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Special event

Discover your family history day

Want to research your family history but don’t know where to start? Or have you hit a brick wall piecing together your ancestors' stories?

Date
11 October 2026
Location
The National Archives, Kew
About this image

Louis Wain’s record in the 1921 census. Catalogue reference: RG 15/6471

Join us for a day celebrating family history and be inspired by talks, original documents, and expert genealogy advice.

Hear from specialists, discover documents to use in your own research, and meet experts from partner organisations who can help you piece together your personal family story.

Featuring specialists from:
- The National Archives
- Ancestry
- Find My Past
- My Heritage
- The Genealogist
- Migration Museum
- Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland

And talks from house-history specialist, Mel Backe-Hansen and historian and genealogist Paul Crooks.

Full programme to be announced soon.

Event details

Date
11 October 2026, 11:00 to 16:00
Price
£12 to £15

Early bird and general admission tickets

Location
First floor
The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, TW9 4DU

Dates for this event

11 October 2026

  • 11:00 to 16:00

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Plan your visit

What is The National Archives?

The National Archives is the official archive of the UK government, and England and Wales. We are the guardians of over 1,000 years of iconic national documents.

Everyone is welcome to visit our headquarters in Kew. We put on exhibitions, events and displays and offer reading rooms giving access to our collections there.

Find out more about who we are

Getting here

The National Archives is located by the River Thames in Kew, 30 minutes from Central London. We offer advice on travelling to us by car, bike, train or bus.

Read our advice on getting here

Children and families

We provide a warm welcome to visitors of all ages, including children and family groups.

  • Free activity sheets (for ages 1+) are available from the Time Travel Club trolley in our entrance hall
  • Our café is child-friendly and there are picnic benches outside
  • Prams and buggies are welcome, and we have a buggy park
  • Baby changing facilities are located by our entrance hall, at the top of the main stairs, and in the library
  • Emergency supplies of nappies and wipes are available

Find out more about visiting with children

Eat and drink

We have a café and coffee bar provided by Maids of Honour, a historic local tea room and bakery. It has spacious indoor and outside seating and a soft play area.

On the menu is a variety of high-quality lunchtime meals, sandwiches, snacks, soft drinks, tea and coffee. Vegetarians, vegans and other dietary requirements are all catered to.

Find out more about our café

A woman sits at the replica Cabinet table, with a bookcase and a document in a display case behind her.