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The National Archives Podcast Series
Digital Archives of the Future
2018/03/12
To mark forty years since The National Archives moved to Kew, our digital director John Sheridan discusses the challenges that archives will face in the future. John is currently leading efforts to transfer our digital offer to become an archive that is digital by instinct and design.
Reformation on the Record: Suzannah Lipscomb on Henry VIII and the break with Rome
2018/01/26
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Reformation on the Record was a two-day conference which brought together research using original records of Church and State from our collection to explore this period of religious, social and economic turmoil.
In this talk, historian, broadcaster and award-winning academic Dr Suzannah Lipscomb explores one of the fundamental turning points of the 16th century Reformation: Henry VIII's separation from the Roman Catholic Church.
Reformation on the Record: Richard Rex's keynote address
2018/01/26
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Reformation on the Record was a two-day conference which brought together research using original records of Church and State from our collection to explore this period of religious, social and economic turmoil.
In this talk, Professor Richard Rex - a Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge, where he is Director of Studies in Theological and Religious Studies - delivers the keynote address on 'The Reformation as Disruption'.
Big Ideas Series: In Their Own Write: Welfare, Discipline and Pauper Agency in the Nineteenth Century
2018/01/12
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In this seminar, Dr Paul Carter introduces his new research project which he is undertaking in collaboration with Professor Steven King, University of Leicester, after receiving a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Paul examines the correspondence between paupers and the state, focussing on the nature of complaints in the context of welfare, and the importance of Victorian records management in producing a history 'from below'.
Dr Paul Carter is the Principal Records Specialist for Domestic Records here at The National Archives. His research and publication interests include early labour movements, popular political, and poor law records.
Our Big Ideas seminar series is funded by Friends of The National Archives.
Big Ideas Series: Surfacing the Page
2017/12/18
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This Big Ideas seminar consists of three short presentations exploring the theme 'surfacing the page'.
In the first talk, Professor Maryanne Dever looks at how the presence of digital technologies for the reproduction and circulation of archival artefacts have placed questions of materiality at the centre of how we value analogue originals. New debates around the materiality of the archived page are pushing us away from focusing simply on physical properties of the page and toward a consideration of the page in terms of its potential.
In the second talk, Dr Jacqueline Lorber Kasunic looks at how attention to the materiality of the archived page has often assumed a literal reading, one that fails to engage with how readers come to understand a text not only through the linguistic signs but also through the graphical and formal properties of the text. She argues for the acknowledgement of the role of the visual as integral to the relationship between the archived page and its interpretation.
In the third talk, Associate Professor Kate Sweetapple discusses her explorations in visually manipulating existing archival documents in order to create new objects of inquiry. These speculative artefacts are designed to be provocative and disrupt the authority of graphic conventions. They also reveal the affordances of archival material in digital environments, and highlight the role design can play in realising this potential.
Sylvia Pankhurst: suffragette, socialist and ‘scourge of the empire’
2017/12/11
From militant suffragette at the beginning of the 20th century to campaigner against colonialism in Africa after the Second World War, Sylvia Pankhurst dedicated her life to fighting oppression and injustice. Katherine Connelly will examine Pankhurst's role at the forefront…
Black Power and the state
2017/12/04
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The late 1960s and early 1970s witnessed the flourishing of Black Power, a movement of major global impact. In Britain, black radical campaigns were monitored by Special Branch, MI5, the Joint Intelligence Committee and the Home Office, in an attempt to frustrate and ultimately demobilise the movement.
In this talk, Robin Bunce will use sources from our collection to reconstruct the state's campaign against black radicals in the UK, from the trial of Malcolm X in 1967, through the prosecution of Obi Egbuna and the Mangrove Nine, to the trial of the Old Bailey Three in 1972.
Security Service file release November 2017
2017/11/28
Professor Christopher Andrew, formerly official historian of MI5 and author of 'The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5', introduces key files from the release of Security Service files to The National Archives in November 2017.
Big Ideas Series: Setting the Record Straight for the Rights of the Child
2017/11/21
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In this Big Ideas seminar, Professor Sue McKemmish and Dr Joanne Evans from Monash University discuss their recent work on answering record-keeping and archival needs for members of society who have experienced out-of-home care. They are joined by Professor Elizabeth Shepherd, from the Department of Information Studies at UCL, who is speaking on 'Navigating the Information Rights Ecology: A UK Perspective'.
'Step Child': a play about the surveillance of First World War Indian dissenters
2017/11/01
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The British Government promises that all British subjects are equal before the law. But when America begins blocking the growing number of Indian Sikhs seeking to enter the US reneging on an Anglo-American treaty, will the British step in? A British spy and his wealthy Parsi informant discuss the potential revolutionary ramifications if the British do not.
This podcast is one of five short plays produced in response to documents held at The National Archives relating to the experiences of people from South Asia at the time of the First World War. The series was created by five playwrights from the Tamasha Developing Artists (TDA) programme and funded by the Friends of The National Archives .
Written by: Amy Ng
Directed by: Anthony Simpson-Pike
Performed by: Naveed Khan, Balvinder Sopal and Peter Singh
Recorded, edited and sound designed by: Robbie MacInnes
Photo credits: Bettina Adela
With thanks to Iqbal Husain and Sara Griffiths at The National Archives; and Fin Kennedy and Mina Maisuria at Tamasha Theatre.
'Smile': a play about Indian soldiers at the Brighton Pavilion Hospital during the First World War
2017/11/01
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Three Indian soldiers recover at the iconic Brighton Pavilion hospital. Every detail is provided for but something isn't quite right. The soldiers question why the plentiful food and high quality care is served in the shadow of guards and bars across windows. Will they be honoured as heroes as the British had led them to believe, or are they merely prisoners being readied again for war?
This podcast is one of five short plays produced in response to documents held at The National Archives relating to the experiences of people from South Asia at the time of the First World War. The series was created by five playwrights from the Tamasha Developing Artists (TDA) programme and funded by the Friends of The National Archives .
Written by: Melanie Pennant
Directed by: Anthony Simpson-Pike
Performed by: Peter Singh, Naveed Khan, Jag Sanghera and Jim Conway
Recorded, edited and sound designed by: Robbie MacInnes
Photo credits: Bettina Adela
With thanks to Iqbal Husain and Sara Griffiths at The National Archives, and Fin Kennedy and Mina Maisuria at Tamasha Theatre.
'The Radicalisation of Vir Singh': a play about the challenges of serving as an Indian soldier in the First World War
2017/11/01
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Arjun sits restless and scared as he prepares to enter the battlefield for the first time. Inspired by compatriot Vir's legends of mighty Sikh warriors, Arjun becomes resolute in his determination to bring honour to his family. But with false reports of cowardice emerging, what story will history remember?
This podcast is one of five short plays produced in response to documents held at The National Archives relating to the experiences of people from South Asia at the time of the First World War. The series was created by five playwrights from the Tamasha Developing Artists (TDA) programme and funded by the Friends of The National Archives .
Written by: Amman Paul Singh Brar
Directed by: Anthony Simpson-Pike
Performed by: Peter Singh, Naveed Khan and Sid Sagar
Recorded, edited and sound designed by: Robbie MacInnes
Photo credits: Bettina Adela
With thanks to Iqbal Husain and Sara Griffiths at The National Archives, and Fin Kennedy and Mina Maisuria at Tamasha Theatre.
'Cama': a play about a female Indian revolutionary at the time of the First World War
2017/11/01
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In a trench in Marseille the loyalty of three Indian soldiers is tested when the legendary Madame Cama asks them to surrender for the good of the motherland. Will carrying on the fight really prove their loyalty to the crown? Or is the battle for Indian independence the real fight that should be had?
This podcast is one of five short plays produced in response to documents held at The National Archives relating to the experiences of people from South Asia at the time of the First World War. The series was created by five playwrights from the Tamasha Developing Artists (TDA) programme and funded by the Friends of The National Archives .
Written by: Sharmila Chauhan
Directed by: Anthony Simpson-Pike
Performed by: Peter Singh, Naveed Khan, Sid Sagar, Balvinder Sopal and Jim Conway
Recorded, edited and sound designed by: Robbie MacInnes
Photo credits: Bettina Adela
With thanks to Iqbal Husain and Sara Griffiths at The National Archives; and Fin Kennedy and Mina Maisuria at Tamasha Theatre.
'Corner of a Foreign Field': a play about the burial of Indian Muslim troops at the time of the First World War
2017/11/01
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It is October 1914 and Maulana Sadr Ud-Din is battling with General Barrow, the Military Secretary to the India Office, over the appropriate burial grounds for Muslim soldiers. With Turkey entering the war on the side of the Central Powers much could rest on the decision that is made.
This podcast is one of five short plays produced in response to documents held at The National Archives relating to the experiences of people from South Asia at the time of the First World War. The series was created by five playwrights from the Tamasha Developing Artists (TDA) programme and funded by the Friends of The National Archives .
Written by: Hassan Abdulrazzak
Directed by: Anthony Simpson-Pike
Performed by: Naveed Khan, Jag Sanghera, Sid Sagar and Jim Conway
Recorded, edited and sound designed by: Robbie MacInnes
Photo credits: Bettina Adela
With thanks to Iqbal Husain and Sara Griffiths at The National Archives; and Fin Kennedy and Mina Maisuria at Tamasha Theatre.
Unfolding the court case that banned a 1920s lesbian novel
2017/09/11
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In 1928 Radclyffe Hall wrote 'The Well of Loneliness', a novel that featured female characters in same-sex relationships. Shortly after it was published, the Sunday Express called for the book to be suppressed and urged the Home Office to censor it. Despite attempts by writers including Vera Brittain, T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf to defend the novel as a book of literary, sociological and psychological significance, it was banned later that year.
In this podcast, we look at files from the obscenity trial to find out why a lesbian novel that lacked any lewd imagery or language was classed as obscene. Hear what the novel meant to sexologists such as Henry Havelock Ellis; which side of the trial Rudyard Kipling offered to stand on; and the alternate plot lines that the magistrate believed would spare a novel with gay characters from censorship.
The Sexual Offences Act 1967. Part 2: Wolfenden's silent women
2017/08/29
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On 27 July 2017, The National Archives held a day of talks to mark the 50th anniversary of the royal assent of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, which partially decriminalised male homosexuality in England and Wales.
In this recording, Caroline Derry looks at how the Wolfenden committee (whose 1957 report laid the ground work for the passing of the Sexual Offences Act) barely mentioned women and instead focussed almost exclusively on homosexual men.
The Sexual Offences Act 1967. Part 1: The lives of men from 1953 to the 1967 Act
2017/08/29
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On 27 July 2017, The National Archives held a day of talks to mark the 50th anniversary of the royal assent of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, which partially decriminalised male homosexuality in England and Wales.
