In a message dated 06/03/2004 14:57:47 GMT Standard Time, lmcginn@nbnet.nb.ca writes: > We are travelling to Gateshead in April in search of ancestors. Could some > kind person advise us as to where we would go to search the 1871 census for > Gateshead and surrounding area? If you insist on having somewhere in Gateshead then you should go to Gateshead Public Reference Library in Prince Consort Road. However, if you would like also to be able to cover the rest of Tyne and Wear, then go to Tyne and Wear Archives, in Blandford House, Blandford Square, Newcastle. If you want to be able to cover other parts of the pre-1974 Co Durham then go to Durham County Record Office at County Hall, Durham. Appointments are necessary to use muicrofiche readers in the Record Offices but not usually for the Library. A hint - to set out to search the 1871 census for the whole of Gateshead (even the 1871 Gateshead, never mind its modern-day boundaries!), even without the "surrounding area" (which, on that definition must include Newcastle!) would be a very large task indeed. You would stand a much better chance of getting somewhere useful in a reasonable time if you did some homework before setting out and had a good idea of where you wanted to look when you arrived. Would we be able to search the 1871 census for Caernarfon, Wales from that Durham > site? No. Places in the UK usually have the census on microfilm (only) for their own district (town or county) only. I know some counties have recently become available, or will be doing soon, on CD for certain censuses, but in practice it is the microfilm (possibly microfiche for 1841/91/1901). To search a Welsh county you would probably need to go to that county in Wales. Also, where would we go in Gateshead to look for birth and marriage records, 1850 to > 1890? Try Gateshead Registry Office in the Civic Centre, West Street, Gateshead. You cannot look at the records but if you know precisely what you want - ie names and dates - then you can buy certificates for £7 each. If you are happy to search church registers for baptisms (not births), marriages and burials (not deaths), then there will probably be microfilm copies in Gateshead Public Library, Tyne and Wear Archives and Durham County Record Office as before. However, a lot depends on which denomination the church is/was and which period you wish to search. If you will be in Gateshead on the first Tuesday of the month, then why not go to Pelaw Social Club (near Heworth Metro station) at about 7.00pm for 7.30pm when you will be able to attend the monthly meeting of the Northumberland and Durham Family History Society's Gateshead Branch, and get some face-to-face personal advice from the many local experts who regularly attend? If you contact me personally off-list I could give you more information about the NDFHS and about its Gateshead Branch. Geoff Nicholson Chairman, NDFHS Gateshead Branch 57 Manor Park, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear NE37 2BU NBL/DUR family history research in depth by THE local expert. Record searching service: you name the records, I search them!