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Photograph of an office worker at HMSO, 1920 (Catalogue reference: STAT 20/402)

This is a brief guide to researching records of civil or crown servants. Many of these records do not survive, except for those serving in a very senior position, and those that do survive can be difficult to find. You will need to know details of what work the civil or crown servant did, when, and in which organisation, to find out more about their employment history.

  • What do I need to know before I start?

    • Try to find out:

      • the name of the person
      • the organisation they worked in
      • the date range to focus search

  • What records can I see online?

    • There are no records of civil or crown servants online.

  • What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?

    • Application papers of famous or high-ranking civil servants (1836-1976)

      Search the Civil Service Commission records in CSC 11 for application papers of people who were, either at the time of application or subsequently, famous or of high rank.

    • Records of government departments

      Although The National Archives does not hold employment records, there are some lists of civil servants in the records of the relevant government departments. Try putting in the department code on the Catalogue search page, and then type in the 'word or phrase' box terms such as 'staff list', 'establishment list' or 'register of service'.

    • Correspondence of the Lord Chamberlain's department (1710-1902)

      Browse the Catalogue in LC 1 for correspondence of the department. Registers, including those to this correspondence, are in LC 3.

    • Accounts of the Lord Chamberlain's department (1483-1901)

      Browse the Catalogue in LC 9, LC 10 and LC 11 for accounts of the department. Many of the volumes are indexed.

    • Warrants of appointment of servants and officers of the Lord Steward's department (1660-1820)

      Browse the Catalogue in  LS 13/246-267 for Warrants of Appointment.

    • Accounts of the Lord Steward's department (1640-1761)

      Browse the Catalogue in LS 1, LS 2, LS 3, LS 4, LS 6, LS 7 and LS 8 for accounts of the department. Those relating to the kitchen are in LS 9, and to the royal gardens in LS 10, LS 11 and LS 12.

  • What records can I find in other archives and organisations?

    • The Royal Archives

      The Royal Archives has references to people employed in the Royal Household from the 18th century, and indexes to names of people employed from 1660 onwards.

  • What other resources will help me find information?

    • Websites

      Consult Office-Holders in Modern Britain on the Institute of Historical Research website for information up to the 19th century.

       

      Search the Database of Court Officers 1660-1837 on the Loyola University of Chicago website.

       

      Search the index to Civil Service evidences of age records on findmypast (£There may be a charge for accessing this information. Searching indexes may be free.). The records were originally collected by the Civil Service Commission and are now held by the Society of Genealogists.

    • Printed sources

      Consult the Royal Kalendar (1767-1890), the British Imperial Calendar (1809-1972), the Civil Service Year Book (1972- ), the Foreign Office List (1852-1965), the Colonial Office List (1862-1966) or The Diplomatic List (1966- ).

       

      Consult Officials of the Royal Household, 1660-1837, Part I: Department of the Lord Chamberlain and associated offices, and Part II: Departments of the Lord Steward and the Master of the Horse compiled by J C Sainty and R O Bucholz (University of London Institute of Historical Research, 1997 and 1998 respectively).

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Related guides

Did you know?

The Civil Service Commission administered civil service examinations from 1855 onwards.

Some records of civil servants are not yet open to public inspection. Check the access conditions to records on the Catalogue. In certain cases only a selection of records of civil servants who were famous, infamous or high-ranking officials are preserved in The National Archives.

Civil servants' personnel records are generally kept by the creating government department at least until the person reached 72 years of age.

The Ministry of Defence kept civilian service records until the person reached 100 years of age. Contact the Ministry of Defence for more details on how to access these records. Personal information will only be released where proof of death can be provided.

The responsibilities of the two departments responsible for staffing the royal household could be broadly divided between above stairs (Lord Chamberlain's) and below stairs (Lord Steward's).

In 1854 the office of Lord Steward was abolished and its functions were taken over by the Master of the Royal Household, whose records are not open to the public.

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