Initial from records of the Duchy of Lancaster , 1412 (catalogue reference: DL 42/3)
Publications to assist academic research
An extensive range of publications on records held at The National Archives is available to researchers.
The publication of primary record sources, such as calendars of Inquisitions Post Mortem and transcripts of State Papers Domestic, began in the early 19th century. By the end of the century, the publication of key series had transformed the study of the medieval and early modern periods.
From its establishment in 1838, the Public Record Office (the precursor of The National Archives) began the publication of catalogues, indexes and calendars. This led eventually to the development of the current online Catalogue, but also a collection of printed reference material. Additionally, The National Archives publishes guides and handbooks on how to research particular records series.
The result of this activity is a magnificent array of printed primary and reference material. In particular, the printed collection of medieval and early modern records is among the most comprehensive and accessible in the world. These texts open up our records to all researchers, some of whom may not have the linguistic and palaeographical skills necessary to read the originals.
Some of the publications listed are still in print and may be for sale in our bookshop. Publications are detailed below and cover the following areas:
- General guides
- Handbooks
- Chancery
- Exchequer
- Legal records
- Miscellaneous
- State papers
- Colonial
- Privy Council
- Treasury
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Foreign Archives
Early publications, from 1838
These are described in Government Publications Sectional List No. 24 (HMSO, 1977, revised 1985). In addition, catalogues, indexes and calendars were often included as appendices in the annual Reports of the Deputy Keeper until the late nineteenth century.General guides
- Handbook to the Public Records by F S Thomas (1853)
- Guide to Documents in the Public Record Office by S R Scargill-Bird (1891).
These early subject-based guides are useful for converting obsolete document references cited in older published works.
- Guide to Manuscripts Preserved in the Public Record Office Vol. I Legal Records etc. (HMSO, 1923, revised edition 1963) by M S Guiseppi
- Vol.II State Papers etc. (HMSO, 1924, revised edition 1963) by M S Guiseppi
- Vol. III Documents transferred to the Public Record Office 1960-1966 (HMSO, 1969)
These are comprehensive guides reflecting the arrangement of records by creating body. A new guide which separated administrative histories from record class/series descriptions was published on microfiche in 1988 and then intermittently on microfiche as the Current Guide. It has, in turn, been superseded by our online Catalogue.
Handbooks
Handbooks provide detailed overviews of particular subjects or departments. Some titles in this series are little more than lists and have therefore been superseded by our online Catalogue. The numbered handbooks below are the most relevant to academics:
1. Guide to Seals (HMSO, 1954, revised edition 1968)
2. Domesday Re-bound (HMSO, 1954)
3. Records of the Colonial and Dominions Office (HMSO, 1964) - superseded by Sources for Colonial Studies in the Public Record Office by Anne Thurston Vol. I (HMSO, 1995), Vol. II (HMSO, 1998)
4. List of Cabinet Papers, 1880-1914 (HMSO, 1964)
5. Shakespeare in the Public Records (HMSO, 1964)
6. List of Papers of the Committee of Imperial Defence to 1914 (HMSO, 1964)
7. List of Documents relating to the Household and Wardrobe John to Edward I (HMSO, 1964)
8. List of Colonial Office Confidential Print, to 1916 (HMSO, 1965)
9. List of Cabinet Papers, 1915 and 1916 (HMSO, 1966)
10. Classes of Departmental Papers for 1906-1939 (HMSO, 1966)
11. Records of the Cabinet Office to 1922 (HMSO, 1966)
