This guide provides a brief overview of resources at The National Archives that can help you to trace your family history from the Caribbean, predominantly after immigration to the UK but, to a lesser extent, after emigration or forced movement to the Caribbean.  It is an introduction to the sorts of records we hold, with links to guides providing more detailed advice on how to find the records in our collection.

The records held at The National Archives

How to get a search for records started

How to view records

Records of arrival in the UK

Records of UK citizenship

Records of births, marriages, deaths and relatives in the UK

Records of NHS and railway workers

Military and maritime records, 17th to 20th centuries

Records of migration to the Caribbean, 16th to 20th centuries

Enslaved people and slave owners, 16th to 19th centuries

Records of births, marriages and deaths in the Caribbean, 16th to 20th centuries

Pre-independence Caribbean censuses, 17th to 20th centuries

Wills proved in the Caribbean, 15th to 20th centuries

Records of land ownership in the Caribbean, 15th to 20th centuries

Further reading

1. Why use this guide?

This research guide will help you find records relating to the Troubles in Northern Ireland held at The National Archives. The Troubles conflict in Northern Ireland lasted over thirty years from the late 1960s. We show you how to search for records in our online catalogue to locate files on the conflict and signpost various record series that you may find useful. We suggest potentially useful documents and search terms but the guide is not exhaustive.

There are terms in this guide that you may find upsetting or offensive but which may prove necessary search terms to make the best use of our word-searchable catalogue if you want returns with the most comprehensive results. It is not our intention to cause offence and the inclusion of these terms should not be taken as The National Archives favouring any side in the conflict.

The records were created by UK government departments and they therefore reflect the priorities, policies and perspectives of successive UK Governments on the conflict.

While many of these records concern events and Troubles-related incidents that occurred within Northern Ireland, others also document events that occurred in mainland Britain and sometimes events that occurred in the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe.

Most of the records covered in this guide cannot be viewed or downloaded online. To view these records, you will need to either visit us at Kew or pay for copies. Alternatively, you can pay for research.

2. What records can I view online?

Most of the records available online represent high-level government and parliamentary discussions and activity.

2.1 Cabinet papers

Read our research guide to Cabinet and its committees for advice on searching our catalogue for cabinet papers.

The archived Cabinet Papers site has themed pages which you can browse, some with links to downloadable documents.

2.2 Parliamentary papers

Search Proquest UK Parliamentary Papers. This is a subscription website you can access on The National Archives’ computers by visiting us at Kew. You may also be able to access it via a large reference library such as a university library.

This collection includes full texts of House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. It also includes some House of Lords Sessional Papers, local, private, and personal acts, and journals of the Houses of Lords and Commons. Discussions in Parliament can be found in Hansard, which is available online on the Parliament website.

2.3 Legislation

Search legislation.gov.uk for policy created by Westminster and Northern Ireland. You can search for pieces of legislation that were significant to incidents during the conflict, such as the Special Powers Act. Public Acts of Parliament are all online from 1988 to present. Before that they are not all available online.

2.4 Newspapers

It is always best to start online if you are looking for newspapers or articles relating to the Troubles. A growing number of websites provide access to digitised newspapers, for example:

• British Newspaper Archive (charges apply)
• The Gazette website (includes the Belfast, London, and Edinburgh Gazette)
• The Irish Newspaper Archive
• British Library Newspapers
• The Irish Times Newspaper Archive

Local libraries may have their own subscriptions to these online archives that you can use.

3. Searching our catalogue for original records and how to view them

The National Archives holds a large number of open and closed files that relate to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Though a small percentage are viewable online, most are not. For those records held by The National Archives available only in their original paper form, you will need to use Discovery, our catalogue, to search for them. To view these records, you will need to either visit us at Kew or pay for copies. Alternatively, you can pay for research. If you want to see a closed record, you can submit a FOI request.

Some records ‘retained’ by government departments will also appear in the catalogue. These records are not kept at The National Archives and viewing requests must be directed to the relevant government department listed in the catalogue.

If the catalogue description states that the records are held at another archive you will need to contact that archive directly for access arrangements.

Use the main catalogue search or the advanced search page. Try the search strategies outlined below in this section. You can view a breakdown of any record series by clicking on the link and scrolling down through the series description to ‘Browse by Reference’. The following sections of this research guide highlight specific types of records on the Troubles, including political, security and legal records, and help you to search for these kinds of records in more detail.

The advanced search option allows you to build your searches more precisely by restricting dates and other criteria from the start. Other sections of this guide will give you some ideas about which National Archives departments and series to search within. For more information about using our catalogue effectively see Discovery help.

3.1 Contested language and terminology

Quite often record titles and descriptions use language that is now out of date and sometimes offensive, but once records are transferred to us, we don’t alter them. The terminology used by the people that created the records is part of the story they tell.

Words that you might contest depending on your perspective and the incident or individuals described, like ‘extremism’ or ‘extremist’ or ‘terrorist’ or ‘terrorism’, for example, are used.

Contested place names in Northern Ireland will also reflect the British perspective. Using ‘Derry’ will not reveal records in the catalogue as the record creators used ‘Londonderry’. Factor this in when using the catalogue to search for files.

The records and the catalogue have been compiled in the English language. The catalogue does not recognise Irish orthography and accents on letters in the alphabet. Irish names included in documents have often been anglicised by the record creators.

3.2 Search using broad terms

You will uncover a wider range of records if you search the catalogue using broad terms. Try using combinations of words as search terms such as:

• Talks AND Northern Ireland
• Unrest AND Northern Ireland
• Terrorism AND Northern Ireland
• Peace AND Northern Ireland

To narrow search results, use the date, government department and other filters on the search results page.

3.3 Search using specific search terms

If you are interested in a specific aspect of the Troubles, you should use more focused terms such as:

• Nationalists or Republicans
• Unionists or Loyalists

Combine these terms with ‘Northern Ireland’ or specific location you are interested in, such as ‘Belfast’.

A useful glossary of terms relating to the Troubles has been compiled by the CAIN archive (see section 7 for further information).

3.4 Search in specific record series and departments

The list below contains links to key record series that you can search within our catalogue, helping you to target your searches more precisely. These are series within departments that produced the largest number of records on the Troubles and Northern Ireland. By clicking on the series links you will arrive on the respective ‘series description’ pages from where you can search the series, using keywords.

You can use the advanced catalogue search to target the records of one or more entire departments (for example, the Ministry of Defence or the Prime Minster’s Office).  Use the department reference, which is always a letter code, to do this (the code for the Ministry of Defence, for example, is DEFE, and for the Prime Minster’s Office it’s PREM).

CJ 3 –  this series contains files of the Home Office which were transferred to the Northern Ireland Office on its establishment in 1972.

CJ 4 –  this series contains files of the Home Office which were transferred to the Northern Ireland Office on its establishment in 1972.

CJ 5 –  this series relates to registered files of the UK Representative in Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Office from 1969-1972.

WO 305 –  holds Army unit historical records and reports created by the War Office and Ministry of Defence.

ADM 202 – files relate to  Royal Marine Commando unit diaries and HQ papers created by the Admiralty and Ministry of Defence.

DEFE 13 – holds records created in the Private Office of the Minister of Defence and by junior ministers, mainly concerned with strategic or political issues from 1950-2007.

DEFE 24 – this series contains registered files and branch folders created and used by branches within the Army departments of the unified Ministry of Defence.

HO 287 – the files relate to Home Office functions and responsibilities in the field of police matters from 1917-2005.

HO 291 – the files relate to the functions and responsibilities of the Home Office about the preparation of legislation and the administration of the law, as well as overall management of the criminal justice system.

FCO 87 – this series contains records of the Republic of Ireland Department dealing with UK relations with the Republic and in particular the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

PREM 13 – contains correspondence and papers (1964-1970) from the Prime Minister’s Office from Harold Wilson’s Premiership.

PREM 15 – contains correspondence and papers (1970-1974) from the Prime Minister’s Office from Edward Heath’s Premiership.

PREM 16 – holds correspondence and papers (1974-1979) from the Prime Minister’s Office which cover the Labour administration.

PREM 19 – contains correspondence and papers from the Prime Minister’s Officer (1979-1997).

CAB 128 – files consist of Cabinet conclusions from 1945 onwards, including the Confidential Annexes.

CAB 129 – files consist of Cabinet memoranda in the CP and C file series.

CAB 130 and CAB 134 – files contain Cabinet miscellaneous committees minutes and papers.

Getting an understanding of the departments involved can help to inform further searches.

4. Political process

4.1 Civil rights movements

To search for files on the Civil Rights Campaign, search our catalogue using keywords such as ‘civil rights or ‘human rights’ combined with ‘AND Northern Ireland’, or ‘discrimination AND employment.’

CJ 3 and CJ 4 – include files on civil rights marches and activity, civil rights organisations, civil rights complaints and the administration of justice and civil rights organisations.

You can also search by name of a specific human rights organisation. For example, search the ‘European Commission on Human Rights AND Northern Ireland’.

HO 325 – contains files that relate to specific organisations such as the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.

4.2 Politicians and political parties

To search more specifically around political parties in Northern Ireland and their activities during the Troubles, search across record series using the name of the political party, such as ‘Ulster Unionist Party’ or ‘Social Democratic and Labour Party’.

The names of many of the people involved in politics or the peace process during the Troubles are well known and you can search by name. Using the name of a person as a search term will search across all record series but will only show a file that has been catalogued with the name of the person. Many names will appear in the content of the records that do not appear in the catalogue titles or descriptions.

A useful glossary of political parties in Northern Ireland and their activities during the Troubles can be found here. It has been compiled by the CAIN online archive (see section 17 for further information).

4.3 Northern Ireland Assembly

For files on the Northern Ireland Assembly during the conflict, try searching ‘Assembly’, ‘elections’, ‘government’, or ‘devolution’ AND Northern Ireland.

For records on the introduction and machinery of direct rule and the governance of Northern Ireland during the conflict, try searching for ‘direct rule’, ‘contingency planning’, ‘constitutional options’ AND Northern Ireland.