In this recording, Sammy Sturgess discusses the lives of gay men in London in the lead up to the 1967 Act: from legal rights and social spaces, to employment and living arrangements.
Tudor trials: Confessions from the Star Chamber
2017/08/15
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Medieval records specialist Euan Roger gives us a taste of the kinds of disputes dealt with by the Star Chamber, one of the highest Tudor courts.
The tens of thousands of Star Chamber records kept at The National Archives reveal a wealth of information about Tudor life. In this podcast, we uncover a few of the more unusual cases put before the King's council, including a murder cover-up, a child maintenance complaint, and a marital dispute.
Credits: this podcast uses an excerpt from 'Stabat Mater', performed by the Tudor Consort.
Jane Austen: from beginning to end
2017/08/09
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To commemorate the bicentenary of Jane Austen's death in 1817, Professor Fiona Stafford delivered a talk on Austen's life and work at the The National Archives, where Austen's original will is held.
Fiona Stafford is a professor of English Language and Literature at Somerville College, Oxford, specialising in Romantic literature from Keats and Wordsworth to Austen. She is editor of 'Emma' for Penguin and 'Pride and Prejudice' for Oxford World's Classics, and has written on many aspects of late eighteenth and early nineteenth century literature, including 'Brief Lives: Jane Austen'.
A tormented Tudor queen's treasonous 'love letter'
2017/08/01
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In this episode, Neil Johnston and Christopher Day discuss a letter written by Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, to Thomas Culpeper, a groom of the King's Privy chamber. The document was part of a body of evidence collected against Catherine and Culpeper that ultimately led to their execution. It is now preserved at The National Archives.
Here Neil Johnston explains how it is crucial to examine this letter in the context of Catherine's sexual past in order to understand how the queen accused of living "an abominable, base, carnal, voluptuous, vicious life" was effectively blackmailed into a path of action that led to her untimely death.
Sexuality under scrutiny in 1930s Soho
2017/07/18
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In 1934, homosexual acts between men - in public and in private - were illegal in the UK. Police surveilled a number of social spaces across London suspected of permitting what the state then considered to be 'immoral activity' and in August conducted a raid on a venue in Soho called the Caravan Club. Possessions such as cosmetics and personal correspondence were confiscated from attendees and later offered as evidence in court.
Vicky Iglikowski, The National Archives' Diverse History Records Specialist, discusses the content and context of a love letter found in the Caravan on that evening, and considers the difficult position it occupies now as both an important piece of LGBT history and a document that wasn't intended for publication.
This podcast was produced as part of a series where archivists talk about the documents they think you should know about. You can view the rest of the series here.
Music:
'Sam, the Old Accordian Man' by the Williams Sisters
'Night Latch Key Blues' by Virginia Liston
Oscar Wilde's trial and imprisonment - a short play
2017/07/14
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This short play explores the trial and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde. In 1895 the celebrated author and playwright was found guilty of gross indecency and sentenced to two years imprisonment, with hard labour. The words are taken directly from records held by The National Archives, particularly the petition that Wilde made to the Home Secretary seeking early release, and letters written about him to the governor of Reading Gaol.
This play was first performed as part of The National Archives;' Victorian Crime night in October 2016 and was subsequently performed as part of 'Museums Showoff', 'OUTing the Past Festival' and a 'Queer and the State' event. Find out here how we brought Oscar Wilde's words to life.
By Caroline Osborne-James
Cast (in order of appearance):
Narrator: Lucy Fletcher Oscar Wilde: Gary Thorpe John Sholto Douglas (Marquess of Queensbury): Kevin Chambers Lily Wilde: Fleur Soper Chaplain: Liz Bryant An Irishwoman: Clarissa Angus More Adey: Jon Ryder-Oliver
Bombs, bulls and civilian bravery
2017/07/04
In this podcast The National Archives' Principal Military Specialist reveals some of his favourite stories about civilian gallantry from the First and Second World Wars, from the bravery of the youngest recipient of the George medal to a bizarre tale involving a bomb and some table tennis bats.
'A Bit of a Scratch', a radio drama about the battle against Venereal Disease during the First World War
2017/06/16
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'A Bit of a Scratch' explores the first recorded prosecution under the Venereal Diseases Act 1917. The legislation was introduced due to the large numbers, roughly 5%, of UK troops returning from the First World War with venereal diseases and to ensure that treatment was undertaken by qualified medical professionals. The last century has seen remarkable developments in sexual health, however with rising numbers of sexually transmitted infections and the emergence of antimicrobial resistant disease, the provision of high quality sexual health services are more important than ever.
This podcast was produced jointly with the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH). More information on the issues contained within this podcast can be found on the BASHH website and @BASHH_UK.
By: Debbie Manship
Cast (in order of appearance):
Narrator: Stephen McGann Billy: Louis Cardona Edie: Lowri Amies Chemist: David Jarvis Doctor: Peter Wickham All other parts were played by members of the cast. Composer: Chris Madin Studio Engineer: Holly Parris Director: Paul Dawson
Produced by Role Call and iD Audio in association with M & F Health Communications"The British Army's fight against Venereal Disease in the 'Heroic Age of Prostitution'" by Richard Marshall is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Medieval treason and magic
2017/06/15
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In this podcast, two of our records specialists tell us about treason and necromancy in The National Archives' medieval records.
The first part, narrated by Paul Dryburgh, tells the story of a band of men from Coventry who planned to kill King Edward II and his supporters, the Despencers, with a plot that involved wax effigies and pins. In the second part, Sean Cunningham discusses one of the earliest English language statements in legal history; a tale involving a mole catcher and a magical dismembered hand.
'Dadland': the father who was also an undercover guerrilla agent
2017/05/18
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Keggie Carew discusses her book 'Dadland', a story about a madcap English childhood, the poignant breakdown of a family, and dementia. The novel centres upon her father Tom Carew, an enigmatic, unorthodox character, who was an undercover guerrilla agent during the Second World War.
'Dadland' is the winner of the Costa Biography Award 2016 and a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller.
Black British politics and the anti-apartheid struggle
2017/04/25
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In 1948, from the introduction of apartheid in South Africa, racial discrimination galvanized the international community into protest. British people and black communities in particular attempted to lead the global opposition against apartheid.
Historian Dr Elizabeth Williams (Goldsmiths, University of London) will discuss aspects of the documents she looked at while writing her book 'The Politics of Race in Britain and South Africa: Black British Solidarity and the Apartheid Struggle' (2015).
Please note, due to a technical error this recording ended a few minutes prior to the end of the talk.
From the Somme to Arras
2017/04/18
Andrew Lock discusses the progress made by the British Expeditionary Forces between the battles of the Somme (1916) and Arras (1917). Although lessons were learned during the Somme campaign, Arras clearly exposed command and preparation deficiencies, leading to setbacks and the highest casualty rate of any British offensive in the war.
Bureau-cats: A short history of Whitehall's official felines
2017/03/29
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Public interest in the cats of Whitehall began long before Larry, Palmerston and Gladstone graced our front pages and Twitter feeds.
In this podcast, records specialist Christopher Day reveals his favourite anecdotes from the 'Home Office Cat' files, including the story behind the naming of Nelson, Winston Churchill's favourite cat; the controversy surrounding the behaviour of Peta, the first 'Chief Mouser' gifted to the UK government; and the verses exchanged between staff regarding the cats' upkeep.
Tracy Borman on 'The Private Lives of the Tudors'
2017/03/06
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Tracy Borman reveals how the Tudor monarchs were constantly surrounded by an army of attendants, courtiers and ministers, even in their most private moments. A groom of the stool would stand patiently by as Henry VIII performed his daily purges, and when Elizabeth I retired for the evening, one of her female servants would sleep at the end of her bed.
Dr Tracy Borman is a historian, author and joint Chief Curator for Historic Royal Palaces. Her books include the highly acclaimed 'Elizabeth's Women: the Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen'; 'Matilda: Queen of the Conqueror'; and 'Witches: A Tale of Sorcery, Scandal and Seduction'. Her latest book is 'The Private Lives of the Tudors', published by Hodder & Stoughton.
Talks from the National LGBT History Festival: E-J Scott on collecting for the Museum of Transology
2017/02/20
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On the 11 February 2017, The National Archives hosted a range of talks for 'OUTing the Past: the National LGBT History Festival' on topics including the role of lesbians in the fight for Votes for Women, the lives of trans veterans of the British Armed Forces and collecting trans narratives.
In this talk recorded from the festival, curator E-J Scott discusses the process of collecting trans artefacts for the Museum of Transology. The exhibition is on display at Fashion Space Gallery in London until 22 April 2017.
Talks from the National LGBT History Festival: Emma Vickers on trans veterans of the British Armed Forces
2017/02/20
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On the 11 February 2017, The National Archives hosted a range of talks for 'OUTing the Past: the National LGBT History Festival' on topics including the role of lesbians in the fight for Votes for Women, the lives of trans veterans of the British Armed Forces and collecting trans narratives.
In this talk recorded from the festival, Emma Vickers discusses the lives of trans veterans of the British Armed Forces.
Talks from the National LGBT History Festival: Hilary McCollum on 'Sapphic Suffragettes'
2017/02/20
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On the 11 February 2017, The National Archives hosted a range of talks for 'OUTing the Past: the National LGBT History Festival' on topics including the role of lesbians in the fight for Votes for Women, the lives of trans veterans of the British Armed Forces and collecting trans narratives.
In this talk recorded from the festival, Hilary McCollum discusses her research into the roles lesbian women played in the suffragette movement.
Archive Notes: Prosthetics and the First World War
2017/01/19
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The first episode of a Q&A series in which we talk to researchers about the records and stories they've uncovered at The National Archives.
In 'Prosthetics and the First World War', our First World War diverse histories researcher Louise Bell discusses the impact of the war on disability history through our records: from designs for lighter, more flexible prosthetics to new rehabilitation methods trialled by specialist hospitals.
The life and death of King John
2016/11/29
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King John's acts of misgovernment prompted his barons to demand reform, setting the kingdom on the road to civil war and leading to John's grant of Magna Carta. Why was he seen as such a terrible king and how did Magna Carta come about?
Professor David Carpenter, Professor Stephen Church and Dr Marc Morris discuss the life and reign of King John, 800 years after his death in October 1216.
Defeating the Zeppelins
2016/11/24
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For almost two years during the First World War, German airships roamed over the British countryside, bombing towns and villages without fear of a significant response from the aircraft assigned to defend the country. But all that changed in the late summer of 1916 when a new weapon was introduced, one that spelt the end of the Zeppelin menace.
