The Council keeps archives of documents relating to the local area. These may include parish registers, maps and plans, council minutes and other historic documents providing an insight into the history of the area.

Information of local interest is often donated, bequeathed or loaned to the archive service by local residents and historians. Those for Dumfries and Galloway can be accessed through the Archive Centre, Burns Street, Dumfries. Our Online Archive Catalogue provides details of all records currently available through the archive service.

If you wish to conduct your own research at any library in Dumfries and Galloway or at the Archive Centre, Dumfries, our staff will be delighted to assist.  However if you are unable to do so then our staff will be happy to conduct research on your behalf.

Visitors are usually able to make enquiries of the archives in person (online or by visiting the archive office) or using the research service provided by the council for which a charge is normally made. Use of the archive is free.  There is a charge for reproduction of information and also for family and local history research if you wish this undertaken.

Why waste hours in fruitless searching? Let our qualified and experienced staff help you with family or other research work using the world famous resources of Dumfries and Galloway Libraries, Information and Archives.

To receive a no obligation assessment of what research could be undertaken and the cost of this work please contact us. We will then provide a quotation for the research work. This is based on an hourly rate of £21 per hour excluding VAT.

Our Resources

• Census Returns for all the parishes of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbright and Wigtownshire 1841 - 1891.
• Old Parochial Registers for all the above parishes.
• Local Newspapers from 1777, many of them fully indexed by ourselves.
• Monumental Inscriptions from graveyards throughout Dumfries and Galloway.
• Valuation, assessment and voting rolls. Kirk Session, Presbytery and Non-Conformist Church records.
• Poor and Parochial Board records.
• Sasine registers, indexes and abridgements, for Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire from 1617.
• Court Records - Burgh and Justice of the Peace, Jail Books, Bail Bond Registers, Indictment books etc from 1506.
• Burgh and Country records - administrative, fiscal and financial from the 16th century.
• School Log Books, Class Registers and School Board records.
•  Motor Vehicle Licensing Registers for Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire from 1904.
• Roads and Militia records from 1667.
• Estate and family papers from the 15th century onwards.
• Local clubs, societies, businesses and trades records.
• Maps and Plans from as long ago as 1654. 
• 20,000+ local photographs ranging from the mid 19th century to the 1990's.
• 20,000+ local photographs ranging from the mid 19th century to the 1990's.
• 12,000+ architectural drawings.
• Unique 80,000 strong Dumfries and Galloway Collection of published books, pamphlets, research notes and ephemera.
• Over 280,000 microfiche records of local material from Dumfries and Galloway.

These resources combined form the largest collection of Dumfries and Galloway material in the World.