4.4 Northern Ireland peace process

To find records related to earlier events prior to the formal peace process in the 1990s, Search our catalogue using terms such as ‘Anglo-Irish Agreement’ or ‘Sunningdale’ as keywords.

FCO 87 contains overseas reactions to the Anglo-Irish Agreement (15 November 1985) and reactions from the Irish government.

To locate files on the Brooke-Mayhew political talks (April 1991 to November 1992), use terms search as  ‘Brooke talks’ as a keyword.

To search for files on peace movements in Northern Ireland that campaigned for an end to the conflict, try searching using keywords such as ‘peace’ combined with ‘Northern Ireland’. If you are interested in a particular peace organisation, try searching for the name of the group. For example, ‘Women’s Peace Movement AND Northern Ireland’.

4.5 Peace process (1993 to present)

To search for peace or political talks, try searching using keywords such as ‘talks AND Northern Ireland’, ‘political talks AND Northern Ireland’, ‘inter-party talks’ as search terms.

Narrow the dates of your search to the talks you are interested in which largely started from 1991.

Files on issues that were central to the peace process can be searched using keywords. For example, weapons decommissioning can be found by searching ‘arms decommissioning’ AND Northern Ireland’, files on parading issues can be found using ‘parades’, ‘processions’, ‘marches’ AND Northern Ireland.

4.6 The Good Friday Agreement/ Belfast Agreement (signed 10 April 1998)

PREM 49 and CJ 4 – contain records that relate to multi-party talks that resulted in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and information on peace agreements.

FO 93 – contains treaties signed between the Government of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland in 1998 following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Consult our guide to Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office records from 1782 for advice on locating records of treaties.

5. Security forces and paramilitaries

5.1 How to conduct a general search

Use the advanced search option in our catalogue to search within the records of one or more of these departments.

• Ministry of Defence (DEFE)
• Northern Ireland Office (CJ)
• War Office (WO)
• Prime Minister’s Office (PREM)
• The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)

A keyword searching can be a good way to begin. Try searching by:

• Deployment
• Troops
• Paramilitary
• Operation

To search for records that relate to the deployment and operations of British troops, try searching our catalogue using ‘deployment AND Northern Ireland’ or ‘army AND Northern Ireland’ as keywords.

PREM 13  –  contains discussions on the deployment of British troops in Northern Ireland at the Prime Minister’s Office.

FCO 87 – includes the reaction from the Republic of Ireland government on the deployment, operations, and actions of British troops in Northern Ireland.

5.2 British Troops in Northern Ireland (1969-2007)

This guide contains advice on locating records of British unit war diaries and operational records, as opposed to records of individual soldiers. These records are varied, sometimes incomplete and held in a variety of places.

How to locate unit diaries and other operational records

If you use the Advanced search option you can focus your search by entering an appropriate date range and/or the reference for a particular department. Many records are not viewable online. To view records which are not online you will need to visit The National Archives at Kew or pay for research.

• WO 305 – includes unit diaries, army headquarter diaries, detachment reports and orders, and post-tour reports of the British troops stationed in Northern Ireland and the Ulster Defence Regiment.
• ADM 202 – contains unit diaries, detachment reports and orders for Royal Marines stationed in Northern Ireland.

Not all the records have been given specific or detailed descriptions in our catalogue (some, for example, may be catalogued as ‘Miscellaneous’, or other generic descriptions) so keyword searches will not always find everything on that subject.

Nevertheless, keyword searching can be a good way to begin. Try searching by:

• Name of unit. If you are looking for war diaries or other records related to specific British Army regiments and other units – these are often recorded in our catalogue using abbreviations so try a variety of terms when searching (for example, ‘Regt’ as well as ‘Regiment’).

If you do not know the name of the unit, try searching within the series for ‘headquarters AND Northern Ireland’ or search ‘Northern Ireland AND WO 305’ and narrow the date range of your search

5.3 Northern Irish security forces

For records on the security forces in Northern Ireland, search for the name of the organisation, for example ‘Royal Ulster Constabulary’ or ‘RUC’ or ‘Ulster Defence Regiment’ or ‘UDR’.

DEFE 70  –  contains information on Northern Irish security forces, for example, try searching our catalogue for ‘Ulster Defence Regiment’.

Often files on Northern Ireland security and army in the DEFE 70 series are catalogued simply as ‘Northern Ireland’.

5.4 Paramilitaries

The National Archives holds British government files on paramilitaries. Use our catalogue to search for records on paramilitaries. You can also search using the name of Republican or Loyalist paramilitary groups, for example ‘Irish Republican Army’ or ‘IRA’ or ‘Ulster Volunteer Force’ or ‘UVF’.

You can try searching for individual members of paramilitary organisations in the catalogue, but unless they are well known, you are unlikely to find them by searching their names.

A useful glossary of Republican or Loyalist paramilitary groups active during the Troubles has been compiled by the CAIN archive (see section 7 for further information).

CJ 4 – contains records relating to the activities of paramilitary groups.

Army unit and army headquarter diaries include reports on the activities of loyalist and republican paramilitaries throughout the conflict. See section 5.2 for more information.

Search for allegations of collusion between the British government and various paramilitaries by searching ‘paramilitaries AND Collusion’.

5.5 Violent incidents

The records held at The National Archives do not usually focus on victims of Troubles related incidents. Try searching using keywords and the terms ‘victims’ AND Northern Ireland’ to highlight records that contain information on victims at a high level.

Violent incidents occurred throughout the Troubles. For records on violent incidents, you can use general search terms like, ‘violent incidents’, ‘shooting’, or ‘internal security’ or AND Northern Ireland.

FCO 87 – contains records on major bombing incidents.

CJ 4 – contains records on major bombings and violent incidents.

If the incident occurred in Northern Ireland search within:

Unit diaries can provide a useful insight into reports of all types of violent incident that occurred during the conflict. See section 5.2 for more information.

• DEFE 70 – contains analysis of bombing patterns and other patterns of violence in Northern Ireland.

Information on bombings and other violent incidents that occurred in mainland Britain often generated files from multiple government departments, including the Metropolitan Police.

If you are searching for a bombing that occurred in a particular place, search our catalogue using the location and the word ‘bomb’.

You can find lists of major violent incidents relating to the Troubles here which has been compiled by the CAIN online archive (see section 7 for further information).

6. Legal

6.1 Internment

To search for files on internment, narrow the date range from 1971 to 1975 and try searching ‘Internment AND Northern Ireland’, ‘special powers AND Northern Ireland’ or search for an internment location, such as ‘Long Kesh’.

CJ 4 – contains records that relate to internment and the treatment of detainees and allegations of ill-treatment by security forces. Try searching using ‘European Commission on Human Rights’ and ‘Red Cross’ as keywords.

6.2 Court cases

If a violent incident associated with the Troubles occurred in England, often court cases contain witness depositions from victims. Consult our guide to Criminal court cases: an overview for advice on locating court records.

6.3 Prisons and prisoners

For records that relate to prisons in Northern Ireland and their role during the Troubles search our catalogue using ‘Prisons AND Northern Ireland’ as keywords.

If you are interested in a specific prison, refine your search to the prison name for example ‘Maze’, ‘Armagh’, or ‘Maghaberry’.

CJ 4 – contains files on prisoners, prison escapes, and prison protests including hunger strikes. Access to some of these records remains closed.

HO 325 – holds files on the transfer of prisoners. Access to some of these records remains closed.

6.4  Extraditions

Search for ‘extradition AND Northern Ireland’ or if you know the name of the individual who was extradited or considered for extradition for Troubles-related incidents to or from the UK to other countries, you can search for their name and ‘extradition’ in the catalogue.

6.5 Inquests

To search for records that relate to inquests into Troubles-related deaths and legal issues surrounding the administration of inquests, search for ‘inquests AND Northern Ireland’ across record series.

CJ 4 – contains a small collection of files on individual inquests, search for the name of the individual to which the inquest relates in this record series.

6.6 Investigations and Inquiries

Search within HO for records on government and police investigations into Troubles-related incidents. For example:

HO 287 – contains police files on investigations into bombings, including  complaints and discipline procedures in relation to bombing investigations.

HO 504 – contains files in the Inspectorate of Constabularies records on the Inquiry into the Guildford and Woolwich pub bombings.

To search for government inquiries related to the Troubles, try searching our catalogue using keywords such as ‘Inquiries AND Northern Ireland’.

If you know the specific title of the inquiry and the date of the publication, you can use these in your search.

7. Records in other archives

Many other archives and libraries have large collections of written, visual, and audio material relating to the Troubles which include:

• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
• Linen Hall Library
• National Museums Northern Ireland
• The Prisons Memory Archive
• The National Archives of Ireland
• The Troubles Archive

8. Further reading

• CAIN online archive: Conflict and politics in Northern Ireland
• Writing the ‘Troubles’ (wordpress.com)
• Divided Society

9. Printed resources

Many books have been published about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Use our library catalogue to see what is available to consult at Kew.

Paul Bew and Gordon Gillespie, Northern Ireland: a chronology of The Troubles, 1968-1999 (Dublin, 1999)

Paul Bew and Gordon Gillespie, The Northern Ireland peace process 1993-1996: a chronology (London, 1996)

Marianne Elliott, When God took sides: religion and identity in Ireland, unfinished history (Oxford, 2009)

Thomas Hennessy, The Northern Ireland peace process: ending The Troubles? (Dublin, 2000)

Thomas Hennessy, The evolution of The Troubles. 1970-72 (Dublin, 2007)

David McKittrick and David McVea, Making sense of The Troubles (London, 2012)

Claire Mitchell, Religion, identity, and politics in Northern Ireland: boundaries of belonging and belief (Aldershot, 2006)

Margaret M. Scull, The Catholic Church and the Northern Ireland Troubles, 1968-1998 (Oxford, 2019)

This is a guide to searching for records of criminal court cases in England and Wales.

Over the centuries there have been many different types of criminal courts, some of which no longer exist and others that continue to this day. The courts have always been organised into a hierarchical structure. We have published guides for each of the different kinds of courts whose records we hold at The National Archives. This guide will help you to determine the court and therefore where to look for the records, whether at The National Archives itself or elsewhere.

