2. How to use this guide and get a search for records started

There are tens of thousands of records on primary and elementary schools at The National Archives. The records were created by central government departments, most of them by the Department of Education and its predecessors, and continue to be arranged and catalogued in the same way that they were originally grouped and used. To find information on an individual school or education district, therefore, you may need to look across a number of different record series.

A search for documents at The National Archives usually begins in our online catalogue. The following sections of this guide provide links to key series that you can search within our catalogue, helping you to target your searches more precisely. By clicking on the series links (for example, ED 21) you will arrive on the respective ‘series description’ pages from where you can search the series, using keywords (such as the name of a school or its location, though this will not always work) and/or dates/years. Keep in mind that a school may have changed its name. Series description pages provide information on the arrangement of the records and sometimes some of the historical context in which they were created, as well as suggesting related series you could explore.

Use the advanced catalogue search to restrict your search results to all the records of a specific government department, including its predecessors (the Department of Education or the Charity Commission, for example). Use the department reference, which is always a letter code, to do this (the code for the Department of Education is ED and for the Charity Commission it’s CHAR).

Catalogue search results provide short descriptions of our records and a document reference for each one – you will need the document reference to see the record itself. The records covered in this guide are not available to view online so to see them you will have to either visit us in Kew or order copies. Bear in mind that a search in our catalogue will also search for records in other archives around the country – keep your eye on the ‘Held by’ field to establish whether the records are here or elsewhere.

3. Key records

Below are some of the most useful and significant records series for finding information on elementary and secondary schools. You can browse each series by clicking on the reference codes or search within the series using a keyword by going to the advanced search page in our catalogue and restricting your search to the relevant reference code.

School files 1857-1945

Search for school files in ED 21 by school name and by place. Each school in receipt of an annual grant has at least one ‘school file’ with correspondence from and about the school. The files include correspondence about school premises, trusts, inspection and organisation.

School digest files 1854-1984

Search by school in ED 161 for records relating to primary schools established before 1966. The information in these files is similar to that in ED 21, though on the whole later in date, much of it covering the period 1944-1966. These files have been heavily weeded, meaning many documents do not contain all their original information and are often very slim.

Local Education Authority Development Plans 1945-1966

Search by county in ED 152 for Local Education Authorities’ (LEAs) development plans for post-war education in their area, as well as plans for future expansion. These were required under the stipulations of the 1944 Education Act.

Trust deeds and other property records

The National Archives holds various kinds of records of the establishment and foundation of schools. If you are looking for a trust deed, consult the list below, covering the following dates:

• 1736-1925 – trust deeds in C 54 and J 18 (see our guide, Land for charitable uses in trust deeds 1736-1925 for advice on how to search these record series)
• 1856-1925 – trust deeds enrolled with the Charity Commissioners in CHAR 12 (there are indexes in each volume)
• 1903-1920 – enrolled deeds for Church of England elementary schools in ED 191
• 1926-1963 – enrolments with the Charity Commissioners in CHAR 13 (separate place name index in CHAR 13/483-492 and on microfilm at The National Archives at Kew)

Building grant applications 1833-1871

Between 1833 and the Education Act of 1870, local patrons and charities, acting as sponsors to a proposed school, could apply to the Treasury for financial assistance towards school building costs.

Search our catalogue for grant applications in ED 103 by school name or town.

Original applications included detailed plans. These plans are generally preserved in local record offices, but a small number are available in ED 228.

Preliminary statements 1846-1924

Annual parliamentary grants to schools were available from 1846. In order to receive a grant each school had to provide information about its income, expenditure, accommodation, staffing, fees and number of pupils.

Using our catalogue, search surviving preliminary statements for 1846-1924 in ED 7 by county or borough, and after 1924 in the school files in ED 21 by school name and place.

Parish files and the educational census of 1871

The 1870 Elementary Education Act established a national system of elementary education. To ensure that there would be a place for every child, a census was taken of school places. Search educational census returns in:

• ED 2 by parish or place name. These are parish files where there was no school or more than one school in a parish.
• ED 3 by parish. This record series covers only London.
• ED 16 by borough. This record series covers municipal boroughs.
• ED 21 by school name. These are school files where there was only one school in a parish.
• ED 33 by school name. Some returns have been filed with material on independent schools where there was only one school in the parish.

4. Other records

You can browse the record series listed below by clicking on the reference codes or search within each series using a keyword by going to the advanced search page in our catalogue and restricting your search to the relevant reference code.

School history sheets

The Board of Education introduced school history sheets in the 1920s, recording, in summary form, details about each school in England maintained by Local Education Authorities. Details include:

• date of establishment
• status and size of the school
• the sex and age range of its pupils

Search for school history sheets in ED 185 by county.

Funding and finance

Consult endowment files for information on the funding and finance of schools in:

• ED 49 – private endowments for elementary schools (1853-1945)
• ED 27 – includes information on endowments for both elementary and secondary schools (1850-1945)

Records of the Welsh Department of Education

Records for Welsh schools are generally in the same series as their English counterparts. Exceptions are:

• development plans for Welsh LEAs in BD 7 and ED 216
• additional elementary, primary and secondary school files in ED 216 (search by school name or place)

For general administrative and policy files on Welsh education see:

• ED 91 and ED 92
• ED 220 for policy matters post 1944 (many early files in this series were damaged by flooding in 1960 at the Welsh Department’s office in Cardiff)

Records of independent and private schools

• ED 33 (1871-1944)

Records of Poor Law schools and their successors

Poor Law schools were provided and maintained by the guardians of the poor and could be attached to workhouses or run as separate schools. Consult the following series:

• MH 27 (1848-1910) – for district schools (run jointly by several poor law unions in predominantly urban areas).
• MH 12 (1833-1909) and MH 32 (1834-1904) – for correspondence about workhouse schools run by individual unions
• ED 132 (1904-1953) – for poor law schools converted into public elementary schools
• ED 95 (1929-1944) – for local authority schemes for the education of poor law children

Surveys and reports on elementary education

An enquiry into education in England and Wales was conducted as part of the 1851 ecclesiastical census. A very small number of the returns, which were voluntary, survive in HO 129. Small collections of returns survive for Todmorden and Keighley in Yorkshire and isolated forms can be found elsewhere in the collection. To find them use educational census as a search term. Information taken from the educational census forms was used to prepare a report of Commissioners for taking a census of Great Britain for education (1852-3) for Parliament.

