Our collections
Documents, newspapers, maps, photographs, ephemera, and books all form part of the collections we look after that can help you discover more about the history, geography and people of Medway.
Local Studies collection
Our Local Studies collection includes published sources that can help you research topics such as the history of your house and street, local businesses, leisure activities, and local people including your own family. The type of material available includes:
- books, including local histories, guidebooks and biographies
- town and street directories, maps and plans
- village and parish books and pamphlets
- journals
- local newspapers - on microfilm
- electoral registers
- photographs, prints and postcards
- archive material which has been microfilmed or digitised, such as parish registers, Chatham Board of Health maps and tithe maps for Medway
You can find books and journals from the Local Studies collection by searching the Medway Libraries catalogue.
Archive collections
Archives are unique records that contain facts, evidence, data, and information. They are generally primary source material, rather than published or secondary sources (like newspapers or books), and they can take any format.
Within the archive collections at Medway Archives Centre you can find:
- parish records for the Archdeaconry of Rochester - including records of baptisms, marriages and burials
- records of Non-Conformist denominations
- local authority records - of Medway Council and its predecessor authorities
- maps and plans
- Poor Law union records
- local charity records
- court records
- records of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester
- records of local businesses, organisations and associations.
Catalogued archive material can be searched or browsed on the Medway Council Heritage Services catalogue.
Some of our material is uncatalogued so if you cannot find what you are looking for please contact us.
Digital collections you can view from home
You can view records online via the Medway Council Heritage Services catalogue, including:
- Parish registers, recording baptisms, marriages and burials, for the Archdeaconry of Rochester
- The Couchman Collection: postcards, photographs and newspaper cuttings from the Medway area
- 19th century licence registers from the North Aylesford Petty Sessional Division
Medway Images includes a selection of photographs of the Medway area.
Films of Medway and Kent can be found at Screen Archive South East.
Digital material you can view free at Medway Archives Centre, Medway Libraries, or from home with a subscription
Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry Library Edition can be accessed at Medway Archives Centre, Medway libraries, or from home with a
The following material from Medway Archives Centre is available via Ancestry:
- A selection of Poor Law Union Records for Hoo, Medway and Strood
- A selection of Methodist birth, marriage and burial records from the Medway area
Find My Past
Find My Past is only viewable at Medway Archives Centre. To view Find My Past you must pre-book your appointment.
A selection of school admission registers and logbooks from 1870 to 1914 is available on Find My Past. Although you need a subscription to view these records on Find My Past, you can get to the landing page for this collection. The landing page includes a useful description of the records.
Other useful resources
- Family history and history resources are available via Medway Libraries
- Newspapers and magazines are available via Medway Libraries
- The Friends of Medway Archives De Caville Index lists the Men of the Medway Towns who died in World War I
- Kent Photo Archive includes a selection of photographs from our glass plate negative collection
- The National Archives guide to the census is available via Ancestry or Find My Past.
- The National Archives guide to births, marriages and deaths in England is viewable online