Ian Castle is the author of two books and a website detailing Germany's air campaign against Britain during the First World War (www.IanCastleZeppelin.co.uk).
The Battle of Agincourt
2016/11/16
In 1415, King Henry V led an army to victory on the field of Agincourt. In this talk, which commemorated the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, Professor Anne Curry discusses the events leading up to the conquest, and the myths surrounding it that have developed over the centuries.
Jonathan Dimbleby on 'The Battle of the Atlantic: How the Allies Won the War'
2016/10/19
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In this talk, broadcaster and acclaimed author Jonathan Dimbleby shows how Britain's success in the Battle of the Atlantic led to the allied victory in 1945. Through extraordinary personal diaries and letters written by both sailors and politicians, he will tell the epic story of how the allies won the war.
Jonathan Dimbleby's illustrious career in broadcasting has spanned nearly five decades. He has presented television programmes on both the BBC and ITV, and has written numerous critically-acclaimed non-fiction history books.
Traces through Time: a new tool for finding linked records across our collections
2016/10/11
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This talk introduces 'Traces through Time', a project by The National Archives which combines historical data sets and the latest technology to help researchers find linked records across our collections. Starting with service records from the First World War, the project has so far identified and published over half a million links. This work enables new insights from archival records and allows people's stories to emerge from the data.
Dr Sonia Ranade is the Principal Investigator on the 'Traces through Time' project. She has a background in Information Science and, since joining The National Archives in 1998, has worked to improve access to our unique collections.
Never Forget: The Holocaust and Nazi Persecution
2016/10/07
In this talk - held as part of Holocaust Memorial Day - record specialists Ela Kaczmarska and Lauren Willmott shed light on the atrocities committed during this dark period of history and the millions of victims who were persecuted by the Nazis' fascist ideology.
Security Service file release September 2016
2016/09/28
Professor Christopher Andrew, formerly official historian of MI5 and author of 'The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5', introduces key files from the release of Security Service files to The National Archives in September 2016.
Blindness in Victorian Britain
2016/09/21
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This talk traces how blind and visually-impaired people in the Victorian era became increasingly vocal in seeking control and ownership over the social and political issues that directly affected them, and introduces some of the era's most prominent and influential blind campaigners.
Heather Tilley is a British Academy postdoctoral research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. She has recently curated an exhibition at Birkbeck on the history of assistive reading technologies for blind people and a display of prominent blind and visually-impaired people for the National Portrait Gallery's collection.
A tourist's guide to Shakespeare's London
2016/09/13
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Discover what it was like to wander the streets of Shakespeare's London. Though large portions of the city from Shakespeare's time have since been destroyed by fire, war and developers, a surprising number of buildings and places still survive.
Author David Thomas discusses the sights, cuisine and pastimes of 16th century Londoners, while providing insight into what it was like to be a tourist during Shakespeare's lifetime.
Please note that there are occasional disruptions to the sound quality during this recording.
Magna Carta: Law, Liberty and Legacy
2016/09/06
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In this podcast, Julian Harrison discusses Magna Carta's fascinating history and legacy, focusing on some of the key loans made by The National Archives to the British Library's 'Magna Carta' exhibition in 2015.
Julian Harrison is a curator of Pre-1600 Historical Manuscripts at the British Library, and is also co-curator of 'Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, Legacy'. He is a specialist in medieval history, and is also editor of the Library's award-winning Medieval Manuscripts blog.
Prisoners of war in the Far East
2016/08/31
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Prisoners of war in the Far East experienced some of the most horrifying and traumatic conditions of the Second World War. But what of the experiences of family members and loved ones left at home during this time?
In this podcast, writer Hilary Custance Green talks about her new book 'Surviving the Death Railway', which is based on her father's personal experiences. Using original records from our collection, Hilary explores how prisoners and their loved ones coped at this time and attempted to rebuild their lives at the end of hostilities.
England's Immigrants between 1330 and 1550
2016/08/23
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This talk explores a new research database which provides an insight into immigration in England in the late medieval period. The database holds around 65,000 names of immigrants who were living in England between 1330 and 1550.
Dr Jonathan Mackman and Dr Jessica Lutkin introduce this new resource, a project by the University of York, in partnership with the Humanities Research Institute and The National Archives.
Simply a Jacobite woman? The life experience of Lady Nairne
2016/08/17
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Lady Nairne was a noted Jacobite who played an important part in rousing support for the risings of both 1715 and 1745. This talk draws upon letters and papers to examine the experiences of Lady Nairne and other Jacobite women during and after the risings.
Dr Nicola Cowmeadow is a Carnegie Scholar with an ongoing interest in women in history - her doctoral thesis was on 'Scottish Noblewomen, the Family and Scottish politics, 1688-1707' (2012). She is also the Local History Officer for Perth and Kinross working in Local and Family History at AK Bell Library, Perth.
Worn out by war: Disabled soldiers and their pensions
2016/08/10
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How can military records help us to reconstruct and understand the lives of disabled people and their families in the 18th and 19th centuries? This talk will explore how the pension records of the Royal Hospital of Chelsea (home of the famous Chelsea Pensioners) can be used to gain insight into the lives of disabled veterans.
Dr Caroline Nielsen is a lecturer at the University of Northampton and specialises in the history of disability and war.
First Lady: The Life and Wars of Clementine Churchill
2016/08/03
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Sonia Purnell presents the inspiring but often ignored story of one of the most important women in modern history - the original 'First Lady'. Discover the fascinating story of her influence on Britain's wartime leader, through the Churchills' 'wilderness years' in the 1930s, to Clementine's desperate efforts to preserve her husband's health during the struggle against Hitler.
Sonia Purnell is a journalist and author.
Writer of the month: Mike Pitts on 'Digging for Richard III: How Archaeology Found the King'
2016/07/27
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To accompany the publication of his book 'Digging for Richard III: How Archaeology Found the King', Mike Pitts discusses the achievements, disputes and controversies surrounding the discovery of Richard III's skeleton.
Mike Pitts is an archaeologist and award-winning journalist and broadcaster. He has recently co-directed an excavation at Stonehenge and led a pioneering study of an Easter Island statue. For the last ten years Mike has edited Britain's leading archaeological magazine, British Archaeology.
Big Data and the gendering of Parliamentary language
2016/07/22
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Luke Blaxill discusses the ways in which Big Data techniques can introduce quantification into long-standing historical debates. His example is the case of female MPs in the House of Commons. How is the language they use different to that of male MPs and do they represent "women's issues" more effectively than men? Blaxill uses text mining techniques to investigate the feminist claim that women's contributions in the Commons are substantively different to men's and whether any "gender effect" is strengthening or weakening with the rise in female numbers, especially since 1997.
England '66: The best of times?
2016/07/13
It was a year when England won the World Cup and led the world in all aspects of popular culture, including pop music, fashion, and film. But it was also a time of sterling crises, wage and price freezes, and industrial strife. Contemporary specialist Mark Dunton looks at a nation caught between optimism and decline.
100 years of the WI: The acceptable face of feminism
2016/07/07
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Professor Maggie Andrews discusses some of the key campaigns and concerns of the Women's Institute, from its origins in the First World War to the 1950s when, with half a million members, it was firmly established as the largest women's organisation in Britain.
Maggie is a Professor of Cultural History at the University of Worcester; she has published widely on women, domesticity and the home front in 20th century Britain.
Writer of the Month: Richard Barnett on Crucial Interventions
2016/06/30
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In this talk medical historian Richard Barnett explores surgery during the 19th century, from the application of antisepsis to experiments with hypnosis. What happened in the early operations that used anaesthesia, and why were patients initially reluctant to agree to it?
Richard Barnett is a writer and broadcaster on the cultural history of science and medicine. He teaches on the Pembroke-Kings Programme in Cambridge, and in 2011 received one of the first Wellcome Trust Engagement Fellowships. His books include Medical London: City of Diseases: City of Cures, The Sick Rose (described by Will Self in the Guardian as 'superbly lucid and erudite') and Crucial Interventions: An Illustrated Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Nineteenth-Century Surgery, which was published by Thames & Hudson in cooperation with the Wellcome Collection in October 2015.
Amiable Warriors: A History of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality
2016/06/14
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The Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) is the oldest surviving LGBT organisation in the UK. With more than 150 local branches and over 6,000 members, it has grown from a small regional committee lobbying for law reform with local MPs, into Britain's largest democratic gay organisation.
Playwright and journalist Peter Scott-Presland examines CHE's roots in Manchester, the traditions it grew out of, and the secret of its survival and ultimate success
Big Ideas: The Future of the Past
2016/06/08
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This presentation discusses the role that the material and intellectual heritage of a community can play in shaping and reshaping its identity, along a historical continuum. With a brief history of the Ismaili Muslims in focus, the presentation highlights some of the challenges faced by the modern Ismaili community in conservation of, and engaging with their heritage, dating back over a millennium. The talk features the heritage conservation initiatives organised by the community, especially in digital media, together with some of the finest pieces from the institutional archives and collections.
Zehra Lalji is among the key contributors who created the heritage sites archive at the Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS). At present, she serves the Institute as the Website Productions Officer, where she is leading a number of creative digital adaptations based on the Institute's published research.
Stalin's Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess
2016/06/02
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Guy Burgess was a brilliant young Englishman who rose through the ranks of MI5 and MI6 during the Cold War. But as a member of 'The Cambridge Spies', he betrayed his country by regularly passing on highly sensitive secret documents to his Soviet handlers.
Historian Andrew Lownie, author of 'Stalin's Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess' - a Guardian Book of the Year and The Times Best Biography of the Year - will talk about how Burgess was able to avoid exposure as a traitor to his country through his trademark charisma and a network of powerful political connections.
Shell-Shocked Britain: Understanding the lasting trauma of the First World War
2016/05/25
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Millions of soldiers were scarred by their experiences in the First World War trenches, but how new was what we now know as 'shell shock'? What treatments were on offer? And what happened after the men came home?
Writer and researcher Suzie Grogan reveals the First World War's legacy for soldiers and looks at the impact of the Spanish influenza outbreak, air raids on the Home Front, the trauma experienced by the survivors, and why the conflict still resonates into the 21st century.
Heidi Thomas: Researching Call the Midwife
2016/05/18
Screenwriter Heidi Thomas shares the process of transforming Jennifer Worth's memoirs into the BBC period drama 'Call the Midwife', a TV series about midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s
Materiality matters: new approaches to medieval wax seal studies
2016/03/07
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Wax seals have been widely studied in terms of how they look, what they depict and what they might mean. But their physical characteristics and their importance as a method of communication are still not fully understood.