A number of other surveys of school provision were presented to Parliament in the 19th century. These records are Parliamentary Papers and can be accessed online (see section 6).

Lists of schools

ED 270 contains various lists of schools giving details about the type of institutions and their status between 1834 and 1985.

Schools’ census (‘Form 7’) datasets 1974-2006

Browse the Schools’ Census returns in ED 267 for information collected on individual primary schools between 1975 and 1994. The information includes:

• pupil numbers by age and gender
• teacher numbers by gender and type
• types of classes taught

See the series description for further details of these returns, which were known as ‘Form 7’ and evolved from details collected since 1945 by the Statistics Branch, found in ED 147/341-351.

Grant Maintained Schools Database 1992-1999

Consult the Grant Maintained Schools Database in ED 278 for details on each school as at March 2000, including information about the type of school, denomination, selection policy and age of pupils. You can find full details of what information is provided in the series description in our catalogue.

5. Records in other archives

Consult the gov.uk website for a register of all educational establishments in England, maintained by the Department for Education.

Consult the numerous surveys of school provision which reported to Parliament in the 19th century. These can be accessed online through Proquest UK Parliamentary Papers. This is a subscription service available to access at The National Archives. You may also be able to access it via a large reference library, such as a university library.

The surveys include:

• the Abstract of Answers and Returns Relative to the Poor (1803-1804)
• the Digest of Parochial Returns (1819)
• Abstract of Education Returns (1835)
• Report of the Commissioners for taking a Census of Great Britain on Education (1852-1853)
• The Royal Commission on the State of Popular Education in England [Newcastle Commission] (1861)
• Return of Schools for Poorer Classes of Children in Municipal Boroughs of Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester; Report on Quality of Education which Schools provide (1870)

6. Further reading

Ann Morton, Education and the State, from 1833, Public Record Office Readers’ Guide No 18 (PRO, 1997)

Use this guide to find out about records of the British administration in colonial North America (present day United States) and the West Indies.

Britain’s North American colonies were founded and developed during the 17th and 18th centuries. Responsibility for colonial matters fell at various times to the:

• Secretaries of State and Board of Trade (called the Lords of Trade and Plantations)
• Secretary of State for the Southern Department
• Colonial or American Secretary (for the period 1768-1782)

Records at The National Archives can be found in a variety of different series of records of the Colonial Office and other government departments. The records can tell you about:

• the earliest English settlements (rather than settlers) in North America
• Native Americans
• piracy
• the slave trade
• English conflicts with the Spanish and French

Most decisions were made by local officials, rather than the British authorities, and the records they created are kept in American archives. Search for state university archives and libraries or try the following websites to locate appropriate resources:

• The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
• Contact information for state archives (on the NARA website)
• Library of Congress

This is not a guide to records relating to colonial settlers. For this sort of research, start by looking at our research guide on emigration. Colonial newspapers are also a useful resource – our research guide on newspapers has more information.

For records relating to Canada, see our research guide on colonies and dependencies.

2. Using our catalogue to find records

For tips on searching the catalogue, use the help page.

Look for mentions in this guide of:

• department references such as CO (Colonial Office) or T (Treasury)
• record series references such as CO 1 or T 77

These will help you to focus your search for relevant records using the advanced search option in our catalogue.

Our catalogue contains descriptions of our records. Some of the records described in this guide are available online (through an academic subscription) but for many that you find references for, you will need to either visit The National Archives at Kew or pay for copies to be sent to you. Alternatively, you can pay for research.

3. Key sources

3.1 Online sources

The best place to start your research is with the Colonial State Papers online collection. This is available to institutions such as universities and public libraries that have subscribed.

The collection combines The National Archives record series CO 1 with the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial and some parts of CO 5 and CO 389 (see below).

3.2 Records at The National Archives

The following record series are available at The National Archives in Kew. Click on the following series references to search for records within each respective series using keywords and dates.

• CO 1 America and West Indies, Colonial Papers 1574-1757
• CO 5  America and West Indies, Original Correspondence 1606-1822
• CO 318 West Indies, Original Correspondence 1624-1951
• CO 323 Colonies, Original Correspondence 1689-1952
• CO 389 Board of Trade, Entry books 1660-1803
• CO 390 Board of Trade, Miscellanea 1654-1799

3.3 Published sources

The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial; North America and the West Indies 1574-1757 is a collection of transcripts and abstracts of original documents bound together in published volumes.

The Calendar brings together papers from different sources, printed in date order. The original papers are in CO1 (up to 1688) and CO 5 (1688 to 1807).

See our research guide on How to use the Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and the West Indies 1573-1739.

4. What sort of documents can I find?

For each colony there are five main types of record, explained in greater detail in the sections below. They are:

• Original Correspondence with the Secretary of State
• Original Correspondence with the Board of Trade
• Entry Books of the Secretary of State
• Entry Books of the Board of Trade
• Collections of Acts and Sessional Papers of the colonial legislature

For some colonies only there are also

• naval officers’ returns of shipping
• military and naval despatches
• collections of land grants and other materials

5. Original correspondence

These are collections of

• reports, orders and instructions from and to the officials in each colony
• correspondence with officials and other people in the United Kingdom
• correspondence between the Secretary of State and the Board of Trade

There are calendars of the correspondence of the Board with each colony in

• CO 326/1-51 for 1703-1759
• CO 326/52-74 for 1759-1782

Alternatively, use the “Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations”, available in the reading rooms at The National Archives at Kew, which also provides summaries of original correspondence.

6. Entry Books

Entry Books were used to record correspondence going in and out of the Colonial Office, although from 1700 they only record items going out.

They contain full copies or summarised versions of despatches, letters, reports, petitions, commissions and instructions.

Colonial Office entry books are in CO 324. Browse CO 324 in the catalogue to find relevant books or search the catalogue for ‘entry book’ and then use the filtering options on the results page.

7. Acts and sessional papers

Colonial authorities sent copies of their Acts and Proceedings to the Privy Council for approval or rejection. They were then forwarded to the Board of Trade.

Search the catalogue using keyword expressions such as ‘Maryland Acts’. There will be information in PC 1 and PC 2 but this will not be picked up by a catalogue search and you will need to look speculatively within those record series.

Copies of Acts and Proceedings were kept by the colony itself and you can often find these in US state and university archives (see section 2).

8. Military and naval despatches

Read our research guides on Royal Navy operations 1660-1914 and British Army operations up to 1913 which explain how to find relevant records.

