Ethel Stokes (17 January 1870 – 19 October 1944) was a British (historic) record agent who played an integral role in establishing a system for preservation of local archives throughout England, and was involved in several major historical, literary and archival endeavours.

Her parents gave her a liberal education, telling her to travel where she wished and to read what she wanted to.

During the 1911 census she described her job as "hunting up genealogies and other historical records in British Museum and other places".

From 1933 to 1939 she worked with volunteers to sort through 270 archives in London and then post them out to the growing number of local studies libraries in the provinces.

[1] Stokes died in London in 1944 when she suffered a head injury after being hit by a lorry during the blackout.