Many of our most popular records are available online. This is over 5% of what we have and this figure keeps growing.
We have digitised some of our records ourselves. You can download these records directly fromDiscovery, our catalogue. For example:
See Also
America's Founding DocumentsCheck the Status of Research and Records OrdersHow to Obtain Copies of RecordsOnline Research Tools and Aids- wills (1384-1858)
- Cabinet papers (1915-1982)
- British Army medal index cards (1914-1920)
- Irish maps (c1558-c1610)
Find out more about our online records.
Other records that we hold have been digitised by commercial partners like Ancestry and Findmypast. You will need to visit their websites to view them – and there will usually be a charge. For example:
- census records (1841-1921)
- First World War soldiers’ records (1914-1920)
- UK outgoing passenger lists (1890-1960)
Our catalogue will tell you whether records are online and how you can access them.
Find out what’s online at a glance on our online collectionspage.
Ready to start?
- Search our records using Discovery, our catalogue
- Use our research guides
Want to ask us a question?
- You can contact us, via our online forms, by email, phone or live chat