The best way to identify useful records is to use the List and Index Society Volume LIII: An alphabetical guide to certain War Office and other military records, available in the reading rooms at The National Archives at Kew and in other academic libraries. This provides a comprehensive lists of subjects and names of individuals which are cross referenced to the relevant records at The National Archives.

Alternatively, use the advanced search option in our catalogue and search within the following record series for despatches:

• WO 1, WO 2, WO 3, WO 4, WO 5 – War Office in-letters and miscellaneous papers
• CO 5  Original Correspondence 1606-1822 – contains despatches related to fighting against the French and various Native American tribes
• CO 318 Original Correspondence: West Indies – contains some military despatches

You can search more speculatively by searching within the department references ADM for navy records and WO for army records.

Keyword catalogue searches will only pick up records where the descriptions provide sufficient detail. Because the record series above are not described comprehensively you may not find what you need.

9. Land grants

9.1 Land grants by the Crown

In early colonial America, Britain considered land to belong to the Crown because it had been discovered and settled by its subjects.

The Crown granted land to companies to organise settlements and sometimes to people as a reward for services.

Although land grants were nominally made in the name of the Crown, most were made and recorded in the colonies rather than in London and these records may be available in American state archives.

9.2 Finding records of land grants

American loyalists, whose land had been handed over to the new American government following the American revolutionary wars, tried to claim compensation from the British government.

Records relating to their claims are in

• AO 10 – AO 13 – Claims Commission
•  T 50, T 77, T 79 – Treasury
• CO 5 – Colonial Office

There is no comprehensive index of the land grants made in colonial America but references to some grants are in:

• CM Andrews, Guide to the Materials for American History to 1783 in The Public Record Office
• Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations
• Calendar of State Papers Colonial: America and West Indies
• Acts of the Privy Council, Colonial Series

Alternatively, search the catalogue with relevant keywords such as ‘land grant’ and ‘America’.

You can find indexes to claimants’ names in the List of Records of the Treasury, Paymaster-General’s Office, Exchequer and Audit Department and Board of Trade and other useful material in A Bibliography of Loyalist source material in the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Both items are available in The National Archives’ library.

10. Native American affairs

Records relating to Native American affairs in general, and to large tribes and confederacies not living in any one colony, are in record series CO 5.

The series includes some treaties but there is no index to them. Some are mentioned in the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial and in Andrews’ Guide to the Materials for American History.

11. Records covering all British colonies

The following record series relate to British colonies in general and will contain some information relating to North America and the West Indies:

• CO 323 Colonies General: Original Correspondence
• CO 324 Entry Books
• CO 388 Board of Trade: Original Correspondence
• CO 389 Board of Trade: Entry Books
• CO 390 Board of Trade: Miscellanea
• CO 391 Board of Trade: Minutes

CO 391 includes the Journal of the Board of Trade. Entries from the journal have been published in the Colonial State Papers (up to April 1704) and  the Journal of the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations (April 1704-May 1782).

12. Treasury and customs records

Records from the Treasury and the Board of Customs can provide useful information about the colonies. The relevant Customs records are mostly trade statistics.

Use Andrews’ Guide to the Materials for American History Volume II to identify the relevant records from these departments.

13. Further reading

Some of the publications below may be available to buy from The National Archives’ bookshop. Alternatively, click on the links to view the books in The National Archives’ library catalogue and see what is available to consult at our building in Kew.

• C M Andrews Guide to the Materials for American History to 1783 in The Public Record Office (1912) [Some of the references given are out of date and need to be converted into current references]
• O T Barck and H T Lefler, Colonial America (1968)
• H C Bell, D W Parker and others Guide to British West Indian Archive Materials, in London and in the Islands, for the History of the United States (1926)
• B R Crick, M Alman  and J W Raimo, A Guide to Manuscripts Relating to America in Great Britain and Ireland (1979)
• K G Davies ed, The Documents of the American Revolution (1972-1981)
• Guy Grannum, Tracing Your Caribbean Ancestors (2012) – also available from our bookshop
• R B Pugh, The Records of the Colonial and Dominions Offices (1964)
• A Thurston, Sources for Colonial Studies in the Public Record Office, Volume I: Records of the Colonial Office Dominions Office, Commonwealth Relations Office and Commonwealth Office (1995)
• P Walne, ed, A Guide to Manuscript Sources for the History of Latin America and the Caribbean in the British Isles (1973)
• Alphabetical Guide to the War Office and other Series (PRO List and Index Series vol LIII, 1931; reprinted 1963)
• Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations

2. What is naturalisation?

Naturalisation is the legal process by which a person changes their nationality.

For hundreds of years, foreign nationals living in the UK, and sometimes living abroad, have been able to attain British citizenship through naturalisation.

The criteria and process have changed over the years but for successful applicants the end result has been the same: that person is granted the same legal rights and status of a natural-born British citizen.

Before 1844 naturalisation was granted only by a private act of parliament. The procedure was expensive and only a few could afford it. After 1844, right up to the present day, naturalisation has usually been granted by the Home Office.

Please note that if a woman married a British subject before 1 January 1949, then under section 10(1) of the British Nationality Act and Status of Aliens Act 1914 she would have been deemed to be a British subject upon marriage, and there may therefore be no evidence of her British nationality in our records.

From 1949 onwards, the 1948 Act enabled such women to register their British nationality.

3. What are registrations of British nationality?

From 1949, people in the British Commonwealth could register their British citizenship to remain British citizens – whether or not they actually moved to the UK. Up until 1949 citizens of any colony or dominion in the British Empire were automatically considered British subjects but this changed with the British Nationality Act 1948.

People born in Ireland before 1949 were, likewise, considered British subjects and after the 1948 Act could also register British nationality; however, anyone born in the Republic of Ireland after 1948, seeking British citizenship, would need to apply to naturalise.

4. Record types and the information they contain

The process of naturalisation or registration produces paperwork. Most of the surviving paperwork, up until 1986, for successful naturalisations is now held at The National Archives. There are two broad types: the document declaring someone’s naturalisation and the background papers that were submitted to support their application.

4.1 Naturalisation certificates

Naturalisation certificate of Peter Santi from July 1957

Issued to all people who are granted British citizenship through naturalisation.

