JOHN LENNON and Paul McCartney made history with their many famous records.

Now their ancestors are to have their moment in the spotlight, when their baptism and marriage records go online for the first time.

They are included in a collection of more than 3m historic Šdocuments from the Liverpool Record Office, which are being made available for the first time from today.

The collection spans almost 500 years and offer a unique insight into the city’s history and people.

The records show each of Lennon’s grandparents’ baptism records and their marriage record, and McCartney’s grandparents’ marriage record.

The collections comprise the Liverpool Catholic Registers, 1750-1900, and Liverpool Church of England Parish Registers, 1659-1974, detailing the baptisms, marriages and burials that took place in both Catholic and Church of England parishes across four centuries. They chart the development of Liverpool from a small town in the 1600s, to one of the UK’s largest and most culturally diverse cities.

According to family history website, Ancestry.co.uk, which has put the archive online, the 1.6m Catholic Registers will be of particular interest to the estimated 136,000 Liverpudlians today of Irish descent.

Family historian Annabel Bernhardt-Reeves said: “While these records are hugely significant to anyone with Liverpudlian roots, they will also be of huge interest to anyone tracing Irish ancestry – with recent research revealing Liverpool has the strongest Irish heritage of any English city.

“As well as having vast historical and genealogical value, these records are also incredibly interesting from a cultural perspective, detailing the heritage of two of the biggest stars the country has ever produced – John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

“Our researchers didn’t know who they would uncover when digging around in these records, and were thrilled when they uncovered half of the members of the legendary band The Beatles – two of Liverpool’s most famous exports.”