The National Archives of the United Kingdom

The National Archives (acronym TNA) is the official governmental archive of the United Kingdom, containing nine hundred years of history with records ranging from parchment and paper scrolls through to digital files and archive websites.

The TNA is home to records created by the central government, metropolitan law courts and civil administrative agencies. These archived documents span every gamut of legal register from the Domesday Book of 1086 to present day military rolls.

All these records can be searched through the online catalogue at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/. These documents can be viewed at an onsite visit or some records from popular collections can be downloaded onto your own computer. There is a modest fee per page for the downloads.

If visiting onsite or ordering by mail the postal address is:


 * The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU

When visiting, preparations should be made in advance to order the materials you wish. Up to six documents can be ordered in advance. For details please view Visit us. A Readers Ticket should also be purchased to reserve a document viewer.

It should be noted at this point that all copies of birth, adoption, marriage and death certificates after 1837 are held in the General Register Office not the TNA. They can be ordered online through the Home Office Identity &amp; Passport Service.

TNA Website Opening Page
The TNA home page is very informative and filled with options for searching more than just the UK National Archives. The portal for this search is the same as listed above http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. This page can be overwhelming for a first time user so steps to conduct a search will be explained in the following outline. These steps will describe some of the categories under key tabs and how to input search terms that will yield results. The TNA website is constantly evolving with pictures, quick links and banners but the grey tab banner at the top of the home page stays the same. Please get familiar with the two tabs, Research and Learning, or Search the archives.

The tab Search the archives opens a page which will introduce the immense collection of records. It references many archive collections in addition to the TNA, i.e. Access to Archives (A2A) which contains internet links to catalogues from archives throughout England dating from the 900s. The links on the left bar and those in the center are not the same. The center highlighted area names the archives, whether online or accessible by online catalogue, and points out offerings of record collections that can be downloaded for a fee. The left bar is a condensed version of the center area focusing on those collections used more frequently.

The Catalogue
The Catalogue is being replaced (spring 2012) by a new service called Discovery. Until then, the Catalogue is the center focus for all National Archive quests. An archive catalogue is not like a library catalogue. The difference must be understood before undertaking any search. In libraries books are organized by subject classifications, i.e. history, biographies, but archives are arranged by collections or in the case of the TNA by the Office or department which created them. Each originating Office is identified by a series of letters, i.e. WO=War Office, C=Chancery, or PLC=Poor Law Commission. Records created by the same cabinet Office are grouped in a separate series number (called a class number). The class numbers are usually assigned sequentially and have no significance other than assisting in finding records. Classes are then divided into bundles or pieces (sometimes called boxes or tins). Within a piece, bundle, box, or tin, records are often numbered by page, sheet, folio, or some other reference number.

When looking for a record, all identifying classifications are required, i.e. originating Office code, class or series number, piece number, and page number. References are always written in the same way: departmental code, a space, class number, forward stroke (slash), piece or bundle number, forward stroke, page or folio number. For example: WO 364/1100/29 or MH 10/86/11. These numbers are needed when requesting any information, whether online or onsite.

Reference Codes and Descriptions
Descriptions of each record class, what they contain, details of findings aids, how and why these records were created, can be found in the catalogue. To get to these descriptions, click on The Catalogue then enter a originating Office code and class number in the top left box where it says: Go to reference. The next page will reveal the context of the originating Office records, which division created this record and what these pieces contain. An example is WO 363/A 127 which are records created by the War Office, service records of World War I soldiers, the “A” is for soldiers with the last name beginning with A on piece 127. After the context description is a record summary. This gives the dates covered in this series and their availability to the public.If you would like to find the exact piece for the alphabetical listing of a particular surname enter the reference again in the box titled "browse from this reference." This will open a description of all surnames in each piece. Many of these service records are in the online digitized collection so directions to search this page will be explained below.

Documents Online
Under the grey tab "Search the Archives" is the option to go to Documents Online. Those record collections online that are used most often and are most popular have links on this first page, i.e. campaign medals, wills, royal marine service records, register of seaman's service. If more detail is desired on the total of online collections, there is a browse button which opens a box of categories most popular for family historians.

Podcasts
These are available at the TNA and cover many assorted areas, from crime related incidents in the 18th and 19th century, to the history of Hoffmann La Roche (the Swiss Pharmacuetical Company). You have to scroll through the entire collection which is quite large to locate the files you would like to find out more about. If you want to browse through the collection then clicking on "Podcasts" in the heading will take you to the website. These Podcasts can be viewed online or else downloaded to your own computer. They are in the form of talks that encompass so many varied areas, that are too numerous to list here. At the bottom of the short bio of the lecture you may find the following notation: "Further information, show notes and transcript" if you click on that area, you might be able to view onscreen the entire transcript of the Podcast.

If you would like to view a listing of Podcasts relating to Family History then click on the following link: Family History  Podcasts this will then take you to a page where you can access all those presently available.

[[Image:The National Archives.jpg|thumb|right]]TNA Research Guides
On TNA home page choose the "Research and Learning" grey tab, on the drop-down menu choose "Research Guidance." The In-Depth Reseach Guidance box will open an alphabetical list of all guides available on-line in digitized format. These booklets give step-by-step directions on how to search the wealth of collections for this category. An example could be, [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=14 British Army: Soldiers' discharge papers, 1760-1913, Military Records Information 5. ] The table of contents in this guide includes:


 * Where to start
 * Royal Hospital Chelsea, Soldier's Documents
 * Regimental Registers of Admissions to Pension
 * Irish Establishment Discharges, 1783-1822
 * Artillery Service Records
 * Other Discharge Papers

Ending with the National Archives Library Bibliography.

Within each section are exact references to the class or department that created the documents, the series number and the piece number. If the document is not available within TNA the appropriate archive or museum is referenced. Many series have individual soldier's records indexed by surname.

Tips for Visiting in Person
Very affordable accommodations are available within walking distance. Visit Kew List: List of Acommodation in Private Homes for Visitors to the National Archives, Kew to learn more.