Usually naturalisation certificates contain:

• full name
• residence/address of applicant
• birthplace
• age/date of birth
• parents’ names
• name of spouse (if married)
• occupation
• children with their names and ages (if still of dependent age)

4.2 Indexes to naturalisation certificates

The Home Office indexes to naturalisation certificates cover 1908-1980. From June 1969 the Home Office did not keep a set of duplicate certificates issued in the UK for foreign nationals so the index is the only source of detail until 1980. The indexes contain:

• name
• place of residence
• naturalisation number
• date of issue

4.3 Naturalisation case papers

A completed application form for a registration of British nationality from 1966

These are the forms individuals filled out when applying for naturalisation, though they rarely survive if naturalisation was not granted. These papers provide more detailed information on the applicant than the naturalisation certificate itself and may contain all or some of the following information:

• nationality
• profession
• names and ages of spouse and children
• birth date
• birth place
• address of the applicant
• character reference(s)
• police or Mayor’s report (after c.1878)

4.4 Registrations of British nationality

Registrations issued before 1970 tend to be in the form of an application with information similar to naturalisation certificates. From 1970 they tend only to include the full name of the applicant, their date and place of birth.

4.5 Private Acts of Parliament

4.6 The London Gazette, 1844-1980

Search the Gazette online by name for published announcements of naturalisations.

2. What is a court martial?

A court martial is a court convened to try an offence against military discipline, or against the ordinary law, committed by a person in one of the armed services. Courts martial were also used to try civilians when martial law was in force.

2.1 Types of courts martial

Various types of courts martial existed. They are sometimes listed by initials:

General court martial (GCM)

This was army’s highest tribunal, dealing with commissioned officers and the most serious cases involving other ranks. It could only be convened by the Crown or its deputy (for example, the commander in chief, or governors general). At least 13 commissioned officers had to be present if ‘at home’ (serving in the British Isles, Ireland, non-British territories or small British possessions), or five if ‘overseas’ (the British colonies), together with a judge advocate. Decisions were confirmed by the person who issued the warrant (that is, the Crown or its direct deputy).

Field general court martial (FGCM)

This type of court martial was often used in wartime. Only three commissioned officers needed to be present. The decision had to be unanimous for the death penalty to be imposed.

General regimental court martial (GRCM) or district (or garrison) court martial (DCM)

More limited in jurisdiction, these courts could not try commissioned officers or charges carrying the death penalty, transportation or prison sentences of more than two years. It required seven officers at home or five if overseas. Details of the sentence were sent up to the Judge Advocate General’s office. The general regimental court martial was replaced by the district court martial in 1829.

Regimental court martial (RCM)

The regimental court martial was used for ranks other than commissioned officers who were charged with lesser offences. They may be noted in war diaries, but no records were sent to the Judge Advocate General’s Office. Some of the records of these courts may survive among the records preserved by individual regiments.

3. How do I search the records?

Records can be searched by name online at Forces War Records or by consulting original documents at The National Archives.

If the records you require are not online, it would be helpful if you know the rank of the individual, type of court and approximate date before you start your research – this will help you narrow down relevant record series listed in the guide.

3.1 Online records

Some records are searchable online by name and can be viewed on Forces War Records.

See section 4 for more information.

3.2 Original documents at The National Archives

Start your search by identifying relevant records series listed below.

Browse or search relevant record series by date to locate document references using Discovery, our catalogue. The records are not searchable by name on our catalogue.

For more guidance on how to conduct a search or how to browse the catalogue, read Discovery help.

For records which are not viewable online, you will either need to visit The National Archives or order digital or paper copies to be sent to you.

You can order copies from the catalogue description in Discovery (you should register an account in Discovery before you request copies).

Search by name and download the following registers of courts martial online:

5. The Judge Advocate General

Almost all the surviving records of army courts martial came to The National Archives via the office of the Judge Advocate General, the legal officer responsible to the Crown for military law. His duties, and those of the judge advocates answerable to him, were to prepare the case, summon courts martial and administer the oath to witnesses. After the hearing the judge advocate would submit a report of the proceedings to the relevant authority for confirmation. Before 1951 soldiers had no right of appeal, although the confirming officer would often reduce the sentence.

The submitted reports on individual courts martial, 1715-1790, are in WO 71/34-64 for both home and overseas cases. Cases from 1806-1904, to be confirmed at home, are in WO 91. There is a joint index to WO 91 and WO 92, for 1806-1833, in WO93/1A. Other submissions, 1880-1938, are in WO 209.

5.1 Miscellaneous records of the Judge Advocate General

5.2 Judge Advocate General case index system, 1991-1999

The office of the Judge Advocate General has a database with continuing registers of Army and Royal Air Force court martial cases at home and abroad and cases in civilian standing courts for 1991 to 1999. Browse LCO 60 to find and download cases from this database. It contains the following details:

• date and type of trial
• defendant’s unit
• rank
• service number
• name of the Judge Advocate
• charges brought
• court

In the case of standing civilian court hearings the relationship of the defendant to service personnel is recorded.

6. Registers of courts martial, 1796-1963

The Judge Advocate General’s office compiled registers of general and field courts martial, giving name, rank, regiment, place of trial, charge, finding, and sentence. These are in

• WO 90 (abroad, 1796-1960 – with a volume for India)
• WO 92 (home, 1666-1704, 1806-1960 – with registers for part of the Boer War).

Part of WO 92 is available online – see section what can be viewed online.

An index for 1806-1833 is in WO 93/1A.

Later registers for 1909-1963 are in WO 213 (see section what can I view online).

7. First World War courts martial

7.1 Death sentences

Death sentences were passed by the British Army in courts martial between 1914 and 1924 for offences such as sleeping on duty, cowardice, desertion, murder, mutiny and treason. Death sentences were passed on over 3,000 British soldiers, members of Dominion, Colonial and foreign forces, and several British and foreign civilians. Over 90% of these sentences were later changed to other punishments, such as hard labour or penal servitude.

For all offences except mutiny, see Death sentences passed by the military courts of the British Army, 1914-1924 by G Oram and J Putkowski. This gives lists of sentences by date and surname. Each entry gives a reference number. Add WO to the front of this number, and you have the full National Archives document reference.

Most records of courts martial are in:

• Field General Courts Martial and Military Courts Registers in WO 213 (see section what can I view online)
• General Courts Martial Registers, confirmed at home in WO 92
• General Courts Martial Registers, abroad  in WO 90

7.2 Mutinies

Over 2,000 men were charged with mutiny between 1914 and 1922. You may find it useful to consult British Army Mutineers, 1914-1922 by J Putkowski. This lists mutinies by:

• surname
• unit
• mutinies at home by date
• mutinies abroad by date

Each entry gives a full National Archives document reference, including the internal page number. When ordering one of these documents, leave out the page number.

