Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy (82 page)
Read Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy Online
Authors: Nick Barratt
The National Archives (TNA)
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The National Archives holds the records of central government for England, Wales and the United Kingdom in its various guises over the past millennium. TNA was formed in 2003 after the Public Records Office (PRO) and Historic Manuscripts Commission (HMC) were merged, and its collection of original documents dates back as far as the Domesday Book. While its main purpose is to preserve documents of national importance, this does encompass a vast amount of material relating to individuals from all over the United Kingdom, from Army service records to criminal records. Since the closure of the Family Records Centre (FRC) in March 2008, TNA has provided free access to English and Welsh civil registration indexes and census returns via its computer terminals, from which you can also access its subscriptions to numerous other genealogical databases.
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The National Archives of Scotland (NAS) is the central archive for Scottish governmental records dating back to the twelfth century as well as the repository for some Scottish business, estate, family and church records. However, some documents relating to Scottish history after the union of Scotland and England in 1707 have been deposited at The National Archives in Kew, such as military service records, some ship passenger lists and records of immigration. If you have Scottish heritage to investigate you may find the National Library of Scotland (NLS) useful, as this is where legal deposits, maps, newspaper collections and some manuscripts are held; this is also in Edinburgh. The General Register Office of Scotland is next door to NAS, and there is a specialist family history service that links the heraldic collections of the Lord Lyon.
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Although Wales does not have a national institution like Scotland or Ireland, the National Library of Wales acts as an equivalent centre, combining a national collection of books with original manuscripts, maps and copies of relevant family history material. In particular, it holds a large collection of Welsh parish registers on microfilm, along with copies of the national GRO indexes and census returns relating to Wales. It is the repository for diocesan will registers for Wales, along with Welsh assize material prior to 1831.
While TNA holds most of the records regarding the administration of Wales, the National Library of Wales has collections of importance relating to Welsh history including newspapers, maps, books, manuscripts, pictures, photographs and electronic resources. Therefore, if you are researching Welsh ancestry you may find it useful to visit both The National Archives in Kew and the National Library of Wales, depending on your ancestors' occupations.
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The National Archives of Ireland hold records from government departments that detail the history of the modern Irish State. Established in 1988, it assumed the roles of the State Paper Office (created in 1702) and the Public Record Office of Ireland (formed in 1867). It is a great source for family historians researching Irish ancestors, as it is a repository for some of the few genealogical records that survived the fire at the Public Registry Office in Dublin in 1922. As a result of this fire, the majority of the National Archives' material now dates from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
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