Open up your past... Discover your family tree at

Tameside Local Studies & Archive Centre

Advice from volunteers

One-to-one help for your search

Want to start your family history but don't know where to start? Are you on the way but stuck?!

Volunteers from the former History Centre, previously at Ashton Town Hall have moved to the Tameside Local Studies & Archive Centre. They are friendly and expert helpers who will guide you through the maze of sources to discover your past.

one-to-one help and advice
help with search methods and strategies
guidance on using on-line sources

The service is completely free.

Opening Times

Wednesday & Thursday: 10.00am - 1.00pm
Saturday: 10.00am - 12.00pm

To book your free appointment please telephone 0161 342 4242

Comments from Users of the service

I was at a standstill with my family history research. I couldn't find my grandfather on the 1901 census although I had found him and his family on all the others. Not only did the Family History Centre staff find him on the 1901 but they have been a very great help with several other of my families.

If I hadn't heard about the Centre on GMR and travelled across from Walkden, I am sure I would still be searching.

Betty Marriott

I really appreciate the help by the staff at the Family History Centre. When I called I was told that the Centre would be closing in 40 minutes but, as we were finding a great deal of information, they remained open until we had finished. One and a half hours later I had more information on my family than I had managed to find on my own in two years.

Later I had a request from an American cousin to trace her English grand-parents. Again I was lucky with the help I got as I had little information to go on. We traced back three generations mostly from Hyde but also Scotland in one morning. My cousin was most grateful.

George Fielding

I have visited the Centre on a number of occasions and I have always found them to be helpful and supportive in my research. With their help I have traced several lines and solved family history problems which had been puzzling me for some time.

Alan Bacon

You can also find information at Tameside Family History Group

Part of the Family History Society of Cheshire, the Dukinfield Group is one of 17 similar groups based throughout Cheshire. Founded in January 2001, our group aims to provide a focal point for anyone researching their family history. Although based in Dukinfield, it encompasses all the towns and villages that make up Tameside.

We hold regular meetings on the second Wednesday each month (not August) in the Dukinfield Old Chapel Schoolroom from 7.30pm - 9.00pm which are a mixture of talks, visits and open forums.

Our members are engaged on a number of projects with the aim of adding to resources already available in Tameside. The main one of these is our work in Tameside Register Office for the Cheshire BMD Project, where, with the co-operation of the Superintendent Registrar and his staff we have been photocopying and transcribing the Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes to make them freely available to search on-line at: www.cheshirebmd.org.uk

We hold an "Ancestral Trail" advice session at Tameside Local Studies Library on the first & third Tuesdays of each month between 2.00pm and 4.00pm staffed by experienced volunteers aimed at those new to Family History and seeking a little guidance.

Everyone is welcome to attend our meetings. For further details please contact Gay Oliver via e-mail: dukinfield@fhsc.org.uk.