Most records of courts martial of mutineers are in:

• WO 86 – see section 4 for what can be viewed online
• WO 90
• WO 92 – see section 4 for what can be viewed online
• WO 213 – see section 4 for what can be viewed online

7.3 Other offences

For courts martial which did not pass a death sentence, try the records described in section 9, or contact the relevant regimental museum.

7.4 Australian and Canadian forces

Name rolls of courts martial, 1915-1919, contain court martial records of the Australian Imperial Force (WO 93/42) and the Canadian Expeditionary Force (WO 93/43).

8. Trials of commissioned officers, 1668-1993

Commissioned officers could be tried only by general or field general courts martial: these are indexed between 1830 and 1904 in WO 93/1B. The records are mostly in WO 71, which includes original papers in the case (such as warrants, letters and depositions, sometimes described as ‘papers’) as well as entry books of the trial proceedings. There are several series of records in WO 71:

9. Trials of non-commissioned officers and other ranks, 1688-1986

Non-commissioned officers and other ranks could be tried by any of the courts martial, so you may have to look in two sets of records. For the most serious offences tried at general and field general courts martial, the records are as described for officers (see section 8). For less serious offences tried at general regimental and district garrison courts martial, consult:

Records of minor offences tried at regimental courts martial are not held by The National Archives, but may be held at regimental museums.

10. Deserters

There are registers of deserters, 1811-1852, in WO 25/2906-2934. Until 1827 they are kept in three series: cavalry, infantry and militia (the latter up to 1820 only). After 1827 they are arranged by regiment. These registers give descriptions, dates and place of enlistment and desertion, and outcome. There are registers of captured deserters, 1813-1845, in WO 25/2935-2951, with indexes up to 1833 in WO 25/2952, WO 25/2953, and WO 25/2954. Deserters who surrendered themselves under proclamation, 1803-1815, are in WO 25/2955. On capture, some deserters were sentenced to imprisonment on the Savoy hulk: there are unindexed registers for the hulk, 1799-1823 (WO 25/2956).

Local newspapers and (for 1828 to 1845) the police newspapers Hue and Cry and the Police Gazette carried details of deserters, giving name, parish and county of birth, regiment, date and place of desertion, a physical description and other relevant information. For deserters in Australia (HO 75) consult Fitzmaurice, Army deserters from HM Service.

11. Other records

12. Pardons for First World War servicemen

Amendments to the Armed Forces Act 2006 have established pardons for any person who was executed for a range of predominantly disciplinary offences committed during the war.

For more details please see Section 359 of the Armed Forces Act 2006. The original records of the offence are held in series WO 71.

13. Records held elsewhere

Records of minor offences tried at regimental courts martial are not held by The National Archives, but may be held at regimental museums.

Some of the records the Regimental court martial (RCM) may survive among the records preserved by individual regiments. Contact individual regiments for more information.

14. Further reading

Some or all of the recommended publications below may be available to buy from The National Archives’ shop. Alternatively, search The National Archives’ library to see what is available to consult at Kew.

Alphabetical guide to War Office and other military records preserved in The Public Record Office (Public Record Office Lists & Indexes: LIII) [covers 1676-1902 and has a large number of entries relating to courts martial procedure. Available at The National Archives]

B Barton, ‘The secret court martial records of the 1916 Easter Rising’ (The History Press, 2008)

R W Bennet,, ‘Military Law in 1839’, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, XLVIII (1970), 225-241

C M Clode, ‘Military forces of the Crown’, 2 vols (BiblioBazaar, 1869)

Y Fitzmaurice, ‘Army deserters from HM Service’ (Fitzmaurice, 1988)

G Oram and J Putkowski, ‘Death sentences passed by the military courts of the British Army, 1914-1924’ (Frances Boutle, 1998)

J Putkowski, ‘British Army mutineers, 1914-1922’ (Frances Boutle, 1998)

J Putkowski and J Sykes, ‘Shot at dawn’ (Pen & Sword, 1998)

G Rubin, ‘Murder, mutiny and the military: British court martial cases 1940-1966’ (Frances Boutle, 2005)

J Stuart-Smith, ‘Military law; its history, administration and practice’, Law Quarterly Review, LXXXV (1969), 478-504

F B Wiener, ‘Civilians under military justice’ (University of Chicago Press, 1967)

The Foreign Office was created in 1782 and became the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1968. It was the government department responsible for the conduct of British relations with nearly all foreign states between those dates (British colonies and dominions were dealt with by separate departments).

From 1968, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office assumed these roles, in addition to administering the remaining British dependencies and managing relations with the Commonwealth (previously the responsibility of the Commonwealth Office).

In September 2020 the Department for International Development was merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to form the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

For further details, see the administrative histories in Discovery, our catalogue, for departments FO and FCO.

3. Online and published records

Most in-depth research into Foreign Office records requires a visit to our site in Kew. There are, however, some online and published resources which allow you to search for and view a limited number of records without having to visit.

A scattered selection of records have been reproduced either in published volumes or online. These include:

• Foreign Office records on the Adam Matthew website including records on the Middle East (1839-1969 and 1971-1981), Latin America (1833-1969), China (1919-1980), India, Pakistan and Afghanistan (1947-1980)
• Foreign Office (and Colonial Office and Cabinet Office) records showcasing the story of the rich and complex history of the countries located in the Arabian Gulf on the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive. The archive contains material dating from 1820 to 2004. This is a joint project between the National Archives of the United Arab Emirates and The National Archives of the United Kingdom. You can search and download records from the website using OCR keywords, date ranges and document references. The archive is available in both English and Arabic versions.
• Search UK Treaties Online for the text of treaties as published in the UK Parliament Command papers
• Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War (Intelligence and Foreign Policy files 1873-1953)
• Private Office Papers of various ministers and officials (1824-1968) in FO 800 (these are digital microfilm records and are free to download from our website)
• Other digital microfilm records free to download from our website
• Indexes to Foreign Office correspondence between 1906 and 1920, in FO 1111, and between 1920 and 1951, in FO 409
• The published records described in the Further reading section of this guide

4. How to search for original records: getting started

Most Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office records held at The National Archives are not viewable or downloadable online. To view them you will either need to visit our building in Kew, find references to records on our online catalogue with which you can order copies, or pay for research to be done for you.

Foreign Office records are held in record department FO and Foreign and Commonwealth Office records in FCO.

