The below guides gives an overview of a few of the collections held by St Helens Archive Service. It is intended as a starting point: not every surviving item is listed, and researchers should check the online catalogue or contact the Archive Service for the full description and current access status. 

St Helens Glass Industry

For over three centuries, glassmaking has contributed to the shape of St Helens landscape, economy and communities; an industry which provided employment for thousands of local people and produced innovations that have transformed glass production across the world. 

Records relating to the glass industry can be useful to research the development of glass manufacturers and companies, individual glassworks and their families, trade union activity, working conditions, technological innovation, women's employment, apprenticeships and training, industrial accidents, factory buildings and sites. 

Major Glass Manufacturers in St Helens   

• British Plate Glass Company (Plate Glass)
• Cannington, Shaw & Company Ltd (Glass Bottles and Containers)
• Charles Borron & Co. (Newton-le-Willows) (Glass Bottles and Containers)
• Fibreglass Ltd (Glass Fibre / Fibreglass Products)
• Forsters Glass Company Ltd
• Gardner & Newton Glass Works (Glass Benders)
• Nuttall & Company Ltd (Glass Bottles and Containers)
• Pilkington Brothers Ltd (Crown Glass, Sheet Glass, Plate Glass, Float Glass, Rolled Glass)
• Ravenhead Glass Works (Glass Bottles and Containers)
• St Helens Crown Glass Company (Crown Glass)
• Rockware Glass Ltd (Glass Bottles and Containers)
• Triplex Safety Glass Ltd (Laminated Safety Glass and Vehicle Glass)
• Union Plate Glass Company (Plate Glass)
• United Glass Bottle Manufacturers Ltd (Glass Bottles and Containers)

Please see the link at the bottom of the page for the full guide to St Helens Glass Industry. 

Hospital and Health Records

Prepared from the St Helens Archive Service catalogues and checked against current guidance and catalogues published by St Helens Borough Council, The National Archives, Liverpool Record Office, Knowsley Archives, Wigan Archives and other relevant repositories. External holdings, catalogue references and access arrangements can change, so please check before travelling. 

Hospital records can be useful for family history, the history of medicine and nursing, the development of local  services, and wider studies of poverty, work, public health and social welfare. The records that survive are uneven. Some hospitals are represented by substantial administrative collections, while others appear only in annual reports, plans, photographs, council minutes or newspaper cuttings. Before the NHS was established in 1948, local healthcare was provided through a mixture of voluntary  hospitals, workhouse infirmaries, local-authority hospitals, private institutions, district nursing and public health services. This history affects where the records are held. Material relating to one hospital may be divided between St Helens, Liverpool, Knowsley, Lancashire and The National Archives.

Please see the link at the bottom of the page for the full guide to St Helens Hospital and Health Records.