Our 'Wax Seals in Context' project investigated the material composition, manufacture and use of medieval wax seals, to understand how this important medium of communication was made. It used visual examination, material analysis and archival evidence.
The project focused on English royal and governmental seals of the 12th and 13th centuries.
Magna Carta - what's so 'great' about the charter?
2015/12/30
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We apologise for the variable sound quality of this podcast.
This year is the 800th anniversary of the granting of Magna Carta - King John's Great Charter. This charter guaranteed a number of vital rights and privileges and is still seen as being the foundation of many modern liberties. To mark this important anniversary, we are holding a range of events and exhibitions.
In this discussion chaired by Dr Sophie Ambler world experts come together to debate the importance of Magna Carta.
Nicholas Vincent, Professor of Medieval History at University of East Anglia, is an expert on 12th and 13th century English and European political and administrative history, and author of Magna Carta: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2012). He is the Honorary Secretary of the Pipe Roll Society.
Louise Wilkinson, Professor of Medieval History, Christ Church College Canterbury, is an expert on women in the age of Magna Carta, and 13th-century political and administrative history. She is the honorary General Editor of the Pipe Roll Society.
Paul Brand, Professor of English Legal History and Emeritus Fellow at All Souls Oxford, is an expert on English and Irish legal history, specialising in 13th-century law. He is the Honorary Treasurer of the Pipe Roll Society.
David Crook, formerly of The National Archives, is one of the leading experts on medieval records and forest law.
David Carpenter, Professor of Medieval History at King's College London, is an expert on the reign of Henry III (1216-72) and author of Magna Carta (Penguin, 2015).
Using the 1939 Register: Recording the UK population before the war
2015/12/22
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The preparations had been made well in advance. Now Britain was at war, and as the uniformed army prepared to face the enemy, a civilian army was mobilised at home. National Registration Officers, registrars, and 65,000 enumerators set about the huge task of registering every man, woman and child in a single weekend. It all went remarkably smoothly. This is the story of the 1939 Register for England and Wales, how it was taken, and what happened next.
For king and another country: Indian soldiers on the Western Front
2015/12/15
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Over a million Indian soldiers fought in the First World War, many travelling from remote villages in India to the muddy trenches of France and Flanders.
In her book For King and Another Country, writer and journalist, Shrabani Basu, delves into archives in Britain and narratives buried in villages in India and Pakistan. She recreates the War through the eyes of the Indians who fought it, and examines how the war led, ultimately, to the call for independence.
Writer of the month: A history of war in 100 battles
2015/12/08
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'Battle is not a game to plug into a computer but a piece of living history: messy, bloody and real.'
Richard Overy, Professor of History at the University of Exeter, Fellow of the British Academy and Member of the European Academy for Science and Arts, will discuss his latest book that distils the history of warfare into 100 momentous battles, recording epic moments that have shaped our world.
Big Ideas: Freedom of Memory: A new human right?
2015/10/30
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This presentation introduces the concept of Freedom of Memory, which Elizabeth is currently developing. The talk proposes a possible definition for this potential new human right and explain why such a Freedom is necessary at this point in time. The presentation identifies both the benefits and responsibilities arising from Freedom of Memory. This session will also encourage discussion with attendees to consider whether such a freedom is necessary, how it could be improved and in what fora this concept could fruitfully be developed.
Elizabeth Oxborrow-Cowan is a professional Archivist and qualified Management Consultant. She has run her own consultancy since 2003, working right across the archives sector throughout the UK as well as with policy bodies and professional organisations.
Security Service file release October 2015: Discussion
2015/10/23
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Stephen Twigge head of modern collections at The National Archives in conversation with Professor Christoper Andrew former official historian of MI5 and author of 'The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5', and Gill Bennett former chief historian of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, discussing one of the most famous spy cases in history along with some other highlights from the release of Security Service files to The National Archives in October 2015.
Security Service file release October 2015: Introduction
2015/10/23
Professor Christopher Andrew, formerly official historian of MI5 and author of 'The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5', introduces key files from the release of Security Service files to The National Archives in October 2015.
Barbara Hepworth, her life and work
2015/10/22
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Barbara Hepworth's life and work examined through records held by selected archives, including The National Archives and the Tate archives, marking the 40th anniversary of her death
Inga Fraser is Assistant Curator of Modern British Art 1890-1945 at Tate Britain and assistant to curators of the exhibition, Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World at Tate Britain. Briony Paxman is a modern records specialist at The National Archives.
Morwenna Roche and Bianca Rossmann from Tate Archives discuss their project to catalogue Barbara Hepworth's personal and professional papers, which provide a fascinating and rich insight into her life and work.
This podcast was recorded live in July 2015, as part of an afternoon of events at The National Archives, Kew.
We apologise for the variable sound quality of this podcast.
First World War rugby and the first World Cup
2015/10/16
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When Britain's Empire went to war in August 1914, rugby players were among the first men to volunteer. Leading from the front, they paid a high price. After four long years, Armistice came and it was time to play rugby again. In 1919, Twickenham saw the crowning of the first ever rugby world champions.
Hear award-winning author, Stephen Cooper, tell the story behind his new book, After the Final Whistle: The First Rugby World Cup and The First World War. Stephen is also the winner of Rugby Book of the Year 2013 with his previous First World War sporting work, The Final Whistle: The Great War in Fifteen Players
'Over the top: a foul a blurry foul' - the first football charge of the First World War
2015/10/02
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Our collection of First World War records is one of the largest in the world. It includes, among many other documents, service records, letters, diaries, maps and photographs. Part of Britain's folk memory of the First World War is of long lines of Tommies bravely going over the top, resolutely kicking and passing a football as they walked into a hail of machine gun fire.
Iain Adams, of the International Football Institute, looks at what really happened when the London Irish Rifles performed the first football charge at the Battle of Loos on 25 September 1915.
The International Football Institute is a research partnership between the University of Central Lancashire and the National Football Museum.
1939 National Registration Night
2015/09/29
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In 1939, on the eve of the Second World War, the British government introduced an Act that would allow them to gather vital information about the country's population. This information would inform their decisions on identity cards, rationing and conscription.
The night of 29 September 1939 was National Registration Night, and that evening, at 6:30pm, the Registrar General broadcast this message to the nation.
In our collection we have the script (catalogue reference RG 28/164) of the Registrar General's broadcast, read here by Gary Thorpe.
Kew lives - reconstructing the past
2015/09/25
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Emily Ward-Willis explains how to research the local history of an area, using the Mortlake Terrace shops in Kew as a case study.
The talk will show how you can use records held by The National Archives, and other archives and local studies centres, to research local history.
This talk was recorded live as part of the Know Your Place festival, a celebration of the heritage of Richmond upon Thames. We apologise for any intermittent reduction in sound quality.
Writer of the month: Peter Doggett - Electric shock: From the gramophone to the iPhone
2015/09/17
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Peter Doggett argues that from the birth of recording in the 19th century to the digital age, popular music has transformed the world in which we live. It has influenced our morals and social mores; it has transformed our attitudes towards race and gender, religion and politics.
Peter Doggett has been writing about popular music and cultural history for more than 30 years. He is the author of Electric shock: From the gramophone to the iPhone - 125 years of pop music, his history of popular music and its impact on everyday life from 1890 to the present day.
This podcast was recorded live as part of the Writer of the month series, which broadens awareness of historical records and their uses for writers.
Big Ideas: On pilgrimage in England
2015/09/11
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The 1930s saw a resurgence of interest in local knowledge and traditions, and intense debate about how it might be possible to 'go modern' while honouring the past. Alexandra Harris looks back on her research for Romantic Moderns, remembering how she followed modern British artists and writers as they went 'on pilgrimage in England'. She also shows how that pilgrimage led her far back into Roman and Anglo-Saxon history in a quest to find out how the English weather has been differently imagined across the centuries.
Alexandra Harris is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, a BBC New Generation Thinker, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She won the Guardian First Book Award and a Somerset Maugham Award for her first book, Romantic Moderns: English writers, artists and the imagination, from Virginia Woolf to John Piper. Her literary history of English weather will be published this autumn.
Big Ideas: Innovation in the Air Force
2015/09/04
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Ross Mahoney's talk is based on sources ranging from operational records held by The National Archives to some of the personal recollections found at other archival institutions and in the memoirs of retired officers. By bringing these together he highlights the difficulties faced by the RAF as it sought to innovate and adapt to the strategic, operational and tactical challenges that it confronted during the inter-war years.
Ross Mahoney is the resident Aviation Historian at Royal Air Force Museum. His research interests include air power history, theory and doctrine, military leadership, military culture, military innovation, and the history of professional military education. In 2011, he was made a West Point Fellow in Military History at the United States Military Academy.
Security Service file release August 2015
2015/08/21
Professor Christopher Andrew, formerly official historian of MI5 and author of 'The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5', introduces key files from the release of Security Service files to The National Archives in August 2015.
Waterloo men: the records of Wellington's Waterloo army
2015/08/14
By taking two men who fought at Waterloo and exploring how different records bring their careers to life, Carole Divall demonstrates the hidden stories that can be found within army records.
Carole Divall is a former teacher and now researches, writes and lectures on the Revolutionary Wars.
Dunkirk: from disaster to deliverance
2015/08/07
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Drawing on fresh new interviews with Dunkirk veterans - soldiers and sailors - plus unseen private correspondence and diaries, author Sinclair McKay delves into a pivotal historical moment and beneath the myth. The story of how a raggle-taggle flotilla of small boats and paddle steamers set out to rescue the British army from the most formidable war machine the world had ever seen is now a national legend. But what really happened during those nine days and nights in 1940?
Sinclair McKay is the bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bletchley Park and The Secret Listeners, as well as histories of Hammer films, the James Bond films, and Rambling.
Writer of the month: Jenny Uglow
2015/07/17
Jenny Uglow talks about her book, In These Times: Living in Britain through Napoleon's Wars, 1793-1815.
This podcast was recorded live as part of the Writer of the month series, which broadens awareness of historical records and their uses for writers.
Big Ideas: The women's war in the Middle East - women's First World War service in Egypt, Gallipoli, Mesopotamia and Palestine
2015/07/10
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Nadia Atia is Lecturer in World Literature at Queen Mary, University of London. Her research examines the literature and cultural history of the First World War outside Europe. Her work explores how ideologies of race and empire shaped the ways in which British travellers, archaeologists, servicemen and women from different classes and professional backgrounds interacted with and represented the region now known as Iraq, in the early twentieth-century. In particular, she examines their interactions with the Indian, African, Afro-Caribbean, Egyptian or Chinese workers and military personnel who played such a crucial role in the war, but whose presence is not a familiar one in many accounts of the First World War.
