On the Record at The National Archives

Muck-spreading, rat-gassing, carrot-pulling — all in a day’s work for a land girl! You probably know the land girls as plucky young women who rolled …

In this episode, we're digging deeper into the history of the Women's Land Army, using The National Archives’ unique collections to reveal …

Reporters, cameras, speeches, and even songs publicised the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush when it docked at Tilbury on June 22, 1948. The ship carried 1,027 people on board, including many passengers from the …

In this episode, we highlight the experiences of the Windrush Generation, who travelled to Britain between 1948 and 1971.

We explore their challenges and successes, and their influence on British society to mark the …

From Richard III’s lavish wardrobe to Queen Victoria’s chaotic ceremony, coronations have a rich and fascinating history. For some, a coronation is a once-in-a-lifetime public event; for the new king or queen, it is a …

Take a closer look at records of propaganda in our collections. 

In this episode, we have four stories of deliberate attempts by governments to …

In this episode, we’re looking at propaganda in our collections. 

We share four stories of deliberate attempts by governments to influence the …

By 1800, there were 300,000 Africans enslaved in the British colony of Jamaica. Despite harsh punishments and low odds of success, communities among …

What happens when treasonous plots fail? What happens when innocent people get pulled into dangerous schemes? In this episode, we explore the story …

The history of English monarchs is a tale brimming with assassination attempts. Queen Elizabeth I thwarted many attempts to replace her with a …

Delve into centuries of treason in this three part mini-series.

Join us as we uncover stories from across the globe, from plots to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I to enslaved Africans in the Caribbean fighting for their …

1,000 years of history, 1,000 years of stories to uncover.

The National Archives presents On the Record, a podcast that unearths the real life …

The Colonial Office was the government department responsible for Britain’s colonies at various points throughout the 18th to 20th centuries. It …

In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at Britain’s Colonial Office records. This was the government department responsible for Britain’s …

In this episode, fashion historian Amber Butchart discusses the fashion movements of the 1920s, from rising hemlines to ready-to-wear fashion. Then we tell the story of Kate Meyrick, the Soho Nightclub Queen. Meyrick’s …

In this episode, we continue our whirlwind tour through the 1920s by introducing you to some of the fascinating people and movements of the era.

We tell the story of two men trying to make a better life in England. …

In this first episode, historian Kate Williams looks at the era's tensions and shifting values, revealing social progress and a spirit of innovation coexisting with immense poverty and unrest; then we look at the …

In our latest three-part podcast series, we step into the world of 1920s Britain and experience what life was really like, beyond the ‘Roaring …

In this episode, we bring you four stories that span two hundred years of British history. Two women leave their families to make a new life together in Wales in 1780, a Manchester drag ball in 1880, a secret gathering …

The National Archives’ collections offer a valuable insight into how the government interacted with and viewed LGBTQ+ communities in the past. In …

There are over 900 years of immigration records available for research here at The National Archives. Over the next three episodes, we’re exploring the rich history of migration in the 20th century. 

In 1962, the …

There are over 900 years of immigration records available for research here at The National Archives. Over the next three episodes, we’re exploring the rich history of migration in the 20th century. 

In this episode, …

There are over 900 years of immigration records available for research here at The National Archives. Over the next three episodes, we’re exploring the rich history of migration in the 20th century.

This first episode …

There are over 900 years of immigration records available for research here at The National Archives. In our latest three-part podcast series, we’re exploring the rich history of migration in the 20th century.  

This …

In the aftermath of war and pandemic, approximately 8.5 million householders in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man completed …

In June 1921, approximately 8.5 million householders in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man completed the census. For just about …

In the 1940s, the British government discovered the power of film to inform, promote, and persuade the public, and they created the Central Office of Information to create strategic media campaigns on all kinds of …

In the 1940s, the British government discovered the power of film to inform, promote, and persuade the public, and created the Central Office of Information. In this episode, we’re silencing our phones, dimming the …

On 30 June 1922 the Public Record Office of Ireland was destroyed by fire in the opening engagement of the Irish Civil War. Historians have long considered the 700 years of records that the building contained as …

