Britain 1689-1815

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EuroDocs > History of the United Kingdom: Primary Documents > 1689 - 1815


History through 1689

Over 20,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs and other items from museums, libraries and record offices in Wales.
(Medieval to 20th century; facsimiles and photographs)
A documentation project of Powys County, Wales
(Medieval to present; facsimiles, Latin and Welsh transcriptions and English transcriptions and translations)
Charters, please and inquisitions in several volumes.
(447-1721; Latin eBook)
JISC-funded project bringing together four searchable databases of Anglo-Saxon sources.
ASChart and eSawyer: Anglo-Saxon charters (6th-11th centuries)
Langscape: Anglo-Saxon estate boundaries and related data 8th-18th centuries.
PASE: Records of inhabitants of England (6th-11th centuries)
(6th to 18th centuries; manuscripts & transcriptions)
Books, laws, treaties.
(600-1799; Russian transcriptions)
276 documents from the earliest age.
(1080-1885; English; eBook)
Picture archive containing nearly 18,000 digitised images of medieval stained glass in Great Britain.
(12th - 20th centuries; images and descriptions)
For High Treason and Misdemeanors From the Earliest Period. In 34 volumes.
(1163-1820; English)
Relating to tithes
(1204-1825; English; eBook)
Database of legal decisions. Documents are found in PDF format.
(1220-1873; English)
Searchable database containing the proceedings of the Scottish parliament from the first surviving act of 1235 to the union of 1707.
(1235-1707; manuscripts and translations)
  • Select Cases Concerning the Law Merchant
Volume I (1270-1638)
Volume II (1239-1633)
Volume III (1251-1779)
(1239-1779; English and Latin)
An impressive local history collection, comprising church, state, estate and personal records.
(1375 - 1854; transcriptions)
Claims made at coronations. Includes the reigns of Richard II to George II.
(ca 1377-1727; English eBook)
Volume I, from Richard II to George II
(1377-1760; English; eBook)
Database of manuscripts. Search or browse here.
(1450-1720; manuscripts)
Historical documentation displayed by various themes and date ranges.
(1485 - 1714; facsimiles, transcriptions and images)
Accounts of the toll which the king of Denmark levied on shipping through the Sound between Sweden and Denmark.
Important sources for research on economic and maritime trade history in Northern Europe.
(1497-1857; searchable datasets - registration may be required to view results)
120.000 portraits of famous British men and women from the 16th Century to the present day.
Explore the collection in a variety of ways.
(16th century - present; image facsimiles)
A collection of primary documents from the Internet Modern History Sourcebook.
(16th - 18th centuries; transcriptions)
From Bodleian Library at University of Oxford.
Database of over 30,000 ballads. Browse or perform an advanced search.
Thematic ballad collections.
Also includes illustrations.
(16th to 20th century; images, lyrics, and sound files)
Huge and exemplary website combining a searchable database of wills and testaments
with full transcripts of the originals and some sample facsimiles.
Includes auxiliary helps such as guides to handwriting and to Scottish occupations.
(1500-1901; facsimiles and transcripts)
Searchable database of prints and illustrations from early modern Britain.
(1540-1700; image facsimiles, descriptions and commentaries)
Searchable database of principal records of clerical careers from over 50 archives in England and Wales.
(1540-1835)
A collection of contemporary documents and lists.
(1546-1817; transcriptions)
A project of the Edinburgh University Library
(1550-1740; facsimiles).
A project of the National Library of Scotland
(1560-1928; facsimiles)
Includes extensive official and private records of Parliament, and the urban history of London, Glasgow, Cardiff and other major cities.
From British History Online.
(17th century, transcriptions)
A collection documenting Sir Isaac Newton's writings and ideas, consisting primarily of letters to and from 17th and 18th century scientists.
(17th-18th centuries; facsimiles)
(17th-18th centuries; transcriptions)
Digitized key books and maps relating to specimens held in the Geological Collections of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
The collection can be searched by title, subject, or name.
(17th-19th centuries; book and manuscript facsimiles)
A part of the University of Missouri Library's Digital Library.
(17th-19th centuries; full-text searchable database of facsimiles)
An online exhibit of the Parliamentary Archives including primary documents and other records.
(1600-1807; facsimile images, commentary and instructional modules)
Includes poor laws, various acts and amendments, lists, maps, and more.
(1601-1900; facsimiles and transcriptions)
Political pamphlets "from 1642, through the Civil War period, the Standing Army Controversy, the struggles for reform in the 1780s and 1790s, and the Reform Bill of 1832."
Browse by subject, title, author, and publication date.
(1641-1894; English facsimiles)
Includes works by over two dozen 18th century contemporaries
Compiled by Luminarium
(1660-1785; English descriptions)
Cambridge University Library holds the largest and most important collection of the scientific works of Isaac Newton (1642-1727). They range from his early papers and College notebooks through to the ground-breaking Waste Book and his own annotated copy of the first edition of the Principia.
(1665-1727; facsimile)
Fully searchable transcripts of over 100,000 criminal trials
held in London's central criminal court.
A joint project of the University of Sheffield and the University of Hertfordshire.
(1674-1834, facsimiles & transcriptions with background essays)
Over 100 documents on the history of Jacobitism and the Jacobite kings.
Digitized by Noel S. McFerran as a part of The Jacobite Heritage.
(1680-1861; transcriptions with modernised spelling)
An extensive collection of printed British official publications.
Previously digitised EPPI and BOPCRIS papers, with some additional non-Parliamentary publications which have been scanned by the in-house Hartley Library Digitisation Unit (LDU).