Most of the court records we hold are not online and to see them you will need to consult them at our building in Kew or pay for copies to be made and sent to you.

How the records are arranged

How to search for records

Criminal courts and their records since 1972

Criminal courts and their records from 1876 to 1971

Criminal courts and their records from 1485 to 1875

Criminal courts and their records from 1194 to 1484

1. Why use this guide?

Use this guide if you are looking for an appeal against a criminal conviction in England or Wales after 1848.

Prior to the establishment of the Court of Criminal Appeal in 1907 convicted criminals had no right to appeal against their conviction although they could petition for a reduction of their sentence. See our guide to Criminal Transportation for more information.

Criminal convictions could be reviewed on points of law from 1848 by the Court for Crown Cases Reserved but cases could only be referred to the court by trial judges.

This guide mainly focuses on records of the Court of Criminal Appeal, from 1907, and the Appeal Court, from 1966.

4. The Court of Criminal Appeal, 1907-1966

The Court of Criminal Appeal was established in 1907 and heard appeals in criminal cases, both on the verdict and on the sentence.

Registers of the Court of Criminal Appeal, from 1908 (but with a gap from 1910-1913) are in J 81. Search these by date. For later years there are multiple pieces for each year, you will need to order each piece as your case could be in any of them.

They contain:

• the name of the applicant
• date and place of conviction
• the offence, sentence, type of appeal
• whether leave to appeal and legal aid was granted
• the outcome

Some earlier files of cases originally heard by the Central Criminal Court that went on to appeal, such as the Crippen case of 1910 and the Casement case of 1916, are in CRIM 1. Search these by name of defendant and charge.

Selected case files are in J 82 (1945-2011) and include formal notices of Appeal and shorthand notes of the original trial. You can search these by name of accused or charge.

Transcripts of proceedings in selected criminal cases, brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions, some of which went on to appeal, are in DPP 4 (1846-1958). Search by name and offence/charge.

A selection of judges’ notebooks from Court of Appeal and Court of Criminal Appeal proceedings are in J 130 (1916, 1947-1984). Apart from one relating to Roger Casement’s trial in 1916, these start in 1947. You can search by judge’s name and sometimes by area of law or type of court.

5. Criminal appeals after 1966

In 1966 the Court of Criminal Appeal was merged with the Appeal Court, sitting in two divisions, one civil and the other criminal.

Selected case files continue in J 82 up to 2011. You can search these by name of accused or charge.

Judge’s notebooks continue in J 130 up to 1984.

The Find Case Law service provides public access to recent judgments from the England and Wales High Court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and tribunal decisions from the Upper Tribunals. The service will be expanded to include more courts and tribunals and a greater range of judgments will be added. For more information see the website.

6. Appeals to the House of Lords

Records relating to cases heard by the House of Lords on appeal are held by the Parliamentary Archives.

Copies of judgments made by the House of Lords on appeal from the Court of Appeal, together with petitions of appeal, are in KB 34/1 for the period 1885-1906.

The highest court of appeal for criminal cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is now the Supreme Court.

7. Records in other archives

The Guildhall Library holds various collections of published law reports.

The British Library and the Law Society Library hold indexes to Court of Appeal transcripts.

8. Further reading

Visit the National Archives’ shop for a range of publications relating to courts and the legal profession.

Pattenden, English criminal appeals, 1844-1944: appeals against conviction and sentence in England and Wales (Clarendon, 1996)

Lord Justice Cohen, ‘Jurisdiction, practice and procedure of the Court of Appeal’, Cambridge Law Journal, volume 11, number 1 (1951)

1. Why use this guide?

The National Archives has a significant collection of records relating to the production and regulation of film by government. However, it is unlikely to be the best place to start if you are trying to research film more generally.

This guide will help you to research:

• government as a film-maker for cinema and television
• government regulation of and support for the film industry

Most of the films made by the UK Government are held elsewhere – notably at the British Film Institute (BFI) and the Imperial War Museum (IWM). This is changing with the advent of digital film (see section 2.2).

Government has used film to educate, inform and influence populations at home and abroad. Some examples of areas covered by government-made films are:

• recruitment and training of armed forces personnel
• war-time propaganda
• public information – for example around health and child-care
• information about industry and agriculture
• promotion of Britain and the Commonwealth abroad

2. Government film-making bodies

Since the 1920s, a number of government bodies have fulfilled the government’s film-making remit. Most of them are described here.

2.1 Empire Film Unit 1926-1933

The Empire Film Unit was part of the Empire Marketing Board and shared its remit to promote trade across the Empire. The Film Unit employed some pioneering film makers such as John Grierson, Basil Wright, Harry Watt, Paul Rotha and Evelyn Spice.

2.2 General Post Office (GPO) Film Unit 1933-1940

The GPO Film Unit was established in 1933 as part of the Public Relations department. At that time, the GPO was the largest UK employer and was responsible for developing a national communications infrastructure. The films, such as the highly acclaimed Night Mail (1939), were a way of promoting understanding and good customer relations.

2.3 Colonial Film Unit 1939-1955

The Colonial Film Unit was part of the Colonial Office’s Public Relations department. Films contributed to the publicity and propaganda about the colonies in Britain and abroad.

2.4 Crown Film Unit 1940-1952

The GPO Film Unit became part of the Ministry of Information (MOI) in 1940 and at this point changed its name to the Crown Film Unit. The unit produced propaganda and information films during the war, and continued to use and develop the documentary format. When the MOI closed in 1946, the unit became part of the Central Office of Information.

2.5 Ministry of Information 1939-1946

The Ministry of Information (MOI) incorporated the Crown Film Unit and produced wartime propaganda and information films including Humphrey Jennings’ Words for Battle (1941) and Listen to Britain (1942).

2.6 Central Office of Information 1946-2011

The Central Office of Information (COI) was responsible for the production of numerous films looking at subjects relating to life in the United Kingdom and parts of the former British Empire.

3. Where you can see films produced by government

Government films produced by the Empire, General Post Office, Colonial and Crown Film Units, and the Central Office of Information have been collected and preserved by three main institutions. These are The National Archives, the British Film Institute and the Imperial War Museum, with the BFI holding the largest collection. Some films are available to view online from these organisations. The British Universities Film and Video Council has also made some government films available online.

3.1 The National Archives

Use our website and media player to watch a selection of public information films produced by the Central Office of Information between 1945 and 2005. They were part of national campaigns to increase public awareness of various health, safety, welfare, education and rights issues. Many of the films were aimed at children and were shown during breaks in children’s television programmes.

The films are held in record series INF 32. You can see the full list by browsing through INF 32 in our catalogue.

The National Archives also has some born digital films. To date, this is a small part of our collections but is likely to grow. Examples include:

• Films from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) in record series LOC 5
• Video evidence from the Iraq Inquiry in record series CHIL 2
• Video evidence from the Inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko in record series LITV 2

To find digital films in our catalogue, search it using the file endings MOV, WMV, MP4 or MPG as search terms, adding a date range to narrow your results. To search using all of these terms at the same time, copy and paste the Boolean search below into the search box in our catalogue, again using the date fields to help target the search:

“MOV” OR “WMV” OR “MP4” OR “MPG”

You can also use the advanced search page to construct searches. For example, you could use the ‘any of these words’ boxes to enter up to three of the file extensions as your search terms.

3.2 British Film Institute

The British Film Institute (BFI) has its own archive, the BFI National Archive, in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. It holds a substantial collection of government films covering many aspects of life in Britain.

Some can be viewed in the BFI Free collection online. To see those not available online you will need to contact the BFI to make arrangements to view films for research. Alternatively, you can buy collections of government films on DVD from the BFI shop.

Some of the government films at the BFI archive are preserved and presented by the BFI on behalf of The National Archives (as opposed to being part of the BFI’s own collections). You can view descriptions of these collections in our catalogue, as follows:

• Public Information Films produced by the Crown Film Unit 1940-1952 in series INF 33. These include short information and documentary films, as well as longer drama documentaries. During the Second World War, films were used to inform and influence the public. Post-war films covered the British Empire, health and medicine, science, the natural world, arts and culture, and everyday life in towns and the countryside.
• Films produced by the Ministry of Information and Central Office of Information 1931-2011 in series INF 34. These films cover health and welfare, industry and culture, crime prevention, food and farming, and the environment.
• Films made by government departments and agencies 1900-2011 in series CD 1.
• Films produced by the National Coal Board and British Coal Corporation in series COAL 105. Includes the long running cinemagazine ‘Mining Review’ 1948-1992.

3.3 The Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum’s (IWM) film collection includes many government films, some of which can be viewed online. Search the IWM film collection using film title, director, production company or lead cast members. Otherwise, try searches for terms such as:

• Crown film unit
• GPO film unit
• COI (Central Office of Information)
• GOV
• War Office/Army
• Air Ministry/Royal Air Force/RAF
• Admiralty/Royal Navy

3.4 British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFVC): Learning on Screen

The British Universities Film and Video Council website has over 600 examples of the cinemagazine production, ‘Roundabout’. These were made between 1962 and 1974 to promote Britain specifically to audiences in Asia.

4. Sources for researching government involvement in film-making

In this section of the guide you will find advice on how to search for records that document government involvement in film-making, including policy and regulation documents, contracts, commentary on films and so on. Here we help you focus your searching in record series and departments likely to produce the most fruitful and comprehensive results. However, it is also worth trying some speculative searches across our catalogue as records relating to film are scattered among many departments.

Try searching the catalogue using terms such as ‘film’ and ‘cinema’. You can focus your search by adding dates. On the search results page, use the filters on the left to select criteria to make your results more relevant.

If you’re looking for files on regulation you could add relevant department references such as BT for Board of Trade, FV for Department of Trade and Industry or T for Treasury.

Similarly, to find files relating to film commissioning and production from specific government departments, use the department reference to narrow down your search results – for example WO for War Office or FO for Foreign Office.

If you don’t know the department reference go to the catalogue advanced search option and in the section headed ‘Held by’, select ‘Search The National Archives’. This opens up additional search options. In the section headed ‘Records by government department creators’ you can enter the name of a department and find the relevant reference.

