Links to some useful societies and journals

The following is a list of links to pages with information about some historical and record societies (not all are pages maintained by the societies themselves), and about some relevant journals. Guide to Record Societies and their Publications, an online listing of recent and forthcoming publications by many of these societies, is available on the Royal Historical Society website.

Links to most present-day family Family History Societies are listed by the Federation of Family History Societies. A few with significant publications covering the medieval period are included below.

An excellent means of finding information about history journals on the Internet is the The History Journals Guide, maintained by Stefan Blaschke. This provides information about more than 5000 journals, including links to websites and details of lists of contents and articles online. There is also related information on bibliographies, discussion lists, conferences and so on.

The Royal Historical Society has provided an extensive online Bibliography of British and Irish History, covering more than 300,000 items, including many articles in academic journals. There are powerful facilities to search the bibliography and browse the subject categories, which include particular families. (Note the advice to use general keyword searches as well as personal, place and subject classifications, to ensure older material is fully covered.)

Lists of contents of many journals are available at the Magazine Stacks website, edited by Stuart Jenks (University College, London) and Dieter Rübsamen (Mainz). Although the original emphasis was on German-language material, the site includes a number of English language journals, and continues to expand. For many, the coverage is complete; some relevant examples are listed below.

N.B. In the names of the societies, archaeology often has the wider sense of 'the study of ancient things', but sometimes has the more restricted modern meaning of 'digging things up'.

• American Genealogist: see The American Genealogist
• The Ancestor
  The main subjects of all articles in nos 1-12 (1905) are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
  • The Ancestor, number 4 (1903) (Google Book Search [Hints and tips])
• Anglo-Norman Studies (Boydell and Brewer)
  Includes lists of contents of all volumes.
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1979) onwards.
  The main subjects of all articles in vols 1-21 are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
• Anglo-Norman Text Society
• Anglo-Saxon Charters (British Academy)
• Anglo-Saxon England (Cambridge University Press)
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1972) onwards
• Society of Antiquaries of London
  Includes listings of publications
  The Antiquaries Journal is included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History
• Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
  Includes a list of publications in print.
  • Archaeologica Scotica: transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (ARCHway, Archaeology Data Service)
    HTML tables of contents, and pages in PDF format; contents of vols 1-5 (1892-1890)
  • Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (ARCHway, Archaeology Data Service)
    HTML tables of contents, and pages in PDF format; vols 1-129 (1851-1999)
  • General indexes to the Proceedings, vols 1-126 (Archaeology Data Service)
    PDF files
• Archaeologia Aeliana - see Newcastle upon Tyne
• Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi (British Academy)
• Bedford Archaeological and Local History Society [formerly at http://www.museums.bedfordshire.gov.uk/localgroups/bedford.html; not available, 24 May 2005; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from October 2004]
• Bedfordshire Historical Record Society
  Includes a list of publications in print
• Berkshire Archaeological Society
  The Berkshire Archaeological Journal is included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 38 (1934) to volume 75 (1994-97)
• Berkshire Record Society
• Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 46 (1923) onwards (extracts)
• Borthwick Institute of Historical Research - see Yorkshire
• Bristol: Bristol Record Society
  Includes a list of publications
• Bristol: see also Gloucestershire
• The British Academy (see also Anglo-Saxon Charters, Auctores Britannici Medii Aevi, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, English Episcopal Acta, Records of Social and Economic History)
• The British Archaeological Association The Journal of the British Archaeological Association is included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1845) onwards
• British Record Society
  An online partial listing of the Index Library series has been written by Dave Nixon.
• British Records Association
• Journal of British Studies (University of Chicago Press)
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1961) onwards.
  Lists of contents of vols 1-41 (1961-2002) are available at Magazine Stacks
• Cambridge Antiquarian Society
  Includes contents lists for recent publication, and some sample articles (PDF files).
  The Society's Proceedings are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 2 (1862) onwards (extracts).
• Cambridge Historical Journal
  This and its successor, The Historical Journal, are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1923) onwards.