'The Germans are here!' London's first Zeppelin raid
2015/07/06
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Ten months into the First World War and the feared onslaught on London by Germany's fleet of airships - Zeppelins - had failed to materialise. There was sympathy for those killed or injured in air raids elsewhere, but these were far away and had little impact on Londoners. Then, shortly after 11pm on a Monday night in May 1915, all that changed…Using documents held at The National Archives, interspersed with personal stories of those who experienced that night, Ian Castle explores those terrifying 20 minutes when, for the very first time, London civilians found themselves on the front line.
Ian Castle is author of two books detailing Germany's air campaign against the capital in the First World War - London 1914-17: The Zeppelin Menace and London 1917-18: The Bomber Blitz. He also runs a website covering all of the First World War air raids.
Writer of the month: Adam Nicolson - Wordsworth's and Coleridge's year together in Somerset, 1797-1798
2015/06/22
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Adam Nicolson discusses his research into his forthcoming book about Wordsworth's and Coleridge's year in Somerset. He used documents in The National Archives which relate to the Home Office's surveillance of the poets in August 1797. Some suspected they might be agents for a French invasion.
This podcast was recorded live as part of the Writer of the month series, which broadens awareness of historical records and their uses for writers. Writer of the month is sponsored by HistoryToday.
Adam Nicolson has worked as a journalist and columnist on the Sunday Times, the Sunday Telegraph and the Daily Telegraph and writes regularly for National Geographic Magazine and Granta, where he is a contributing editor.
Arts and Inspiration Day at The National Archives 2014: Design history and material culture
2015/06/05
Julie Halls discusses design history and material culture as a potential area for research.
Arts and Inspiration Day is a free event for students thinking of future PhD study which introduces the research potential of The National Archives' collection. This event was held on 17 November 2014.
Arts and Inspiration Day at The National Archives 2014: Propaganda
2015/06/05
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Simon Demissie looks at Propaganda through the records held at The National Archives, including the wartime posters in INF 3 and the 1970s 'Protect and Survive' Public Information Films.
Arts and Inspiration Day is a free event for students thinking of future PhD study which introduces the research potential of The National Archives' collection. This event was held on 17 November 2014.
Watch the Public Information Films, Action after warnings and Casualties, produced by Richard Taylor Cartoons, with chilling narration by Patrick Allen.
Arts and Inspiration Day at The National Archives 2014: Maps and plans
2015/06/05
Rose Mitchell reveals the maps and plans held at The National Archives.
Arts and Inspiration Day is a free event for students thinking of future PhD study which introduces the research potential of The National Archives' collection. This event was held on 17 November 2014.
Arts and Inspiration Day at The National Archives 2014: Music and lyrics
2015/06/05
Jo Pugh reveals the music, lyrics and poetry lurking in diverse records, from Thomas Byrd's pupil, John Bull to songs from Second World War prisoner of war camps.
Arts and Inspiration Day is a free event for students thinking of future PhD study which introduces the research potential of The National Archives' collection. This event was held on 17 November 2014.
Portillo's State Secrets
2015/05/29
Researcher Tommy Norton introduces some of the 30 documents featured in the BBC 2 ten-part television series, Portillo's State Secrets. He also talks about the background to the series.
Originally a journalist on local newspapers and magazines, Tommy spent four years in The National Archives' press office. He is now an independent reesearcher.
Writer of the month: Helen Castor on Joan of Arc
2015/05/22
Helen Castor in conversation, discussing her new book, Joan of Arc: A history. Find out more about Helen Castor on her website.
This podcast was recorded live as part of the Writer of the month series, which broadens awareness of historical records and their uses for writers. We apologise for any intermittent reduction in sound quality.
Tracing railway ancestors
2015/03/27
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The National Archives holds a vast collection of railway related material, a legacy passed down by hundreds of railway companies which operated in all corners of the UK from 1825 to 1947. Much of this material provides opportunities for local and family historians to discover something new about the history of their ancestors and the areas in which they lived. This talk provides an overview of the railway records held here at Kew, and explores the different sources for tracing railway workers amongst these records.
Chris Heather is currently the Transport Records Specialist in the Advice and Records Knowledge department at The National Archives. He has a particular interest in railway records and family history. Previously he specialised in records of criminals and transportation to Australia.
Big Ideas: Rapid response collecting
2015/03/13
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Rapid Response Collecting is a new strand to the V&A's collecting activity - one that is responsive to global events, situating design in immediate relation to moments of political, economic and social change. Corinna Gardner explores how an IKEA toy wolf, a set of Christian Louboutin shoes in five shades of 'nude', the world's first 3D-printed gun, the mobile game, Flappy Bird, and an all-female LEGO set raise questions of globalisation, mass manufacture, demography and the law.
Corinna Gardner is curator of contemporary product design at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Corinna has worked with colleagues to introduce rapid response collecting as a new strand to the museum's collecting activities. Corinna is also co-curating the forthcoming V&A exhibition, All of This Belongs to You, opening on 1 April 2015.
Vanishing for the Vote: diverse suffragettes boycott the 1911 census
2015/03/06
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Vanishing for the Vote tells the story of what happened on census night, 2 April 1911. Despite decades of campaigning, no woman had won the right to vote. Suffragettes urged women to boycott the census, proclaiming 'No vote, no census!'. This talk is based on the family census schedules which illustrate the wide diversity of suffrage campaigners - those who complied with the census and those who daringly boycotted.
Jill Liddington is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. Her first book, One Hand Tied Behind Us (Virago, 1978), soon became a suffrage classic. Her most recent history, Vanishing for the Vote (MUP, 2014), is based on the The National Archives' census schedules released in 2009.
We apologise for the poor sound quality of this live recording.
This talk was part of The National Archives' Diversity Week, a week designed to highlight the ongoing work across the organisation surrounding the representation of diverse histories.
Big Ideas: 'An heroic, slow-motion cataloguing of life': ethics and digitisation
2015/02/27
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A culture shift is taking place in the Wellcome Library's Special Collections team. Driven by a growing realisation that past acquisition policies have left patient perspectives on health and well-being woefully under-represented, they have started to re-evaluate what kinds of material may constitute an 'archive'. Focusing on an exciting, non-traditional 'archive' acquired earlier this year, Helen Wakely reflects on the issues and opportunities that such challenging collections present to the Library.
Helen Wakely is Archive Project Manager at the Wellcome Library. She has responsibility for sensitivity assessment and access issues in the library's Special Collections, and takes a special interest in promoting public engagement with its archive collections, particularly in the area of food history.
Writer of the month: My history - Antonia Fraser
2015/02/20
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Antonia Fraser's memoir describes growing up in the 1930s and 1940s but its real concern is with her growing love of History. The fascination began as a child - and developed into an enduring passion; as she writes, 'for me, the study of History has always been an essential part of the enjoyment of life'.
Antonia Fraser is the prize-winning author of many widely acclaimed historical works which have been international bestsellers. She was made DBE in 2011 for services to literature.
This podcast was recorded live at our January 2015 'Writer of the month' event.
The huns have got my gramophone: advertisements from the Great War
2015/02/13
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In the nineteenth century, Britain led the world in the production of illustrated books and magazines. By the 1890s, commercial artists often drew for both magazine publishers and advertisers, which gave a continuity of style. Some well-known 21st century brands were already spending heavily on advertising in the 1900s; they understood the value of advertising. And when war broke out in 1914, companies were quick to seize the opportunities which the war offered. They searched for new markets to replace their lost German trade, and invented new products. This talk outlines how the First World War changed the face of advertising.
Amanda-Jane Doran was the archivist at Punch magazine for 13 years. She is an expert in 19th century illustrated books and magazines, and she curated the exhibition Charles Stewart: Black and White Gothic, at the Royal Academy.
Andrew McCarthy directed the documentary film Toys For The Boys, which told the story of how Hew Kennedy built a full-size working replica of a medieval trebuchet (siege machine).
Andrew and Amanda co-wrote The huns have got my gramophone: Advertisements from The Great War (Bodleian Library, 2014).
Lines on the map: records of international boundaries
2015/01/30
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The National Archives holds one of the largest and most important accumulations of maps in the world. They document the United Kingdom's involvement in shaping boundaries and in resolving boundary disputes over many centuries, either as a colonial power, neutral observer or independent source of surveying expertise. Rose Mitchell looks at how the process has been documented, from letters and reports to treaties, drawing on maps and surveys which made lines across sand, snow, water, forests, plains and mountains around the globe.
Rose Mitchell is a map curator at The National Archives. She is co-author of Maps: their untold stories.
Writer of the month: The Spanish ambassador's suitcase
2015/01/23
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Matthew Parris and Andrew Bryson discuss their new book, The Spanish ambassador's suitcase.
Matthew Parris worked for the Foreign Office and the Conservative Research Department before serving as MP for West Derbyshire. He joined The Times as parliamentary sketchwriter in 1988, a post he held for 13 years, and he now writes as a columnist for the paper. He broadcasts for radio and television, and presents the biographical programme Great Lives on BBC Radio 4. He is also a regular columnist for The Spectator.
Andrew Bryson is a radio journalist working in the BBC's Business and Economics Unit. He frequently produces Radio 4's Today programme and programmes for Radio 5 Live.
This podcast was recorded live as part of the Writer of the month series, which broadens awareness of historical records and their uses for writers. We apologise for any intermittent reduction in sound quality.
Big Ideas: The shape of time
2015/01/09
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Visualisation is widely believed to bring many benefits, assisting us in making sense of all kinds of information. To try to make diagrams of history - using timelines or some other kind of chronographics - may seem a simple task. We might regard time as 'obviously' linear, as 'naturally' flowing from left to right. But what shape should history be?
Stephen's talk focuses primarily on the period in the mid-eighteenth century when the modern timeline was invented - tracing its typographic, pictorial and other roots and setting it in its intellectual context. He also gives some insights into the advances we can now achieve when chronographics are made digital and interactive. This will include asking: what are the requirements of such tools for serious historical work?
Stephen Boyd Davis is professor of Design Research at the Royal College of Art. His own work is concerned with visualisation, in which he is directing research students working with museums and archives.
Newly released files from 1985 and 1986
2014/12/30
Contemporary records specialists Mark Dunton and Simon Demissie discuss the latest batch of government records to be released to The National Archives. The years were 1985 and 1986.
Introduced by Rebecca Simpson.
A game for Christmas: Football on the Western Front, December 1914?
2014/12/23
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Any mention of football and the First World War will evoke the Christmas Truce of 1914 and the football match played in No Man's Land. At the time many denied that a truce had occurred, let alone a football match between the combatants. This talk uses British Army War Diaries, individual soldier's diaries, letters and newspapers to examine how citizen diplomacy apparently subverted the wishes of higher command, at least temporarily, to possibly have allowed some soldiers to enjoy a game for Christmas.