To search for records you will need to do one or both of the following, depending on the type of record and the date of the record:

• Keyword searches in our online catalogue
• Use the printed indexes and registers at our building in Kew

For details on when and how to use these resources see the following sections of this guide.

5. General correspondence

The most numerous type of Foreign Office record is general correspondence. There are tens of thousands of records of general correspondence at The National Archives, ranging from letters, both personal and official, telegrams and despatches, to reports, notes and memos and anything else that was sent from one place or person to another in the business of the Foreign Office.

How you search for correspondence depends on when it was created and the changing registry systems of the Foreign Office down the years.

For detailed advice on how to search for general correspondence from different periods see the following guides:

• Foreign Office correspondence 1782-1890
• Foreign Office correspondence 1891-1905
• Foreign Office correspondence 1906-1919
• Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office correspondence 1920 onwards

6. Confidential print 1820s-1970s

Consulting confidential print is a good way to gain a summary overview of Foreign Office political correspondence before accessing the extensive, more detailed holdings in the main general correspondence series referred to in section 5.

6.1 What were confidential prints?

From the late 1820s, correspondence of particular significance began to be printed in several copies and distributed to officials in the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet, to other departments and to British missions abroad. These copies were known as confidential print.

By 1906 nearly every important despatch or telegram was printed routinely but the practice of confidential prints died out in the 1970s with the arrival of photocopying.

Confidential prints vary from a single document to a substantial volume of papers, and are numbered individually, roughly in order of printing.

6.2 How to search for confidential prints

A good starting point is the FO Division 2 description in our catalogue which lists record series of confidential prints on particular countries, regions and subjects. To search for specific documents you can either:

Click on the link to any series in the list and search by year using the ‘date range’ boxes.

or

Use the following fields and search terms in the advanced search:

• All of these words: the name of the country or subject of interest
• Exact word or phrase: confidential print
• Search within references: FO
• Date: the dates/years within which the records were created

7. Records from embassy and consular archives

7.1 What do embassy and consular records consist of?

These records include:

• original despatches received from the Foreign Office by British diplomatic and consular posts abroad and draft replies
• local correspondence with the government and other authorities of the foreign state
• correspondence with other British representatives, agents and private individuals
• registers of births, deaths and marriages of British subjects abroad
• consular court records
• commercial records of various kinds
• papers about British churches and cemeteries
• papers about the estates of British subjects

7.2 How to search for embassy and consular records

Please note that not all embassy and consular records have survived.

Basic searches by country and year

Use our catalogue to search for document references with the advanced search, using the boxes to restrict your search results to FO and FCO references, specific years and searching with combinations of the following keywords:

• country name
• either ‘Embassy’, ‘Consulate’, ‘Consular Archives’ or ‘Legation’

Specific subject searches

The only way to search for these records by subject is to visit us at our building in Kew and use the registers of embassy and consulate correspondence that exist from the 1820s onwards.

To use the registers follow these steps:

1. Use the advanced catalogue search to identify a document reference for the relevant register, using the country name AND “Embassy and Consulates” AND “registers” as keywords. You can restrict your search by year or date. With the document reference you can order the document (you can order documents in advance).

2. Once you have the register, select the appropriate section within it (to/from Foreign Office; to/from government of the host country; Commercial, Treaty etc.).

3. Consult the left-hand pages for incoming correspondence, the right-hand page for outgoing correspondence. They look like this:

Page from a Foreign Office register for embassy and consular records.

8. Treaties 1695-present

8.1 Records of treaties: ‘Full Powers’, protocols and ratifications

Distinct sets of records were created at different stages of the treaty process, and these are held in different record series.

Before a treaty is made, the parties exchange the Full Powers or authorisations granted to their plenipotentiaries.

The document reciting the agreed terms of the treaty, signed and sealed by the plenipotentiaries of each side is the Protocol.

Following the signing and sealing of the Protocol, ratifications were drawn up, and signed and sealed by the head of state of each party and exchanged, or sometimes deposited in an agreed place if there were several parties.

8.2 How to search for records of treaties at The National Archives

Follow the links in the table below to search the respective series by one or more of the following:

• the state(s) with which the UK signed the treaty
• the subject of the treaty

The texts of many treaties as published in UK Parliament Command papers can be downloaded at UK Treaties Online.

9. Private and private office papers

Private and private office papers relating to foreign affairs held at The National Archives fall under three main categories:

9.1 Private papers given directly to The National Archives

These are private papers of diplomats and politicians involved in foreign affairs directly gifted to, or deposited with, The National Archives (previously the Public Record Office).

Browse through our catalogue references for these from PRO 30/1-99 or search for them by name of author or place of origin using the advanced search and entering PRO 30 in the first reference box.

You can also find private papers held in archives elsewhere using our catalogue. Search by author name and click on the record creators tab within your search results.

9.2 Unregistered papers returned to government after retirement

These are unregistered papers of mostly (though not entirely) 19th century politicians, diplomats and officials taken away on retirement but subsequently returned to government.

Search for references to these using the advanced search in our catalogue, searching by surname, year range and entering department code FO in the reference box.

Anthony Eden’s papers (FO 954) are available online.

9.3 Private office papers surrendered to government on retirement

These are the private office papers of mostly 20th century politicians, diplomats and officials surrendered to government on retirement.

Search for private office papers by author surname using the search forms in the FO 800 and FO 794 series descriptions.

Private office papers of officials of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 1968 are in series FCO 73.

10. Records of international commissions and conferences

The papers of a large number of bilateral or multilateral international commissions, from 1790-1967 are among the Foreign Office records at The National Archives.

The records of British delegations to international conferences from 1814-1976 are in held in both FO and CAB departments.

Search for the records of a commission or conference using the advanced search , restricting your search to reference FO (and, for conferences, CAB) and searching with one or more of the following terms:

• The name of the commission or conference
• The word ‘commission’ or ‘international conference’ and a geographic reference such as the name of a city, country or region
• The word ‘commission’ or ‘conference’ and a subject reference such as ‘military’, ‘financial’, ‘fisheries’ or ‘slave trade’

See our catalogue series divisions for FO and CAB for further details.

11. Records of wartime departments and missions

We hold records of various departments and missions that operated within the Foreign Office during the First and Second World Wars.

11.1 First World War

Search for references to records created by the following agencies and departments set up by the Foreign Office in the First World War by clicking on the references and using the series-specific search boxes:

• Arab Bureau in FO 882
• Contraband Department in FO 382
• Foreign Trade Department in FO 833
• Jedda Agency in FO 686
• Prisoners of War and Aliens Departments in FO 383
• Restriction of Enemy Supplies Department in FO 845
• Trade Clearing House and War Trade Intelligence Department and Finance Section of the Ministry of Blockade in FO 902

For background details see the description for FO Division 12 to which the above series belong.

