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Recording the people

Introduction

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The National Archives holds the historic records of the central government of England and the United Kingdom, and of the central English law courts. It has rightly been called ´The Nation´s Memory´, as it contains material spanning a thousand years of our history. The business of central government over the centuries has impacted on many people´s lives. Millions of people are recorded in the public records. If your ancestors were in the armed forces we hold service records up to the early 1920s. If they were in Government service, foreign and diplomatic or colonial administration we hold Foreign Office and Colonial Office records. Registration of merchant seamen, masters of ships or ship owners, or records of those who worked on the railways can be consulted here.

The National Archives also holds legal records of the assizesglossary and the central law courts from the medieval period to the twentieth century. If your ancestors came to Britain as immigrants we have records of denizationglossary and naturalisation. If your ancestors emigrated there are passenger lists from 1890 to 1960, emigration correspondence, transportation records and some overseas birth, marriage and death registration records. Census returns record the population of the country as individuals not just statistics.

For parish registers before civil registration and local government records you need to contact local record offices. Details of these are available in the Archon directory and for collections of family and estate papers consult the National Register of Archives. The A2A (Access to Archives) database contains the catalogues of many record offices and other institutions describing archival collections held throughout England and dating from the tenth century to the present day.