Help is at hand for Keighley people wanting to research their family roots.

Details of the 1901 census for this area will be available next week at the town's library, and volunteers will be on hand to assist the public.

As part of the Census Week - which will run from Monday to Friday (Jan 21-25) - people will be able to research such information as who lived in their house in 1901.

The library has microfiche records on the whole of the Keighley area - including Haworth, Oxenhope, Stanbury, Silsden, Steeton, Bingley and Ilkley - and vouchers will be on sale for on-line census searching.

A spokesman said: "Family history is very popular and the census helps people to find out where their family was living, who was in the house at the time, and what the relationships were. Also, those who were employers had to divulge how many staff they had."

The history of notable citizens is also in the records.

Mention was made of Tommy Holmes, born in 1896, who rose from humble beginnings in Burlington Street to become a scrapyard owner and a director of Keighley Rugby League Football Club.

Other Keighley residents of renown on the census include Joseph Rhodes, who founded the first Esperanto society in England, and Alex F Smith, who made stone carvings at Cartwright Hall and at the entrance to Keighley Library and murals inside the library.

He also made the crozier and processional cross for the Bishop of Bradford.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, Bradford council's executive member for the environment, said: "People are now living longer, and many of those in the 1901 census may be familiar.

"People remember their grandparents, and the census information will tell them who was in the family at the time. They may even discover relatives they knew nothing about.

"If people want to find out more about their family history, the history of their house or even the history of Keighley but don't know how to get started, then Census Week is the best time to come along.

"We will have a helping hand from the Keighley & District Family History Society, which will be able to guide people to the information."

Researchers can go along to the library between 10am and 4pm any weekday next week, or between 10am-1pm on Tuesday.