The perfect #StayAtHome hobby

With more time on our hands than ever, now is the perfect opportunity to start researching your ancestors and tracing that family tree.

We recommend starting with our research guides to learn how to find and use military records, wills, the census and a wide range of other records.

Need some help? Why not try our live chat service. You can reach our advisers from Tuesday to Saturday, 9:00-17:00

We’re pleased to announce that soon we will be providing free access to digitised collections that are available on our website (and usually chargeable) for as long as we are closed to the public. We’ll publish more details when this goes live.

For our latest boredom buster, we’ve compiled a list of our top ten most handy resources for budding historians to get started with.

Please note we are currently closed to the public, including our online shop. *

Unlock your family history from the comfort of your own home this Easter by exploring Find My Past’s collection of over two billion records online.

Get 20% off any 12 month Find My Past subscription with the code TNAFMP20.

Offer ends 15 April 2020.

What is the 1939 Register?

The 1939 Register provides a snapshot of the civilian population of England and Wales just after the outbreak of the Second World War. 

You can learn more about the 1939 Register by watching our webinar and reading our blogs:

The 1939 Register – when is a ‘census’ not a census?

National registration day: 29 September 1939

National Registration – what happened next?

Top tips for caring for photographs
Family photographs are often treasured possessions, but preserving and organising them can seem like a daunting prospect. Who better to turn to for advice than our conservation team. Read the blog.

How to date family photographs
If you find yourself with a collection of photographs that lack contextual information, there are a number of clues you can look out for. Read the blog.

The National Archives is currently closed to visitors, but we’ll do all we can to continue bringing you the best of our online resources and activities over email throughout the coming weeks – there’s lots coming up, so stay tuned! Please share this email with friends and family who may be interested, and follow us on social media for all the latest updates.