About the Collections

Photographs

Most of these photographs and images come from the extensive collections held in libraries across the county which are being digitised and collated with the help of volunteers. Our digitisation programme began in the late 1990s, before the internet was readily available and storage and equipment were of today's standard (so the size and quality of the early digitised images is not of the high quality we are used to today). The image collection is not complete, as we still have many thousands of photographs to digitise from all over Lancashire.

To request a copy and to receive a quotation please visit Ordering copies and publications - Lancashire County Council

If you are seeking information about a photo in the collection, the place or people in the photo, or would like to know about an image, please contact redrose.collections@lancashire.gov.uk

You can use the Share button to post an image to Facebook or Twitter, or save a low resolution copy from full screen. Images are made available in this way for personal enjoyment or private study only.

Anyone wishing to reproduce, exhibit, or make commercial or other uses of an image in any medium should please contact redrose.collections@lancashire.gov.uk regarding terms and conditions.

Newspapers

The Newspaper Index refers to articles in newspapers from the early 19th century onwards which are held on microfilm and cuttings files in libraries across Lancashire. It has been compiled over a number of decades by Lancashire librarians and because of this the content chosen for indexing often reflects the concerns of the time. The index includes some obituaries, many of which relate to First World War casualties, but is mainly made up of news articles. Advertisements, small ads, family notices, etc. are not included. The library location is given on each record please contact the relevant library to enquire about viewing their newspaper archive. Digitisation of these indexes is still on-going, so this online index is by no means exhaustive.

Ordering copies: To obtain copies of articles listed in the Newspaper Index, you will need to visit the Library location or contact them directly to ask for a copy. These records have not been digitized, only indexed and need to be ordered individually. If a library is able to supply a copy, a quotation will be issued in response to your enquiry. Pricing will be dependent on the copying, postage and administration costs.

Historical Documents

Lancashire Archives & Local History takes care of millions or records relating to the county's history, its people and places. This database currently relates to a small proportion of them, containing the names and other information about the 15,000 patients admitted to Whittingham Asylum 1873-1914. The information comes from Reception Orders, paperwork completed when someone was admitted to hospital and the index contains the name, age, address and occupation of each patient. A copy of the original Order can be supplied by Lancashire Archives & Local History and these often contain other information such as a description of the person's illness. Further information can be found in the archives online catalogue LANCAT.

To request a copy and to receive a quotation please visit Ordering copies and publications - Lancashire County Council

Local Book Index

The Local Book Index contains references to people, places, landmarks, buildings and stories from our collection of local history books. Currently the index covers the towns and villages around Chorley in Lancashire.

The majority of these books will appear on the Lancashire library catalogue.

Preston Guild

The details of over 45,000 people listed in the 27 surviving Preston Guild Rolls from 1397 to 1992. The Guild in Preston controlled those able to trade or to have businesses in this profitable market town. Every twenty years the members of the Guild met in a formal setting to renew their rights and commitments and to have their names and those of their families listed in the latest Guild Roll. Each entry records the name of the Guild member, their place of residence, occupation or status and often their relationship to another member. A copy of any entry can be provided by Lancashire Archives & Local History.

To request a copy and receive a quotation please visit Ordering copies and publications - Lancashire County Council

Police Index

An index of the majority of police officers who served in Lancashire from 1840 onwards, apart from those in places which had their own borough force and are now outside modern day Lancashire, such as Manchester and Liverpool. The index draws on records of Lancashire Constabulary and the borough forces of Burnley, Blackpool and Preston, including personnel records and the Constabulary's staff magazine. Each entry gives the officer's name, the forces they served with and the dates and references of the relevant records. A copy of these can be provided by Lancashire Archives & Local History unless the officer joined the police less than 85 years ago in which case they are not yet available to the public.

To request a copy and to receive a quotation please visit Ordering copies and publications - Lancashire County Council

Fleetwood Online Archive of Trawlers

Float, the 'Fleetwood Online Archive of Trawlers' is a conservation and archival project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Lancashire County Council.

In these pages you will find digital copies of photographs from the collections of Wilfred Dodds and Peter Horsley showing trawlers from Fleetwood, Grimsby, Hull and many other European ports. In our image archive there are approximately 8,000 fascinating photographs of vessels dating from the late 19th Century to the present day. Accompanying the photographs you will find technical information on the individual vessels and fascinating stories relating to the trawlers, the ports and the people involved in the fishing industry.

The text information in this database has been compiled by the FLOAT Project Team, which included fifteen local volunteers, and is based on a database started over ten years ago and including information from the Doddsメ collection.

Thanks go to all those volunteers and work-placements who have contributed over this time. Special thanks must go to the late Alan Hirst, who willingly gave access to his extensive research, and the late David Ryan, who did much of the work of setting up a computer database as a volunteer at Fleetwood Museum.

The database is not exhaustive and it is hoped to add further details as they become available and resources permit.

We do not offer a digital image download service or print ordering service.

You can use the Share button to post an image to Facebook or Twitter, or save a low resolution copy from full screen. Images are made available in this way for personal enjoyment or private study only.