  Lists of contents of these two journals are available at Magazine Stacks
• Canterbury and York Society (Institute of Historical Research)
  The Society has published about 50 medieval bishops' registers. The website includes a list of publications still in print.
• Catholic Record Society
  Includes listings of publications
• Cheshire: Record Society for Lancashire and Cheshire
  An online listing of the publications has been written by Dave Nixon
• Cheshire: Chetham Society (Chetham Library web site)
  Includes a list of publications
• Chester Archaeological Society
  Includes a list of contents for the Society's journal, new series (1887 to date).
  The Society's journal is included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1857) onwards (extracts)
• The Church Monuments Society Includes lists of contents of the Society's journal, and a county-by-county listing (in progress) of sites with "interesting collections of monuments or, in some cases, one outstanding monument"
• Cornwall: Devon and Cornwall Record Society
  Includes a list of publications (new and extra series)
• Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (British Academy) (medieval window glass)
• Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society
  Includes a list of publications still in print, and lists of contents of the Society's Transactions, vols 75 (1975) onwards
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1874) onwards (extracts)
• Derbyshire Archaeological Society
  Includes a searchable Subject Index to the Derbyshire Archaeological Journal (vols 1-121; 1879-2001) - which in fact searches the titles and authors of the papers as well.
• Derbyshire Record Society
  Includes a list of publications
• Devon: Devon and Cornwall Record Society
  Includes a list of publications (new and extra series)
• Devonshire Association
  The Devonshire Association Report and Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 4 (1871) onwards.
• Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society
  Includes a cumulative index to Society's Proceedings, from volume 1 (1876)
  The Society's Proceedings are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 4 (1880) onwards (extracts)
• Durham: Surtees Society
  The society's website includes a listing of its publications that are still available
  An fuller (but still incomplete) listing has been written by Dave Nixon
• Records of Early English Drama (Centre for Research in Early English Drama, University of Toronto)
• English Episcopal Acta (British Academy)
  A more complete listing of recent volumes is available on the Oxford University Press website
• English Historical Review
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1886) onwards.
  Lists of contents (vols 1-117; 1886-2002) are available at Magazine Stacks
  Recent contents (from November 1998 onwards) are also listed on the Oxford University Press website
• English Place-Name Society [formerly at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/research/EPNS/; unavailable, 23 October 2005; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from October 2004]
  Includes lists of publications.
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History
• Essays in History (University of Virginia)
  Electronic journal published annually, with occasional medieval papers
• Essays in Medieval Studies (West Virginia University Press)
  Proceedings of the Illinois Medieval Association, volumes 1 (1984) onwards; the most recent issue appears to be password-protected
• FindArticles
  A searchable collection of articles from periodicals, including articles from English Historical Review, The Historian and History Today
• Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
  Charitable foundation for research into pre-1500 genealogy; an annual fee is charged for access to its website, where the projects include Foundations, a twice-yearly online journal, and the Medieval Genealogical Registry, a referenced database of medieval genealogy (see below under databases).
• The Genealogist (founded 1877)
  An online index to vols 1-7 has been produced by Beryl Thompson
  The main subjects of all medieval articles in the The Genealogist, new series, vol. 12 (1896), are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
• The Genealogist (founded 1980)
  Includes subscription information and lists of contents of recent issues
  The main subjects of all medieval articles in The Genealogist are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
• Society of Genealogists (London)
  Includes indexes and contents lists for the Genealogists' Magazine, 1925 to the present.
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 4 (1901) onwards.
  The main subjects of all medieval articles in the Genealogists' Magazine, vols 1-19, are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
• Gentleman's Magazine, volumes 1-20 (1731-1750) (Internet Library of Early Journals, Bodleian Library, Oxford)
• Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society
  The Society has provided online access to the contents pages (1876-2004) and general index (1876-2002) of its Transactions. It is also making the articles themselves available as PDF files. Currently those from vols 95-105 (1977-1987) are online.
