Archive explorer

When creating descriptions of records, archivists make it clear where items are located and also how they are related. With millions of records to explore, this structured view helps us know where to go next to continue our research – whether to dive deeper, scale back or move sideways.

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The National Archives organises things into Departments

Try looking in some of the departments below:

7,133,847 things in this box altogether, divided up into:

C Records created, acquired, and inherited by Chancery, and also of the Wardrobe, Royal Household, Exchequer and various commissions
A Department with 751,483 things in it.
WO Records created or inherited by the War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies
A Department with 600,944 things in it.
FO Records created and inherited by the Foreign Office
A Department with 455,567 things in it.
ADM Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and related bodies
A Department with 441,253 things in it.
BT Records of the Board of Trade and of successor and related bodies
A Department with 361,920 things in it.
OS Records of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain
A Department with 271,180 things in it.
IR Records of the Boards of Stamps, Taxes, Excise, Stamps and Taxes, and Inland Revenue
A Department with 248,063 things in it.
HO Records created or inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related bodies
A Department with 245,641 things in it.
E Records of the Exchequer, and its related bodies, with those of the Office of First Fruits and Tenths, and the Court of Augmentations
A Department with 223,125 things in it.
FCO Records of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and predecessors
A Department with 207,876 things in it.
CO Records of the Colonial Office, Commonwealth and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices, Empire Marketing Board, and related bodies
A Department with 206,530 things in it.
ED Records created or inherited by the Department of Education and Science, and of related bodies
A Department with 191,079 things in it.
T Records created or inherited by HM Treasury
A Department with 190,293 things in it.
RG Records of the General Register Office, Government Social Survey Department, and Office of Population Censuses and Surveys
A Department with 165,129 things in it.
AIR Records created or inherited by the Air Ministry, the Royal Air Force, and related bodies
A Department with 135,234 things in it.
HLG Records created or inherited by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, and of successor and related bodies
A Department with 117,269 things in it.
MAF Records created or inherited by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Departments, and related bodies
A Department with 114,301 things in it.
J Records of the Supreme Court of Judicature and related courts
A Department with 112,156 things in it.
RAIL Records of the pre-nationalisation railway companies, pre-nationalisation canal and related companies, the London Passenger Transport Board, and successors
A Department with 96,521 things in it.
AVIA Records created or inherited by the Ministry of Aviation and successors, the Air Registration Board, and related bodies
A Department with 91,437 things in it.
There's more!
There are 1906846 more things in that are not in the above boxes - try narrowing the years or adding some subjects to reveal their boxes.

Archive explorer

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