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WARNING Many Genealogy web sites are continually being updated and it is impossible for me to monitor all these changes. You should therefore visit this web site to discover the facilities currently offered. |
Public Records Office
National Archives
National Archives (formerly the Public Records Office) is responsible for the Government archives, and complements the British Library (for printed books, etc.) and the county records offices, such as HALS for Hertfordshire. It is situated in some vast buildings at Kew but some key genealogical records are available at the Family Records Centre at Myddleton Street, London, and many such as the censuses between 1841 and 1901 are widely available on microfilm.
The online site contains many links to a very wide range of documents and information about archives, and is continually developing - so should be considered as an important resource. In particular over a million wills are now available online, and the main search is linked to the Access to Archives index.
However it must be realised that many of the larger documents indexed will not be catalogued in details. For example an estate account book - which may contain details of estate employees, tenants and other people will only be indexed as an account book, and the names of the people mentioned in it will not be indexed. For this reason you must use your imagination to find documents which may contain references to the people or places you are looking for.
In August 2006 it put the Domesday Book online.
A useful source of information on hospitals, including locations of their records. For examples of the descriptions it contains see:
Hill End Hospital (1899-1997)
Sample Documents from the National Archives
| Probate Arrangements for Joseph Kimich's Will | J 121 / 6907 | 1916 | A year after Joseph died all references to the family businesses vanished from the local trade directories. This document explains why. |
| Tring Coffee House Company Limited | BT 41/694/3782 |
1878-82 |
Memorandum of Association, Shareholders list (mainly people from Tring), and winding up of short-lived company. |
Page updated November 2007
