Hackney Archives

Hackney Archives cares for the archives and local studies collections of the London Borough of Hackney and makes them available to the public for research. The new Hackney Archives searchroom in the Dalston CLR James Library is open (see below for more information).

Our collections include:

official administrative records of the borough council and its predecessors back to 1700
original records of local organisations and individuals
a local studies library
photographs
maps
newspapers

If you are researching the history of your house or street, ancestors who lived here, or are doing a local studies project at school, Hackney Archives is the place to start. Anyone can visit Hackney Archives - please see Visiting Hackney Archives for more information.

New Hackney Archives searchroom

The Hackney Archives searchroom in the new Dalston CLR James Library is open. For the time being, only the local studies sources on open access in our searchroom will be available, which comprise:

sources on microfilm and microfiche
local history reference books
street directories
electoral registers for the following years: 1966 - 1981, 1983 - 1986, 1988 - 1991, 1993, 1995, 2003, 2004
digitised copies of photographs, available on computers in the searchroom
maps, including ordnance survey editions from 1870 to 1970

The original archival sources will not be available immediately, as we have not yet completed the relocation of these collections to the new building. The full collections will be available later in the spring.

The sources on microfilm and microfiche, which are available from 24 January, include

baptism, marriage and burial registers from some churches in Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington
census returns for 1811-1831 (Hackney only) and 1841 - 1901 (Hackney, Shoreditch, Stoke Newington and South Hornsey)
copies of local newspapers, including copies of the Hackney Gazette from 1869 to 2007
Abney Park Cemetery burial registers
drainage plans from 1856
copies of some items in the archive collections such as vestry minutes, rate books, land tax returns and electoral registers.

Not all rate books and electoral registers are available on microfilm, so if you are interested in these records, please contact Archives staff for advice.

You do not need to make an appointment, but until the full collection is available you are strongly advised to contact the Archives team before your visit, to ensure that the sources you need are available.