With so much material online through the partnership between the London Metropolitan Archives and Ancestry, a great deal of first-steps research for London can be carried out at home. The availability of source material such as parish records, electoral records, directories and school records drawn from LMA’s stores can help you circumnavigate some of the inherent difficulties of researching in such a vast sprawl. You can see the full extent of the collections at ancestry.co.uk/search/categories/london_met_archives and explore LMA’s own catalogue via www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/london-metropolitan-archives.
Despite this jumping-off point, things soon become more complicated as you dig deeper, or if you’re researching parts of Greater
