UK archives online

August 2021: Most broken links had been updated; I’ve not re-checked them. Several archival entities were added this past Spring. More LOCAL HISTORY publications have been added; some were already represented by past blog posts.

Conducting research from afar generally means finding material first. Here’s a growing list of UK archives with online catalogues. You can even ‘follow’ and ‘like’ a LOT of these places on Facebook!

Multi-site search engines (Archives/Archival materials):

• A2A Discovery / via The National Archives
• Archives Hub [JISC]
• Copac – UK & Ireland library catalogues
• AIM25 – Archives in London & the M25 area

Old Books / Online Books / Online Periodicals & Articles:

• Books.google.com – my go-to for searching old books
• Archive.org – in many ways the same books, but treats readers better
• JSTOR – the go-to site for journal articles; always available thru libraries – now offering free registration (some article limitations) for those without library access
• HathiTrust Digital Library – always worth a look

Find a researcher:

• thru The National Archives
• thru Plymouth & West Devon Record Office [broken link]
• thru Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (includes geographical-location listings)

(while I cannot ‘recommend’ a researcher from the above, I have had contact with a researcher in New York City and in northern California; if those places are of use to you, email me!)

UK public archives (alphabetical):

• Barnsley Arts, Museum & Archives
• Bath [see also Somerset]
• Bedfordshire (& Luton)
• Berkshire
• Birmingham
• Bristol
• Buckinghamshire Studies, Center for
• Cambridgeshire / Huntingdonshire [broken link]; 2019 closures
• Camden
• Cheshire
• Cornwall
• Cumbria
• Derbyshire
• Devon
• Doncaster Archives
• Dorset History Centre
• Dudley Archives & Local History
• Durham County
• East Riding Yorkshire
• East Sussex – Brighton (The Keep)
• Essex (SEAX)
• Gloucestershire
• Greater Manchester and Manchester City Archives
• Hampshire (HRO)
• Herefordshire
• Hertfordshire
• Kent
• Lancashire
• Lincolnshire and Lincs to the Past
• London Metropolitan; replaced by this link
• Medway Archives and Guildhall Museum, Rochester
• Norfolk (NROCAT)
• Northamptonshire
• Northumberland
• North Yorkshire
• Nottinghamshire
• Oldham Local Studies & Archives – Galllery Oldham – Heritage Collections
• Oxfordshire History Centre
• Plymouth and West Devon
• Rotherham Archives & Local Studies Service
• Sheffield
• Shropshire
• Somerset (alternate link) is now South West Heritage Trust
• Southampton Archives
• Staffordshire
• Suffolk
• Surrey (SURCAT)
• Teesside
• Tyne and Wear
• Warwickshire
  • Windows on Warwickshire
• Westminster (City of) (WESTCAT)
• West Sussex
• West Yorkshire
• Wiltshire and Swindon
  • Wiltshire Heritage
    • Macklin Sketches (a Smith & Gosling item) [just press ‘search’]
• Worcestershire

ACCESSIONS to Repositories, 1994-2017 [links by year]

UK CALM User Group – many of the above local archives have catalogues under the CALM banner – but CALM’s own list is even MORE comprehensive. Includes access to sites from the Architectural Association Archives to Worcestershire, and seems actively updated. Includes a short list of CALM sites hosted by Axiell

Wales:

• Archives Wales
• Glamorgan Archives

Scotland:

• Aberdeen / Aberdeenshire
• National Archives of Scotland
• Scottish Archive Network

Ireland / Northern Ireland:

• National Library of Ireland
• Proni

University (alphabetical):

• Bangor
• Bath
• Birmingham
• Bristol
• Cambridge (Janus)
• Edinburgh
• King’s College, London, Special Collections
• London, University Archives
• London School of Economics Library
• Manchester, Rylands Library (Elgar via Archives Hub)
• Nottingham
• Oxford
• Reading
• Southampton – includes Wellington Papers Database
• Strathclyde

UK Public Schools:

• Eton – College, Photographic, Literary Archives (catalogues)
• Harrow

Newspapers (historical/archives):

• The Gazette: Official Public Record

Other:

• ArchiveGrid
• British History Online (BHO) – part of Victoria County History (VCH)
• British Library
• British Museum
• British Postal Museum & Archives
• CCEd – Clergy of the Church of England Database
• Chethams Library (Manchester UK)
• Lambeth Palace Library
• Museum of English Rural Life
• Royal Northern College of Music
• Royal Museums Greenwich (includes National Maritime Museum)
• Wellcome Library
• WorldCat (libraries and university-level holdings)

Parliament:

• Hansard, 1803-2005 (phasing-out website); Hansard: The Official Report of all debates (phased-in website)
• History of Parliament: Member Biographies
• Parliamentary Archives

Europe:

• Archives Portal Europe
• Lund University Manuscripts & Archives
• MANUS OnLine – Italy’s archives (including Biblioteca Nazionale, Naples)
• Universiteit Leiden

United States:

• Library of Congress and LC Catalog
• Morgan Library and Museum (Corsair)
• New York Public Library, Manuscripts & Archives Division

Lists of Links:

• University of Chicago (Databases US & Worldwide)
• Harvard University Research Guides for finding manuscripts
• Lists of Online Catalogues [broken link] (a “for now” substitute, via Cambridge University)
• Via The National Archives (UK)
• Victoria Research Web, Schoarly Resources; Journals; other

Images:

• ArtUK – great source for paintings (portraits)
• National Portrait Gallery, London
• National Trust Collections – portraits and estate collections
• Paul Frecker – includes Camille Silvy’s portrait photographs [compliments NPG’s sorted by Daybook volume]

Diaries – Online manuscripts and books:

• Via blog Georgian Gems, Regency Reads & Victorian Voices
  • Regency period
  • Georgian (may be some overlap with above)
  • Victorian

Let me know about any site updates — or additions & suggestions!
in the meantime, here’s a google search page [UK archives online]
another google search [search archives “manuscripts”]

New Book Releases:

• Regency Explorer tabulates new book releases every month – the focus being on history, biography, military, royalty, literary, etc. releases; often includes books in languages other than English

Useful Alumni Directories:

• Alumni Cantabrigienses (via Archive.org)
• Alumni Oxonienses, 1715-1886 (via The Online Books Page)

Useful “Local” History Publications:

Such publications feature articles of a highly-specialized or local nature, including places and people. These sites allow access to their publications archives (ie, full articles).

• Bath History Journal – Journals vol. 1 to vol. 15 (1986-2019)
• Berkshire Local History Association – Journals and Newsletters
• Devon Buildings Group – Newsletters from 1986-2017
• The Georgian Group Journal – Online archive of superb articles, mainly with an architectural component, from 1986 through (currently) 2018. Look on the homepage for online events – open to non-members for a nominal fee; General Index for the displaying volumes
• The Local Historian – articles & book reviews; vol. 1 from 1952 [paywall suspended during covid pandemic]
• Northamptonshire Past & Present – Journals, 1948-1983; 2000-2016
• Northumberland & Durham Family History Society – Journals from 1975 to 2000. The dropdown list under “NDFHS Journal” links INDEXES for dates from 2008 to 2020.
• Oxoniensia – Archaeology, History, Architecture; from 1936 [new issues available only to members]; use ‘BROWSE volumes’ or ‘Article DATABASE’
• Richmond Local History – INDEX to articles only
• Salopian Recorder – Newsletter of the Friends of Shropshire Archives (Nos. 84-94, 2016-2019)

**

Jane Austen:

Like the local history, highly-specialized publications, concerning the life, family and writings of author Jane Austen; feature full article access.

• Jane Austen Society (UK) – “Annual Reports”; earliest are in “Collected” volumes; later are single issue volumes [via Archive.org]; 1949-2018; bonus: Austen Family Music books are on same link.
• Jane Austen Society of North America – “Persuasions” (print journal; available in PDF) and also “Persuasions On-line” are the journals associated with JASNA. My own articles have been published in both (print / online).
• Jane Austen’s Fiction Manuscripts
• Jeremy Musson, in The Georgian Group Journal, “Jane Austen and Joseph Bonomi” (2013). Bonomi did work for the Smiths.