Suffolk, England Public Records Office
There are three offices that contain public records in Suffolk.
Bury St Edmunds Office
Address:
Suffolk Record Office
77 Raingate Street
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 2AR
Hours:
Monday to Saturday: 9am to 5pm
Email: bury.ro@suffolk.gov.uk
Ipswich Record Office
Address:
Suffolk Record Office
Gatacre Road
Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 2LQ
Hours:
Monday to Saturday: 9am to 5pm
Email: ipswich.ro@suffolk.gov.uk
Lowestoft Record Office
Address:
Record Office
The Library,
Clapham Road Sout
Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR32 1DR
Hours:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday: 9am to 5:30pm
Tuesday: 9am to 7pm
Saturday: 9am to 5pm
Sunday: 10am to 4pm
Email: lowestoft.ro@suffolk.gov.uk
Services:
The Suffolk Record Office provides numerous services to the public. One service is free internet access. In order to utilize this resource, researchers need a Suffolk library card. Staff can help researchers find what they are looking for in catalogues. Workers also help researchers find documents in the records and advise searchers about what they are looking for. Some of the more popular documents can be viewed on microfilm or microfiche. The staff in the record office can also do research for people if they are too busy or live to far away from the office to do the research on their own. Copies of many documents can be provided in various different formats. The offices also offer talks and workshops over the course of the year. The records office also provides services to help individuals care for their private archives. This latter service is not provided free of charge.
Before going to a public records office, be sure to learn about any rules pertaining to the office. Reading rooms often require researchers to provide forms of identification. There are also rules relating to the items which can be brought into the research room. For example, some research rooms might not allow researchers to use laptop computers. Being aware of the rules for a research room before going there can help avoid difficulties.
If a researcher knows what s/he is looking for in an archive, s/he should contact the archive before visiting. Requesting documents before visiting the archives means that the staff can have either the documents or copies of them waiting for the researcher before his/her arrival. Staff can also help researchers narrow their search to specific documents and avoid unhelpful documents.
Advertising Disclosure: This post may contain promotional links. publicrecordsearch.co.uk may be compensated if you use these links.