Use our Discovery help pages or watch a tutorial on our Archives Media Player for advice on how to construct a search.

4.1 Ministry of Information and Central Office of Information

A number of series from the Central Office of Information and its predecessors contain references to film production and policy. In particular, the series below are useful. Click on the link in the list to get to the series description page in our catalogue. Then either click on browse to see descriptions of files in the series, or enter search terms to look for something specific from that series.

• Crown Film Unit files in INF 5
• Film production documents in INF 6 (see below)

These cover a selection of the films made or commissioned by the Crown Film Unit, Ministry of Information and Central Office of Information. Some relate to films held at the British Film Institute and Imperial War Museum. Some files are rather bare, but others contain a wealth of useful information. They can include:

• commissioning letters signed by the writer or contractor concerned
• offer and acceptance of contract
• music licence
• music cue sheet
• commentary
• shot list
• shooting script
• notification of completion

Names of well-known writers, artists and directors can appear in production files. During the Second World War, many now-famous writers and artists worked for the Ministry of Information and some well-known directors began their careers working on government-commissioned films. You might come across names of such people when consulting the physical production files, but they are unlikely to appear in the descriptions of files in our catalogue.

• Monthly divisional reports in INF 8
• Music scores from selected films in INF 15
• Empire and General Post Office Film Library Correspondence in INF 17
• Annual service reports in INF 18

4.2 Foreign Office and the Overseas Information Service

After the Second World War, the newly formed Central Office of Information (COI) worked with the overseas information services of the Foreign Office, the Commonwealth Relations Office and the Colonial Office, to produce films to promote Britain abroad. As television grew in popularity, films were increasingly made to be broadcast over this medium.

In particular, the cinemagazine format was used, consisting of ‘hard information’ such as political interviews and ‘soft information’ such as segments on fashion trends.

Cinemagazine titles included:

• This Week in Britain 1959-1980
• Calendar 1960-69
• Roundabout 1962-1974
• London Line 1964-1979

Selected production files from cinemagazines are in record series INF 6.

To find out more about the development of policy and practice in this area:

1. Search our catalogue using search terms such as ‘overseas information service’ and ‘overseas television service’.
2. Select records held by ‘The National Archives only’
3. Apply dates to your search
4. Refine your results using the filters on the search results page

4.3 The armed forces

The armed forces have used film for their own internal purposes such as training and recruitment, as well as for propaganda. The War Office was at times also asked to provide support for commercial films by loaning equipment and making personnel and locations available.

The First World War was the first time that film had been used for propaganda. In 1916 a War Office Cinematograph Committee was set up and operators were sent to combat zones to record events. These were made into newsreels as well as longer features.

The government also produced ‘film-tags’. These were short films – usually about two minutes long – for home audiences. They were attached to the end of longer films, and usually carried a message such as ‘Save Coal’ or ‘Buy War Loans’. It was estimated that film-tags were seen by about 10 million people.

To find files relating to the armed forces and film:

1. Go to the advanced search of our catalogue
2. Enter WO, AIR or ADM (the references for War Office, Air Ministry and Admiralty records) in the ‘search for or within references’ box
3. Search with keywords such as film, kinema and cinema; combining ‘film AND’ with some of the following keywords may also prove worthwhile:

• unit
• section
• operation
• campaign
• provision (includes providing support for commercial films)
• training
• warfare
• catalogue

4.4 The British Council

The British Council was responsible for developing cultural and commercial links between the UK and other countries. To find records relating to the use of film in this area, search our catalogue using terms such as ‘British Council’ AND film.

4.5 The National Coal Board and British Coal Corporation

Coal mining was an important aspect of the UK’s industrial policy after the Second World War, and hundreds of thousands of workers were employed in the industry. The films created by the Coal Board were intended to inform and encourage support for the coal mining industry by the British public.

Search our catalogue with terms such as ‘Coal AND film’ to find records relating to the National Coal Board film-making policies and processes.

5. Sources for researching government regulation and support of the film industry

5.1 The Board of Trade

The Board of Trade files are a rich source of information about the regulation and support of the film industry. To get a sense of what you might find, try browsing through the Films subseries of BT 64.

Following the 1927 Cinematograph Films Act, exhibitors and distributors had to use a percentage (or quota) of British made films. Search our catalogue for reference to the film quotas.

Board of Trade files include records of bankruptcies amongst directors and film companies, and cinemas going bust. Use the advanced search function in our catalogue to search within files from the Board of Trade (reference BT) with terms such as:

• film AND dissolved
• cinema AND dissolved
• director AND bankruptcy
• cinema AND bankruptcy

5.2 The Eady Levy and British Film Fund Agency

The Eady Levy was a tax on box-office receipts introduced to help the British film industry compete against American producers. It was voluntary when it was first introduced in 1950 but became compulsory under the 1957 Cinematograph Films Act.

Funds raised by the levy were managed by the British Film Fund Agency which allocated them back to exhibitors and to makers of ‘British-made’ films. To qualify as British-made, films had to be mostly shot in the UK or the Commonwealth with a largely British cast and crew.

To find files relating to the Eady Levy and British Film Fund Agency, search our catalogue using a date range and keywords such as:

• Film levy
• British Film Production Fund
• British Film Fund Agency

Alternatively, use the advanced search page and focus on collections from the Board of Trade (BT) and its successors, the Department of Trade and Industry (FV) and the Department of Trade (PJ). Enter your search terms and then add these department codes, (BT, FV, PJ) in the references search boxes to restrict your results to those departments only.

5.3 National Film Finance Corporation

The National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC) made loans to independent producers where there was a reasonable expectation of commercial success. The organisation was initially set up in 1949 with the intention of boosting the British film industry so that private investment would return. In the end, the NFFC continued to make loans until 1985 when it was wound up.

To find files relating to the NFFC, search our catalogue using keywords such as:

• National Film Finance Corporation
• NFFC

5.4 The Treasury and the Inland Revenue

The Treasury and the Inland Revenue played a part in supporting and raising taxes from the film industry. Use the advanced search option of the catalogue, and in the ‘search for or within references’ box enter ‘T’ for Treasury or ‘IR’ for Inland Revenue to restrict the search to records from those departments. Then search using keywords such as film or cinema.

5.5 The Home Office

The Home Office was sometimes drawn in to public debates around controversial films, particularly where they caused social disruption as with Rock Around the Clock in 1956.

Search record series HO 300, which includes files relating to censorship and licensing of entertainments, with keywords such as ‘film’ or ‘cinema’.

The Home Office Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship was set up in 1977 to review the laws concerning obscenity, indecency and violence in publications, displays and entertainments, and to review the arrangements for film censorship.

Record series HO 265 contains evidence and papers from this committee and is described in significant detail in the catalogue. To find evidence submitted by film related bodies and numerous other organisations and individuals that submitted evidence to the Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship, search within HO 265 using keywords such as film, cinema or cinematograph. Alternatively, try browsing the series.

6. Legislation

Legislation has been used to:

• regulate licensing and safety issues in cinemas
• define suitable and unsuitable content for adults and children
• regulate production and exhibition of films, protecting the UK film industry from US competition
• establish support for the film industry with loans through the National Film Finance Corporation

Search our catalogue for files relating to regulation of the film industry using search terms such as:

• film regulation
• cinema regulation
• film quota
• film industry
• film tax

Search Legislation.gov.uk for the text of various Cinematograph and Film acts.

Search Hansard for the text of Parliamentary debates on film and cinema regulation.

Some of the key Acts that affected the industry are:

• 1909 Cinematograph Act – government’s first attempts to regulate the running of cinemas with an emphasis on fire safety due to the use of flammable nitrate film. The Act was strengthened to give local authorities greater powers to regulate safety following the 1929 Glen Cinema disaster in Glasgow.
• 1927 Cinematograph Films Act – for a 10 year period, cinemas were required to show a quota of British films; these were defined as films where 75% of salaries went to British Subjects including a British writer. Films produced throughout the British Empire were covered by the Act
• 1932 Sunday Entertainments Act – regulated Sunday opening for cinemas
• 1938 Cinematographic Films Act – extended the quotas introduced by the 1927 Act, but this time excluded nations in the British Empire.
• 1952 Cinematograph Act – prohibited children from watching ‘unsuitable’ films.
• 1957 Cinematograph Films Act – introduced the Eady levy which took a percentage of box office takings and invested them back into production including through the Children’s Film Foundation Limited
• 1960 Films Act – consolidated previous Acts from 1938 onwards and made it illegal for distributors to force cinemas to take poor quality films along with their blockbusters by putting them together in bundles
• 1985 Cinemas Act – the most current legislation regulating licensing and operation of cinemas. Repealed previous Acts and abolished quotas (which had been suspended since January 1983)

7. Further reading and other resources

7.1 Publications

Cinema and the State: the Film Industry and the British Government 1927-1984 by Margaret Dickinson and Sarah Street

The Projection of Britain: a History of the GPO Film Unit by Scott Anthony and James Mansell

Protecting the People: The Central Office of Information and the Reshaping of Post-War Britain 1946-2011 by David Welch

Projecting Britain: The Guide to British Cinemagazines edited by Emily Crosby and Linda Kaye

British Film Industry 1980, BFI Library Services leaflet available as a PDF

Films for the Colonies: Cinema and the preservation of the British Empire by Tom Rice, University of California Press, 2019

Empire and Film (Cultural Histories of Cinema) by Lee Grieveson and Colin McCabe, British Film Institute, 2011

7.2 Online articles

A Technicolor Ride Through the 60s and 70s by Linda Kaye (BUFVC website)

War Office Official Topical Budget newsreels BFI, screenonline.org.uk

Empire Marketing Board Film Unit BFI, screenonline.org.uk

GPO Film Unit BFI, screenonline.org.uk

Crown Film Unit BFI, screenonline.org.uk

History of the British Film industry parliament.uk

History of the BBFC (British Board of Film Censors) bbfc.co.uk

List of allied propaganda films of World War II Wikipedia

Files relating to the production or reception of many mainstream British or international films, held at The National Archives compiled by Jo Pugh for Your Archives, available on webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk

7.3 Websites

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) – the independent regulator with responsibility for the award of film classifications.

