The National Register of Archives (NRA) consists of over 43,000 unpublished lists of manuscript and archive collections. It covers archives in the UK (apart from public records) and manuscripts relating to British history held in other countries. The indexes to the NRA, which form the principal means of access to the NRA, can be searched online on our website. Although the structure of the NRA's indexes does not lend itself to topographical searches, the indexes can be a fruitful source when used in conjunction with the resources of a local repository. The indexes cover the records of organisations, families and estates, businesses and persons. The indexes are explained in more detail below.

The organisations index contains information on the location of records for organisations, such as trade unions, professional bodies, nonconformist churches, charities, political parties, together with enclosure and tithe papers. The index may be searched by any word in an institution's title, type of body, town, county, date or any combination of these. A place-name search will only retrieve organisations and societies based in a particular locality. Not all those which may have had connections with, or provide information about, an area will be included.

The families listed on the family and estate index are primarily those featured in reference works such as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage and Landed Gentry. It does not, as a rule, include less distinguished families. However, if you are aware that an ancestor worked or lived on a landed family's property or indeed owned a substantial landholding, a search of this index may well identify relevant records. Normally such collections will hold deeds, maps, plans among other relevant material. These, often very large, collections can contain valuable information concerning localities and given that landowners often held property in more than one county, relevant records may not be deposited locally, but with the principal estate collection.

The business index can be searched by the name or type of business, town, county, date or any combination of these. It should be noted that a topographical search of the index will only retrieve businesses based in a particular town or place. It will not show businesses that may have had connections with, or branches in, a location, but were based elsewhere.

The personal index is an index of the papers of individuals who have made an impact on British history and can be traced in standard works of reference, such as the Dictionary of National Biography, Who's Who and Modern English Biography. Searches for individuals by name and description are available. The index can be searched under the names of prominent people who had connections with an area and leading local figures, such as clerics, writers and antiquaries. The collections of antiquaries can be helpful since they may well contain papers relating to a particular locality.

Go the National Register of Archives for full details about using the online indexes, search tips and more information.