Our strongrooms contain thousands of documents which together form a picture of Bristol's past. The records of the City of Bristol from medieval times, together with those of other bodies such as the District Councils, Urban and Rural Sanitary Authorities, whose powers the City later took over, form the basis of the "official records"; in addition to which there are thousands of other items, gifts or loans from individuals and local organisations, which complete the picture. The records of the Diocese of Bristol tell us about the history of the Church in the area and include the "Bishop's Transcripts" of parish registers, much used by family historians, as are parish records, which the majority of the parishes within the Archdeaconry of Bristol have now deposited. "Public" records include those of Quarter and Petty Sessions, County Court, the Coroner, hospitals, as well as shipping registers and crew lists. There are also records of businesses, trade unions, schools and societies, estate papers of local families, most especially the Smyth family of Ashton Court with their voluminous correspondence dating from Tudor times. Every letter, photograph, film, bill or programme has its part to play and the City Archivist is always pleased to receive new deposits or to be informed when records are at risk of dispersal or destruction.
The records are held in air-conditioned strongrooms in which temperature and relative humidity are constantly monitored and controlled by a sophisticated computerised building management system.
Access to certain documents may be restricted at the request of their owners. The staff may restrict the number of documents produced at any one time. They have the right to refuse to produce any documents at their discretion and to impose restrictions on the use of any document.
Access to many types of records will become much easier over the next few years as more and more are made available through microfiche and microfilm copies on a self-service basis in our searchroom.
Full minutes of the City Council’s committees which are less than 30 years old, can be consulted in the Record Office but permission to see them must first be obtained from the City Council's Manager of Committee and Member Services at the Council House, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TR (telephone (0117) 922 2000). The public set of committee minutes, which is kept under the terms of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, is freely available for inspection in the Record Office during our opening hours. These records are required to be kept retrospectively for a period of 6 years from the current year.