  There is also a list of the publications in the Society's Record Series. Volume 9, An Historical Gazetteer of Cheltenham, is available online.
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 2 (1878) onwards (extracts).
• Hakluyt Society (history of exploration and travel)
• Halifax Antiquarian Society
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from 1911 onwards (extracts)
• Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society
  Includes contents of recent volumes of the Society's Proceedings and a list of monographs.
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 7 (1914) onwards (extracts)
• Hampshire Record Series
• Harleian Society
  Includes a list of publications, with links to copies available for sale - either originals or CDs
• Haskins Society for Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Anglo-Norman and Angevin History
  Includes a list of articles published in the Society's Journal (vols 1-9; 1989-1997), arranged by author's surname
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1989) onwards.
  Lists of contents arranged by volume (also for vols 1-9) are available at Magazine Stacks
  The main subjects of all articles in vols 1-3, 8 and 13 are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
• The Heraldry Society of Scotland
  The main subjects of all articles in nos 1-28 (2005) of the Society's journal, The Double Tressure, are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy).
• Hertfordshire Record Society
• Institute of Historical Research
  The Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research and its successor, Historical Research, are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1923) onwards.
  Lists of contents of these two journals are available at Magazine Stacks.
  On the Institute's own website are lists of articles from 1977 to 1996, arranged by author's surname for each of ten time periods
• The Historical Journal
  This and its predecessor, Cambridge Historical Journal, are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1923) onwards.
  Lists of contents of these two journals are available at Magazine Stacks
• Historical Research
  The Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research and its successor, Historical Research, are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1923) onwards.
  Lists of contents of these two journals are available at Magazine Stacks.
  On the Institute's own website are lists of articles from 1977 to 1996, arranged by author's surname for each of ten time periods
• Jewish Historical Society
• Kent: Archaeologia Cantiana (Kent Archaeological Society)
  Online material from the journal, in progress. The contents pages are already available, and the index volumes are in progress. A few selected articles are also available.
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1958) onwards
• Lancashire: Record Society for Lancashire and Cheshire
  An online listing of the publications has been written by Dave Nixon
• Chetham Society (Chetham Library web site)
  Includes a list of publications
• Lancaster: Lancaster Archaeological and Historical Society
  Includes lists of contents of the Society's journal, Contrebis, from volume 24 (1999) onwards. Also a facility to search for words in the title, volumes 1-29, and personal and place names, volumes 1-28.
• Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society
  Includes a listing of recent publications and a draft index to vols 21-73 of the Society's Transactions (PDF file; 1.2MB)
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 3 (1874) onwards (extracts).
• Lincoln Record Society
  Includes listings of publications - out of print, in print and current
• Lincolnshire: The Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology Lincolnshire History and Archaeology is included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1966) onwards
• List and Index Society
  Includes lists of the Society's publications, with a subject index
• Local History Magazine With a large listing of local history links, including The Local History Directory, with county-by-county details of local societies
• The London Journal (Centre for Metropolitan History, University of London)
  Lists of contents from 1995, with abstracts from 1999.
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1974) onwards
• London Medieval Society
  Includes an online newsletter
• London Record Society
  Includes a list of publications in print
• London Topographical Society The London Topographical Record is included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 2 (1903) onwards (extracts)
• London and Middlesex Archaeological Society
  Includes a section on publications, with searchable and browsable lists of contents for vols 20-51 (1959/61-2000) of the Society's Transactions, and for its Special Papers.
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from 1st series, volume 1 (1860), onwards
• Malone Society (English Renaissance drama)
• Journal of Medieval History (Elsevier)
  Includes tables of contents and abstracts, vol. 1 (1975) to date
• Medieval Prosopography (Western Michigan University)
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 3 (1982) onwards (extracts).