12. Records of the Cabinet Office to 1922 (HMSO, 1966)
13. Records of the Foreign Office 1782-1939 (HMSO, 1969 – revised edition published 2002 as Handbook 33)
14. Records of interest to Social Scientists 1919 to 1939: Introduction (HMSO, 1971)
15. The Second World War: a guide to documents (HMSO, 1972, revised editions, 1993, PRO, 1998)
16. Records of interest to Social Scientists: Unemployed Insurance 1911 to 1939 (HMSO, 1975)
17. The Cabinet Office to 1945 (HMSO, 1975)
18. Records of interest to Social Scientists 1919 to 1939: Employment and Unemployment (HMSO, 1978)
20. Records of the General Eyre (HMSO, 1982)
21. The Court of the Star Chamber to 1558 (HMSO, 1985)
23. Making sense of the census (HMSO, 1989)
24. English sheriffs to 1154 (HMSO, 1990)
25. The development of the Welfare State 1939-1951 (HMSO, 1992)
26. Economic planning 1943-1951 (HMSO, 1992)
27. Chancery Equity Records and Proceedings 1600-1800 (HMSO, 1995, revised edition, PRO 1998)
28. A clearer sense of the census (HMSO, 1996)
29. Records of the War Office and related departments 1660-1964 (PRO, 1998)
30. Welfare Policy under the Conservatives 1951-1964 (PRO, 1998)
31. Lay Taxes in England and Wales 1188-1688 (PRO, 1998)
32. Exchequer Equity Records and Proceedings 1649-1841 (PRO, 2001)
33. The records of the Foreign Office 1782-1968 (PRO, 2002)
First World War: the Essential Guide to Sources in The National Archives by Ian Beckett (PRO, 2002)
Handbook and Select Calendar of Sources for Medieval Ireland in the National Archives of the United Kingdom by Paul Dryburgh and Brendan Smith (Four Courts Press, 2004)
Economic Policy under the Conservatives, 1951-64 by Astrid Ringe, Neil Rollings and Roger Middleton (IHR/TNA, 2004)
Making Sense of the Census Revisited by Edward Higgs (IHR/TNA, 2005)
A Guide to the Naval Records in The National Archives of the United Kingdom edited by Randolph Cock and N A M Rodger (IHR/TNA, 2006)
Administering the Empire, 1801-1968: A Guide to the Records of the Colonial Office in The National Archives of the United Kingdom by Mandy Banton (IHR/TNA, 2008)
For online publications relating to The National Archives' holdings, see:
Chancery
Charter Rolls, recording formal grants of lands and privileges, 1226-1516 (6 vols, HMSO, 1903-1927). For transcripts in Latin of charters 1204-1226 see Rotuli Chartarum (Record Commission, 1833, 1844).
Patent Rolls, recording miscellaneous grants, appointments, licences, pardons and, after 1516, charters as above, 1216-1232, as transcripts in Latin, (2 vols, HMSO, 1903, 1906) and thereafter as calendars 1232-1509, 1547-1582 (HMSO, 1906-1986). Entries of 1509-1547 are included in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII. Later calendars for Elizabeth I are published by the List and Index Society, currently up to 39 Elizabeth I.
Digitised images of calendars of the Patent Rolls for 1348-1452 have been mounted on the University of Iowa website as searchable text. The National Archives does not guarantee the quality of these images.
Close Rolls, recording official orders and writs and some private deeds, transcripts in Latin, 1227-1272 (HMSO, 1902-1938, 1975) and thereafter as calendars, 1272-1509 (HMSO, 1900-1963).
Fine Rolls, recording payments for writs, grants, pardons etc., calendars, 1272-1509 (HMSO, 1911-1963). The Fine Rolls of Henry III are now available to view online, as an ongoing project.
Parliament Rolls, the Parliament Rolls of Medieval England project. The official record of the meetings of English parliaments from 1272 to the 1504 are published by Scholarly Digital Editions online and as CD-ROM (SDE, 2005). They are also available in print by Boydell and Brewer (Boydell and Brewer, 2005, revised 2007).
Liberate Rolls, recording payments on behalf of the crown, calendars, 1226-1272 (HMSO, 1917-1964).
Treaty Rolls, recording treaties, 1234-1325, 1337-1339 (HMSO, 1956, 1972).