Iain Adams is the Principal Lecturer at the International Football Institute, a research partnership between The University of Central Lancashire and The National Football Museum. He lectures in sports history and culture and has published papers on the Christmas Truce and the football charges of the Great War.
Writer of the month: Tracy Borman on Thomas Cromwell
2014/12/19
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Dr Tracy Borman, author, historian and broadcaster, discusses her biography of Thomas Cromwell.
The National Archives hosts a series of monthly talks to broaden awareness of historical records and their uses for writers. Each month, a high-profile author talks about using original records in their writing.
Dr Tracy Borman's previous books include: the highly acclaimed Elizabeth's Women: the Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen; Matilda: Queen of the Conqueror; and Witches: A Tale of Sorcery, Scandal and Seduction. Tracy has recently been appointed interim Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces and is also Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust.
Big Ideas: The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Cultural Value Project
2014/12/12
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The Arts and Humanities Research Council's Cultural Value Project was set up late in 2012 to address the dissatisfaction with the ways in which we understand and articulate the benefits of arts and culture. These tended to concentrate on the publicly-funded arts and, for that reason, were shaped by the demands of advocacy.
For the same reason they increasingly came to focus on the economic benefits because it was believed that that was what governments wished to hear. Professor Geoffrey Crossick presents an overview of the project. His talk indicates the range of research that it has funded and, in doing so, identifies the projects that have focused on archives, heritage and history.
Professor Geoffrey Crossick is Director of the AHRC's Cultural Value Project and Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. He is a historian and his main area of research has been the urban social history of 19th and 20th century Britain and continental Europe.
Writer of the month: Stories from behind the Berlin Wall
2014/12/05
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Hester Vaizey discusses her latest book, Born in the GDR: Living in the Shadow of the Wall, which reveals the everyday lives of citizens of the former German Democratic Republic.
The National Archives is again hosting a series of monthly talks to broaden awareness of historical records and their uses for writers. Each month, a high-profile author will talk about using original records in their writing.
Hester Vaizey is a University Lecturer in Modern German History and a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge. Her book Surviving Hitler's War: Family Life in Germany 1939-1948, was shortlisted for the Women's History Network Prize and won the Fraenkel Prize for Contemporary History.
Paddy Ashdown: The Cruel Victory
2014/11/28
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Paddy Ashdown discusses his new book, The Cruel Victory, which tells the long-neglected D-Day story of the Resistance uprising and subsequent massacre on the Vercors massif - the largest action by the French Resistance during the Second World War.
Overlooked by English language histories, Ashdown sets the story in the context of D-Day, the muddle of politics and the many misjudgements of D-Day planners in both London and Algiers. Most importantly it also gives voice to the many fighters who fought to gain a stake in their country's future.
Lord Paddy Ashdown served as a Royal Marine and as an intelligence officer for the UK security services before becoming a Member of Parliament for Yeovil from 1983 to 2001, and leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 until 1999. He was the international High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2006 and was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George in 2006.
The Chevalier d'Eon: Transgender Diplomat at the Court of George III, 1763-1777
2014/11/21
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In 1763 peace broke out between France and Britain, ending the Seven Years War. The defeated superpower France was left nursing its wounds, as well as thoughts of revenge. While King Louis XV's foreign minister sought to maintain the peace, the King's spy network, 'the King's Secret' (Secret du Roi) developed plans to invade England. These conflicting agendas were embodied in the Chevalier d'Eon, France's minister in London. A Georgian Edward Snowden. Shortly after his arrival the Chevalier began publishing confidential diplomatic despatches and blackmailing his King. The Chevalier escaped assassination and imprisonment by becoming a woman in 1777.
Dr Jonathan Conlin teaches modern British history at the University of Southampton. Currently he is researching a biography of the Anglo-Armenian oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian. His books include Tales of Two Cities: Paris, London and the Making of the Modern City.
Putting it all together: using archives to discover your community's involvement in the First World War
2014/11/18
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The names of the First World War dead are there for all to see, on war memorials all over the country. Many individuals and groups are researching the stories behind the names, but what about delving even deeper? There is even more to be learned about the men and women who also served, and survived the War, as well as the families and communities left behind.
Drawing on a wide variety of documents, in record offices, libraries and online, Audrey Collins shows how you can discover how a whole community was affected by the First World War. She uses as a case study the market town of Chesham in Buckinghamshire, but the techniques used are equally applicable to any locality.
Audrey Collins is family history specialist at The National Archives and she is a regular speaker at genealogical events and conferences in the UK and worldwide.
The civil service in the First World War
2014/11/14
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The First World War affected every sector of society, as the nation's resources were harnessed for the war effort. Like other employers, the civil service lost staff to the armed forces and had to replace them while they were away. It also had to deal with a greatly increased workload during wartime. Records in The National Archives describe how civil servants coped with these conditions: an eye-witness account of a Zeppelin raid, sugar ration coupons, and details of a scheme for gathering conkers are just some of the documents used to build a picture of the role of the civil service in wartime.
Audrey Collins is family history specialist at The National Archives and she has been researching the history and development of the General Register Office for several years, which led to an interest in the wider civil service during the First World War. She is a regular speaker at genealogical events and conferences in the UK and worldwide.
Inventions that didn't change the world: a history of Victorian curiosities
2014/11/07
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In an era when Britain led the world in technological innovation, a host of lesser inventors were also hard at work. Registering designs for copyright was quicker and cheaper than the convoluted patenting process; anyone with what they thought was a good idea could register a design. All manner of bizarre curiosities and their careful drawings were lodged with the Designs Registry (now held by The National Archives). Julie Halls looks at the world of lesser-known Victorian inventions and the historical context which gave rise to them.
Julie Halls is The National Archives' specialist for registered designs and is the author of Inventions that didn't change the world (Thames & Hudson, 2014).
1974: forty years on
2014/10/31
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Mark Dunton looks back at UK National events in 1974 in this illustrated podcast. Drawing on the public records he highlights some unusual or little known aspects about the events of that year. 1974 was a difficult year in modern British history - the two general elections, the economic situation, the collapse of the Court Line air travel business for package holidays, the disaster at the Flixborough chemical plant, and IRA bombings - but some popular culture references remind us of lighter moments.
Mark Dunton specialises in researching the records of post-1945 Britain, including political, social and economic history and the policies of the Heath government in the early 1970s.
Security Service file release October 2014
2014/10/24
Professor Christopher Andrew, formerly official historian of MI5 and author of 'The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5', introduces key files from the release of Security Service files to The National Archives in October 2014.
Writer of the month: Philippa Gregory
2014/10/24
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Philippa Gregory in conversation with Caroline Kimbell, discussing how she uses original records and introducing her new novel, The King's Curse.
Philippa Gregory was already an established historian and writer when she discovered her interest in the Tudor period and wrote the novel The Other Boleyn Girl which was made into a TV drama, and a film. Six novels later, she looks at the family that preceded the Tudors: the Plantagenets, a family of complex rivalries, loves, and hatreds. Find out more about Philippa Gregory's work.
This podcast was recorded live as part of the Writer of the month series, which broadens awareness of historical records and their uses for writers. We apologise for any reduction in sound quality.
Maps: their untold stories
2014/10/17
Big Ideas: Understanding patterns of behaviour for users of public records
2014/10/10
From British bobby to Hong Kong copper
2014/10/03
The naval policy of the Free Church of Scotland
2014/09/19
'A World of Their Design': The men who shaped Tudor diplomacy
2014/09/15
'Things as are all Forms, & Ceremonys': Ritual and authority in the reign of Queen Anne
2014/09/04
Webinar: Why did people fear the Victorian workhouse?
2014/09/03
Webinar: Tracing British battalions or regiments during the First World War
2014/09/01
Webinar: An introduction to emigration sources for family historians
2014/09/01
Webinar: An introduction to medieval and early modern sources for family historians
2014/08/29
Webinar: Army musters - more than just accounts
2014/08/29
Did she kill him? Addiction, adultery and arsenic in Victorian Britain
2014/08/22
War and Peace conference: Closing remarks: the First World War and intelligence
2014/08/15
Big Ideas: Big Data for Law
2014/08/15
Writer of the month: A very British murder
2014/08/08
Lines in the sand
2014/08/01
Peacetime diplomacy and the New European Order
2014/08/01
Wartime diplomacy: The role of the Empire
2014/08/01
The road to war: At home and abroad: propaganda and intelligence
2014/08/01
Wartime diplomacy: Getting global: American involvement
2014/08/01
The road to war: The prelude to war
2014/08/01
Annual lecture of the Pipe Roll Society (2014): Formal record and courtroom reality in 13th and 14th century England
2014/07/25
Keeping it in the family
2014/07/18
Big Ideas: Sharing knowledge and expertise with business
2014/07/11
Special Operations Executive (SOE) service - some alternative sources
2014/07/04
Inconvenient people and how to find them: Tales from the Victorian lunacy panics
2014/06/27
Finding my father in Mesopotamia
2014/06/19
The untold story of the RAF's black Second World War fliers over Europe
2014/06/10
Big Idea: A competition to encourage videogame design students to go 'Off the Map'
2014/06/06
Reluctant regicides? The trial of Charles I revisited
2014/05/30
Webinar: Cloud storage and digital preservation
2014/05/27
UKAD forum 2014: The connected age, the European stage - Social History Portal
2014/05/19
UKAD forum 2014: Knowing your rights - More than just data standards: what are the rights challenges for digitisation and online access to archive collections?
2014/05/19
UKAD forum 2014: Standards in archival collection management systems
2014/05/19
UKAD forum 2014: The connected age, the European stage - Europeana
2014/05/19
UKAD forum 2014: The connected age, the European stage - Archives Portal Europe
2014/05/19
UKAD forum 2014: Raising the standard - Finding Archives: standards and data exchange in action
2014/05/19
UKAD forum 2014: Raising the standard - AIM25 and authorities and indexes
2014/05/19
UKAD forum 2014: Raising the standard - The Archives Hub: Putting the data centre-stage
2014/05/19
UKAD forum 2014: Going where the people are
2014/05/19
Georgian Londoners - the making of a modern city
2014/05/16
Big Ideas: Sense and sensitivity
2014/05/12
Big Ideas: How to turn a tin can into a TARDIS
2014/05/06
Operation Unthinkable: Churchill's plan for World War Three
2014/04/28
Writer of the month: Human woes - researching violence and pain in the archives
2014/04/25
The Post Office Tower: symbol of a new Britain?