Continuation of the Reign of the House of Stuart (1689-1707)

Most important writings of English philosopher John Locke.
(1689; English)
Important document on religious toleration.
(1689; English)
(1689; transcription)
Treatise by Algernon Sydney.
(1689; English)
Act extending freedom of worship to most Protestants.
(1689; English)
Together with her letters and those of kings James II and William III to the electress, Sophia of Hanover
(1689-1693; English transcriptions)
(9 April 1689; Russian translation)
Including her ill-fated correspondence with lover Count Königsmarck.
(1690s; English transcriptions)
Primary documentation on individual social histories of the less-than-famous and even the infamous.
A unified database of 240,000 manuscripts from eight archives and fifteen datasets.
(1690-1800; searchable database for manuscript facsimiles and transcriptions)
Journal of the founder of the Quakers.
(13 January 1691; English)
"Displayed here is an open letter, known as a 'letter patent' by William III and Mary II, prescribing regulations for the conduct of business of the East India Company. "
From the British Library
(1693; facsimile)
Journeying in stormy seas from Goa to Portugal in 1686, the ship crashes against the rocks and is destroyed.
From the British Library
(1693; facsimile)
Sometime Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, wherein the history of the Church and the Reformation of it, during the primacy of the said archbishop are greatly illustrated; and many singular matters relating thereunto
Volume II
(1694; English transcriptions)
Work of John Locke.
(1695; English)
Collected works of the important theologian.
(1697-1771; English)
Illustrative of the domestic and foreign politics of England, from the peace of Ryswick to the accession of Philip V. of Spain
(1697-1700; English transcriptions)
Open-source digital access to Georgian papers held in the Royal Archives and the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.
Descriptions and digitised images of material date from the reigns of George III to William IV.
(1700-1837; personal letters, diaries, account books and records of the Royal Household)
Digitization in process 2017-2020.
Includes records of proceedings in Parliament, higher clergy, office holders in central government and the Survey of London.
From British History Online
(18th century, transcriptions)
  • Eighteenth Century Human Rights Documents
King's Bench libel papers for the prosecution, trial and punishment of John Wilkes
Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man, being an Answer to Mr Burke's attack on the French Revolution"
"The Associated Friends of the Constitution and of the People"
(18th century; facsimiles)
Government and company documents regarding English and French interests.
(18th-19th centuries; searchable facsimiles)
Collection recording over 200 years of organising and campaigning by ordinary men and women.
Browse the collection.
(18th-20th centuries; facsimiles, images and descriptions)
Collection of broadsides related to social movements and cultural norms in the U.K. and Ireland in late 18th- and early 20th- centuries, mostly early 19th century.
From University of Mississipi library.
(late 18th century - early 20th century; English facsimiles)
These papers throw a vivid light on the role of the British state in encouraging invention and discovery, on the energetic culture of technical ingenuity in the long eighteenth century, and on many aspects of exploration and maritime travel in the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic.
From the University of Cambridge
(18-19th century; facsimiles)
(31 December 1701; transcription)
From the journals of British Admiral Sir George Rooke, recounting battles against the French and Spanish horses.
Digitized by David Stewart of Hillsdale College.
(17 - 23 October, 1702; transcriptions)
Important preacher and associate of George Whitefield.
(1703-1791; English)

