Content note: This blog includes references to domestic abuse. 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the foundation of Women’s Aid. The grassroots federation of charities was created following the pioneering work of Chiswick Women’s Aid in the 1970s, which became the charity Refuge in 1993. To mark this I’ve written a story exploring the first few years of the Chiswick Women’s Aid, and how it became the first shelter for women fleeing domestic violence. In this post, I will talk you through my research into this story, the difficulties I experienced accessing records, which register traumatic exp ..read more

Content note: This blog includes descriptions of violence during war, including references to sexual violence, which some people may find upsetting. Katrina Lidbetter volunteers at The National Archives cataloguing records relating to British and Allied Prisoners of War during the Second World War. In this blog she explores a series of nominal cards that highlight the experiences of those impacted by the 1941 invasion of Hong Kong. The series has recently been catalogued by our volunteers and can now be searched by name. – Padej Kumlertsakul, Adviser for Overseas and Defence, The National Arch ..read more

On the eve of the Second World War, in response to the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia, the British Government established the Czechoslovak Refugee Trust. To mark International Migrants Day, this blog features the records of the Trust in the series HO 294, which thanks to a recent cataloguing project is now searchable by name and date. Founding the Trust The Trust was created on 21 July 1939 by Deed executed by the Commissioners of HM Treasury, the Home Secretary and three Trustees appointed by the Home Secretary. Its original purpose was the assistance of certain categories of people who so ..read more

Louise Bell is currently undertaking an AHRC funded Collaborative Doctoral Partnership with The National Archives and the University of Leeds exploring British state provision of prosthetic limbs in the two world wars. Her research explores the social, economic and cultural impact of war amputations, with a focus on the agency of disabled individuals as demonstrated through interactions with political and industrial institutions. Her blog below focuses on the different materials used for manufacturing artificial limbs. Using blueprints found within records created by the Munitions In ..read more

My work this year as part of The National Archives’ Outreach team was to contribute to the community engagement strand of our summer programme marking 75 years since HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury, Essex. As we come to the end of 2023, it may appear that the moment has been missed. But the Windrush moment was never just one point in time. It was a chance for many of us to take stock of something far more profound, which allowed us to invite discussions that took a longer and more nuanced view of the complex shifts that took place as older imperial identities were replaced at the end of ..read more

International Volunteer Day is the perfect time to celebrate the years of effort from volunteers at The National Archives that inspired our new exhibition, Great Escapes: Remarkable Second World War Captives, opening in February 2024. Our volunteers spent six years cataloguing (meaning physically looking at and recording information about) over 220,000 prisoner of war cards in the record series WO 416. After completing that, they started work on cataloguing further records about people who escaped or evaded imprisonment or internment after being captured. They uncovered some remarkable st ..read more

The end of November marks our annual celebration of projects and initiatives currently taking place at The National Archives. Catalogue Week is now in its fourth year as an online event. Today we are releasing 8 blog posts and presentations providing an update on a number of current or recently completed cataloguing projects, in addition to updates on other initiatives and processes taking place across the organisation. You can find them all on our Catalogue Week 2023 page. Ada Mascio, an archivist with the Cataloguing, Taxonomy and Data Department, discusses the transformation of LR 16, descr ..read more

The Prize Papers is a vast collection of seized papers and goods from enemy ships captured by the British in wartime, (around 1652–1856). It is being digitised in partnership with Oldenburg University. Un-opened, sealed letters are often found within the Prize Papers collection. Very few of the closed letters seized in these ship captures, perhaps as little as 5%, have identifying information on the outside – such as the name of the ship that carried them or information on their country of origin. This means that the only way to discover this important information is to open the letters and re ..read more

18 November 2023 is 20 years since the repeal of Section 28 in England and Wales. This legislation sought to suppress the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ and ‘pretended family relationships’ by local authorities. The Act was in place for over a decade, in which time it had a huge impact on lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals in England, Wales and Scotland. To mark this we have published two new articles looking at the factors that drove Section 28 and its passing into law, and life under the legislation and its eventual repeal. In this blog I will talk you through the research process behind th ..read more

The Lesser Antilles Arc in the Eastern Caribbean includes twenty-one active volcanoes. These volcanoes have been extensively documented, yet many of the written records related to that volcanic activity are held in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States. Curating Crises mural ‘Sea’s-eye-view’ painted at the ferry port terminal in the North of Montserrat. Image courtesy of Montserrat Volcano Observatory. This summer saw the close of a two-year research project, involving The National Archives, led by Professor Jenni Barclay at the University of East Anglia with partners in the Caribbe ..read more