Family history researchers are being invited to look over a wealth of old documentation at Bradford Central Library this month.

The West Yorkshire Archive Service will be allowing visitors to browse through parish registers, house deeds, voters registers, school records and criminal records dating back to the 17th century.

There will also be talks on how the information can help people chart their family trees.

Graham Hebblethwaite, chief officer of West Yorkshire Joint Services which oversees the work of the West Yorkshire Archive Service, said: “The Quarter Sessions records, held at Wakefield, are probably the largest and the best preserved in the country, forming a remarkably rich source of research material for family and local historians.

“Convicts for transportation, seaman captured by pirates, freemasons, paupers, printers and publicans all appear in these records.”

Councillor Val Slater, chairman of the archives, archaeology and trading standards committee, said: “These unique resources at West Yorkshire Archive Service are available for use by everyone free of charge.”

The archives will be opened up at the library on Friday, June 17, at 12.30pm. Talks cost £2.50 per visitor.