Lancashire Record Office

The Lancashire Archives, previously known as the Lancashire Record Office, is a county record office located in the city of Preston which serves Lancashire, England. It was established in 1940.

In 1808 the Lancashire Justices first took an interest in the records, ordering the Clerk of the Peace to "arrange the Public Records in his office in such a manner as to him shall appear to be the most proper, for their preservation and utility". In 1879, the Justices obtained an Act of Parliament allowing them to build offices for "county business". This included a room for keeping the county records. Sessions House was built in 1903 with rooms for documents in it.

In December 1937, the Preston and mid-Lancashire branch of the Historical Association sent a petition to Lancashire County Council, asking whether the council could "sanction and establish a depository for documents of local interest". A committee was set up to investigate the situation.

In May 1940, the Lancashire Record Office was established as the county record office for Lancashire. In November 1940, the Master of the Rolls recognised the Lancashire Record Office as a manorial repository. The first deposit to the Archives came from the Fylde Historical and Antiquarian Society.

Lancashire County Council appointed Reginald Sharpe France as the first County Archivist; from 1947 he also taught on the Diploma in Archive Administration at the University of Liverpool, establishing a link between the record office and the university.

Sharpe France worked alone until 1941, when an unqualified assistant was appointed. Due to World War Two, there were almost no enquiries for documents or searchers – only 66 visitors are recorded in 1940, and 90 in 1941. Sharpe France and his assistant could acquire documents and catalogue them without interruption.

Guide to the Lancashire Record Office was first published in 1948. In 1950, the archives held an exhibition for their 10th anniversary, opened by Earl Peel, on March 15–18 March at the county office in Preston. Around 2000 visitors attended it.

Sharpe France remained County Archivist until the 1970s.

As visitors increased and as more documents were taken in, a strain began to develop on the archives. In 1960, the archives moved to larger premises in the Sessions House. In 1963, the first archaeologist, Ben Edwards, was appointed.

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