British Council film archive – this website has a collection of over 100 short documentaries about wartime Britain, made by the British Council during the 1940s.

BFI National Archive – the British Film Institute promotes and preserves film making and television in the UK. The BFI collections database contains information collected by the BFI since 1933. It holds over 800,000 film titles – including television programmes, documentaries, newsreels, as well as educational and training films. You can search the database in different ways:

• in the simple search function, search for films by title
• in the advanced search function, select ‘Film and Television works’ in the ‘search in’ section and then enter terms like Central Office of Information or COI in the ‘production company’ section
• in the advanced search function, select ‘Persons and institutions’ in the ‘search in’ section and enter terms like Central Office of Information or COI in the ‘name’ section

British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFVC) – the leading resource for the study of newsreels and cinemagazines. The News on Screen database allows you to search for stories, production documents, cinemagazine series or people.

Colonial Film: Moving images of the British Empire – this website holds detailed information on over 6000 films showing images of life in the former British colonies. Over 150 films are available for viewing online and over 350 of the most important films in the catalogue are presented with extensive critical notes written by the project’s; academic research team.

7.4 Blogs

The ‘spider’ man’s legacy in British animation by Jez Stewart and Andrew Janes

From Pinewood with love by Keith Mitchell

The Archivists’ Guide to Film: The Bridge on the River Kwai by Sarah Castagnetti

The NHS on film by Patrick Russell

The NHS on film: files from the campaign that launched the National Health Service by Chris Day

7.5 Podcasts

The National Archives goes to the movies by Jo Pugh

The last thing we need is a sequel: post-war cinema at The National Archives by Jo Pugh

With some minor exceptions The National Archives does not hold records of hospital patients. This guide provides general advice on what happens to National Health Service (NHS) patient records, where they are held and who can access them.

Medical records are highly confidential. You can normally access your own medical records, as can a person properly authorised by you. If you are seeking access to recent records of a former patient who has died, you may have some limited rights of access if you are their surviving personal representative, as defined under the terms of the Access to Health Records Act 1990. In both cases, you may be asked to provide appropriate identification.

For more information about current NHS organisations and policies relating to patient information, see the NHS website or the NHS Wales website.

How long are patient records kept for?

Where to go for records and advice

1. Why use this guide?

Use this guide if you are looking for records of a civil (non-criminal) court case heard in the King’s/Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court (also known as the Supreme Court of Judicature) or its predecessor, the Court of King’s Bench. The records cover 1702-1998.

Examples of the sorts of cases heard in this court, which became a branch of the Supreme Court of Judicature when the latter was created in 1875, include:

• Breach of contract
• Debt
• Personal injury
• Medical negligence
• Libel
• Slander
• Wrongful arrest

The formal documents, such as plea rolls and rule books, are in Latin before 1733, except during the Commonwealth period from 1653 to 1660.

2. What was the Court of King’s Bench?

The King’s Bench was the highest court of common law, with jurisdiction over both civil and criminal cases. Civil cases were usually dealt with on the ‘Plea side’ of the court while criminal cases were dealt with on the ‘Crown side’. See our guide to criminal cases of King’s Bench 1675-1988 for more advice on records of criminal cases.

The court became one of the three divisions of the Supreme Court of Judicature, better known today as the High Court, when it was created in 1875.

3. How to search for and view records: an overview

The advice in this guide is split into two timelines. For records up to 1874/75 consult sections 4 to 7. For records from 1875 onwards consult sections 8 to 17.

If you don’t know the date or at least the year of a case, your research at The National Archives is unlikely to get very far. In some instances, therefore, it may make sense to start your research elsewhere. Equally, if you are looking for court transcripts or full judgments (in other words, more than just the outcome of a case; the full wording of the judgment summarising the case and the reasons for the judge’s decision) you will very rarely find them among the official court records held here.

3.1 Starting your research elsewhere

Newspapers, especially The Times, can often provide the date and the name of the parties and include reports on court hearings. Read our newspapers guide for advice on where to go to find old newspapers.

Unreported judgments (where there is no law report) are given for recent cases on subscription-based law websites and databases, many of which are described and linked to on the Inner Temple Library site (under ‘Research & Training’ and then ‘Research FAQs’). Again, these contain full judgments.

3.2 Starting your research at The National Archives

Our King’s Bench records, in the vast majority of cases, are not viewable online. To view them you will need to visit The National Archives at Kew or pay for copies to be sent to you. The exceptions are the contemporary indexes described in section 4.1 and the Daily Cause Lists described in section 12.2, both available online.

Though court transcripts and full judgments very rarely form part of the official court records, there are verbatim accounts of what was said in court for a number of King’s/Queen’s Bench cases among contemporary pamphlets in British Trials 1660-1900, available on microfiche at The National Archives in Kew.

For most cases you will need to use our online catalogue and consult printed indexes and other finding aids in our reading rooms to locate records. Civil cases in these indexes are distinguishable as those described as ‘party or parties’ versus ‘party or parties’, such as Smith v Jones. As well as the names of the parties, you will usually need to know at least an approximate date of a case to have a chance of finding any records – unless you are prepared to leaf through dozens, perhaps hundreds of documents and rely on large slices of luck. Some of the resources described in 3.1 may help you to establish dates.

For some civil ‘party v party’ cases, where a case has been referred or appealed from a lower civil court, such as a county court, you will need to search among the King’s Bench Crown Side records.

4. Searching for Plea (Judgment) Rolls, 1702-1875

These records set out the nature of the action and give the final judgment order. For civil cases between the years 1702 and 1875 they are the records most likely to reveal details of what a case was about. Be aware though, that from about 1760, regular filing of the rotuli (strips of parchment that make up the rolls) in court for each case by attorneys, declined.

Search for Plea Rolls in KB 122. There are several types of indexes that will help you to locate records in KB 122. Which ones you use will depend on the time period, as follows:

4.1 Searching for records up to 1839

Follow these steps:

• Step 1: Search KB 122 by the year of the case

The document description in our catalogue for each KB 122 piece provides a Docket Book reference (an IND 1 reference). It is the Docket Books that serve as the index to Plea (Judgment Rolls) up to 1839.

• Step 2: Click on the IND 1 link within the online document description to order the corresponding docket book (you will need to visit our building in Kew to see it)

The Docket Books are arranged by the initial letter of the name of the defendant (for example, under Jones for the case of Smith v Jones).

• Step 3: Find the case in question by searching for the name of the defendant – when you have located the entry, note the internal rotulet (strip of parchment) number. They are available online, free of charge, for the years 1702 to 1800 on the Anglo-American Legal Tradition
• Step 4: Return to your search results for KB 122 in our online catalogue to order the rolls for the term in question. There are sometimes several Plea (Judgment) Rolls per term for each year, but our catalogue does not specify which of the rolls covers which range of rotulet numbers so you will need to order all the KB 122 documents for any given term.

KB 122 records are stored offsite and take three working days to produce.

4.2 Searching for records from 1839 to 1852

To search the rolls from Trinity term 1839 to 1852 use the Entry Books of Judgments in series KB 168. They are arranged chronologically by dates of payment of the fees of the various legal processes.

They give the date, county, names of plaintiff, defendant and attorneys, nature of entry, fee paid and the sum in dispute with damages in cases of debt and costs.

Use the indexes within KB 168 to locate a record by the name of the defendant, as follows:

• Step 1: Search with the word ‘index’ and the year in KB 168 – this will provide the document reference
• Step 2: Consult the index
• Step 3: Find the name of the defendant – this will provide you with an accompanying page number for the Entry Book itself
• Step 4: Search with the year only in KB 168 – this will provide the document reference for that year’s Entry Book which you can then consult.

4.3 Searching for records from 1853 to 1862

Though for this period there are no indexes, you can use the Entry Books of Judgments in KB 168 (see 4.2, above) to find the legal term and year for a case.

You can then search by year in KB 122 to find a Docket Book reference covering that year, arranged by legal term. There are two volumes per year in the docket books, also arranged by legal term. This will provide a full reference, such as IND 1/6142.

4.4 Searching for records from 1863 to 1875

Also for the years 1863 to 1875 see index IND 1/6650.

4.5 Searching for Rule Books, 1603-1877

Search for Rule Books in KB 125.

The entries in the Rule Books are in chronological order under the days on which the orders were made. You can locate an entry by the name of the plaintiff, though only between Michaelmas term 1792 to Hilary term 1802 (outside of 1792-1802 you can only search by year/term), as follows:

• List & Index Society volume 232 Catalogue of Index Volumes (IND 1) – also available for consultation at The National Archives Library (ask for it in the Map and Large Document Reading Room).
• The catalogue should provide the appropriate IND 1 index volume references
• The indexes themselves are arranged by the initial letter of the name of the plaintiff

5. Searching for Affidavits, 1734-1874

Affidavits (voluntary statements under oath) begin in 1734 (earlier Plea Side affidavits have not survived). Only a small sample has been preserved, consisting of those that were considered of interest and others relating to questions of property title called ‘actions of ejectment’.

They are in series KB 101.

Search our online catalogue for all surviving affidavits up to 1848 (none survive between 1848 and 1872) in KB 101 with the surnames of the parties and corresponding year. However, from 1873 to 1874 just the year is given in the catalogue and therefore must be browsed by date. The cases of ejectment can be identified in the catalogue by the fictitious name of the first named plaintiff and the abbreviation ‘dem’ standing for ‘at the demise of ’ (at the transfer of).

6. Searching for Depositions, 1792-1875

Depositions are sworn statements of persons under examination by the court but chosen by the parties in the case. The only surviving depositions prior to 1800 are in the case Taylor v East India Company. There is little material before the 1850s.

Depositions are in series KB 144.

Other than the Taylor case, above, it is not possible to search for depositions by the name of defendant or plaintiff. Instead, you will need to browse KB 144 by date.

Many of these depositions were taken abroad, most of them concerning shipping matters. There are a few supporting documents attached such as newspapers.

