Surrey History Centre

The Surrey History Centre in Woking, Surrey, England, collects and rescues archives and printed materials relating to Surrey's past and present. It replaced the former Surrey Record Office, which had been based in Kingston upon Thames.

Among the most notable collections are the official records of Surrey County Council since 1889; the historical records of the Mores and More-Molyneux of Loseley Park, near Guildford; the records of the many mental hospitals within the county (an extraordinarily rich source for family, social and medical historians); Philip Bradley's collection of fairground photographs; papers of Lewis Carroll and "Carrolliana"; the papers of the Labour politician and Home Secretary James Chuter Ede; manuscripts and papers of the author R. C. Sherriff; archives, plans and garden designs of Gertrude Jekyll; archives of the infantry regiments associated with the county, including the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey), the East Surrey Regiment and the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment; archives of Surrey clubs, societies and local organisations, including Surrey County Cricket Club and Epsom Grandstand Association; and the archives of major businesses such as Dennis Specialist Vehicles Ltd of Guildford, and John Broadwood & Sons, piano manufacturers.

The archives of John Broadwood & Sons and a large number of papers relating to members of the Broadwood family, including Lucy Broadwood the folk song collector, which are all housed at Surrey History Centre, have been the subject of an extensive conservation programme.

Surrey History Centre holds an extensive collection of parish registers. Most of their Church of England parish registers, from 1538 to 1987 (baptisms to 1912; marriages to 1937; and burials to 1987) are now available via www.ancestry.co.uk. The online Guide to parish registers held at Surrey History Centre indicates that significant numbers of the registers for parishes historically in Surrey but now in London are held by London Metropolitan Archives.