11.2 Second World War

Search for references to records created by the following agencies and departments set up by the Foreign Office in the Second World War by clicking on the references and using the series-specific search boxes:

• • Ministers Resident in FO 660
  • Ministry of Economic Warfare in FO 837 and FO 935
  • French National Committee in FO 892
  • Political Warfare Executive in FO 898
  • Consular (War) in FO 916
  • Minister of State, Cairo in FO 921
  • British Middle East Office, Cairo in FO 957

12. Records of the Allied Administration of Germany and Austria after the Second World War

The Foreign Office inherited the records of a number of the organisations through which the Allies administered what are now Germany and Austria after the Second World War. These were:

• The Control Offices, based in London
• The Control Commissions, based in Germany and Austria
• The Civil High Commission, which instigated de facto self-government in West Germany from 1948 until 1955 (when normal diplomatic relations were resumed)

12.1 What kinds of records are held at The National Archives?

The surviving records of the Control Commission for Germany (British Element) are held at The National Archives but are incomplete as only a small percentage of the files were selected for permanent preservation. The overwhelming majority of these are administrative in nature and rarely contain personal details.

In addition to the above, there are numerous files and material on denazification generally including:

• policy and applications
• some name lists

12.2 How to search for records

For a breakdown of the record series relating to the Allied Administration, see the FO Division 14 page.

In addition, the records of the Allied Kommandatura, the four power body that administered Berlin until the end of the Cold War, are in FO 1112.

The file descriptions used by the Control Commission were very broad and this is reflected in the record descriptions in our catalogue. A keyword search of our catalogue is therefore of limited value but it may be worth completing the following fields in the advanced search with the terms provided:

• All of these words: a keyword relevant to your search e.g. censorship
• Exact word or phrase: Control Commission for Germany
• Within references: FO
• Date: 1945 to 1950

You should also consult Akten der Britischen Militärregierung in Deutschland: Sachinventar 1945-1955 (11 Volumes, published by KG Saur 1993). These volumes, available from The National Archives library, provide brief details (in English and occasionally German) of the Control Commission documents for Germany (the “G documents”) as well as the associated National Archives references.

12.3 Looted art

Foreign Office and Treasury documents concerning looted art have been identified and digitised in partnership with the Commission for Looted Art in Europe. To search them use the form in our research guide Looted art 1939-1961.

13. Intelligence records of the Foreign Office 1795-1985

The primary series of records relating to intelligence matters within the Foreign Office are the records of the Permanent Undersecretary of State in FO 1093.

From the FO 1093 series description, search by year and subject or, instead, browse through the document descriptions for the whole series.

Other significant record series include the reports of intelligence agents from 1795-1815 in FO 38 and details of the funding of British intelligence operations before 1909, known as the Secret Vote, in HD 1 and HD 2.

14. Further reading

Some or all of the publications below may be available to buy from The National Archives’ bookshop. Alternatively, search The National Archives’ library catalogue to see what is available to consult at Kew.

Published copies of records

British Documents on the Origins of the War, Documents on British Foreign Policy, Documents on British Policy Overseas (13, 68 and 18 Volumes respectively, HMSO and Routledge, 1926 onwards). Selections of documents (mostly general correspondence) covering the build up to the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War respectively.

British Documents on Foreign Affairs (over 200 volumes, University Publications of America, 1983 onwards). Selection of Confidential Prints from mid-19th to mid-20th century.

British and Foreign State Papers (168 Volumes, HMSO 19th century to 1977). Published copies of major treaties from 1812 to 1967.

Secondary material

FCO Historians, A guide to researching FCO history (Foreign and Commonwealth Office)

Michael Roper, The Records of the Foreign Office, 1782-1968 (Public Record Office, 2002)

Louise Atherton, Never Complain, Never Explain: Records of the Foreign Office and the State Paper Office 1500-c.1960 (Public Record Office, 1994), includes well-explained guidance on how to use the registers and indexes to Foreign Office correspondence

James Cronan and Keith Mitchell, Foreign Office records 1782 to 1986: A guide to country series (List & Index Society, 2017)

2. What are letters patent and what are charters?

Until early in the reign of Henry VIII, the most solemn royal grants were issued as charters. Other grants could be issued as letters patent. After the eighth year of Henry VIII’s reign, all grants under the Great Seal were issued as letters patent.

Both letters patent and charters were recorded on parchment, consequently sewn together head to tail to form a continuous roll for storage. We thus refer to ‘enrolled’ grants, and to ‘Patent Rolls’ and ‘Charter Rolls’. The individual sections are known as membranes.

2.1 Letters patent

Letters patent were open letters issued under the Great Seal. They cover a huge diversity of subjects, including grants of official positions, lands, commissions, privileges and pardons. Modern patent ‘rolls’ (now in fact, books) contain entries as diverse as the constitution of Southern Rhodesia and the appointment of judges in India.

Most entries are in Latin in the early period but some entries are in English, even in the 16th century. In the 1650s and after 1733 all entries are in English. Letters patent are addressed ‘To all to whom these presents shall come’.

Letters patent relating to Peers will be kept by the individual concerned, but Parliament’s Archive Collections include a very small number of letters patent of individuals relating to Parliament in personal papers collections, including Spencer Perceval and Erskine May. They can be found by searching the catalogue for “letters patent”. Copies of writs of summons can be found among the House of Lords Main Papers.  The Parliamentary records of the Clerk of the Crown include a small number of copies of warrants summoning peers to the upper house, some official copies with wafer seals.

2.2 Charters

The most formal royal grants made in the medieval period were issued as Latin charters addressed to the leaders of society, with elaborate lists of named witnesses.

They may be original grants in perpetuity of lands, privileges or other possessions. Often they are a confirmation, or ‘inspeximus’ (a sealed official copy), of earlier grants. In these cases, the earlier texts would normally be repeated in full, sometimes with the addition of further privileges.

3. Search tools and basics

To identify records you will usually need to start by consulting calendars (summaries) and indexes, all of which are available at The National Archives in Kew. Details of these finding aids are provided in the sections below.