See section 10 for details of further depositions for the years 1871 to 1880 (in J 16).

7. Other records up to 1874

• Writs up to 1874 in KB 137 (writs commence a case or court process).
• Documents, including docket rolls and writs, from the 18th and 19th centuries in KB 140.
• Entry books of final judgments on posteas and inquiries up to 1837 are included in KB 139 and contain basic details for many cases heard, especially for cases heard at the civil assize courts.
• Account books of money paid in and out of court up to 1837 are also in KB 139.
• Warrants of Attorney to confess judgment 1802-1825 are in KB 128. These are written authorities given to an attorney or attorneys appointed by a defendant.
• Congnovits, 1825 to 1852 which are signed and witnessed acknowledgements by defendants in actions that they had no defence, are in KB 133.

8. Pleadings 1875-1998

The main source of records for cases from 1875 to 1998 are the pleadings, which include the statement of claim, defence and judgment order.

8.1 November 1875 to March 1880

Records for these years are in J 55 along with pleadings for cases in the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of Exchequer. These pleadings can be searched by the names of the parties in our online catalogue.

8.2 April 1880 to 1942

For these years pleadings are in J 54 (along with the pleadings for many Chancery Division cases). They are arranged monthly, in quarterly divisions of the year, under the initial letter of the name of the plaintiff (they appear in our catalogue as alphabetical ranges – for example, J 54/642 covers cases for April to June 1890 for plaintiffs whose names begin with the letters P to R). They are then arranged by date of filing which is usually within a few days after final judgment.

Search J 54 by year, then browse your search results (sort them by ‘Reference’) for the right alphabetical sequence.

The pleadings for the King’s Bench Division case concerning the Titanic have been digitised.

8.3 1902 to 1998

There are further pleadings, motions for judgment and orders in KB 16 for the years 1902 to 1984. These include special cases (opinions of the court on point of law) which have internal indexes up to the year 1966 and separate indexes from 1977. There particularly contain arbitration and town and country planning cases.

There are small samples of pleadings for 1979 to 1998 under references J 54/2461-2495 catalogued under the year and initial letter of the plaintiff.

9. Depositions, 1871-1991

Depositions are statements made on oath.

Only selected samples of depositions for King’s Bench Division cases were selected for preservation at The National Archives. Most of them are held along with samples of Chancery Division cases in series J 17. They cover the years 1880 to 1925 and 1960 to 1991 (nothing survives for 1926-1959).

9.1 1871 to 1880

Depositions for these years are in J 16. Most of them are from 1875.

Search J 16 by the year of a case to locate document references.

9.2 1880 to 1925

Search J 17 by year for depositions between 1880 and 1925. Document references for these years are also arranged by range of initial letters of the name of the plaintiff.

9.3 1960 to 1991

Search J 17 by names of either party to locate depositions from 1960 to 1991.

10. Affidavits, 1881-1895

Affidavits are sworn written statements.

The only surviving affidavits for the King’s Bench Division are for 1881 to 1895. The remainder were destroyed.

These records are held in series J 4, along with Chancery Division affidavits. They are held off site so you will need to provide three days notice before you can see them at our building in Kew.

Follow these steps to locate a record:

• Search J 4 using the initial letter of the plaintiff (for example, for Green v White search with G) and the year the case took place.

Your search results will consist of a number of document descriptions for affidavits from that year (for example, for G in 1890 there are eleven references: J 4/3868 to 3878). Each description contains a number range and an index reference.

• Note the index reference which appears within the document descriptions – this will be an IND 1 reference.

In our example, the index reference for J 4/3868 to 3878 is IND 1/14794.

• Consult the IND 1 index at the National Archives in Kew

A search for Green v White in IND 1/14794 tells us that the affidavit number is 1.

• Returning to your original J 4 search results in the online catalogue, find the document description with the number range which includes your affidavit number.

For affidavit number 1, the reference in J 4/3868 (covering 1 to 250).

• You can now consult the affidavits (following the three-working-days notice period).

11. Reports and Certificates from 1875

Officials working for the judge, known as masters, produced reports and certificates on some King’s Bench cases. These are found in series J 57. Most of the records in this series are for Chancery Division cases.

Follow these steps to locate a record:

• Search J 57 using the initial letter of the plaintiff (for example, for Green v White search with G) and the year the case took place.

Your search results will consist of a number of document descriptions for reports and certificates from that year Each description contains an index reference.

• Note the index reference which appears within the document descriptions – this will be an IND 1 reference.
• Consult the IND 1 index at the National Archives in Kew – it should provide the appropriate month.
• Returning to your original J 57 search results in the online catalogue, you should now be able to determine the appropriate J 57 reference.
• You can now consult the documents (following the three-working-days notice period).

12. Cause Books, 1875-1989, and Daily Cause Lists, 1884-2008

12.1 Cause Books, 1875-1989

Cause Books provide one line of detail for each case, consisting of the following:

• Names of the parties
• Names of the solicitors
• Type of court case
• Outcome of the case (from 1909 onwards)

Cause Books, commonly called Green Books, are held in series J 87. There are usually several Green Books for each year, each one covering a specific range of dates

There are indexes to the J 87 records, one for each year, arranged by the first letter of the plaintiffs’ names. The indexes are held in series J 88 and cover 1935 to 1989.

Search J 88 by year or year range.

There are also similar Cause Books in series J 168 for 1879 to 1937. They are held off site before you can see them at our building in Kew.

Search J 168 by year or year range. From 1880 they are arranged in cause number order for each case but there is no way to find the number unless you have personal copies of court documents.

12.2 Daily Cause Lists, 1884-2008

The Daily Cause Lists list the cases to be heard. They provide proof of the existence of a legal case and identify the relevant court. Sometimes the lists are annotated to show whether a case was part heard or finished, the time taken on a hearing and very occasionally the outcome.

They are in series J 97 for 1884 to 2008 and are reproduced in the Times Digital Archive (£) up to 1 May 1940. You can view the Times Digital Archive free of charge at The National Archives in Kew.

13. Revenue cases from 1875

There are revenue cases heard at the King’s Bench Division, King’s Remembrancer.  Equity proceedings in the Court of Exchequer refers to earlier revenue cases heard in the Court of Exchequer.

E 186, for the years 1911 to 1919, are petitions for appeals and associated records under the terms of the Finance Act 1909-10. See Valuation Office survey: land value and ownership 1910-1915.

E 188, for the years up to 1917, contain miscellaneous petitions and related records relating mainly to appeals against Inland Revenue assessments for estate or succession duty. See Death Duties 1796-1903.

E 187 for the years 1911 to 1915 are petitions and orders relating to petitions concerning the assessment of annual licence values of licensed premises made by publicans and others.

E 205  for the years 1905 to 1931 are petitions and associated records for compensation for non-renewal of liquor licences.

14. Official Referee cases from 1875

Some cases heard at the King’s Bench Division are referred to Official Referees (specialist judges). Most of these cases are commercial disputes and are referred on questions of a technical or a particularly detailed nature.

We hold the following records relating to these referred cases:

• Judges notebooks, 1944-1994. Search J 114 by surname of judge and by year.
• Case files, 1962-1992. Search J 115 by names of parties and date.
• Minute books, 1959-1996. Search J 116 by year. The documents have their own indexes.

15. Other records from 1875

15.1 Bills of costs

J 131 are both King’s Bench and Chancery Division Bills of Costs dealt with by the taxing masters for the years 1913 to 1994. These records are arranged by the name of the taxing master.

15.2 Court Funds

J 342 are accounts for the years 1931 to 1968 which include indexes 1883-1975 arranged by name of suitors. These records relate to funds transferred to, paid in or deposited in court.  See Funds in court.

15.3 Writs

Writs commence a case or court process. They survive for the years 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 under references J 89/25/1-465 with indexes for 1880 to 1910 in J 89/25/466-468. They include the particulars of claim.

15.4 Orders and judgements made by judges

There are additional judgment orders for the years 1875 (November to December), 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910 and 1920 under references J 89/13/1-13/235.

15.5 Orders of Course

Orders of Course give details of arbitration agreements. They survive for 1879 and December 1889 to July 1891 under references J 89/17/1-2.

16. Cases heard at District Registries from 1875

King’s/Queen’s Bench cases are held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. However, since 1876 cases have also been held at courts called District Registries, based in cities and large towns in England and Wales. A high proportion of cases are initiated at District Registries. For example 40 per cent of cases were in the year 1910.

Records of district registries, especially minute books, are among the assize court records. See Civil court cases: assize courts for more details.

A small number of records of district registry cases are selected for permanent preservation by the Ministry of Justice and transferred to local authority county and city archives.

17. Records of cases from the last couple of decades

For records of cases from the last couple of decades up to the present, you should contact the Ministry of Justice.

Queen’s Bench Division files are retained for seven years at the court, after which most are destroyed (there may be a delay in this process) with only a small sample being selected, retained and stored by the Ministry of Justice before their eventual transfer to The National Archives.    

If you are an academic researcher and you require access to court and tribunal records still held at by the Ministry of Justice then you can apply for permission to access records through HM Courts and Tribunal Service.

18. Further reading

John Hamilton Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (Oxford Press 2007)

William Tidd, The practice of the Courts of King’s Bench and Common Pleas in personal pleas and ejectment ……. 2 vols (London, 1790-1828)

Archbold’s Practice of the Court of the Queen’s Bench…….2 vols (London, 1819-1885) (for the 20th century consult the various editions of the Annual Practice and Supreme Court Practice)

This is a guide to searching for records of British Army officers who served after the First World War, including service in the Second World War. However, The National Archives does not hold officer’s service records for the Second World War – these are still with the Ministry of Defence.

Officer ranks covered by this guide include Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Colonel, Brigadier and General.

Consult our guide to British Army soldiers of the Second World War for advice on finding records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks.

How to get started

Online records

Records available only at The National Archives in Kew

Records in other archives and organisations

Other resources

1. Why use this guide?

 

2. How to get started and what’s online

3. Abbreviations and acronyms used in the records

4. Service records

5. Medal and honours records

6. Unit war diaries

7. Other records

8. Other resources

1. Why use this guide?

Use this guide to find records relating to English maritime personnel, ships (primarily those in service to the Crown for war) and naval administration from the late 12th to the early 16th century.