  Lists of contents arranged by volume (vols 1-23; 1980-2002) are available at Magazine Stacks and the main subjects of all articles in vols 1-22 are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
• The Medieval Review (University of Michigan)
  Electronic collection of reviews of work in medieval studies; formerly known as the Bryn Mawr Medieval Review
• Middlesex: London and Middlesex Archaeological Society
• Monumental Brass Society
  Includes a listing of recent publications, a bibliography and a library of more than 160 images
• Newcastle upon Tyne: Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne
  Includes lists of contents for the 5th series of Archaeologia Aeliana, and a list of the Society's monographs and other publications
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1816) onwards
• Norfolk Record Society
  Includes full listings of the society's publications
• Northamptonshire Archaeological Society
• Northamptonshire Record Society
  Includes a list of publications still in print.
  A partial list of contents of the Society's journal, Northamptonshire Past and Present, covering vols 1-9, 51-56, is available at Northamptonshire by Postcards and Books (if the direct link doesn't work, go to the main page, click "Books", and then choose the link "Northamptonshire Past and Present index" on the left-hand side). [not available, 16 December 2007; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from May 2007]
• Northern Genealogist
  An online index to vols 1-6 has been produced by Beryl Thompson
• Northumberland: Surtees Society
  The society's website includes a listing of its publications that are still available
  An fuller (but still incomplete) listing has been written by Dave Nixon
• Notes and Queries, original series, volume 1, to fourth series, volume 4 (1849-1869) (Internet Library of Early Journals, Bodleian Library, Oxford)
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1949) onwards (extracts only)
• Nottingham Medieval Studies Journal (The Institute of Medieval Studies, Nottingham University)
  Includes Lists of contents of vols 1-47 (1957-2004)
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1957) onwards
• Nottinghamshire: Thoroton Society
  Includes a searchable or downloadable index to the Society's publications, 1897-1997 and a list of the contents of the Record Series. A number of articles from the Transactions are included in the collection of Miscellaneous articles on Nottinghamshire history and archaeology (Andy Nicholson, Nottinghamshire History and Archaeology)
• Oxford Historical Society
• Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society
  Includes an online archive of the Society's journal, Oxoniensia, with a list of contents of all volumes, the full text of some older volumes (both in zipped Microsoft Word format), and a few articles in html and pdf format.
  Included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1936) onwards
• Oxfordshire Record Society
• Pipe Roll Society
  An online listing of the publications has been written by Dave Nixon
• Prosopography Centre (Oxford University)
  The site includes the Directory of Prosopographical Research, a listing of current research projects, with some links to websites, arranged by time period and geographical area. The main subjects of all medieval articles in Prosopographica et Genealogica are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
• Prosopon, Journal of the Prosopography Centre, University of Oxford
  The main subjects of all medieval articles in Prosopon are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
• Records of Social and Economic History (British Academy)
• Rolls Series (Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores)
  An official series of transcripts of medieval documents, in 99 multi-part volumes, published between 1858 and 1911.
  An Index to the Rolls Series, giving the titles and bibliographical details for each volume, annotated with descriptions of the contents, has been compiled by Steven H. Silver
  Another list of the contents, more detailed in some respects, has been provided by Klaus van Eickels of the University of Bamberg
  Many volumes of the series are available in PDF format at gallica, and can be found by choosing the "Catalogues" option and entering "chronicles" in the "Sujet" field (Bibliothèque Nationale de France)
• Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (now part of The National Archives)
• Royal Historical Society
  Includes lists of contents for the Camden Series, Transactions and the Society's other publications.
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 2 (1872) onwards.
  Lists of contents of the Transactions arranged by volume (vol. 1-6th series, vol. 10; 1872-2000) are available at Magazine Stacks.
• Rutland Local History and Record Society
  Includes a list of contents of the Rutland Record, the Rutland Record Series and the society's occasional publications
  Rutland Record is included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 5 (1985) onwards (extracts)
• The Scottish Genealogy Society
  The main subjects of all medieval articles in the Scottish Genealogist, vols 1-50, are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy)
• Association for Scottish Literary Studies
• Selden Society (legal history; includes a list of publications)
• Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1877) onwards (extracts).
• The Shropshire Record Series, list of publications
• Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society
  The Society's Proceedings are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 6 (1856) onwards (extracts).