On 30 June 1922 the Public Record Office of Ireland was destroyed by fire in the opening engagement of the Irish Civil War. Historians have long considered the 700 years of records that the building contained as …

In the final episode of this series on our most intriguing and significant trial records, we’re taking a closer look at the evidence. First, we examine pieces of courtroom evidence like a red suit seized from …

In the second episode in our mini-series on trial records, we look at the long and colourful history of trial by jury. First, we hear about the …

In the first installment of a three-part series on our trial records, we’re examining the history of trials by ordeal and combat. This episode has witch trials, defamation lawsuits from accused witches, myth-busting, …

In our latest three-part podcast series, we are exploring stories from our collection which tell the history of trials, from witch trials and trial …

Over the last 600 years, Britain has faced its fair share of public health crises. In this episode, we are investigating four deadly pandemics and …

Over the centuries, Britain has faced its fair share of public health crises and recently we have seen an increase in interest in our records about them. As we near the one year mark since the first UK lockdown due to …

Illustrator Louis Wain changed the way we think about cats and dedicated his life to improving their welfare. Richard Whittington is the real man behind the story of Dick Whittington and his Cat, and his 15th century …

A British spy named Pearl jumps from a plane under cover of night. A Thai shopkeeper named Boonpong decides to risk everything for strangers from the other side of the world. A knight named George defies a Roman Emperor …

In 1921, W.E.B. Du Bois (the African American thinker and NAACP co-founder) sent a letter to Winston Churchill with a rather interesting request. A closer look at this letter illuminates the Pan-African and …

In this three-part series we’re exploring stories in our collection with the theme of heroic deeds.

As our long-time listeners will know, we like to …

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” That iconic Churchill line has framed our remembrance of the Battle of Britain for 80 years. But it’s also been said that the few were …

To mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain we have joined forces with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Air Force Museum to share some lesser-known stories of Britain’s great defence of our skies.

Refugee Week is an annual event that celebrates the contributions of refugees to Britain. Many refugee stories have found their way onto our repository shelves. In this special episode, we’re sharing just a few of them. …

To mark Refugee Week we are sharing just a few refugee stories from our vast collection. In a special episode we will also be going beyond the …

In 1936, Edward VIII abdicated the throne of England to be with the woman he loved. It’s widely considered to be one of the greatest love stories of the 20th century. But is it really? A century earlier, an elderly …

In 1588, Queen Elizabeth received a letter from her friend the Earl of Leicester just a few days before he died. She kept the letter by her bed for the next 15 years. In 1919, a Jamaican sailor named James Gillespie was …

A love struck medieval clerk writing out romantic lyrics as he daydreams, a gay man in the 1930s who tears up a letter to his lover to hide it from …

With Love. In our latest mini-series we’re re-reading famous love letters preserved in our archives and reading between the lines of less obviously romantic records to discover the love-stories of everyday people from …

In 1965, Britain passed the Race Relations Act, which made it illegal to refuse service on the basis of race. To some, it looked like progress, while some anti-racist activists were critical. In this episode, we’re …

The campaign for women’s suffrage is often characterised by its militant factions and leaders like Emmeline Pankhurst who used bombs and destruction of property to get their message across. That characterisation is …

In 1990, a march in protest of the government’s poll tax turned violent as police and marchers clashed. The Poll Tax Riots became one of the most …

What would you do to change the status quo? In our newest three-part series we're sharing stories of protest. Using the records in our archive, we've …

The Cambridge Five are perhaps the most infamous spy ring of the 20th century. They worked their way into the upper ranks of British Intelligence in order to spy for the Soviets, betraying their country and causing the …

The exploits of T.E. Lawrence are legendary. Thanks to the famous film Lawrence of Arabia, millions around the world know about his time spying and fighting in the Middle East during the First World War...or at least …

Right now, as you read this description, a spy is gathering intelligence, reading classified information, and hiding in plain sight. But what do spies actually look like? What do they do? What motivates them to enter …

History is everywhere in our popular culture. But the truth is harder to find.

On the Record is a podcast by The National Archives that takes a …