A New United Kingdom (1707-1755)

"Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713) was the second of four great wars for empire fought among France and England and their Indian allies. "
Facsimile found here at History Now
(1708; English transcription)
Being the journal of Captain Woodes Rogers, Master Mariner
(1708-1711; English transcription)
Posthumously published work of Sir Matthew Hale.
(1713; English)
The statutes, constitutions, canons, rubricks and articles, of the Church of England, methodically digested under their proper heads.
(1713; English facsimile)
This preacher was instrumental in spreading the Great Awakening in the British Empire.
(1714-1770; English)
Books such as these hint at the vast amount of sugar that was being imported to Britain at this time..This page contains one of his case studies - the Duke of Beaufort supposedly lived to a ripe old age by eating large quantities of sweets after dinner every night for at least 40 years.
From the British Library
(1715; English facsimile)
See also Letters written during her travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa
As wife of the British ambassador in Turkey, she was the first women to write secularly on the the Muslim Orient; she also introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain and wrote in a way that questioned the modern views of women as intellectually and socially lesser.
(beginning 1716; English transcription)
A sermon preach'd before the King at the Royal Chapel at St James's. "In all great Revolutions of states and kingdoms... we must consider what concern we ourselves have in the lasting effects or consequences of them."
(1716; English transcription)
Three precedents of persecution, rebellion, and priestcraft, consider'd : in a sermon preached November 5, 1717 by Thomas Bradbury
(1717; English transcription)
Caricatures of French stereotypes by the English, and vice versa.
(1720-1815; facsimiles)
Treating Of the different Kinds of Value, Of the Ballances of Trade, Of Exchange, Of Manufactures, Of Companies, And shewing the Pernicious Consequences of Credit, and that it destroys the Purpose of National Trade
(1720; English transcription)
Deputy-Lieutenant of the Tower of London during the reign of George I
  • EyeWitness Accounts to History
A London Hanging, 1726
Joining the British Navy, 1793
The Death of Lord Nelson, 1805
"Shanghaied," 1811
In cooperation with EyeWitness to History
(English transcription)
"During the 1700s, those found guilty of murder, rape and treason, but also of lesser offences such as poaching, burglary and criminal damage, could all find themselves on the way to the hangman’s noose."
From the British Library
(1725; English facsimile)
His witty and malicious account of the personalities, politics and intrigues of the royal household.
(1727-1737; English transcription)
By Horace Walpole
(1727-1760; English transcription)
By Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke
From the Internet History Sourcebook
(1730-1754; English transcription)
A searchable journal that ran for almost 200 years.
(1731-1907; facsimiles)
As likewise, an account of the houses of Baux and Chalons and original letters of King William, while prince of Orange.
(1734; English transcription)
With some memoirs of his family, never publish'd before, and the account of the election, and ceremonies observed of swearing in of a new lord mayor, for the remaining part of the year / by an Impartial hand.
(1741; English facsimile)
"Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, human ‘curiosities’ were exhibited for the entertainment of the general public. The exhibits included people with physical disabilities or those from overseas who were thought to look ‘different’ or ‘exotic’."
From the British Library
(1742; English facsimile)
National anthem of the United Kingdom. One of the oldest in the world.
(1745; English)
With first-person accounts and commentary.
(1750-1832; transcriptions)
With accounts of eyewitnesses and participants, plus commentary.
(1750-1900; transcriptions)
Local and trade directories valuable for local and family history.
Browsable by location, decade, or keyword on the left side of the webpage.
(1750-1919; facsimiles)
(October 1750; transcription)
"In this extract magistrate Henry Fielding describes how London’s twisting alleys and lanes provided the perfect ‘concealment’ for criminals."
From the British Library
(1751; English facsimile)
Historically important early dictionary of the English language by Samuel Johnson.
(15 April 1755; English)