  An online listing of the contents, 1849-1933, has been written by Paul Mansfield [not available, 4 November 2007; see the Internet Archive's copy of this page, from April 2007]
• South Midlands Archaeology (Council for British Archaeology)
  Index to vols 1-30
• Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society
  Includes lists of contents and indexes for the Society's Transactions, vols 1-39 (1959-1998)
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1960) onwards (extracts)
• Staffordshire Record Society
  Includes a list of publications
• Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History
  Includes a bibliography of published articles, arranged by author
  The Institute's Proceedings are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 3 (1863) onwards (extracts)
• Surrey Archaeological Society
  Includes lists of contents of recent volumes of Surrey Archaeological Collections and other publications. For the Society's journal, Surrey Archaeological Collections:
  • Some articles are listed in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1858) onwards
  • From volume 90 (2003), abstracts and articles (as PDF files) are freely available through the Archaeology Data Service
• Surrey Record Society
• The Topographer and Genealogist
  The main subjects of articles in volumes 1-3 (1846-1858) are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy), and scanned images of some are available on the Foundation's website (subscription required)
• West Surrey Family History Society
  Includes a list of publications
• Surtees Society
  The society's website includes a listing of its publications that are still available
  An fuller (but still incomplete) listing has been written by Dave Nixon
• Sussex Archaeological Society
  Includes an extensive research section. For the Society's journal, Sussex Archaeological Collections:
  • Some articles are listed in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 2 (1844) onwards
  • There is a downloadable bibliographical database of articles on the Society's website, covering vols 1-139 (2001) (requires Microsoft Access)
  • From volume 137 (1999), abstracts and articles (as PDF files) are freely available through the Archaeology Data Service
• The American Genealogist: TAG
  Includes lists of contents of recent issues
• Thoresby Society (Leeds and district)
  Includes a listing of publications in print
  An online partial listing of the publications has also been written by Dave Nixon; more detailed descriptions of the volumes "in print" (extending back to 1904!) are on the Society's website
• Thoroton Society (Nottinghamshire)
  Includes a searchable or downloadable index to the Society's publications, 1897-1997 and a list of the contents of the Record Series.
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 37 (1934) onwards.
  A number of articles from the Transactions are included in the collection of Miscellaneous articles on Nottinghamshire history and archaeology (Andy Nicholson, Nottinghamshire History and Archaeology)
• The Topographer and Genealogist
  The main subjects of articles in volume 1 (1846) are indexed in the Medieval Genealogical Registry (Foundation for Medieval Genealogy), and scanned images of some are available on the Foundation's website (subscription required)
• Victoria History of the Counties of England (known as the Victoria County History, or V.C.H. for short)
• Warwickshire: Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 46 (1923) onwards (extracts)
• Warwickshire: Dugdale Society
  Includes a listing of publications still available.
  The Society's publications are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History
• Westmorland: Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society
  Includes a list of publications still in print, and lists of contents of the Society's Transactions, vols 75 (1975) onwards
  The Society's Transactions are included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1874) onwards (extracts)
• Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society
  Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine is included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1854) onwards (extracts)
• Yorkshire Archaeological Society
  • The Medieval Section has its own website
  • An online listing of the Society's publications has been written by Dave Nixon
  • The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal is included in the Royal Historical Society's Bibliography of British and Irish History from volume 1 (1870) onwards (extracts)
  • The Yorkshire Archaeological and Topogrphical Journal (1875) (Google Book Search [Hints and tips])
    Volume 3
• Yorkshire: Borthwick Institute of Historical Research
  Includes a Catalogue of Publications
• Yorkshire:Thoresby Society (Leeds and district)
  An online partial listing of the publications has been written by Dave Nixon; more detailed descriptions of the volumes "in print" (extending back to 1904!) are on the Society's website
• Medieval Yorkshire Family History Database (Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York)
  Index, open to postal enquiries, with details of over half a million Yorkshire people before 1550, from contemporary records, some unpublished.