The National Archives Podcast Series

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Latest Episodes:

Internment Sep 21, 2009

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On the declaration of war on 3 September 1939, some 70,000 Germans and Austrians resident in the UK became classed as enemy aliens. This talk looks at official papers relating to the tribunals, the policy of internment, individual internees, and the camps in which they were interned.

GIs and POWs: Kew in the Second World War Sep 16, 2009

Show notes

Local historian Christopher May reveals the wartime history of The National Archives' Kew site. American servicemen stationed here created the maps used in the Normandy landings of 1944. Later, the same buildings were used to house Italian prisoners of war who helped to clear bomb damage in London.

The battle that frightened Churchill: the war in the Atlantic Sep 10, 2009

Show notes

On 3 September 1939, the passenger liner Athenia was sunk by U30. So began the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest and most complex campaign of the Second World War. The battle pitted the submariners of the Kriegsmarine against the Allied merchant fleet who were providing Britain's vital life line. This talk follows the changes in fortune of both the Kriegsmarine and the merchant fleet, and explains why Winston Churchill knew that the Battle of the Atlantic was the battle that Britain could not afford to lose.

Forgeries in the archives Aug 28, 2009

Show notes

Forgery has always been a major problem to archivists and librarians - from the great 19th century Shakespearean forgers to more recent examples in the 21st century of people who forged letters about the murder of Himmler and the social life of Noel Coward.

The final balance: researching families and wealth in the 19th century using the death duty records Aug 18, 2009

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This presentation explores how The National Archives' collection of death duty records can be used to research families and wealth-holding in 19th century Britain. The talk unravels some of the complexities of working with the records and explains how the different records can be linked with other sources of interest to those researching families and wealth.

Upstairs and downstairs in the royal household Aug 07, 2009

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An introduction to the administration of the Royal Household from the restoration of Charles II to the death of Victoria. The talk is based on the records of the Lord Chamberlain's Department and the Lord Steward's Department, which were responsible for above stairs and below stairs management respectively. All the minutiae of royal life is here, from the granting of warrants to tradesmen, to the daily menus prepared for the kitchens.

Dr Williams' Library: an early birth registry Jul 31, 2009

Show notes

Dr Williams' Library in London is an essential resource for people who are researching the history of protestant nonconformity in England and Wales. But the library has also given its name to an important collection of registers and certificates which were once held there. This talk looks at these fascinating documents which represent an early attempt to introduce a form of civil registration of births.

Summer of '69 Jul 17, 2009

Show notes

A look back at the year in which Neil Armstrong took his 'giant leap for mankind', Concorde continued its flight test programme and the hippy culture reached its zenith with the age of the pop festival. However, the summer of '69 also saw Harold Wilson's government wrestling with difficult issues such as the sending of British troops to Northern Ireland. This illustrated talk explores the British take on the summer of '69, using examples from public records to shed light on this eventful time.

Royal Naval medals: an introduction Jul 10, 2009

Show notes

This talk discusses the Royal Naval medal rolls held by The National Archives in record series ADM 171, and explains how to interpret the most commonly used codes and abbreviations found in them. It also demonstrates how the medal rolls can be used to locate other records relating to an individual's Royal Naval service.

Genius on trial: key sources relating to Oscar Wilde at The National Archives Jul 03, 2009

Show notes

The arrest and subsequent imprisonment of Oscar Wilde was one of the most sensational and controversial episodes of the late Victorian era, with far-reaching social and cultural implications. This talk presents the key documents held by The National Archives on Oscar Wilde, and uses them to tell the story of the events which culminated in 1895 in his three trials and a sentence of two years' imprisonment with hard labour.

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