The Powerful British Empire (1756-1799)

An Introduction to the Political State of Great Britain (1756)
The False Alarm (1770);
Thoughts on the Late Transactions Respecting Falkland's Islands (1771);
The Patriot (1774), and Taxation No Tyranny (1775)
From Frank Lynch's Samuel Johnson website.
(1756-1775; English transcriptions)
Collection of political caricatures by British artist James Gillray.
From Collections at Princeton University Digital Library.
(1756-1815; English facsimiles)
The subject of this address is an event of much higher importance, no less than the entire overthrow of Nabob Suraj-ud-Daulah, and the placing of Meer Jaffier on the throne.
From the Internet History Sourcebook
(1757; English transcription)
A reference work that records and analyzes the major events, developments, and trends from around the world.
(1758-1907; facsimiles)
Constitutional documents, treaties, and other primary sources regarding English and French interests in Canada.
(1760 to the present; transcriptions)
Also a List of the Claims of Several Persons to do Service at the Coronation, and an Account of Their Majesties Entertainment at Guildhall, on the Lord Mayor’s Day following.
(1760; English facsimile)
(1760-1820; English transcriptions)
Being the journals of Mrs. Papendiek, assistant keeper of the wardrobe and reader to Her Majesty
(beginning 1761; English transcriptions)
The Cherokees were generally more friendly with the English, but the other two Indian nations were dominated by the Spanish and French.
(1761; English transcription)
Influential legal treatise by Sir William Blackstone.
(1765-1769; English)
(1765-1783; transcriptions)
This letter is from James Cook to Philip Stephens, Secretary of the Admiralty. Cook wrote it just before he set off in HMS Endeavour on the first of his famous voyages of exploration.
(1768; facsimile)
  • The Diary and Letters of Madame d'Arblay (Frances Burney)
A famed English satirical novelist who became well acquainted with Queen Charlotte and her daughters.
1768-1778
1778-1840
(1768-1840; English transcriptions)
(1768-1783; English transcriptions)
In 1773 the British government took over some responsibility for ruling British India. The "Regulating Act" set up a governor-general and council nominated partly by the East India Company and partly by the government.
From the Internet History Sourcebook
(1773; English transcription)
Regarding the American acquisitions
(22 March 1775; transcription)
Manuscript petition (7 p.) signed by forty-six members of the Second Continental Congress on July 8, 1775, asking King George III to use his authority and influence to address grievances and restore harmony in the government's relations with the American colonies. The petition, drafted by John Dickinson, is considered the colonies' final effort to avert revolution against Great Britain. The document is also known as the Olive Branch Petition.
From the New York Public Library
(8 July 1775; English facsimile)
King George III's reaction to the American colonists.
(23 August 1775; English transcription)
"This is a description in his journal of an encounter with cannibals from 1775, near the end of his second voyage of discovery on the ships Resolution and Adventurer."
From the British Library
(1775; English facsimile)
Court milliner and modiste during the reign of King George the Third and his consort Queen Charlotte
(beginning ca 1777; English transcriptions)
"Letters" show his admiration for the tolerance and freedom of speech in England, which it was his greatest service to strive to introduce into his own country.
From the Internet History Sourcebook
(1887; English transcription)
Being a record of certain reminiscences, letters, and journals in the life of Lieut.-Gen. Sir Herbert Taylor who at various stages in his career had acted as private secretary to King George III., to Queen Charlotte, and to King William IV.
(1780-1829; English transcriptions)