2014/04/22
Early civil registration
2014/04/07
'...we may lie and die in a land of plenty...': The Victorian poor in their own words
2014/04/01
Spies like us: The secret life of Ernest Oldham
2014/03/14
Big Ideas: The Great Archive Debate: a view from York
2014/03/07
The Keeper's Gallery Talk 2014: The UK's entry to the European Economic Community
2014/03/07
He is so silly he would rather have a half pence than a shilling: Discovering the history of learning disability
2014/03/07
Security Service file release February 2014
2014/02/28
From deviance to diversity?
2014/02/17
Digitising MH 47 the Middlesex military service appeal tribunal
2014/02/11
Black in the British Frame
2014/02/10
Big ideas: From catwalk to cultural collections
2014/02/06
News from FamilySearch
2014/01/27
Big Ideas: Mind the Gap
2014/01/24
Public Cooperation with the Household Expenditure Enquiry, 1953-1954
2014/01/20
Hidden treasures? Uncovering maps among the files of government
2014/01/13
New files from 1984
2014/01/03
The day parliament burned down
2013/12/20
NDACA - the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive
2013/12/16
Britain's air forces in the First World War
2013/12/13
Scandals in the family
2013/12/09
They gave the crowd plenty fun
2013/12/06
Writer of the month: witches, sorcery, scandal and seduction in Jacobean England
2013/12/02
An introduction to the eighth tranche of colonial administration records released at The National Archives
2013/11/29
Searching the unsearchable
2013/11/25
The Treaty of Utrecht
2013/11/22
Coronations
2013/11/19
Death and taxes: understanding the death duty registers
2013/11/15
William Hardin Burnley and Caribbean slavery
2013/11/12
Big data and dead criminals
2013/10/14
Living in a railway town
2013/10/11
An Intimate History of Your Home
2013/09/29
An introduction to the seventh tranche of colonial administration records released at The National Archives
2013/09/27
The life and work of MacDonald Gill: mapmaker, letterer and graphic artist
2013/09/24
Suddenly, All Roads Led to Munich, 1936 - why I wrote Winter Games
2013/09/20
Yapton: a Sussex parish seen through the census and parish records
2013/09/13
Tracing your merchant seamen ancestors through crew lists and agreements
2013/09/06
There and back again: going away doesn't mean staying away
2013/09/03
The truth about The Great Train Robbery of 1963
2013/08/20
Thomas Armstrong: the smuggler king of Cullercoats
2013/08/16
At the Instigation of the Devil: suicide and its records
2013/08/12
Locating London's wartime past: www.bombsight.org
2013/08/09
Writing a history of one's own times
2013/08/06
Cars and democracy: British trusteeship of Volkswagen 1945 to 1949
2013/08/02
New files from 1983
2013/07/29
An introduction to the sixth tranche of colonial administration records released at The National Archives
2013/07/29
The Church and the propaganda of political reform in 13th century England
2013/07/25
No (inter)sex please, we're Olympians
2013/07/19
The secret listeners
2013/07/12
Three generations of master mariners
2013/07/05
Join up and see the world! British military recruitment after national service
2013/06/28
In conversation with Dominic Sandbrook
2013/06/24
Design online: extending access to the BT Design Register
2013/06/17
The subversion of Cheddi Jagan: the Cold War in British Guiana, 1953-64
2013/06/10
Brick walls and lost ancestors
2013/06/03
An A-Z of Interesting Things about Elizabethan England
2013/05/28
William Wallace's rising and execution, and Edward I's conquest of Scotland
2013/05/24
Australia in War and Peace, 1914-19
2013/05/10
The Journey's End Battalion: The 9th East Surrey and R C Sherriff in the Great War
2013/05/03
The Children of Henry VIII
2013/04/29
Hillsborough: the tangled web
2013/04/26
Hearth Tax: an introduction
2013/04/12
A system of spies and informers: intelligence gathering in the period 1780-1830
2013/04/19
The post-Restoration army: 1660-1714
2013/04/05
Authority, Legitimacy and Orthodoxy: the Accession of Henry V in 1413
2013/03/28
Stalingrad and Berlin: researching the reality of war
2013/03/25
An Embarrassing Question: Opium, Britain and China 1856-1860
2013/03/22
The policy agenda of the British Government, 1945-2008
2013/03/15
Challenges facing The National Archives - Part 3
2013/03/11
The Final Whistle: the Great War in 15 players - a London rugby club at war 1914-1918
2013/03/08
How to publish with The National Archives
2013/03/07
How to research a famous person in The National Archives
2013/03/07
How to mine The National Archives for writing fiction
2013/03/07
What happened before today's mutual Credit Unions? An introduction to Friends of Labour Loan Societies 1850s-1930s
2013/03/01
Reckless, Rash and Repentant: Convicts Petitions for Mercy 1819-1858
2013/02/22
Hunting for Spies in The National Archives
2013/02/15
The Will Forgeries: a forgotten sensation
2013/02/08
Tracing battalions or regiments of the British Army during the Great War
2013/02/01
Rawdon Brown and the Brown Archive in The National Archives
2013/01/25
Where there's a will...: probate records for family history at The National Archives and beyond
2013/01/18
A Brilliant Little Operation: The full story of how the Cockleshell Heroes mounted the greatest raid of WW2
2013/01/11
Geography, art and the sinking of the Mary Rose
2013/01/04
Bess of Hardwick
2012/12/21
The scandalous case of John Vassall: sexuality, spying and the Civil Service
2012/12/17
Tracing Huguenot ancestors
2012/12/14
The strange journey of Edward Swarthye, an African in Elizabethan England: from the Spanish Caribbean to rural Gloucestershire
2012/12/07
Morbidity and mortality on convict voyages to 19th century Australia
2012/11/30
Adlestrop: railways, poetry and the myths of 1914
2012/11/23
Marjorie's War: four families and the Great War
2012/11/16
Archives Sector: the Leadership Challenge
2012/11/09
Tracing marriages; legal requirements and actual practice, 1700-1836
2012/11/02
Keeping it in the family: professional dynasties in 19th century England
2012/10/26
Remembering Samuel Coleridge Taylor; African British musician and pan-Africanist
2012/10/19
Philip Henslowe, Edward Alleyn and the invention of London theatre in the age of Shakespeare
2012/10/12
British Malaya
2012/09/28
Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn: clothing, courtship and consequences
2012/09/20
Coroners' Inquests
2012/08/17
The life of Philip d'Auvergne RN; officer, prisoner and prince
2012/08/10
'An impenetrable tangle or an under-used mine of information?' The Court of Common Pleas and its records, c.1200-1875
2012/08/03
Colonial lives, careers and policies: researching printed papers of the British colonial governments
2012/07/27
England and Scotland at War, 1296-1513: sources at The National Archives
2012/07/23
Magna Carta: What more is there to say?
2012/07/13
The Silken Paper Trail: openness and the national collective memory
2012/07/09
Edwardian rollerskating
2012/07/03
Sedition, transportation and treason
2012/06/27
Lost in London
2012/06/22
Tracing merchant seamen, 1857-1918
2012/06/14
The Golden Stool: cataloguing Colonial Office records from 1900
2012/05/25
Medieval queens in The National Archives
2012/05/11
Selling history: the role of the past at Fortnum and Mason
2012/05/04
Digging for diamonds: hidden histories at The National Archives
2012/04/27
An introduction to the first tranche of colonial administration records released at The National Archives
2012/04/19
United Kingdom Archives Discovery forum 2012 keynote talk
2012/04/13
When sport meets the law
2012/04/05
Business Archives: new initiatives and developments
2012/03/30
'There is no aspect of government activity on which the State Papers may not throw light': the papers of the secretaries of state 1509-1782
2012/03/23
Digitised newspapers as sources for family history
2012/03/19
Finding your family in Canada
2012/03/09
Our ancestors and the fear of the Victorian workhouse
2012/03/06
Tithe tales: what the Tithe Survey records tell us about early Victorian place and society
2012/03/02
The British Red Cross and its archives
2012/02/27
Prison hulks
2012/02/24
Necessity, the mother of invention: Britain's response to the demands of total war 1939-1945
2012/02/20
MI5 file release February 2012
2012/02/17
The last slave market: Dr John Kirk and the struggle to end the African slave trade
2012/02/15
Nineteenth century merchant seafarers and their records
2012/01/31
Researching Mr Briggs' Hat: an account of Britain's first railway murder
2012/01/27
No vote no census
2012/01/24
How a chisel, a mule, a shipping container and a cloud contribute to family history
2012/01/20
Henry III Fine Rolls
2012/01/13
Anxiety, dread and disease: British ports 1834-1870
2012/01/09
Sovereign squire rebel
2012/01/06
New files from 1981
2011/12/30
Preparing the 1911 census for digitisation
2011/12/22
When a woman is not a woman: how the Ministry of Pensions constructed gender in the 1950s
2011/12/16
Untold histories: black Britons during the period of the British slave trade, c. 1660-1807
2011/12/12
Making geographical sense of the census
2011/11/29
'A low artful wicked man': poverty riots and bread, the response of government to the crises of the 1790s
2011/11/25
Exploding the mysteries of the Bomb Census
2011/11/04
20th century Treasury records
2011/10/31
English burial and cemetery records online and on film
2011/10/24
No place for ladies: the untold story of women in the Crimean War
2011/10/21
The 1911 Census: a vision of England
2011/10/14
Textile designs 1842-1964: exploring the Board of Trade Representations and Registers
2011/10/07
The Hong Kong colonial cemetery
2011/10/05
Out of the way of mischief
2011/09/28
Science and sustainability
2011/09/16
The Berlin Wall 1961: the construction 50 years on
2011/09/09
Railways and the mobilisation for war in 1914
2011/08/30
MI5 file release August 2011
2011/08/26
Time travel: a journey through the timetables of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway 1860-1901
2011/08/19
Galaxy Zoo and old weather: exploring the potential of citizen science
2011/08/12
Morale, morality and the Liverpool Blitz
2011/08/05
The Land Tax 1692- 1963
2011/08/01
Nineteenth century soldiers: getting the most from online resources
2011/07/15
The battle of Towton - a 550-year retrospective
2011/07/15
Overseas births, marriages and deaths
2011/07/08
1611-2011: The 400th anniversary of the King James Bible
2011/07/01
The last thing we need is a sequel: Postwar cinema at The National Archives
2011/06/24
Suing and being sued - finding people in legal disputes
2011/06/17
The Metropolitan Police: an introduction to records of service 1829-1958
2011/06/10
Behind the scenes: two centuries of census-taking
2011/06/03