‘Ships’, in the medieval sense, was a term which applied specifically to large, deep-hulled sailing vessels, such as cogs and hulks. This guide also covers records of other sailing craft such as barges and ballingers.

Most of the records that date from prior to the mid-15th century are written in Latin, with the rest in French or English.

The majority of the records are not available online. In most cases, to search for (and view) them you will need to visit us at our building in Kew.

2. The navy in the medieval period

During the medieval period England did not possess a navy in the modern sense. There was no permanent fleet specifically assigned for defensive and offensive operations at sea in service to the realm. Ships were raised for military service on an ad hoc basis according to the policies and needs of the English Crown.

The closest thing medieval England had to a navy in the modern sense were those ships which the monarchy directly owned or held shares in. These fleets were not permanently maintained and for much of the medieval period (with the exception of the reigns of Edward III and Henry V) were modest in size.

The raising and financing of fleets by the Crown was administered by royal officials in co-operation with local officials of maritime counties and ports or with admirals assigned to oversee and raise fleets in designated regions.

Very few naval battles actually occurred during the Middle Ages, primarily because the role of the navy was usually to aid the army: transporting troops or supplies to theatres of war, for example, or to garrisons in castles and towns within the British Isles and on the continent.

Soldiers made up the majority of fighting manpower for naval expeditions, with support from ships’ crews, but there were no specialist troops trained specifically for naval warfare before the mid-17th century.

3. What kinds of records does The National Archives hold?

There are no records that equate to modern service records for this period, nor was there a separate body for managing naval administration – the Admiralty was not created until much later.

Instead, royal clerks and officials in the departments of the Exchequer and Chancery oversaw and handled the administration of naval business during the medieval period and it is primarily in the records of these two departments that most of the information on maritime personnel and administration from this era is found.

Records of Crown administration and expenditure on shipping and maritime operations in our collections begin at the end of the 12th century in the Pipe Rolls and appear in other kinds of records from the early 13th century.

The records we hold can contain information on:

• the service of individual ships
• ships’ crews (as collectives rather than individual crew members)
• royal expenditure for expeditions
• the raising, requisition and supply of fleets and vessels for Crown service
• wages, payments and expenses to maritime personnel
• maintenance of ships in Crown hands and other logistics such as the victualling trade
• evidence of shipping capacity and resources in ports maritime communities and individuals living in them

4. Online records

Only a very small proportion of records, and a larger proportion of resources for finding records, are available to view online, as described in the table below.

Type of record	What will you find?	Record series	How to view
Data extracted from central and local customs accounts and port books, navy payrolls and shipping surveys in State Papers	Information on the merchant voyages undertaken by ships’ masters and theirs vessels, both within the British Isles and abroad between 1400 and 1580	E 122, E 190, E 101, E 403, SP 15	Search the database on the Merchant Fleet of Late Medieval and Tudor England website, either by the names of vessels and ships’ masters or a specific port
Gascon rolls with accompanying English calendars	Information on maritime trade, transport and supplies to and from English-held Gascony in the 14th and 15th centuries	C 61	Search The Gascon Rolls project (1317–1468) for free
Ancient petitions in special collections	Contains petitions from merchants, mariners and others from maritime communities	SC 8	Browse and download SC 8 from our catalogue for free
Muster rolls and related records of army personnel that served on naval expeditions	Lists of soldiers extracted from several record series at The National Archives providing evidence of soldiers who served on naval expeditions between 1369 and 1453	E 101, C 71, C 76, C 61	Search on the Medieval Soldier Database at www.medievalsoldier.org for free
The Calendars of Patent Rolls and Close Rolls	Orders appointing and instructing officials to commandeer or decommission vessels, to provide them with supplies or to investigate complaints or crimes; in C 66 there are also licences issued to merchants to ship or purchase goods; and grants of protection and safe conduct for individuals and vessels	C 66 and C 54	View Calendars of Patent Rolls for free at the Hathi Trust Digital Library and the Calendars of Close Rolls on the British History website (institutional subscription required)
Original archival material on ships and crews collated by the universities of Hull and Southampton	Data on the ships and crews of merchant vessels during the 14th century	N/A	UK Data Service Re-share (institutional subscription required; The National Archives does not subscribe to this resource)

5. How to search for and view original records

To view original records at The National Archives you first need to find document references in our catalogue. A search for an individual’s or ship’s name in the online catalogue will rarely find a relevant document reference for records from this period. In most instances, to get a document reference you will need, instead, to consult printed and published finding aids, including calendars, containing summaries of the records. These finding aids are available at our building in Kew.

Most of The National Archives document references for these records begin either with E or C, indicating that they are records of the Exchequer or Chancery respectively.

If you can find, or already have, exact document references then you can order copies of records to be sent to you without having to visit us.

The following sections of this guide provide more detailed help on how to locate document references.

6. Maritime personnel

No formal service records for individual mariners were created in the medieval period so any information you find on individual maritime personnel will usually be very limited in detail.

There are no crew lists for this period; we do hold a small number of ships’ musters providing the names of individual crew members, mainly for royal ships. The majority of records in which maritime personnel are mentioned only name the master of the ship and record the number but not the names of other crew members.

To find evidence of naval service to the Crown you may have to consult a large number of different record series. Searching with an individual’s name on our catalogue will rarely find a relevant record.

Use the advice in the table below to search the record series most likely to contain information about individuals.

Type of records	Record series	Search advice
Accounts of royal officials, musters, contracts, wage payments or other records of ships’ masters and crews performing maritime service in royal expeditions.	E 101, C 47, E 404, E 403, E 372, E 364	Click on the record series links and search by year range Search in E 101 and C 47 using keywords like ‘ship’, ‘mariner’ or the name of a royal official Use the published index to E 364 (and 13th and early 14th century material in E 372), especially the ‘Army, Navy and Ordnance’ section See also the advice in section 4 on the  Merchant Fleet of Late Medieval and Tudor England database
Musters and protections confirming intended and actual service of soldiers serving as fighting personnel in naval expeditions. Records of  the granting of protection and/or safe-conduct for maritime personnel on trade ships or on crown naval operations.	E 101, C 61, C 66, C 71, C 76	Search by name on the Medieval Soldier Database for records between 1369 and 1453 Search in C 61 on the the Gascon Rolls Project 1317–1468 website Use the calendars in the Deputy Keepers Reports of the Public Record Office 1883 and 1887 to search the Treaty Rolls in C 76 from the reigns of Henry V and Henry VI Use the online Calendars of Patent Rolls 1232–1509 on the Hathi Trust Digital Library
Pardons issued to individuals and ships crews in exchange for military service or in acknowledgement of military service.	C 66	Consult Calendar of Patent Rolls 1232–1509 online in the Hathi Trust Digital Library
Crown orders and appointments of individuals or commissions concerning maritime criminal matters, seizure or sale of ships where masters are named; grants of pardon or licences to masters or mariners; grants of petition made by maritime personnel or communities in which individuals are mentioned.	C 54, C 66	Consult Calendar of Patent Rolls 1232–1509 online in the Hathi Trust Digital Library Consult the published sources: Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londonensi asservati 1204–1227 Close Rolls of the Reign of Henry III 1227–1272 Calendars of Patent Rolls 1272–1509 Litter arum Patentium in Turri Londonensi asservati, 1201–1216 Calendar of the Patent Rolls of the Reign of Henry III
Records of legal cases, some of which contain biographical information, in which members of maritime communities are either litigants in the Court of Chancery or deponents in the Court of Chivalry. Soldiers testifying as deponents in some cases in the Court of Chivalry give details of military service and battles that took place at sea.	C 1, C 47/6	Click on the link to search C 1 by name of plaintiff or defendant. Proceedings of the Scrope vs Grosvenor case in the Court of Chivalry (C 47/6/2) published in Scrope and Grosvenor controversy in the Court of Chivalry 1385–1390.
Pardons issued to individual mariners and whole crews in exchange for military service; miscellaneous correspondence from merchants; masters or mariners to the king; letters from the king to royal or port officials concerning diverse maritime matters.	SC 1, C 47/10 to C 47/16, C 47/20 to C 47/21	Click on the link to search SC 1 by name of author or recipient of correspondence. Consult The Cely papers: selections from the correspondence and memoranda of the Cely family, merchants of the staple, A.D. 1475-1488.
Petitions by mariners, ships’ masters and owners and members of maritime communities concerning unlawful arrest or compensation at loss or damage to their vessels and other matters.	SC 8	Click on the link to search SC 8 by name.

7. Records of vessels in English ports and in Crown ownership

Records of ships from this period include records of the requisition of vessels over a certain tonnage in ports across England; orders to impress or release certain named vessels; evidence of shipping capacity in ports; inventories of equipment on royal ships; the accounts of royal officials handling payment of wages and expenses and other records.

7.1 Key terms used in the records

Vessels under the direct or nominal control of the English monarchy were known as ‘King’s Ships’ and in the 14th century the office of the clerk of the King’s ships was created to help manage the burden of administration.

You may come across the terms ‘ship of Westminster’ and ‘ship of the Tower [of London]’, both used in the records to identify King’s ships and the latter term sometimes used to describe any warship.

For more terms, see the glossary in the Appendix of this guide.

7.2 Searching for records

See the table in section 4 for advice on searching for records of merchant vessels on the Merchant Fleet of Late Medieval and Tudor England online database.

For original records, use the following keywords to search the record series listed below:

• ‘ship’ or ‘vessel’
• a specific port such as ‘Southampton’ or ‘Cinque Ports’
• a county or region, such as ‘west’, with the keyword ‘port’
• combinations of ‘clerk’ or ‘keeper’ or other offices of naval administration with the terms ‘navy’, ‘king’s ships’ or ‘admiral’ may find financial and administrative records generated by or directed to such officials

Click on the references to search with the series with the keywords listed above.

