NATIONAL ARCHIVES RESEARCH

I AM CURRENTLY ON SICK LEAVE AND NOT RESPONDING TO ENQUIRIES.

At the National Archives (TNA), I can search sources relating to:

Army, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Merchant Navy service  also:

Pre-1858 PCC Wills & Administrations - Before 1858, probate matters were dealt with by ecclesiastical courts.  The Prerogative Court of Canterbury covered the whole of England & Wales, but was not the only ecclesiastical court where a will could be proved or administration granted. You can search an index to PCC Wills online and download a copy of any will of interest.  These copies are sourced from the appropriate will register.   Surviving original PCC Wills with the deceased's signature are held at the National Archives.  I can undertake a search and provide photos of the original will (if found). 

Pre-1858 wills can be difficult to read.  I offer a transcription service for wills proved between 1750 and 1858; please enquire.  The on-line PCC wills index does not include PCC Administrations (Admons), sometimes issued when the deceased person did not leave a will.  I can search for a PCC Administration at the National Archives: please enquire . 

Death Duties - Death Duty Registers give date of death and may be annotated with notes regarding beneficiaries named in a will.  If a person died intestate (leaving no will), there may be a Death Duty Register entry recording how their estate was distributed.  Please enquire .

Bankrupts; bankruptcy; debtors, please enquire ;

Convicts and prisoners: including criminal registers; calendars of prisoners, prison records, transportation; prison hulk records; trial records; indictments, depositions, process books, petitions for clemency, Gaol Delivery and Assize records:  please enquire . London Metropolitan Archives also holds records relating to London and Middlesex convicts and prisoners.   Read memories of conditions on board prison hulks moored at Woolwich .  Note that Quarter Sessions records are generally held at county record offices. 

Divorce:  I can search for a divorce between 1858 and 1938, please enquire .  For searches of the index to more recent divorces post-1938 contact:  Principal Registry of the Family Division, Decree Absolute Section, First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, LONDON WC1V 6NP.

Railway employees:  I can search surviving railway staff records; railway staff magazines and for archive photos of railway stations.  Please contact me for a free initial assessment of your enquiry.

The arrival of the railway in rural areas provided employment opportunities for former agricultural workers.  The eventual place of employment of an employee of a railway company could be some distance from his place of birth, as transfers to other stations occurred on promotion or to meet the demands of the railway company's operation.  Sons might enter employment with the same railway company as their father.

Records relating to the Great Western Railway are particularly extensive, please enquire .

Men who worked on the construction of railways were employed by a contractor or sub-contractor, not by the railway, so no staff records for these men will be found in railway company archives.

I can also search for details of railway accidents, involving railway employees and/or members of the public, please enquire . 

London Transport and London General Omnibus Company staff records are not at the National Archives.  The most useful London Transport and London General Omnibus Company records for family history are retained by Tfl (Transport for London) and can be consulted at their London archive search room.  If a family member was employed by the London General Omnibus Company or London Transport, please contact Tfl Archives in the first instance to establish whether they hold any relevant records.  If Tfl Archives confirm they hold records which are relevant to your family member, you may contact me to request a search at Tfl Archives (formerly London Transport Archives). 

Individual assistance at the National Archives:        4 hours' on-site assistance = £260.00 

Currently unavailable.  To be placed on waiting list, please enquire .

Client feedback:

“Thank you very much for our session on Thursday and for your debrief which will, I am sure, prove extremely useful.  We did not expect you to provide us with so much more well-prepared information.  I wanted to write now so you that you know that we really valued it and also how much we enjoyed our time with you.  I think we are all motivated to do more family history work.

We shall do our best to follow up your advice early so that we do not lose the threads.  I suspect that one or more of us may well be in touch with you in the future but in the meantime we have taken away pleasant and better-informed memories from Thursday.”  JT, Northampton, UK (Jun 2019)

“Thank you Patricia very much.  Your help was invaluable and I enjoyed the visit to Kew very much.  Unfortunately we did not get back to Kew as I had to return home unexpectedly. I did remember to phone the reading room first thing, about the documents in our lockers!!

The documents found [relating to a specific individual] were very interesting and made the whole visit special. 

I am intending to return in January and hope you might be available for another half day during that month - as soon as I have dates I will be in contact and see if you can assist.

I learnt a lot and am grateful to you for sharing your knowledge and techniques. 

I will also keep the records you made of our searches as a plan for the next visit.”  JS, Sheffield, UK (Oct 2015)

I can search records of the London Family History Centre formerly located at the National Archives which were transferred in 2017 to the Society of Genealogists' Library.  The ex-London Family History Centre records include microfilm copies of parish registers and/or Bishop's Transcripts for all counties in England as well as parish chest and Poor Law material as well as will indexes for some counties. 

How to search for London Family History Centre records of interest:

Search the Family Search catalogue by the place name you're researching.  Leave the other box on its default setting of "Any".  If you find an item of interest, please cut and paste the details then contact me to enquire about a search.  I can check whether the microfilm is available at the Society of Genealogists' Library.  

Have you found an entry of interest in the IGI or on Family Search?  You can contact me to ask if I can find and copy or transcribe the full entry from the parish register.

Transcripts of monumental inscriptions (gravestone inscriptions) for many parishes throughout England are held in the Society of Genealogists' Library, the British Library and elsewhere; please contact me with details of the parishes of interest and I'll advise whether I can search relevant records.

Local directories and trade directories for most locations in England can be searched at the National Archives, or in the library of the Society of Genealogists.  Please request a quote for a directory search , including the district and years of interest in your enquiry .