Gascon Rolls - Catalogue des Rolles Gascons, Normans et Francois, ed. T Carte (1743); Rôles Gascons, 1254-1255, ed. C Bémont (1896); Rôles Gascons, 1273-1290, ed. C Bémont (1900); Rôles Gascons, 1290-1307, ed. C Bémont (1906); Gascon Rolls, 1307-1317, ed. Y Renouard (1962). These are mainly French government publications.
Diplomatic Documents, recording treaties and diplomatic correspondence, 1101-1272 (HMSO, 1964)
English medieval diplomatic practice. Part I; documents and interpretation by Chaplais, Pierre (HMSO, 1982); English medieval diplomatic practice. Part II; plates (HMSO, 1975).
Chancery Rolls, Various, includes supplementary Close Rolls, Welsh Rolls and Scutage Rolls, 1277-1326 (HMSO, 1912).
Chancery Warrants, privy seal warrants, 1244-1326 (HMSO, 1927).
Inquisitions Post Mortem, inquiries into the land holdings of deceased tenants of the king in chief, 1216-1418 (HMSO, 1904-1995), 1485-1509 (HMSO, 1898-1956); 1418-1448 (Boydell and Brewer, 2002-09). Calendarium Inquisitionum Post Mortem (Record Commission, 1806-1828) just lists the name of the deceased and manors, in Latin, for 1216-1485.
Exchequer
Book of Fees, recording the holdings of feudal tenants, 1198-1293 (HMSO, 1921-1931) and Feudal Aids, recording inquisitions, assessments etc. of feudal aids (HMSO, 1899-1921).
Memoranda Rolls, calendar of entries recording debts to the crown, etc. 1326-1327 (HMSO, 1969) and transcript, in Latin, 1231-1233 (HMSO, 1991).
Records of the Wardrobe and Household, transcript in Latin of miscellaneous Exchequer accounts, 1285-1289 (HMSO, 1977, 1986).
Legal records
Curia Regis Rolls, transcripts in Latin of proceedings before the Bench, later known as the court of Common Pleas, and King's Bench, 1189-1243 (HMSO, 1923-1991).
Curia Regis Rolls XVIII and XX, 1243-1250 (Boydell and Brewer, 1999, 2002 and 2006).
Calendar of Assize Records, indictments from the Home Circuit (Sussex, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent and Surrey), 1559-1659 (HMSO, 1975-1995).
Digitised images of key legal documents from 1218 to 1558 have been mounted on the University of Houston, O'Quinn Law Library website as searchable text. The National Archives does not guarantee the quality of these images.
Miscellaneous
Ancient Deeds, calendar of certain pre-1559 deeds (HMSO, 1890-1915).
Register of Edward the Black Prince, calendar of letters, writs, warrants etc., 1346-1365 (HMSO, 1930-1933).
Calendar of Signet Letters of Henry IV and Henry V (HMSO, 1979).
State papers
Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, includes state papers and other records, some from outside the Public Record Office, 1509-1547 (HMSO, 1864-1920). The key to Letters and Papers is being completed and published by the List and Index Society www.listandindexsociety.org.uk; currently volumes I to IX have been published.
Calendar of State Papers Domestic, includes state papers and some related National Archives sources, 1547-1706 (HMSO, 1856-1972; Boydell and Brewer, 2005, 2006). Revised calendars have been published for the reigns of Edward VI (HMSO, 1992) and Mary I (PRO, 1998).
These volumes are supplemented for the English Civil War/Commonwealth period by calendars of the records of the Committee for the Advance of Money, 1642-1656 (HMSO, 1888) and Committee for Compounding of Delinquents, 1643-1660 (HMSO, 1889-1893).
Calendars of state papers for the period 1760-1775 were published as Home Office Papers, George III (HMSO, 1878-1899).
Calendar of State Papers, Foreign for 1547-1589 (HMSO, 1863-1950) is continued as List and Analysis of State Papers, Foreign 1589-1596 (HMSO, 1964-1993; PRO 2000).
Work on List and Analysis of State Papers, Foreign 1597 is currently in progress.