The calendars and indexes are usually dated by regnal year (for example ‘1 Richard II’), reflecting the arrangement of the rolls. You will need to convert references in the calendars and indexes into modern document references. Membrane or item numbers will direct you to the right section of the roll. Some references may indicate if the entry is on the ‘dorse’ (d), or reverse side, of the roll. Convert regnal years to calendar years using C R Cheney’s Handbook of Dates.

Entries were made in a highly abbreviated form of Latin, to which C T Martin’s The Record Interpreter is a useful guide. You may also find our Latin tutorials useful.

4. How to search for Patent Rolls

The Patent Rolls run in an almost unbroken series of records from 1201 to the present day. However, there are significant numbers of missing records for the Civil War and Interregnum period (c.1642–1659). Copies are enrolled on the Patent Rolls in C 66.

There are a number of resources which will help you to find records:

4.1 Published patent rolls (before 1603)

Consult the printed transcripts of the original Latin enrolments for the period:

• 1201–1216 in Rotuli Litterarum Patentium (Record Commission, 1835)
• 1216–1232 in Letters Patent of the Reign of Henry III (HMSO, 1901,1903)

After 1232 the Calendars of Patent Rolls (HMSO, 1891–1986) – often abbreviated in secondary sources as CPR – provide a full indexed summary of entries, in English, up to 1595, except for the period 1509–1547 when calendar entries are in Letters and Papers Foreign and Domestic Henry VIII (HMSO, 1862–1932). Digitised calendars of the rolls for the reigns of Henry III and Edward I are now available through British History Online and later reigns are being added incrementally.

Calendars for 1595–1601 have been published by the List and Index Society and more are in preparation.

Calendars do not always give full modern document references. The rolls are identified by regnal year, and then by part number: this can be converted into a modern reference by looking at the C 66 list in the reading rooms, Kew. Membrane or item numbers are internal references which you use to find the entry on the actual roll.

4.2 Manuscript ‘indexes’ from 1603

From 1603, you will need to use the original manuscript indexes and calendars in C 274 which, like the enrolments, may be in Latin until 1733. These indexes are not as straightforward to use as modern indexes.

Those for James I have been published in facsimile by the List and Index Society. Others are only available at The National Archives, Kew. Many have been annotated with the modern document references. There is also a card index at The National Archives for letters patent issued by George V.

The format of these ‘indexes’ varies. In general they are arranged by regnal year and either summarise or index each entry in the order in which it appears on the roll. Indexes to the names of grantees are by the first initial of the surname only.

Grants of:

• commissions may be indexed under C
• naturalisation under ‘Indigen’
• pardons, presentations and proclamations under P

See the C 274 series list in the reading rooms, Kew for more details and information about interpreting and using the indexes.

5. Letters patent not enrolled

Not every document issued under the Great Seal was enrolled. Grants issued to private persons were enrolled for a fee and not all were willing to pay. Some grants were enrolled but never formally issued; others were amended after enrolment or cancelled.

The warrants authorising the use of the Great Seal in C 81-83 provide supplementary evidence for royal grants, some of which were never enrolled.

Read the publication note within the C 81 and C 82 series descriptions to find out how to search these.  Browse C 83 by regnal year, please note there can be more than one part per regnal year.

You may sometimes find petitions for grants in:

• Ancient Petitions within SC 8. Use the search box within SC 8 to search by keyword (for example, sheep or sheep AND grant)
• the various State Papers series (SP)

6. Supplementary patent and confirmation rolls

Between 1483 and 1625, confirmations of previous grants were enrolled separately on the Confirmation Rolls in C 56. A manuscript index to these is available at The National Archives.

Some common form patents – letters of protection, pardons, passes for ships and commissions of bankruptcy – were occasionally enrolled separately on the Supplementary Patent Rolls. Browse these in C 67.

7. Royal proclamations and commissions

Up until c.1655 royal proclamations and commissions were enrolled on the back of the Patent Rolls.

From 1595 commissions are more comprehensively recorded in:

• the Crown Office Docket Books in C 231 – searchable by date
• Miscellaneous Books in C 193 – browse by type of book and date

For Royal Commissions relating to Parliament (for example commissions giving royal assent to Acts of Parliament and proroguing Parliament) see our separate research guide on Original Acts of Parliament.

8. Palatinates of Durham and Lancaster

The Palatinates of Durham and Lancaster had their own chanceries, issuing and enrolling letters patent under their own seals.

Those for Durham are in DURH 3 and those for Lancaster are in PL 1. For Durham start by browsing DURH 3 from the enrolments subseries. For Lancaster see the publication note within the PL 1 series description for help on how to search the records.

9. How to search for Charter Rolls, 1199-1517

The original charter is unlikely to be at The National Archives as it would have been issued to the individual or corporate body to whom the grant was made, and may survive with the archives of that family or institution. We do, however, hold some original charters, usually acquired by confiscation, inheritance or purchase, such as the fine collection of Duchy of Lancaster royal charters in DL 10.

From 1199, enrolled copies of charters issued survive with the records of Chancery, in C 53. These may include the text of earlier grants in confirmations, as do the Cartae Antiquae Rolls in C 52.

Published Latin transcripts exist for most of the Charter Rolls for King John’s reign (1199–1216) in the Rotuli Chartarum (Record Commission, 1837). This was printed in record type, copying the abbreviations of the original.

There were no Charter Rolls for the early years of Henry III’s reign (1216–1226) but for later dates there are printed calendars (summaries), in English, in the six-volume Calendar of Charter Rolls (HMSO, 1903–1927) – often referred to in secondary sources as CCR or CChR. Each volume is indexed by place name and personal name. Names of witnesses are not included but there are separate indexes of witnesses for the reigns of Henry III and Edward III.

After 1517 the Charter Rolls were discontinued. Any charters issued, mainly for grants of titles, were enrolled on the Patent Rolls in C 66 (see section 4).

10. Further reading

Some of the publications below may be available to buy from The National Archives’ shop. Alternatively, search The National Archives’ library catalogue to see what is available to consult at Kew.

‘Calendar of Patent Rolls 34 Elizabeth I (1591–1592)’ C66/1379–1394, Second (revised) edition (Lists and Index Society, 2017)

H C Maxwell-Lyte, ‘Historical Notes on the Use of the Great Seal of England‘ (HM Stationery Office, 1926)

R E Latham, ‘Hints on Interpreting the Public Records II Letters Patent’ The Amateur Historian, vol I, no 2 (1952)

C T Martin, ‘The Record Interpreter‘ (London, 1892)

P Chaplais, ‘English Royal Documents‘ (Oxford, 1971)