Archive awareness
According to the MLA: Museums, Libraries and Archives Council:
Archives tell the story of our past, showing us – and future generations – how we came to be what we are as individuals, as communities and as a nation ... [They] offer a thrilling immediacy of contact with historical events – film footage of the fall of the Berlin wall, the love notes passed between Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex, or the digitally recorded proceedings of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. Maps, plans, drawings and posters are things of beauty in their own right with important significance, such as the works of art produced by official war artists. Our archives are a unique national asset.
In the past, investigating archives was a hit-or-miss affair – finding anything within them or even finding the right archive was often a miracle. Today, however, it is much easier to discover where these treasure hoards are located and what is in them.
This compilation of some of the very best websites to do with UK archives will help immensely as you delve into the past.
A2A: Access to Archives
www.a2a.org.uk/
A2A allows people to search and browse for information about archives in 403 local record offices and libraries, universities, museums and national and specialist institutions across England.
British Library Integrated Catalogue
http://catalogue.bl.uk/F/?func=file&
file_name=login-bl-list
The British Library's collections, developed over 250 years, represent every age of written civilisation, every written language and every aspect of human thought. The British Library Integrated Catalogue unites a number of previously separate sources to list over 12 million items in the collections.
FamilyRecords.gov.uk
www.familyrecords.gov.uk
This website, provided by the FamilyRecords.gov.uk consortium, aims
to help individuals find the government records and other sources they
need for family history research. The site is divided into two main sections.
In 'Topics', you will find information on births, marriages and deaths,
censuses, migration and more. In 'Partners', you will find details of
each of the 12 members of the FamilyRecords.gov.uk consortium, including
the Family Records Centre, Commonwealth War Graves Commission and General
Register Office for Scotland.
History.uk.com
www.history.uk.com/
This is an online directory of history-related places, organisations
and experts in the UK. You can find out about archives and other places
for research by clicking on 'Topics' on the homepage and then going to
'Research tools'. Particularly valuable is the listing of all the county
record offices in England and Wales.
Humbul Humanities Hub
www.humbul.ac.uk/
Humbul is dedicated to discovering, evaluating and cataloguing online
resources in the humanities. The History
section is particularly good.
Irish Emigration Database
www.qub.ac.uk/cms/collection/IED.htm
The IED is a computerised collection of primary source documents on
Irish emigration to North America (USA and Canada) in the 18th and 19th
centuries. It contains a variety of original material including emigrant
letters, newspaper articles, shipping advertisements, shipping news, passenger
lists, official government reports, family papers, births deaths and marriages
and extracts from books and periodicals. For the moment, because it has
been unable to handle the volume of individual users, the database can
be accessed only at the Centre for Migration Studies at the Ulster American
Folk Park and in libraries in Northern Ireland.
Moving Here
www.movinghere.org.uk/
A database of digitised photographs, maps, objects, documents and
audio items recording experiences of immigration to England over the past
two centuries.
The National Archives
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
The National Archives has one of the largest archival collections
in the world, spanning 1,000 years of British history, from Domesday Book
to government papers recently released to the public. You can see this
collection at Kew in London, or view certain documents online. The National
Archives also advises people on the location of non-public records and
manuscripts relating to British history.
National Archives of Scotland
www.nas.gov.uk/
NAS is the main archive for sources of the history of Scotland as
a separate kingdom, its role in the British Isles and the links between
Scotland and many other countries over the centuries. It is the repository
for the public and legal records of Scotland but also holds many local
and private archives. These records span the 12th to the 21st centuries,
touching on virtually every aspect of Scottish life. The searchable online
catalogue details all the items held by NAS.
Old Maps
www.old-maps.co.uk/
Find out where your ancestors used to live or check out what your
neighbourhood looked like over 100 years ago. This website provides access
to Ordnance Survey's historical map archive online, which can be searched
by place name, address or OS map reference.
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
www.proni.gov.uk/
PRONI hold millions of documents which relate chiefly, but by no means
exclusively, to present-day Northern Ireland. The earliest record dates
from 1219, with the main concentration of records covering the period
1600 to the present. The website has some useful online indexes: geographical,
prominent persons, Presbyterian Church, Church of Ireland.
