About OldDocs

What OldDocs is

OldDocs is an archive of transcribed historical English records — trade directories, memorial inscriptions, parish registers and burial records — made searchable online. Each collection has been transcribed by hand from original primary sources, most of them printed or compiled before 1900.

The idea is simple: these records exist, they are important to genealogical research, and they should be accessible. Rather than a scan you have to read from an image, OldDocs gives you searchable text you can query by name in seconds.

Who makes the transcriptions

My name is Neil Egginton. I have been involved in online genealogy since 2011 and have spent years transcribing historical English records as part of that work. OldDocs brings those transcriptions together in one place, properly organised and searchable.

All transcriptions on OldDocs are my own work. I transcribe from scanned originals, preserving original spellings, abbreviations and punctuation where possible. Where text is illegible, I note it rather than guess.

Sources and copyright

All source material used on OldDocs is out of copyright. English copyright law does not protect works published more than 70 years after the death of the author, and the vast majority of sources used here were printed in the 18th or 19th century — well beyond that threshold.

The transcriptions themselves are the copyright of OldDocs. You may use information from OldDocs for personal research, but please do not republish transcriptions elsewhere without permission.

How access works

Each collection is available to search online for a one-off payment of £2.50. You can also purchase access to the entire archive — all current and future collections — for £9.99. Access is permanent and does not expire.

There is no download. Records are available online, behind a secure login. This means the transcriptions remain up to date — corrections and additions appear automatically for existing members.

Errors and corrections

Despite care in transcription, errors will occasionally occur — a misread letter, a transposed name. If you spot an error, please let me know and I will correct it.