The National Archives
We are a non-ministerial department, and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales.
Start here - The National Archives
If you are new to The National Archives and want some help getting started with your family history or any other kind of research, you’re in the right place. Follow the links below to find out where and how to start your research, or explore curated highlights from our collection.
Research guides - The National Archives
The research guidance listed below can help you explore a particular historical subject. Each guide indicates how to find access and understand records to support your research. Records at The National Archives are arranged by government department or court, not by subject. These guides will help you identify which departments and courts kept the relevant […]
Digital Downloads: Online access to over 1,000 years of history
Digital Downloads allows you to access records online anytime and anywhere via Discovery, our catalogue. There are over 8.8 million records available to download: Digitised collections First and Second World War Explore our records on First and Second World War soldiers, sailors and air men, battles, battalions, and much more. Military and maritime Trace the […]
The National Register of Archives
About The National Register of Archives. The National Register of Archives (NRA) was created in 1945 to record collections relating to British individuals, families, groups, organisations and businesses held in repositories in the United Kingdom and around the world.
What records we hold - The National Archives
As the official public archive of the United Kingdom government, we hold records covering more than 1,000 years of history. Government records which have been selected for permanent preservation are sent to The National Archives. You can search descriptions of the records we hold in Discovery, our catalogue. We have a large collection of digitised […]
Help with your research - The National Archives
Get help with your research at The National Archives
What's online - The National Archives
Other records that we hold have been digitised by commercial partners like Ancestry and Findmypast.You will need to visit their websites to view them – and there will usually be a charge.
Find an archive - The National Archives
The ‘Find an archive‘ page allows you to search by location or keyword specifically for archives themselves, as opposed to the records they hold. Search results will show you: contact information for the archive; brief information about the archive’s collection; a map showing the location of the archive
What we have - The National Archives
The National Archives is home to millions of historical documents, known as records, which were created and collected by UK central government departments and major courts of law. For example, we have records from the Home Office, the Foreign Office and the Central Criminal Court. It takes 185km of shelving to store our records, and […]