State Papers Online 1509-1714 is an online resource published by Gale Cengage Learning. Part1: The Tudors: Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic has already been published. Part II: The Tudors Henry VIII to Elizabeth I, 1509-1603: State Papers Foreign will be released later in 2009. See the State Papers Online website for details.
Colonial
Calendar of State Papers Colonial, 1574-1738 (HMSO, 1860-1970) mainly relates to America and the West Indies but includes material relating to the East Indies, China and Japan for the period 1513-1624. The calendar text has now been published on CD-ROM, with additional calendar entries for 1739, as Calendar of State Papers, Colonial, North America and West Indies 1574-1739 (Routledge, 2000).
Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations, mainly relating to North America, 1704-1783 (HMSO, 1920-1938). Journal entries for 1675-1704 are included in the Calendars of State Papers Colonial.
Acts of the Privy Council - Colonial Series calendars Privy Council register entries, 1613-1783 and selected Privy Council papers relating to British colonies, 1676-1783 (1908-1912).
Information on Colonial Papers America and West Indies, 1574-1757, can be found on the ProQuest website.
Privy Council
Acts of the Privy Council of England, 1542-1631 (HMSO, 1890-1964) calendars entries in the registers of the Privy Council. Earlier records, many now held by the British Library, for 1386-1461 and 1540-1542, are calendared in Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council (Record Commission, 1834-1837).
Treasury
Calendar of Treasury Papers, calendars, Treasury Board correspondence and some minutes, reports etc., 1557-1728 (HMSO, 1868-1889). Minutes and entry books are included in the much fuller Calendar of Treasury Books, 1660-1718 (HMSO, 1904-1962) and the Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers, 1729-1745 (HMSO, 1898-1903).
Ireland
Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland draws on a wide range of Exchequer and Chancery records, 1171-1307 (HMSO, 1875-1886).
Calendar of State Papers Ireland covers the period 1509-1670 (HMSO, 1860-1912), with Irish State Papers from 1670 to 1704 included in the Calendars of State Papers.
Domestic
There is also a Calendar of Carew Papers in the Lambeth Library, 1515-1624 (HMSO, 1867-1873).
A revised Calendar of State Papers Ireland Tudor Period 1571-1575 was published by the Public Record Office in 2000, in association with the Irish Manuscripts Commission.
Scotland
Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland, 1509-1603 (HMSO, 1858) was mostly superseded by Letters and Papers, Henry VIII; the Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland and Mary Queen of Scots, 1547-1603, preserved in the Public Record Office, the British Museum and elsewhere (HMSO, 1898-1969) and the Calendar of Letters and Papers relating to the Affairs of the Borders of England and Scotland, 1560-1603 (HMSO, 1894-1896).
Foreign archives
Mainly in the 19th century, a number of editors were employed to calendar material relating to English or British affairs in various foreign archives:
France
Documents preserved in France, illustrative of the history of Great Britain and Ireland, 918-1206 (HMSO, 1899).
Spain
Letters, Despatches and State Papers, relating to the Negotiations between England and Spain preserved in the Archives at Vienna, Brussels, Simancas and Elsewhere, 1525-1558 (HMSO, 1862-1954) and Letters and Papers relating to English Affairs, preserved in the Archives of Simancas, 1558-1603 (HMSO, 1892-1899).Rome
Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, 1198-1492 (HMSO, 1894-1961) and 1484-1513 (Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1978-1998). This series is being continued by the Irish Manuscripts Commission. There is also Petitions to the Pope, 1342-1419 (HMSO, 1897) and State Papers, relating to English Affairs, in the Vatican Archives and Library, 1558-1578 (HMSO, 1916-1926).
Venice
State Papers and Manuscripts relating to English existing in the Archives and Collections of Venice, and in other Libraries of Northern Italy, 1202-1674 (HMSO, 1864-1947).
Milan
State Papers and Manuscripts existing in the Archives Collection of Milan, 1385-1618 (HMSO, 1912).
