Education and business records
School records
School records, like admission registers and log books, contain information such as a child's parentage, date of birth and place of origin.
Our school records date from the 17th to 20th centuries for the United Westminster Schools, Grey Coat Hospital, St Marylebone Grammar School, St Marylebone Charity School and more.
Details of pupils attending Westminster School were published from mid-16th Century to 1886.
Charity schools were established by the 1720s, founded initially by private donations.
We hold some parish and charity schools' records, but most children may not have received schooling before the establishment of board schools by the 1870 Education Act.
Even then, poor parents were discouraged from sending their children to school due to school fees. In 1891, free elementary schooling was provided for all children.
Publications
We hold the Alumni Oxonienses, a register of students at Oxford University, 1500 to 1886, and Alumni Cantabrigienses, a register of students at Cambridge University from the late 13th century to 1900.
View full details of all publications in the Westminster libraries catalogue
Business records
We hold some businesses records and occasionally contain wages/salaries books, list of employees, details of pensions and more. Where individual staff information hasn't survived, you can still consult the records to understand your ancestor's working and daily life.
Petty sessions are a valuable source for locating ancestors who were licensees.
Licensing registers normally show:
- date and particulars of the licence
- name and address of the public house
- name of licensee
- date and details of transfers of the licence
- disqualification of the premises
- a record of any convictions
Find out more about our petty sessions records
Published biographies of trades people such as Goldsmiths and Architects can be found through the Westminster libraries catalogue.