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
- Westminster (City of) (WESTCAT)
- West Sussex
- West Yorkshire
- Wiltshire and Swindon
- Wiltshire Heritage
- Macklin Sketches (a Smith & Gosling item) [just press ‘search’]
- Wiltshire Heritage
- 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:
Scotland:
Ireland / Northern Ireland:
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:
Newspapers (historical/archives):
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:
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.
Carte de Visite Photographers, UK, 1840-1940 | Two Teens in the Time of Austen said,
April 26, 2021 at 7:43 pm
[…] great resource to add to my “UK Archives Online” page, to which I have been adding many online sources beyond the traditional county […]
Thin End of the Wedge? Online Security and Research “overseas” | Two Teens in the Time of Austen said,
March 30, 2022 at 12:51 pm
[…] now searched rather than use my “book-marked” link, just in case there had been an update (although the SITE came up; it just didn’t […]