The Local History Room offers visitors and museum volunteers alike the opportunity to research the family and community history of Halesworth and surrounding area and there is a variety of resources available for this purpose.
We have copied pages from local trade directories 1793 to 1967 which enables the researcher to trace individuals and trades relevant to Halesworth. We have files containing information about individuals who lived in Halesworth and the surrounding area which is constantly being updated and general files on local subjects alphabetically arranged. We are lucky to have amongst our collection burial records of Halesworth Cemetery carefully collated by the Halesworth WI. We are also currently developing files which contain research on the various buildings in Halesworth.
We have a database available logging all newspapers and cuttings currently held at the Museum which are readily available. There is a database containing details on all the public houses in Halesworth and the surrounding area from past and present. Any new information is very much welcomed. Also in the study room is a database containing all the objects and photographs housed in the museum, both on display and stored upstairs.
There are other files, census return copies, Halesworth railway information and a collection of books and maps selected to aid family and community history research.
In addition to all of this the Museum is always happy to undertake research on behalf of anyone interested in Halesworth’s rich and interesting past.
Study Resources
Museum Library
The Museum has a library of books of local interest as well as some general books on history and archaeology. Our catalogue is sorted in three orders, author, title and museum location (the prefix of sr indicates that the book is in the study room and available without . Click the text below to download a pdf document:
Author Order – Title Order – Museum Location Order
Newspaper Collection
We have a collection of newspapers, mostly copies and cuttings from the Halesworth Times. You can download our Newspaper Catalogue by clicking here: Newspapers 4 – 22.1.2019. If you want to look at any of our newspapers can you book in advance, as they are kept in our secure store.
East Anglian Magazine
East Anglian Magazine published monthly in Ipswich between 1935 and 1982, was an eclectic collection of stories, illustrations and old photographs relating to the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. EastAnglianMagazine
Halesworth Boys’ School Admission Book
Download admissions from 1859 to 1862:
Admission Order – Halesworth Boys School – Admissions from 1859 Admssion order
Surname Order – Halesworth Boys School – Admissions from 1859 Name Order
Halesworth Infants’ School Admission Book
Download admissions from 1879 to 1888: Admission Order – Surname Order
Local Directories
We have a large range of local and county directories. Some (including copies of Halesworth Pages) are in the Study Room, others are in our secure store and will need to be ordered in advance.
We hold the following directories
Postal Directories
Kellys Directories (including the Post Office Directories) – A trade directory covering the whole of Suffolk, some include Norfolk. Information listed in alphabetic order by Town or Village.
White’s Directories – Trade directories listed alphabetically by small areas. There is a list of all the towns and villages featured in Suffolk and a number is given to each to aid locating them at the front of the book.
| 1844 Whites Directory | 1879 Post Office Directory | 1885 Whites Directory |
| 1888 Kellys Directory | 1896 Kellys Directory | 1900 Kellys Directory |
| 1904 Kellys Directory | 1908 Kellys Directory | 1916 Kellys Directory |
| 1922 Kellys Directory | 1925 Kellys Directory | 1929 Kellys Directory |
| 1933 Kellys Directory | 1937 Kellys Directory |
Gales Almanack
A Halesworth trade directory which includes a list of households either by street or alphabetically.
| 1900 | 1903 | 1904 | 1906 | 1907 | 1909 |
| 1910 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1920 |
| 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 |
| 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 |
| 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
| 1940 | 1941 | ||||
| 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 |
| 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 |
Halesworth & Southwold Directory
| 1964- 1965 | 1966 |
Also a copy of:- Records of Halesworth (Second Edition)
Lambert’s Almanack
Features general information of towns in East Suffolk
| 1878 | 1879 | 1880 | 1881 | 1882 | 1883 | 1885 |
| 1886 | 1887 | 1889 | 1890 | 1891 | 1892 | 1893 |
| 1894 | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1909 | 1916 |
Records of Halesworth (Second Edition) Compiled by Frederick C Lambert – General historical information regarding Halesworth Church and other significant buildings.
Online Resources
| Title | Information | Link |
| Halesworth An Ecological Society Bellamy/Downing |  | http://www.culturalecology.info/halesworth/halesworth_html/index.htm |
The Economic & Social History of Halesworth | A detailed and fascinating account, written by Mike Fordham and reproduced here by kind permission, of the history of Halesworth from Saxon times to the beginning of the 20th Century.This file is a 6.6Mb PDF so may take a minute to load. | The Economic & Social History of Halesworth |
| History of Patrick Stead Hospital & The League of Friends | History of Patrick Stead Hospital & The League of Friends | |