The National Archives
The National Archives at Kew ©TNA
The Public Record Office (PRO) was established in 1838 in Chancery Lane for the purpose of holding the country's official records – those of central government and the central courts of law dating back nearly a thousand years. As such it has obviously been an invaluable resource for historians. Incremental changes over the years have gradually increased access to its holdings, for instance with the increase in material being made available online. In 1996 the PRO completed the move to Kew; and it became The National Archives in 2003 when it merged with the Historical Manuscripts Commission (HMC).
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- Website:
- https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
- Institutions:
- Historical Manuscripts Commission
- Themes:
- Tools for historians
Other Articles
- Anne Crawford, 'Today's history: the Public Record Office', History Today, 50, 3 (2000), 26–7
- A. D. Harvey, 'Historians in the National Archives', Historian, 94 (2007), 19–22
- Christine L. Krueger, 'Why she lived at the PRO: Mary Anne Everett Green and the profession of history', Journal of British Studies, 42 (2003), 65–90
- Rodney Lowe, 'Archival report. Plumbing new depths: contemporary historians and the Public Record Office', Twentieth Century British History, 8, 2 (1997), 239–65
