Links to archives
The National Archives has a number of sites, including A2A — access to archives catalogues on the internet, Treasures from the National Archives where the NA showcases artifacts from its permanent collection and Documents Online - online access to the NA's collection of digitised public records. It is also a partner in Moving Here, a site giving access to sources relating to two hundred years of immigration sources, covering Caribbean, Irish, Jewish and South Asian people.
Still at the National Archives, a free on-line information system of data file formats can now be accessed via Pronom. This development by The National Archives should enable local historians and other researchers to use data files which would otherwise be lost because the software is no longer available. Probably the best examples of this are the BBC Domesday programmes from 1986. Now, a PC version has been created and can be viewed at Kew.
An online collection of ten interactive tutorials to help users understand and read old documents is available at the National Archives' Palaeography: reading old handwriting 1500–1800.
Research and Learning is a fairly new website from the National Archives, aiming to provide an accessible introduction to archives in the UK for those with no previous experience of using them.
The 1901 census website is now managed by Genes Reunited.
The National Archives of Scotland
The Scottish Archive Network has launched a website covering the contents of 52 of Scotland's major archives, in the process digitising millions of pages of historical records and indexing more than 20,000 collections. The world's largest archival digitisation project, costing £4million, has involved digitising over 4 million documents, including the wills of Rob Roy and Robbie Burns. The project has now ended but the website remains.
Archives Wales allows visitors to browse and search documentary material, including maps, from 4,000 collections in Wales.
ARCHON - Archives on Line - the principal gateway for UK archivists and users of manuscript sources for British history.
The Archives Hub — a national gateway to descriptions of archives in UK universities and colleges.
The Archives for Education & Learning Group is a special interest group of the Society of Archivists.
The Digital Book Index is a guide to full text sources on the web. There is a History: Great Britain category, which includes a section for county histories. This takes visitors to British History Online where you can search for publications, viewable online, about your locality (I found 52 matches for Tipton).
The National Monuments Record is the public archive of English Heritage holding over 10 million photographs, records, plans, drawings, reports and publications covering England’s archaeology, architecture, social and local history.
Black Country History is a searchable online catalogue of Black Country archive services.
Cheshire's 19th century tithe maps are online in a format which enables you to see where you are on a tithe map and a modern OS map at the same time.
Durham Record Office — including parish information pages, with parish maps and details of parish registers.
Glamorgan Record Office has created an on-line catalogue listing over 40,000 local building plans as part of a larger site called Cardiff: The Building of a Capital.
Lambeth Landmark is a picture archive created by Lambeth Archives, containing the best 6,000 images from their vast collection.
AIM25 — Archives in London and the M25 area.
The London Archive Users Forum has completed the first part of an ongoing project to index Sun Fire insurance policies from 1816 onwards. An index of 53,696 policies from 30 policy registers covering names, addresses, occupations and what was insured up until 1824 can now be found on the web. Work on the period until 1830 is now under way, Detailed instructions on how to use the index can be found at www.history.ac.uk/gh/lfguide.htm.
An on-line index of Sun Insurance Policies in Surrey has been created which locates them by place.
Warwickshire County Record Office has just launched its online catalogue, Warwickshire's Past Unlocked at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/archivesunlocked. Charting over 900 years of Warwickshire's documentary past, it provides an electronic signpost to these fascinating documents.
Wickham Market Area Archive Centre maintains records relating to families, properties and events in the area of Wickham Market in Suffolk.
Wolverhampton Archives and Local Studies.
