Archives
Archives are orginal records produced in the everyday procedures of an organisation, company or family. Sandwell Community History & Archives Service holds original material relating to the Borough and its predecessors, as well as documents relating to this history of the people, businesses and buildings and landscape of the area.
The different categories or records are listed further down this page.
Catalogues / indexes are only available by visiting CHAS in person at the moment - or by looking on the internet for Access to Archives website which lists archive catalogues for the whole country.If you wish to view records at any time, we will require 24 hours notice. You may contact CHAS either by email or by writing to us in order to give us notice to locate the item/s. We can then arrange an appointment for you to come here and view the document/s. All records less than 100 years old will be checked before being served, in order to ensure that they do not contain sensitive personal information. This may result in a delay in serving the record, and we will be realistic and keep enquirers informed about how long this will take. Data Subject Requests will be dealt with according to council procedures. Staff will conduct reasonabale searches within these records free of charge for up to thirty minutes. Beyond this point we reserve the option to charge.
Useful Forms
Types of records held at the Community History and Archive Service:
Borough Records
We are the official repository for Council records from the former six Borough Councils. We hold Council minutes and departmental records. Minutes for Sandwell Council can be viewed by contacting Members Services at Oldbury Council House.
Business Records
Business records are those records, which are produced in the everyday running of a firm, and can include anything from minutes of meetings, order books, product catalogues, or even photographs. We hold many collections both large and smaller, some of which are from firms of national and international importance, such as Patent Shaft of Wednesbury, GKN of Smethwick , and Kenrick & Jefferson of West Bromwich.
Deeds & Property Records
CHAS holds property records for both business and private properties, and include deeds and some rent books.
Education Records
CHAS holds both records for Education Boards of the six towns, as well as records for schools and colleges. These mainly comprise Admission Registers and Log Books. We do not hold pupil records and do not have records for every school in Sandwell. Because many education records contain sensitive personal information about children, it is often not possible to provide access to records less than 100 years old. Staff will conduct reasonable searches within these records free of charge for up to thirty minutes. Beyond this point we reserve the option to charge for the search.
Miscellaneous Items
These are many and varied. We hold family papers, private letters, a coffin maker’s notebook, illuminated documents presented to Councillors, wills and many more.
Non-Conformist Church Records
These are records from Methodist churches, Baptist churches, Congregational churches and also United Reform churches, as well as a few Catholic Churches. As well as marriage and baptism registers, we also hold minutes of church meetings. You can view a list of registers on microfilm by linking to our Family History site.
Organisations and Societies
These records consist of such varied organisations as a Flower Arranging Club, Civic Societies, Chambers of Trade and even an Optometrist Club.
Parish Records
These are the records of Church of England churches. As well as registers of baptisms, marriages and of burials, we also hold parish papers, letters, records of church property, vestry minutes and even parish magazines. Although we do not hold original records for every church in Sandwell, we are the legal repository for Warley Deanery.
- A full list of church registers held at CHAS can be obtained on Family History Page.
Depositing Records
Documenting the Workshop of the World Project
This is a three year project, made possible through Heritage Lottery funding, which will see the digitisation of over 10,000 historical images and the cataloguing of a series of business records from the four Black Country Archives Services of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. A website is currently being developed where all these images and catalogues of the specific collections can be viewed. In the meantime if anyone wishes to find out more about the project contact Project Officer Cheryl Bailey (Cheryl.Bailey@dial.pipex.com) will be more than happy to explain the project to you.