Local History Resources

For family history resources at Stoke-on-Trent City Archives, please see our Family History Resources page.

Records of Local Government

The city of Stoke-on-Trent is a unique federation of Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke-upon-Trent and Tunstall – “The Six Towns”. Since federation in 1910 Stoke-on-Trent has grown further to take in a wider area of north Staffordshire, including parts of Norton-in-the-Moors, Smallthorne, Meir, Weston Coyney and Trentham. Stoke became a City in 1928. The City Archives hold records for the city and its predecessor authorities.

Area	Records
Stoke-on-Trent	County Borough/City Council, 1910 to present
Burslem	Commissioners/Local Board of Health/Municipal Borough Council, 1825-1910
Fenton	Commissioners/Local Board of Health/Urban District Council, 1842-1910
Hanley	Municipal Borough/County Borough Council, 1857-1910
Longton	Municipal Borough Council, 1873-1910
Smallthorne	Local Board of Health/Urban District Council, 1875-1910
Stoke-upon-Trent	Commissioners/Municipal Borough Council, 1839-1910
Tunstall	Local Board of Health/ Urban District Council, 1881-1910

The City Archives also holds incomplete series of records for the two local poor law unions: Stoke-upon-Trent Poor Law Union and Wolstanton and Burslem Poor Law Union.

Education Records

School log books, admission registers, and committee minutes are held for many schools in Stoke-on-Trent, including the Schools of Art, which furthered the education of some of the brightest and best stars of the Potteries (for example Arnold Bennett, Charlotte Rhead, Susie Cooper and Clarice Cliff).

Methodist Records

Methodism has been a vital part of Potteries life and culture since the eighteenth century. The Primitive Methodist revivals began at Mow Cop on the edge of the present city in 1807. The records of local Wesleyan Methodist, Primitive Methodist and Methodist New Connexion churches and circuits are held by the City Archives, and they contain historical evidence of the lives and beliefs of working people, and about the Temperance and Sunday School movements.

Business Records

Business archives in Stoke-on-Trent City Archives include those of potteries, collieries and shopkeepers. Minutes of the North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce and of CATU (the Ceramic and Allied Trades Union) are also available here.

Records of Urban Development

Extensive collections of property deeds and maps document the growth and fusion of the Six Towns over the past three hundred years. The Moxon collection is a local solicitor’s archive comprising deeds, wills, and other legal documents. The Heathcote collection includes title deeds as part of the archive of a landowning family. The Adams collection was derived from many different sources by Percy Adams during research for his history of the Adams family at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Online Catalogue

Our online catalogue Gateway to the Past is continually growing, as we catalogue all new accessions electronically and more of our older paper catalogues are converted to electronic format each year.