Finding an archive for the area in which you are researching is always a challenging task. Finding one in another country can be even more daunting. The National Archives of the United Kingdom has created a website that may help you in your genealogical search throughout Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), and even beyond. This easy-to-navigate website lets you narrow your search to a specific region in a specific country and even includes many other countries that appear to have little or no bearing on the UK but actually hold UK records. In addition, a comprehensive pull-down menu offers you many other options for British-based research. Here is how to use the site.
The page you want to access is titled "Find an Archive in the UK and Beyond" and is on the website of the National Archives of the UK. The easiest way to begin, if you can identify your region by sight, is to choose the map, which is divided into sections; when you hover your mouse pointer over a section, it will highlight and become a link. If you aren’t familiar enough with the UK to identify a region by sight, just hover your mouse pointer on a section and its name will pop up. Alternatively, you can use the pull-down menu to the right of the map or click on one of the blue links.
Below the map you can see a row of small circles containing the letters of the alphabet. Anything in black contains data, and when you click on a black circle, a list of countries beginning with the chosen letter appears. Any circle in grey has no content. Your current choice appears in white. Click on the country of your choice in the list that appears under the "A," and you will get a list of archives in that country. In the example below, the choice was “U” and United States.
A list on the left side of the page, under "Type of Archive," tells you the kind and number of archives available, so you can narrow down to what you need. Each of the archives listed has contact information. At the top of the results on the right, notice the bar in grey that shows how many results there were and allows you to sort in several ways.
Remember, that this is a British website, so the focus is on British research and family history. The ARCHON code is a unique identification number used by British archives and other repositories holding collections that relate to British history. If you click on the name of an archive, the next window gives you information about it and the relevant British history material it contains. Look closely, though, and you will see that each entry has a link to the particular archive’s website. You can click on any link to go directly to that resource.
Another feature of the page is found by clicking on the red circular “Menu” button at the top. When you do that, you will get a wide variety of links located on the Archives’ website for you to explore. If you have British ancestors, you will definitely want to do that.
Remember, that this is a British website, so the focus is on British research and family history. The ARCHON code is a unique identification number used by British archives and other repositories holding collections that relate to British history. If you click on the name of an archive, the next window gives you information about it and the relevant British history material it contains. Look closely, though, and you will see that each entry has a link to the particular archive’s website. You can click on any link to go directly to that resource.
Another feature of the page is found by clicking on the red circular “Menu” button at the top. When you do that, you will get a wide variety of links located on the Archives’ website for you to explore. If you have British ancestors, you will definitely want to do that.
Be sure to bookmark this page so you can easily find it again in the future. In previous blog posts, we've also written about other archives you might be interested in.
Have fun!
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