Using the National Archives website

[Sue Mackay]

This is to replace the thread by Geoffers, a former much missed Moderator, which is now out of date.

[Sue Mackay]

The Home Page of the National Archives (TNA) is now at https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

This gives you three basic boxes to click on:-

Help with your Research

Search the Catalogue

Find Online Collections

I will deal with each of these three in more detail in subsequent posts below.

Also on the Home Page is a link to how to book a visit and apply for a Reader’s Ticket, if you are able to get to the Archives yourself. It is highly recommended that all UK based family historians should try to visit TNA at least once during the course of their research. A Reader’s Ticket is not required use their computers in order to access Ancestry, Findmypast and basic TNA records such as the census (including the 1921 census), but you will need to register for a ticket in order to view original documents in the reading rooms.

Note that TNA does NOT hold or issue copies of birth, marriage or death certificates. For these you should access https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/c...ates/Login.asp

Towards the bottom of the Home Page you will find a button to press to sign up to TNA’s mailing list, so that you will be informed of new collections and developments. This will also give you priority booking for events.

[Sue Mackay]

Clicking on Help with your Research from the Home Page reveals various helpful links.

Clicking on Start here will lead you to explanations of the following:-

What we have - millions of historical documents, known as records, which were created and collected by UK central government departments and major courts of law.

What we don’t have – for example
Birth, marriage and death records (kept by the General Register Office)
Army service records after 1923 (kept by the Ministry of Defence)
Wills after 1858 (kept by the Probate Service)
Parish Records (kept in local archives)

What’s Online – a basic guide to TNA’s digitised records (more about these in #5), such as wills (1384-1858) and British Army Medal Index Cards (1914-1920)

What’s Not Online – over 90% of TNA’s holdings. The Catalogue is the first port of call for how to access these records, but if you find this a bit daunting then the Help with your Research page also gives a link to Research Guides.

Some of the most used Research Guides have their own links from the Help with your Research page, e.g. Family History, First World War, Second World War, Military and Maritime, each of which opens up links to further research guides on the subject.

Alternatively, click on Use our A-Z Index, which also offers you a Search Box to enter a particular subject that interests you.

Here is a selection of useful Research Guides – there are many more (currently 355 and counting!). On the right hand side of each guide you will find links to any related research guides. The complete list is at Research guides - The National Archives

1939 Register

Apprentices and masters

Bankrupts and insolvent debtors

British Army muster rolls and pay lists c.1730-1898

Census records

Coroners' inquests

Criminals and convicts

Divorce

Emigration and emigrants

London Metropolitan Police

Merchant Navy seamen in service before 1914

Mines and mining

Nonconformists

Railway workers

Royal Air Force personnel

Royal Marines' service records 1842-1925

The South African War, 1899-1902 (or Second Boer War)

Tithes

Wills 1384-1858

Workhouses

If you are stuck with old handwriting - click on Palaeography
also Latin Palaeography which may help you to understand old parish registers and other documents.

[Sue Mackay]

The National Archives Catalogue is called Discovery. There is a Research Guide here. There is also a Glossary for words and phrases used in the catalogue.

From the Home Page, click on Search the Catalogue. I recommend clicking on Advanced Search, and I have this as my bookmark.

The best advice is to KEEP SEARCHES SIMPLE - The phrase 'Less is more' is relevant here.

To help narrow down the search, think where the records are most likely to be, and enter the appropriate code in the References field, such as WO for military records and PROB for wills. If you are not sure of the correct abbreviation click on Browse. Clicking on W under Records of the National Archives will bring up WO (War Office), and clicking on that will give you all the sub divisions of military records and their codes.

Here are some useful codes:-
ADM - Admiralty, Navy, Royal Marines, Coastguards
BT - Board of Trade, including Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen
CO - Colonial Office
CRIM - Records of the Central Criminal Court
FO - Foreign Office
HO - Home Office
J - Records of the Supreme Court and Judiciary
PROB - PCC Wills
RAIL - Records of pre-nationalisation railway companies and private canal companies

Once you have hit the Search button and found an entry you want, click on the link. If it is something like a will, where the document is online, you will find a box to make a nominal payment, or in many cases download the document for free. Simply follow the instructions given.

If it is a document that has not been digitised, you will either need to visit the Archives in person or request a copy. For example, when I wished to view the correspondence relating to the 1820 settlers to the Cape of Good Hope, which I knew to be in CO48, I entered settler correspondence, specified the dates and the code, and eventually arrived at this page.

You will see a box which enables you either to order in the documents prior to a visit to the Archives, or to Request a Copy.

[Sue Mackay]

From the Home Page, click on Find Online Collections. This replaces the former "documentsonline".

Down the right hand side you will see a list of the records that are available to view online. Sometimes you will see a logo for Ancestry or Findmypast, indicating that these records are available on pay-per-view sites, but obviously free to subscribers and aso free to view in person at TNA on their computers.

Note also the link for Free Online Records: Digital Microfilm. This links to a Research Guide.

Our digital microfilm records cover a wide and varied set of subjects, from military and naval records to Foreign Office and Home Office correspondence. They are all listed in the table in this guide.
Many of these records are indexes to other records which may not themselves be viewable online. They are all records which were previously available on microfilm in the reading rooms at The National Archives at Kew.
These documents are free of charge to download and are delivered as large PDF files.

Scroll down for a complete listing. Many Admiralty, Board of Trade and War Office documents are included.

Amongst the Online Records available directly from TNA are:

Aliens' Registration Cards 1918-1957

British Army Medal Index Cards 1914-1920

Death Duty Registers 1796-1811

Household Cavalry Soldiers' Service Records 1799-1920

Naturalisation Case Papers 1801-1871

Royal Marines' Service Records 1842-1925

Royal Navy Officers' Service Records 1756-1931

Royal Navy Ratings' Service Records 1853-1928

Victoria Cross Registers 1856-1944

Wills 1384-1858

[Sue Mackay]

TNA's Discovery catalogue has a global search, which will include records held in other repositories around the country, such as County Record Offices. If you use the Advanced Search it is possible to change the setting from "Search All" to either "Search the National Archives" or "Search Other Archives".

Clicking on Find an Archive (towards the bottom of the Discovery Home Page) leads you to a map. Click on the area which interests you and it will list the relevant archives with their ARCHON codes. These codes will help you limit your search on Discovery.

If you cannot find what you are looking for try the Browse option.

Also from the Discovery Home Page is a link to the Manorial Documents Register.

[Sue Mackay]

TNA has a series of interesting Podcasts available through their Archives Media Player. From here you can click on Audio or Video. Subscribing to TNA's newsletter will keep you informed of new content.