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 archived websites.

The National Archives is home to records created by the United Kingdom central government and agencies, and the legal system of England and Wales. These archived documents span every gamut of legal register from Domesday Book of 1086 to the present-day UK Government Web Archive.

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 downloads.

Contact information

 * The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU, United Kingdom
 * contact form (in lieu of email): web form
 * phone: +44 (0) 20 8876 3444
 * blog: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/
 * Facebook: TheNationalArchives
 * Twitter: @UkNatArchives
 * YouTube channel: nationalarchives08

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. You will need a Reader's Ticket to view original documents onsite. 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 National Archives. They can be ordered online through the Home Office Identity &amp; Passport Service.

The National Archives Home Page
The National Archives home page (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) is informative and filled with options for searching more than just the UK National Archives. This page can be overwhelming for a first time user so this article explains the steps to conduct a search. These steps will describe some of the categories under key tabs and how to input search terms that will yield results. The National Archvies website is constantly evolving with pictures, quick links and banners. Though colours, menus, and the layout change as the site develops, the site usually has a navigation bar with tabs just under their logo at the top of the home page. As of February 2012, genealogists will mostly use the two tabs, Education and Records.

Education Tab
On TNA home page choose the Education grey tab to see a list of topics and recent TNA news items. A second set of tabs give access to further information. As of Feb 2012, the secondary tabs are lessons, workshops, videoconverences, virtual classrooms, and professional development. These taught sessions and online resources are designed for schools, students, and teachers. While workshops are for those who can visit TNA in person, the videoconferences are carried out online. Both have a limited number of participants and are usually booked six to eight months ahead.

Podcasts
These 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). The podcasts are grouped within tabs according to subject area, suchy as family history, military history and so on. You can also search by keyword or by the name of the speaker. You can listen to the podcasts online or download them to your own computer, and you can also subscribe via RSS or iTunes. 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, select Family History Podcasts to see those currently available.

Professional development
The National Archives offers a variety of online learning for teachers and students. These include two series developed in cooperation with the University of Virginia, classes on document collections, and an accredited degree programme.

Records Tab
The Records tab opens a page which will introduce the immense collection of records. In addition to helping you get started in searching for a person, place, or subject, it has a quick links box which lists some of the most useful databases and searches available through TNA. These include:


 * Discovery - the beta version of the The National Archives search service which will replace the separate searches in the Catalogue and DocumentsOnline.
 * The Catalogue - a combination index search and catalogue of records at TNA.
 * Documents Online - Millions of digitized records, indexed by name where appropriate including service records of the Royal Marines, Royal Navy Seamen, and some e all wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) 1384-1858.
 * The National Register of Archives - maintained by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the NRA consists of over 44000 unpublished lists and catalogs describing archival holdings in the United Kingdom and overseas. The catalogue records (but not the content of the records described) can be searched by business, family, personal, or place names.

Catalogues and online records
The Catalogues and online records tab gives a fuller list of records and indexes available online, including many on The National Archives partner sites such as FindMyPast, Ancestry, and BMDRegisters. Some available on the TNA web site which are of use to genealogists include:


 * Manorial Documents Register (MDR) - identifies the nature and location of manorial records. The records listed include court rolls, surveys, maps, terriers, and all other documents relating to the boundaries, franchises, wastes, customs or courts of a manor. Title deeds are not included. The MDR is partially online – all of Wales, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cumberland, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Surrey, Westmorland, Yorkshire (all three Ridings), and that part of Lancashire north of the Sands (the Furness area, part of Cumbria since 1974) are available online as of January 2012.
 * Taxation Records (E 179) - search for The National Archives holdings of tax records for any given place from the 13th to 17th centuries. NOTE: requires two searches - first to identify the place, then second to see what tax records TNA has for that place. Identifies the records, but records themselves are not indexed by name, nor are they available online.
 * Equity Pleadings (C6) - search over 30,000 court cases from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by name, place, or subject.
 * Trafalgar ancestors - Details of service and genealogy of over 18,000 individuals who fought in Nelson's fleet at the naval Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.

Browse our research guidance
This tab leads to an A-Z page, and each letter page contains a list of subjects for which in-depth research guides are available. These guides help explain what records are available at TNA for the subjects listed, the time period covered, what the records contain, and how to access them. 

The Catalogue
The Catalogue is being replaced in 2012 by a new service called Discovery. Until then, the Catalogue is the central 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 The National Archives by the government department or branch of the English legal system which created or collected them. These are indicated by letter codes (e.g. WO - War Office, C - Chancery, or WARD - Court of Wards and Livery). Within each departmental letter code the records are divided into separate series, indicated by series numbers. The series numbers are usually assigned sequentially and have no significance other than assisting in finding records. A department letter code plus series number is called a class number (e.g. WARD 4). Class or series numbers are further divided into bundles or pieces. Within a piece, records are often numbered by page, sheet, folio, quire or some other reference number.

A full document reference is needed to view original documents or microfilm, or to order copies. This is in the form of the department letter code, followed by the series number and then the piece number, in the following format - ADM 175/103 or MH 12/1453. In some cases a piece has been further divided in separate items, and the item number forms part of the full reference eg HO 144/300/B2931

Class (or Series) Descriptions
Descriptions of each record class, what they contain, details of finding 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 letter code and series 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.

Tips for Visiting in Person


TNA has an extensive guide to preparing for a visit to their archive. Affordable accommodations are available within walking distance. A list of bed and breakfast accomodations which cater to TNA visitors is updated annually.