User Advisory Group

Terms of Reference

The role of the User Advisory Group

The role of the User Advisory Group is to:

• Provide an opportunity for users of The National Archives to get involved in the organisation’s planning and decision making processes at an early stage and a strategic level.
• Provide an opportunity for The National Archives to seek structured advice and feedback from our user communities on specific developments and decisions, via a formal closed group, which reflects the diverse interests, concerns and agendas of our user communities.
• Provide balanced and holistic representation from the diverse sections of our user community and an opportunity for dialogue.
• Act as a two way communications channel between The National Archives and our user communities.
• Provide a voice, through representation, for users who may not be able to make use of the other engagement channels provided by The National Archives.

The role of the User Advisory Group is distinct from:

• Executive responsibility of The National Archives’ formal governance structure, including all of its constituent parts.
• Any other consultative or advisory group or body not listed above.

Structure and membership

The User Advisory Group consists of delegates who represent key sections of our user community.

The following communities are currently represented, and the structure of the group is reviewed annually to ensure that it reflects any changes in the organisation’s remit and / or stakeholders:

• On site, personal interest researchers
• Independent (paid) researchers
• Academic researchers
• Researchers based primarily in the Map and Large Document Reading Room
• Researchers interested in the diversity / inclusion / access agenda
• County / external archives
• Genealogy / family history societies
• Online users
• Students
• Early academic Career researchers
• Ethnic Minority & Other Diverse Groups

This list is not intended to be exclusive, and we welcome delegates who represent other communities and interests. Individual membership will be reviewed annually, with the aim of cycling membership so that approximately a third of the individuals in the group are replaced each year. The maximum period of membership for an individual will be four years

Commitments

The National Archives' commitments

• Manage and Chair the meetings effectively, to promote productive communication and discussion.
• Set the dates of the meetings in advance and communicate these effectively so as to allow delegates to plan their attendance.
• Circulate agendas and minutes of the meetings in a timely manner.
• Communicate effectively with delegates in between meetings.

Delegates commitments

• Respect the roles and opinions of the other delegates, the Chair and other staff in attendance.
• Treat other delegates, the Chair, other The National Archives staff and guest speakers with respect, courtesy and consideration.
• Make every effort to attend the meetings and act as a representative for a minimum of one year (four meetings). Delegates are expected to attend a minimum of two meetings each year.
• Make every effort to effectively represent, feedback to and communicate with their user community; to include the publication of their names and contact details.
• Show discretion in communicating what is discussed at the meetings and maintain confidentiality where instructed by the Chair or other staff members.
• Sign and adhere to confidentiality undertakings to ensure confidentiality as above

Constitution

• The User Advisory Group will meet four times a year.
• The meeting shall be chaired either by the Deputy Chief Executive or the Chief Operating Officer .
• Additional members of staff will attend as appropriate depending upon agenda topics.
• Agendas for meetings will be published in advance of, and full minutes will be published following the meetings

Resources

• The National Archives will make limited resources available to support the User Advisory Group as follows: Publicise the dates of the meetings and the contact details of delegates, online, onsite and in publications where appropriate.
• Provide meeting space (onsite or online), refreshments and facilities for the meetings, as required.
• Where appropriate, provide reasonable resources to allow delegates to communicate and meet with members of the communities they represent (to include space on our notice boards, use of meeting rooms, or inclusion in our online newsletters, where available).

Last reviewed February 2026

Delegates

The UAG delegates represent different sections of our user community, not just their own interests.

As well as attending UAG meetings, each delegate has a responsibility to cascade the details of the meetings to members of their user community and gather feedback from them.

The UAG's current delegates are listed below.

Sue Adams

Independent researchers representative

Sue Adams is a professional genealogist who qualified with an MSc in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in 2012. She is currently working on a PhD using late manorial records at the University of Lincoln, reflecting her research interests in 17th to 19th century land and property.

Sue is a member of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives, the Register of Qualified Genealogists and the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Matthew Cleary

Student and online users representative

Matthew Cleary is a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany where he is a team member on a legal history project.

Matthew completed his PhD in Law at the Centre for Legal History within Edinburgh Law School, where he researched 15th- and 16th-century English inheritance law, more specifically on the administration of wills under canon and common law. Previously Matthew studied in Canada where he received a BA Spec. Hons. and MA degrees in History. Matthew currently works on several records within The National Archives for various medieval and early modern legal history research projects.

Matthew is passionate about supporting researchers in their historical projects and looks forward to voicing the comments and suggestions of online and student users of The National Archives.

James Fenwick

Academic users and Diversity and Inclusion (LGBTQ) representative

James Fenwick is Associate Professor in the Department of Culture and Media at Sheffield Hallam University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

He has authored numerous archive-based film and media history books, including Stanley Kubrick Produces, Unproduction Studies and the American Film Industries, and Archive Histories: An Archaeology of the Stanley Kubrick Archive.

He is the co-founder of the Archives and Archival Methods Special Interest Group for the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS) and founder and lead of the Archive Research Community. He is particularly interested in enhancing collaborative relationships between archivists and researchers.

Roger Fisher

Map Room users and overseas researchers (North America) representative

Roger Fisher is an Associate Professor of Humanities at York University, Toronto, Canada, and a barrister and solicitor with the Law Society of Ontario.

His research at The National Archives examines the intersection between law, literature and culture, with a particular emphasis on the court records for lawsuits in the 1700s and early 1800s having to go with the performing arts, music publishing, and copyright.

He looks forward to providing the perspective of an overseas user to the Users Advisory Group and welcomes the input of other overseas users.

