Registration documents kept at the registry ports were bound into huge ledgers in order of port number. When all the registers in a ledger had been closed, they were of no further interest to the local registrar and many have been donated to local libraries, museums and record offices. However, there appears to be no central record of these holdings and the list below is undoubtedly incomplete.

Users should be warned that even very old ledgers remained with the registration authorities if ships in them were still registered. This may have happened because the owner never bothered to tell the registrar what became of his ship. It is therefore important to check beforehand that the registers for the years you require are indeed held by the library, museum or record office listed. Click on their name below to find their address and telephone number.

Port of registry	Location of closed registers
Aberdeen	Aberdeen City Archives [address]
Aberystwyth	Ceredigion Archives [address]
Barnstaple	North Devon Record Office [address]
Barrow	Cumbria Record Office, Barrow [address]
Berwick-upon-Tweed	Berwick-upon-Tweed Record Office [address]
Bideford	North Devon Record Office [address]
Bridgwater	Somerset Archive and Record Service [address]
Bridport	Dorset Archives Service [address]
Bristol	Bristol Record Office [address]
Brixham	Devon Record Office, Exeter [address]
Cardiff	Glamorgan Record Office [address]
Cardigan	Pembrokeshire Record Office [address]
Carlisle	Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle [address]
Carmarthen	Carmarthenshire Archive Service [address]
Chester	Flintshire Record Office [address]
Cley	Norfolk Record Office, Norwich [address]
Colchester	Essex Record Office, Colchester [address]
Cornish ports	Cornwall County Record Office [address]
Cowes	Isle of Wight County Record Office [address]
Dartmouth	Devon Record Office, Exeter [address]
Exeter	Devon Record Office, Exeter [address]
Glasgow	Mitchell Library [address]
Goole	East Riding of Yorkshire Archive Office [ address]
Great Yarmouth	Norfolk Record Office, Norfolk [address]
Grimsby	North East Lincolnshire Archives [address]
Harwich	Essex Record Office, Colchester [address]
Hull	Hull City Archives [address]
Ilfracombe	North Devon Record Office, Barnstaple [address]
Ipswich	Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich [address]
Kent ports	Centre for Kentish Studies [address]
King`s Lynn	Norfolk Record Office [address]
Liverpool	Merseyside Maritime Museum [address]
Llanelli	Carmarthenshire Archive Service [address]
London	Public Record Office [address], London (class CUST 130 )
Lowestoft	Suffolk Record Office, Lowestoft [address]
Lyme Regis	Dorset Archives Service [address]
Maryport	Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle [address]
Milford Haven	Pembrokeshire Record Office [address]
Newcastle	Tyne and Wear Archives Service [address]
Newhaven	East Sussex Record Office [address]
North Shields	Tyne and Wear Archives Service [address]
Plymouth	Plymouth & West Devon Record Office [ address]
Poole	Dorset Archives Service [address]
Port Talbot	West Glamorgan Archive Service [address]
Runcorn	Merseyside Maritime Museum [address]
Rye	East Sussex Record Office [address]
Salcombe	Devon Record Office, Exeter [address]
Silloth	Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle [address]
South Shields	Tyne and Wear Archives Service [address]
Sunderland	Tyne and Wear Archives Service [address]
Swansea	West Glamorgan Archive Service [address]
Teignmouth	Devon Record Office, Exeter [address]
Wells	Norfolk Record Office, Norwich [address]
Weymouth	Dorset Archives Service [address]
Whitehaven	Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle [address]
Wisbech	Cambridgeshire County Record Office, Cambridge [address]
Woodbridge	Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich [address]
Workington	Cumbria Record Office, Carlisle [address]