America is lost! Must we fall beneath the blow? Or have we resources that may repair the mischief?
(1780s; English transcription)
”Dr. James Thacher served with the Continental Army and published his account of the surrender.”
EyeWitness to History
(1781; English transcription)
A collection of numerous treaties and documents from the Avalon Project.
(1782-1863; English transcriptions)
Collected works of the English political philosopher.
(1783-1834; English)
This petition by workers in Leeds (a major center of wool manufacture in Yorkshire) appeared in a local newspapers in 1786. They are complaining about the effects of machines on the previously well-paid skilled workers.
From the Internet History Sourcebook
(1786; English transcription)
"At a Meeting held for the Purpose of taking the Slave Trade into consideration, it was resolved that the said Trade was both impolitick and unjust."
From the British Library Timeline
(1787; English facsimile)
Searchable collection of 1400 prints from British and European publications from the period of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
(1789-1815; facsimile images)
Speech by William Wilberforce, a famous abolitionist in parliament.
(12 May 1789; English)
Published in an English newspaper called The World, a few days after the event took place.
From the British Library Timeline
(1789; English facsimile)
On the morning of 28th April 1789, first mate Fletcher Christian and 12 of the crew staged a mutiny. They took over the ship. They set Bligh and 18 men adrift.
See a page from the logbook of the HMS Bounty]
(1790; English transcription)
From the Rare Books and Special Collections Reading Room
(1790; English facsimile)
From Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
(1790; English transcription)
Searchable full-text database of the Masson Papers, digitised by McGill University.
(1790-1820; searchable facsimiles with added transcriptions)
Pamphlets/broadsides from the Romantic and Victorian eras. Collection includes "newspapers, diaries, letters, photographs, and maps."
(1790-1859; English facsimiles)
This document is from the rulebook of a London workhouse, and lists the food on offer to inmates.
From the British Library Timeline
(1791; English facsimile)
"In it he defended the values of the Revolution - those of ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’ (the French for 'liberty, equality and brotherhood')."
From the British Library Timeline
(1791; English facsimile)
Sermon by Reverend William Huntington.
(1791; English)
(1792; Transcription)
Treatise by political 0opher William Goodwin.
(1793; English)
Here is letter he sent in response to a request from George III of Britain (r. 1760-1820) for trade privileges. In 1793, while Britain was in the midst of the French Revolutionary situation in Europe, China retained its freedom to act as it wished.
From the Internet History Sourcebook
(1793; English transcription)
This account of French King Louis XVI's execution is from 'London Packet or New Lloyd's Evening Post.'
From the British Library Timeline
(1793; English facsimile)
Book about one of the first visits of a Pacific Islander to England
(1795; English facsimile)
"Nelson, who died at the naval battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, was one of the most successful and famous of British fleet commanders."
From The War Times Journal
(1797-1805; English transcriptions)
As it affects the future improvement of society
(1798; English transcription)
Perodical by the Opposition Part, modeled after Anti-Jacobins, against the union of Ireland and Britain
(1798-1799; English facsimiles)
British literature and documents collection from the Munich City Library
In cooperation with Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum
(18th-19th century; facsimiles; German and English)
With interesting reminiscences of King George the Third and Queen Charlotte, with whom she was acquainted.
(late 18th century; English transcription)

Union with Ireland & Napoleonic Wars (1800-1815)

