Heritage and History

Borough archives

The borough's archive and archival collections

The borough holds a variety of records relating to the government and activities of the borough itself (including Barking and Dagenham parish material such Vestry minute books and Poor Rate collectors' notebooks). In addition to these, the archive collections cover:

Archives of local industry
Schools
Property deeds
Plans
Photographs and films

The borough also holds the papers of the Fanshawe family who were connected with the borough, living mainly at Parsloes, for some 300 years.

In addition to the very fine family portraits now in Valence House Museum the largest portion of the archive consists of the letters and papers of Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1608-66, who was Ambassador to Spain for Charles II. As they were his working documents and drafts, many of these originals are in Spanish.

Currently not many of the borough's archive collections are catalogued but it is planned that, as catalogues are produced, they will be made available through this website.

Using archives

The borough's archives can be read in the Local Studies Library at Valence House Museum. You will need to contact the Archivist in advance if you wish view an archive, at the address shown. The following conditions apply:

For safe-keeping, these important documents are kept carefully in the air-conditioned store room at Valence House and read by members of the public with supervision in the Local Studies Library
These records are not stored next to the Local Studies Library and it is helpful to us if you can order what you would like to see in advance. It is not always possible for us to fetch items from the store room on demand
If you are coming to use original documents, please remember to bring a pencil with you as you will not be permitted to use a pen to make your notes in case it accidentally leaves marks on the archives

View some of the borough's archives

Follow the links below to see a small selection of our holdings:

Links to other useful archive websites

The National Archives|

This site also contains a searchable database holding information on the existence and whereabouts of hospital records.

The National Archives also hosts Access to Archives which contains catalogues from repositories throughout England.

The National Register of Archives is one of the best online websites for searching for the whereabouts of historic manuscripts.

The Archon directory provides contact details for repositories country-wide.

Aim 25 provides useful information about archives held in Higher Education institutions within the boundary of the M25.

Essex Record Office catalogue|

Contact

Tahlia Coombs

Acting Borough Archivist

Archives and Local Studies Centre

Valence House

Becontree Avenue

Dagenham

RM8 3HT

Tel: 020 8227 5240

Email: tahlia.coombs@lbbd.gov.uk|