: 17th century onwards (over 200 primary and secondary schools);
Shipping registers: for Carlisle, Maryport and Silloth 1786-1971;
Crew lists and agreements: for Carlisle, Maryport & Silloth ships 1863-1914;
Societies and voluntary organisations: 19th century onwards, including the records of over 200 societies for archaeology, art, aviation, sport (badminton, billiards, bowls, cricket, fishing, football, foxhunting, golf, hockey, motoring, mountaineering, rugby, swimming, tennis and wrestling), the British Legion, commons management, conservation of the environment, Cumberland and Westmorland Associations in the north of England, animals, drama and theatre, embroidery, farming, freemasons’ and Oddfellows’ lodges, Girl Guides and Boy Scouts, Mothers’ Unions, music, natural history, nursing associations, pacifism, photography, politics, railway enthusiasts, reading and recreation rooms and village halls, religion, trades and professions, temperance, women’s organisations. Special collections include Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling Association, Cumberland Agricultural Society;
Solicitors’ archives including: Arnison & Co., Penrith; Bleaymire & Shepherd, Penrith; Hodgson of Carlisle; Hough, Halton & Soal, Carlisle; Mounsey, Bowman & Sutcliffe, Carlisle; Wright, Brown & Strong, Carlisle;
Carlisle & District State Management Scheme, 1916-1973 (unique system involving state ownership of licensed premises).
Descriptions of collections taken from Michael Winstanley and Rob David, A Guide to Cumbrian Historical Resources (Centre for North West Regional Studies, Lancaster University, 2006, out of print) updated for contact details, opening etc.