Includes Ordnance Survey maps, records of higher clergy, and the Survey of London and other sources relating to civic government and urbanisation.
From British History Online
(19th century, transcriptions)
Historical documentation displayed by various themes and date ranges.
(19th century; facsimiles, transcriptions and images)
Digital collection of information about Britain's localities as they have changed over time.
Information comes from census reports, historical gazetteers, travellers' tales and historic maps.
(19th - 20th centuries; maps, reports, transcriptions)
Interspersed with original letters from the late Queen Caroline, the Princess Charlotte, and from various other distinguished persons.
(early 19th century; English transcription)
Documents related to the union of Ireland and England.
(1800; English facsimiles)
An Investigation of the Cause by Thomas Robert Malthus
(1800; English transcription)
On the coronation oath, with His Lordship's answers; and the letters of the Rt. Hon. William Pitt to His late Majesty, with His Majesty's answers
(pre 1801; English transcription)
200,000 pages of census and registration material for the British Isles with a wealth of textual and statistical material.
(1801-1937; searchable data files, essays and analysis)
(1803-2004; English)
"...The French 74 gun ship of the line Redoutable engaged the British 100 gun warships Victory and Temeraire, nearly capturing Nelson's own flagship (HMS Victory) before being beaten by the combined firepower of the British ships."
From The War Times Journal
(1805; English translation)
Facsimiles of Monthly Repository (1806-1837) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Northern Star (1838-1852), Leader (1850-1860), English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Tomahawk (1867-1870). and Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890).
Ability to search and browse.
(1806-1890; English facsimiles)
With letters of the Princess of Wales.
(1806; English transcription)
  • The works of the late Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke
Collected writings of important Tory leader.
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8
(1809; English)
Treaty ending war between Britain and Sweden.
(17 August 1812; English)
Treaty ending war between Britain and Russia.
(17 August 1812; English)
Observations on the effects of the Corn Laws.
(1814; English transcription)
(1814; English transcription)
”George Gleig was part of the British force that attacked and burned Washington…We join Gelig's story as the British send a truce party to negotiate with the Americans.”
EyeWitness to History
(1814; English transcription)
Excerpts from this important peace treaty between Great Britain and Sweden on one side and Denmark and Norway on the other.
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
(1814; Swedish)
Treaty concluding the war of 1812 between Britain and the United States.
(December 24, 1814; English)
Between the Territories of The United States and of His Britannick Majesty.
(1815; English transcription)
between the United States and Britain.
(1815; English transcription)
Inquiry into the nature and progress of rent
(1815; English transcription)
This letter, published in the Caledonian Mercury on 3 July 1815 gives a soldier's account of the battle.
From the British Library Timeline
(1815; English facsimie)
To mark the bicentenary of Waterloo, this Digital Library collection presents a sample of such material, encompassing military drill-books, manuscript letters, hand-coloured engravings, battlefield plans, printed mementos and tourist reminiscences.
(1815; facsimiles)
Discover a wealth of original sources from the Restoration and 18th century period, including literary manuscripts, letters, first editions, playbills, maps and prints.
From the British Library
(facsimiles)

Other Collections

Topographic Maps, Boundary Maps, and Land Use Maps of Historic Britain.
A subpage of A Vision of Britain through Time.
A large collection of facsimiles of a variety of historical events, along with classroom discussions of these works.
(1066-today)
  • The Statutes of the Realm
Vol. 1, 1101-1301
Vol. 2, 1377-1503/04
Vol. 3, 1509/10-1545
Vol. 4, Part I and Part II, 1547-1624
Vol. 5, 1625-1680
Vol. 6, 1685-1694
Vol. 7, 1695/6-1701
Vol. 8, 1702-1707
Vol. 9, 1708-1713
Vol. 10
Vol. 11
(facsimiles with English translations)
A collection of documents and maps
(facsimiles)
Includes letters from multiple women such as Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots, Charlotte Brontë, and a maidservant.
(15th-19th century; English transcription)
Digitized from the collections of the Library of Congress.
Collection includes photographs, political cartoons, and posters.
(Searchable database of facsimiles and images)
Historical documentation displayed by various themes and date ranges.
(20th century; facsimiles, transcriptions and images)

EuroDocs > History of the United Kingdom: Primary Documents > 1689 - 1815



EuroDocs Creator: Richard Hacken, European Studies Librarian,
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
Feel free to get in touch: Hacken @ byu.edu