Aristides Hatzis

Academic users and overseas researchers (Europe) representative

Aristides Hatzis is a professor at the University of Athens and the director of the Laboratory for Political and Institutional Theory and the History of Ideas. He’s interested in the Age of Revolutions, Early Liberal Political Theory, and the Greek War of Independence.

His research at The National Archives focuses mostly on the FO, CO, and ADM collections. He represents both academic users and overseas researchers, so he’s open to feedback from users in both groups.

Alison Kay

County/external archives representative

Alison Kay is the Archives Manager at the National Railway Museum (NRM), part of the Science Museum Group. Alison manages the NRM’s vast manuscript, photography, moving image and sound collections and a team of archivists. She has worked in railway archives since qualifying as an archivist in 2008.

Alison led a successful Archives Accreditation application for the NRM and has worked on diverse research and exhibition projects including Ambulance Trains where she researched The National Archives’ war diaries.

Richard Marks

Academic users representative

Richard Marks became a freelance professional historian after a career in the technology industry as a manufacturing system engineer and is also a doctoral candidate. His thesis examines the role of railways in the industrialisation of rural counties in the nineteenth century.

He is a published author and frequent user of the National Archives for research as well as numerous other archive collections across the country. Richard is a frequent speaker on historical topics and is currently researching the history of a number of British Aircraft manufacturing companies.

Richard is a passionate supporter of archives across the country, often using social media to promote the use of historical record collections and museum archives.

Phaedra McLean

Online users representative

Phaedra McLean is an enthusiastic amateur with a strong interest in family and military genealogy.

She is also a volunteer for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission ‘Eyes On, Hands On’ programme, caring for local war graves and preserving their community and local history stories.

She has completed 38 years of public service, a full 30-year career as a Police Officer working in a number of operational and specialist roles and is still a serving Army Reserve Officer and Deputy Lieutenant for Cheshire.

Sadie McMullon

Family history researchers and online users representative

Dr Sadie McMullon is an independent historical researcher and family historian. She is passionate about local history and how this can inform, and place into context, a person’s family history.

As an increasing number of people conduct their family history research online Sadie values high quality online sources, and as the Archive Liaison Officer with the Family History Federation she also wants to ensure that researchers are aware of the variety of records repositories hold.

Caroline Nielsen

Diversity and inclusion representative

Caroline Nielsen is Senior Lecturer in History and Heritage at the University of Northampton. She researches the different experiences of people with disabilities and mental health conditions from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.

She is Programme Leader for BA History at Northampton and presents the ‘Oh the Humanities’ podcast for NLive Northampton community radio. Caroline is currently working on a project looking at responses to self-harming behaviours within the 19th century British army.

Caroline is passionate about encouraging interdisciplinary use of the historic materials, and is especially interested in how archival materials can be used to help inform current health and scientific debates and research.

Anne Samson

Diversity and inclusion representative

Dr Anne Samson is an independent historian specialising in the First World War in Africa. She runs the Great War in Africa Association and a small publishing house which has a Great War in Africa imprint. Anne is passionate about education, global access to archives and dispelling myths about the past.

Anne advises and works on cross-country and -cultural projects. She liaises with researchers across the globe, mainly with an interest in the First World War in Africa but not exclusively. While Anne has experience of researching in diverse archives in the UK and South Africa, she is aware of the challenges researchers face accessing archives in the UK as well as Africa, India, and the Caribbean.

Her work as researcher, author, publisher and speaker, in different countries, as well as having grown up in Apartheid South Africa, means she is constantly negotiating the complexities of issues such as language and inequalities when dealing with the past, not least imperial and colonial history.

Lisbet Sherlock

Family history and online users representative

Following a successful business career in market research and corporate communications in the high-tech sector, Lisbet Sherlock has returned to her academic roots and now dedicates her time to history projects.

As an independent researcher she is currently focussed on the history of two militant suffragettes whose dramatic story is hiding in plain sight in archives across the country as well as researching and writing the history of a Hertfordshire farm.

Jeremy Stocker

Academic research representative

Dr Jeremy Stocker is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute in London, and an independent historian and defence analyst. He served in the Royal Navy and Royal Naval Reserve for nearly 40 years, retiring in 2016.

Captain Stocker saw active service in the Persian Gulf and in Afghanistan. With interests including nuclear weapons, missile defence and naval history, he is currently editing a series of volumes for the Navy Records Society.

Gill Thomas

Map room users and genealogists representative

Gill Thomas is the Chair of AGRA – the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives. AGRA is a membership organisation representing and accrediting professional genealogists across England and Wales. Its members are regular users of archives, including The National Archives, county archives and beyond.

Gill became a professional genealogist following a career in publishing. She runs her own research practice and is a regular visitor to The National Archives, using a wide variety of records on subjects.

Gary Willis

Academic users and environmental representative

Gary Willis had a first career in the international development charity and trade union sectors before undertaking an MRes in Historical Research at the Institute of Historical Research, and a History doctorate at the University of Bristol. He is an environmental historian with a particular interest in the environmental impact of warfare.

Gary is currently working on his first book, on the military-industrial enclosure of Britain’s countryside in the Second World War, due to be published in 2026.

Meeting papers

The UAG meetings are held at The National Archives in Kew four times a year.

The minutes from these meetings are reviewed and approved by the Chair(s) and delegates at the following meeting and then published on this webpage.

We aim to publish the minutes within three weeks of approval.

User Advisory Group meeting papers from before 2025 can be found on the UKGWA.