Modelling for decision-making: simulating the building environment
2011/05/27
'Revolting to humanity': histories of mental health
2011/05/20
Inheritance in Scotland - testaments and retours
2011/05/13
The Second World War and Roche's expansion to the West: a Swiss pharmaceutical company in the United Kingdom
2011/05/09
From crime to punishment: criminal records of our ancestors from the 18th and 19th centuries
2011/04/21
The Festival of Britain
2011/04/13
Escape and evasion in Occupied Europe
2011/04/08
MI5 file release April 2011
2011/04/04
Heralds and heraldry at The National Archives
2011/03/25
Sources for agricultural labourers
2011/03/11
In the High Court of Justice
2011/03/04
UFO file release March 2011
2011/03/03
Broadmoor Revealed: the Victorian Asylum
2011/02/25
Constance Emily Kent: nightdresses, breast flannels and child murder
2011/02/11
Fictional obscenities: lesbianism and censorship in the early 20th century
2011/02/07
Journeys of discovery: surgeons at sea - ADM 101 Research Symposium
2011/01/28
Damaged, disturbed and dismembered: disability and war in the 20th century
2011/01/24
Titanic: the official story
2011/01/19
Challenges facing The National Archives
2011/01/14
New files from 1980
2010/12/30
Naval medical officers' journals and the history of medicine
2010/12/17
Madame Rachel of Bond Street
2010/12/10
The Cabinet Papers 1915-1979
2010/12/03
Hidden Women: uncovering the veil of silence during the partition of Punjab, India 1947
2010/11/29
Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers' service documents
2010/11/15
Forgotten tragedy: The loss of HMT Lancastria
2010/11/05
Credit crunch histories: records of bankrupts in The National Archives
2010/10/22
Freedom fighters: sources for black loyalists at The National Archives
2010/10/15
A history of the Public Records Office
2010/10/08
Charles Dickens, Warren's Blacking and the Chancery Court
2010/10/01
The Kitchen Front: domestic life in the Second World War
2010/09/24
The first Afghan war
2010/09/17
Sailors, storms and science: how Royal Navy logbooks help us understand climate change
2010/09/10
Catch-up history and the Cold War
2010/09/03
MI5 file release August 2010
2010/08/26
Alcohol Consumption in Historical Perspective
2010/08/20
Reforming Central Government: The case of science and technology
2010/08/18
UFO file release August 2010
2010/08/05
Tourists and booking clerks - information for family historians in the Thomas Cook Archives
2010/07/30
Treaties in The National Archives
2010/07/23
The pub and the people
2010/07/16
Disclosure, documentary release and candour in government
2010/07/09
The South African empire
2010/07/07
Identity and identity theft
2010/07/02
The National Archives goes to the movies
2010/06/21
Women, darts and the pub in the interwar period
2010/06/04
Lost London pubs
2010/05/26
Tracing marriages in 18th century England and Wales: a reassessment of law and practice
2010/05/21
Dependence, intolerance and expulsion: the story of the Jews in England, 1066 - 1290
2010/05/19
Bara Brith on the pampas: the Welsh in Patagonia
2010/03/26
Counting the people
2010/03/19
I'm All Right Jack! Britain in 1959
2010/03/12
Highlights of Security Service files released at The National Archives
2010/03/08
Kindertransport: Britain's rescue plan
2010/02/26
Fashion or ration: Hartnell, Amies and dressing for the Blitz
2010/02/18
Tracing ancestors in Nelson's Navy
2010/02/08
Medieval warfare: sources and approaches
2010/01/29
New Britons - Immigration to the United Kingdom
2010/01/22
Shop workers: tracing your retail ancestors
2010/01/14
New files from 1979
2009/12/30
From cotton spinning to coffins: specifications for patents of invention
2009/12/18
Education in 1911
2009/12/04
Transportation to Australia
2009/11/30
The Metropolitan Police: its creation and records of service
2009/11/20
Railway disasters: an introduction
2009/11/13
The gunpowder plot: key documents and hidden voices
2009/11/06
Roll up, roll up: the evolution of the circus 10-in-1 show
2009/10/30
Apprenticeship records for family historians
2009/10/23
An introduction to sources for Anglican clergymen
2009/10/16
How to win a duel
2009/10/08
The Truth is in Here: UFOs at The National Archives
2009/10/08
Darwin's voyage: HMS Beagle 1831-6
2009/10/07
Two Crowns, One King: Henry V and the Treaty of Troyes
2009/10/07
Civilian honours and awards
2009/10/02
Internment
2009/09/21
GIs and POWs: Kew in the Second World War
2009/09/16
The battle that frightened Churchill: the war in the Atlantic
2009/09/10
Forgeries in the archives
2009/08/28
The final balance: researching families and wealth in the 19th century using the death duty records
2009/08/18
Upstairs and downstairs in the royal household
2009/08/07
Dr Williams' Library: an early birth registry
2009/07/31
Summer of '69
2009/07/17
Royal Naval medals: an introduction
2009/07/10
Genius on trial: key sources relating to Oscar Wilde at The National Archives
2009/07/03
Researching the British Empire and Commonwealth
2009/06/26
Burial clubs - the unfriendly societies
2009/06/11
Titanic Lives: The Crew of RMS Titanic
2009/06/05
Charles Darwin and the Beagle
2009/05/29
Prison: five hundred years behind bars
2009/05/22
The Great Escape: you've seen the film, now hear the truth
2009/05/15
Catching Victorian and Edwardian criminals on paper
2009/05/08
Every journey has two ends: using passenger lists
2009/05/01
From Mountbatten to Patten: the last proconsuls and the ending of the British Empire
2009/04/24
Naturalisation and alien registration
2009/04/16
Finding company records
2009/04/09
What can you learn from a DNA test?
2009/04/02
George Ives: queer lives and the family
2009/03/30
Locality, land and livelihood: sources for early local history
2009/03/20
Tracing your ancestors: a case study featuring the Darwin family
2009/03/13
Tracing Scottish ancestors
2009/03/06
Dissecting and cataloguing medical officers' journals in ADM 101
2009/02/27
Royal Air Force service records
2009/02/20
Kapow! Fifties Britain versus the comics menace
2009/02/17
Irish land records - British Sign Language video
2009/02/06
Irish land records
2009/02/06
Civil registration and beyond
2009/01/30
Civil registration and beyond - British Sign Language Video
2009/01/30
The Manorial Documents Register - British Sign Language Video
2009/01/23
The Manorial Documents Register
2009/01/23
Introducing the 1911 census - British Sign Language Video
2009/01/15
Child emigration to Canada
2009/01/09
Child emigration to Canada - BSL Sign Language Video
2009/01/09
New files From 1978
2008/12/30
New files From 1978 - BSL Sign Language Video
2008/12/30
Filling the gaps
2008/12/18
Merchant Navy operational records
2008/12/12
Cabinet Papers, 1915-1977
2008/12/04
The real Little Dorrit: Charles Dickens and the debtors' prison - British Sign Language video
2008/11/28
The real Little Dorrit: Charles Dickens and the debtors' prison
2008/11/28
Radicalism and unrest
2008/11/21
God's Wonderful Railway - British Sign Language video
2008/11/14
God's Wonderful Railway
2008/11/14
The parish: administration and records - British Sign Language video
2008/11/07
The parish: administration and records
2008/11/07
Customs and Excise service records
2008/10/30
Unfinished business: Britain and the European Community
2008/10/24
Victorian women prisoners
2008/10/09
Railway staff records
2008/10/02
Introduction to Family History - British Sign Language video
2008/09/25
Divorce records after 1858
2008/09/04
Security Service document releases
2008/08/31
The 'Fleet Registers' or irregular marriage registers of 17th and 18th century London
2008/08/28
The National Register of Archives
2008/08/20
The Special Operations Executive, the French Resistance and the D-Day landings
2008/08/14
The annual Ancestors Lecture: our 17th century ancestors
2008/07/24
Tracing World War One ancestors
2008/07/17
Solving census problems
2008/07/10
Was Richard II mad?
2008/07/03
Emigration records
2008/06/26
Criminal ancestors: trial records at The National Archives
2008/06/19
Tracing pre-1914 army ancestors
2008/06/12
1968: Year of revolutions
2008/05/29
UFO files from the UK Government
2008/05/22
Secrecy and government records
2008/05/15
Britain and the challenge of Fascism: saving Europe at a cost
2008/04/08
Britain and the challenge of Fascism: saving Europe at a cost (Part 2)
2008/04/08
Losing Orton in the archives
2008/03/13
Security Service document releases
2008/02/29
The Navy Board project
2008/02/21
Watch the birdie and say 'cheese'
2008/02/14
Research and collections at The National Archives
2008/01/31
Closing the last day: death, memory and landholding in the Inquisitions Post-Mortem, 1216 - 1660
2008/01/17
20th century Cabinet records: digitising a core collection of modern political records
2008/01/04
Sources for army officers' commissions
2007/12/20
The road to Jamestown - part 2
2007/12/13
The road to Jamestown - part 1
2007/12/06
The making of the Stalinist state 1928-1941 - part 2
2007/11/29
The making of the Stalinist state 1928-1941 - part 1
2007/11/22
Modern sources for immigration - part 2
2007/11/13
Modern sources for immigration - part 1
2007/09/18
Sex, lies and civil registration
2007/08/28
In the name of God, Amen: wills for family history
2007/07/19
From Magna Carta to the parliamentary state: the Fine Rolls of King Henry III 1216-1272
2007/07/13
Sources for First World War army ancestry
2007/06/21
Tracing your Irish ancestors at The National Archives
2007/06/14
Medieval criminals and the law
2007/06/07
What at first was plunder: tracing records of excisemen
2007/05/31
King John and Magna Carta
2007/05/23
Henry VIII: dynasty and power in Tudor England
2007/04/27
'In deadly hate?' Richard III and the War of the Roses
2007/04/12
The creation of the Iraqi state: 1914 to 1974
2007/04/04
Jermynology: how genealogy can change history
2007/03/15
Tracing births and deaths at sea
2006/12/14
Star Chamber stories: using records of the early modern equity courts
2006/12/12
Going, going, almost gone: the vanishing face of the traditional English pub
2006/12/07
Colin Jackson: my journey into the past
2006/11/28
Creating a legacy from your family history
2006/11/28
Was the Cromwellian Protectorate a military dictatorship?
2006/11/27
The dichotomies of drink
2006/09/28
Sahib, the British soldier in India, 1750 - 1914
2006/07/17
Inventions in 18th century Britain
2006/04/28
A bag of secrets
2006/01/02
The problem of the poor: faith, science and poverty in 19th century Britain
2006/01/01
The National Archives Podcast Series
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/rss/podcasts.xml
Listen to talks, discussions, lectures and other events presented by The National Archives of the United Kingdom.
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