• Chancery miscellanea in C 47
• Various Exchequer records in E 101
• Exchequer Treasury of the Receipt miscellaneous books in E 36
• Customs accounts in E 122 (c.1272–c.1830) – these records may provide evidence of the number, tonnage and even type of vessels (both native and foreign) in ports around the time of requisition – search by port

You can also try searching with a ship’s name or the master or owner of a ship but this is less likely to find records as very few of the document descriptions in our catalogue contain this kind of detail.

The record series below cannot be searched by keyword in our catalogue so follow the search advice in the table to locate documents:

Type of records	Record series	Search advice
Exchequer pipe rolls, 1129-1832	E 372	Pipe Roll accounts in E 372 for the late 12th and early 13th centuries have been published with indexes by the Pipe Roll Society. Search for the ‘Great Roll of the Pipe’ in our Library catalogue.
Exchequer Pipe Office Foreign Accounts, 1219-1661	E 364	Use the published index to E 364, especially the ‘Army, Navy and Ordnance’ section.
Close rolls, 1204-1903	C 54	Consult Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum (1204–1227); Close Rolls of the Reign of Henry III (1227–1272); Calendars of Close Rolls (1272–1509)
Patent rolls, 1201-2012	C 66	Consult Litterarum Patentium, (1201–1216); Calendar of the Patent Rolls of the Reign of Henry III (1216–1232); Calendars of Patent Rolls (1232–1509)

7.3 Images of ships in seals

Some medieval seals, used to authenticate documents (such as charters, letters and writs) and also used literally to ‘seal’ documents, contain contemporary impressions of ships. These are primarily seals for the municipal and royal officials of port towns as well as seals for the office of admiralty. The National Archives holds a rich collection of seals and advice on searching for them is in our guide on seals.

8. Records of raising and supplying fleets for Crown service

When raising fleets for Crown service, orders would be sent either to royal officials or, from 1295, to admirals in charge of ports in a particular region, to commandeer ships and mariners for the king’s service.

Orders may also have been sent to local officials in maritime counties and ports to assist in the seizure of ships or to gather supplies for shipment.

These orders were usually recorded or referred to in the Close Rolls (C 54) and Patent Rolls (C 66).

8.1 Searching the rolls for records from mid-13th century onwards

There are published English calendars, available in our reading rooms, for Close Rolls from 1272 and for Patent Rolls from 1232. Find information in the rolls from these years onwards by following these steps:

Step 1: Look for names of royal officials (such as serjeants-at-arms, royal clerks or admirals) or keywords such as ‘ship’ or ‘navy’ in the indexes of the calendars.

Step 2: From the calendar entry referenced by the index, note the year and the membrane. Where there is more than one roll covering a single year, the documents will be divided into parts and so where applicable the correct part in which the entry falls needs to be noted from the calendars.

Step 3: Use the C 54 series search or the C 66 series search to search by year or year range and if applicable by part. Dates will need converting from regnal years to calendar years. Use ‘A Handbook of Dates: For students of British history’, eds. C R Cheney and Michael Jones available in the second floor reading room or online converter tools.

Step 4: From the search results, using the appropriate C 54 or C 66 references, request the roll referred to in the calendar.

8.2 Searching the rolls for records from the early 13th century

For entries in the close rolls and patent rolls that precede the published English calendars use the published Latin transcriptions available in the reading rooms at The National Archives.

8.3 Searching for other records

Other record series contain material on maritime activity in specific areas of English control, such as:

• Gascony in C 61
• Scotland in C 71
• Calais and other parts of France in C 76

9. Records of royal expenditure for maritime operations

Records of expenditure relating to maritime operations, logistics and service for royal expeditions, towns or garrisons may include information on:

• wages and expenses for maritime personnel (masters, mariners and ship owners) and workers carrying out ship maintenance or construction ( shipwrights, carpenters and suchlike)
• expenses for victuals and apparatus supplied to ships
• maintaining and repairing or commissioning vessels belonging to the king

Click on the series references below to search in each series with keywords like ‘ship’, ‘victuals’ or ‘mariners’:

• E 101 – includes the accounts of Royal Wardrobe and Privy Wardrobe which may contain information on royal expenditure on ships, equipment and weaponry and raising and paying fleets
• C 47
• E 36 – late 15th and early 16th century accounts with details of expenditure on shipping such as victualling or construction of ships some of which have been published: see Oppenheim in the ‘Further Reading’ section below

The following series of Pipe Rolls, chronologically arranged, are not keyword searchable in the catalogue so follow the search advice in the table to locate documents. Accounting for a wide range of expenditure, they include details of royal expenditure on the construction, supply, maintenance and raising of ships.

Type of records	Record series	Search advice
Exchequer pipe rolls – accounts by county	E 372	Pipe Roll accounts in E 372 for the late 12th and early 13th centuries have been published with indexes by the Pipe Roll Society. Search for the ‘Great Roll of the Pipe’ in our Library catalogue.
Exchequer pipe rolls – Foreign Accounts (accounts ‘foreign’ to the ordinary county accounts)	E 364	Use the published index to E 364, especially the ‘Army, Navy and Ordnance’ section.

10. Records held elsewhere

10.1 County archives

Many local county archives, particularly those in counties with a strong tradition of shipping and seafaring, hold records of:

• ships
• maritime communities
• personnel in administrative and legal records covering certain ports and maritime communities
• local trade
• administrative documents and correspondence sent to local officials concerning shipping and logistics for maritime operations and service to the Crown
• seals

Use our catalogue to search for descriptions of records held in county archives around the country.  On the search results page, use the filters on the left hand side to restrict results to ‘Other archives’.

10.2 British Library

The British Library holds illuminated manuscripts with imagery of ships, sailors and naval warfare as well as a small proportion of administrative records such as some wardrobe accounts.

10.3 National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum at Greenwich holds medieval seals from port towns both within and outside the British Isles which contain representations of ships. You can also find letters, manuscripts and original research notes on archival sources amongst their collections.

11. Further reading and resources

11.1 Latin and palaeography tutorials

The majority of the records up until the mid-15th century are written in Latin, with the rest in French or English. You may therefore find our Latin and palaeography tutorials useful.

11.2 Books

The following books are available in our library.

Brooks F W ‘English Naval Forces 1199–1272’ (London, 1932)

Burwash, D.English ‘Merchant Shipping, 1460–1540’ (Newton Abbot, 1969)

Cushway, G ‘Edward III and the War at Sea: The English Navy 1327–1377’ (Woodbridge, 2011)

Flatman, J ‘Ships and Shipping in Medieval Manuscripts’ (London, 2009)

Friel, I ‘Henry V’s Navy: The Sea-Road to Agincourt and Conquest: 1413–1422’ (Stroud, 2015)

Gorski, R ed. ‘Roles of the Sea in Medieval England’ (Woodbridge, 2012)

Hutchinson G ‘Medieval Ships and Shipping’ (Leicester, 1994)

Lambert, C ‘Shipping the Medieval Military: English Maritime Logistics in the Fourteenth Century’ (Woodbridge, 2011)

Nicholas, N H ‘A History of the Royal Navy from the earliest Times to the French Revolution’ (London, 1847), two volumes.

‘Naval accounts and inventories of the reign of Henry VII 1485–8 and 1495–7’ ed. Michael Oppenheim

Roger, N A M ‘The Safeguard of the Sea: A naval history of Britain’ (London, 1997), volume one.

Rose, S ‘England’s Medieval Navy 1066–1509: Ships, Men & Warfare’ (Barnsley, 2013)

Appendix: Glossary of medieval nautical terms

Below is a glossary of nautical terms for items of ship equipment and apparatus found in medieval records held at The National Archives.

There are more comprehensive glossaries in:

• The Safeguard of the Seas: A Naval History of Britain (London, 1997), pp. 589–608
• The Navy of the Lancastrian Kings: Accounts and inventories of William Soper, Keeper of the King’s Ships, 1422–1427 (London, 1982), Appendix V

Bear in mind that the records contain variations in the spelling of many of these terms.

Backstay – ropes/cables to secure the mast to the stern or aft of the ship

Berder – ship’s carpenter

Bonnett – a piece of canvas laced to the foot of a fore-and-aft sail

Bowsprit – a spar jutting from the front of a vessel used for ropes to secure the mast and sail to the front of the vessel

Clencher (‘shipwright clencher’) – a carpenter who fastens overlapping planking using nails and clenches on clinker built ships

Crane line/Crane Lyne – part of tackle used to haul iron darts/gaddes to the top castle to be thrown on enemy ships in battle

‘Diol’ – sandglass or hour glass used to time the ships passage

Forestay – the ropes/cables attaching the mast to the bow or front of the ship usually to the bowsprit

Freightage – transport of goods in bulk

Gaddes – iron spears or spikes thrown from the top castle of ships

Gittons – small flags

Haliers/Halyers – ropes used to hoist or lower the sail on it’s yard

Hauncer/Haunser/Haunsar – large ropes or middle sized cables

Know/Kne (Knee) – piece of timber with two arms at an angle

Mekhoke – possibly a support to hold up spare spars or a lowered mast

Mizzen/Misan/Missan – the mast rearmost sail closest to the aft or back of the ship

Pavis – shield or board fixed along the sides and sometimes the forecastle and poop deck of a vessel

Pollyancre ropes/Pollances – a special type of block and tackle used for hoisting heavy articles

Portage – A ships total carrying capacity

Roll Teldes – roll of awning

‘Rosyn’ – resin

Sail yard/yard – beam hung horizontally to the mast supporting the top of the sail

Shores – wooden beams or props to support a ship when aground

Sounding lead – The metal weight at the end of a sounding line

Sounding line – A weighted line with distances marked off at regular intervals, used to measure the depth of water under a boat

Stroppes – Portions of rope spliced in a circle and put rough a block used for fitting tackle to a rope or amongst the mast and rigging

Tackle – rigging and apparatus for a ship

Tontight – Refers to a unit of cargo capacity or ton weight

Truss/truss pulley – Rope and pulleys used to haul back the yard to the mast and to heave it down as required

Upties – the ropes by which the yard is suspended from the mast head

Wronges – Floor or ground timbers