government

Sedition, transportation and treason: the case of the London Corresponding Society

How did a small group of men discussing democracy in the coffee houses of London of 1792 lead to one of the most sensational treason trials of the eighteenth century? Using newly catalogued Home Office correspondence this talk will explore ...
Government SIRO Briefing on Social Media

Lord Richard Allan, Facebook Director of Policy EMEA presenting at The National Archives Government Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) Briefing on 17 May 2012. Facebook alone has more than 800 million users, Twitter 300 million and LinkedIn 116 million and ...
Sovereign, squire and rebel: Maharajah Duleep Singh and the heirs of a lost kingdom

At the age of five years, Duleep Singh found himself on the golden throne of the Punjab, one of the most powerful independent kingdoms in India and a thorn in the advancement of the British Empire. After the Sikh Wars ...
New files from 1981

An overview of newly-released government files from 1981 including discussion of the major stories of the year. From urban riots and IRA hunger strikes to splits in Cabinet over economic policy, 1981 was an extremely challenging year for Mrs Thatcher’s ...
Behind the scenes: two centuries of census-taking

The census has been described as a ‘snapshot in time’, recording the nation as it stands at midnight on one Sunday every ten years. But the preparation for each census started years before each census date, and the collating and ...
The Cabinet Papers 1915-1979

Mark Dunton, The National Archives’ contemporary records specialist, explains how anyone with an interest in modern history can get the best out of the Cabinet Papers online resource. This provides access to historical records of the key episodes in 20th century ...
A history of the Public Records Office

Vanessa Carr takes us through a brief history of the Public Records Office, looking at public records from 1086 to 2003.
UFO file release February 2010

Dr David Clarke, an expert in UFO history, guides us through the highlights of the UFO files at The National Archives, released in February 2010
The Longest Day

This videocast is part of the War on Film series, created by The National Archives to mark the 70th anniversary of the Second World War. The series recounts the events that went on to inspire popular war films, using extracts ...
The Man Who Never Was

‘The Man Who Never Was’ tells the fascinating tale of Operation Mincemeat. This elaborate deception aimed to make the Axis powers believe that the Allies would attempt to enter Europe through Greece and Sardinia, rather than the actual target of ...
New files From 1978

Contemporary historian Mark Dunton discusses the release of high-profile records from 1978, which provide fascinating insight into the thinking of key government figures in the run-up to the Winter of Discontent.
New files From 1978 – BSL Sign Language Video

Contemporary historian Mark Dunton discusses the release of high-profile records from 1978, which provide fascinating insight into the thinking of key government figures in the run-up to the Winter of Discontent.
Filling the gaps

Professor Peter Hennessey presents records officers and information managers as ‘unsung heroes’ in providing historians, such as himself, with rich collections to use. He also discusses the hugely successful Waldegrave initiative which has led to hundreds of thousands of files ...
Emigration records

This talk explains the reasons behind the emigration of some 16 million people since the 17th century. It discusses the most popular destinations for emigrants as well as sources, such as outgoing passenger lists, passport records, and a host of emigration ...
1968: Year of revolutions

Mark Dunton takes you back in time to a tumultuous year, using key documents to show the British Government’s take on the dramatic events of 1968, and its own particular preoccupations.