Britain 1816-1918

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EuroDocs > History of the United Kingdom: Primary Documents > 1816 - 1918


History through 1815

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)
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)
Database of legal decisions. Documents are found in PDF format.
(1220-1873; English)
An impressive local history collection, comprising church, state, estate and personal records.
(1375 - 1854; transcriptions)
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)
From Bodleian Library at University of Oxford.
Database of over 30,000 ballads. Browse or search here.
(16th to 20th century; images, lyrics, and sound files)
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)
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)
The House of Lords Journal is the corrected archive edition of 'Minutes of Proceedings', the formal record of House of Lords business for a given day. The volumes of the series published on British History Online cover the periods 1509-1793 and 1830-2.
(English transcriptions)
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 National Library of Scotland
(1560-1928; facsimiles)
A part of the University of Missouri Library's Digital Library.
(17th-19th centuries; full-text searchable database of facsimiles)
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)
Includes poor laws, various acts and amendments, lists, maps, and more.
(1601-1900; facsimiles and transcriptions)
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)
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).
Selection of images reflecting literary and cultural history and the role of women during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
(18th-19th centuries; facsimile images)
Government and company documents regarding English and French interests.
(18th-19th centuries; searchable facsimiles)
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)
Local and trade directories valuable for local and family history.
(1750 - 1919; facsimiles)
Constitutional documents, treaties, and other primary sources regarding English and French interests in Canada.
(1760 to the present; transcriptions).
Including the Motives to this Enterprize, the Method in Which it Was Accomplished, and the Benefits That Have Accrued from Thence to that Country, Our United Company Trading to the East Indies, and to the British Nation
Manuscript from Early Books and Special Collections Reading Room
(1760; English facsimile)
Our exhibition tells the story of Captain James Cook’s three world-changing voyages through original documents, many of which were produced by the artists, scientists and sailors on board the ships.”
In cooperation with The British Library
(1768-1779; photographs; facsimiles)
A collection of numerous treaties and documents from the Avalon Project.
(1782-1863; English transcriptions)
Pamphlets/broadsides from the Romantic and Victorian eras. Collection includes "newspapers, diaries, letters, photographs, and maps."
(1790-1859; English facsimiles)
Third down in the article is a love letter to the queen
(19th century; English transcription)
Historical documentation displayed by various themes and date ranges.
(19th century; facsimiles, transcriptions and images)
The correspondence of well-known English and American authors of the 19th century.
(English transcription)
A photo exhibition of the British Library (though not all images were taken in Britain).
(19th century; image facsimiles with annotations)
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)
British Empire Throughout the World Exhibited in One View
(19th Century, map)
A collection of primary documents from the Internet Modern History Sourcebook.
(19th century; transcriptions and translations)
  • Nineteenth Century Human Rights Documents
Ned Lud's proclamation
Letter about the negative reaction of planters to the abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade
Letter from "The Voice of the Multitude"
Letter from anonymous labourers to the gentlemen of Ashill, Norfolk
Poster regarding a number of escaped prisoners arrested for 'combining' as a 'trade union' to raise wages
Letter threatening to burn the property of farmers who were believed to pay low wages or use labour saving machinery
Poster for a Staffordshire coal miners' union public meeting
A satirical print entitled "The Political Drama"
"The Glorious Working of the Whigs depicting 'Grinding the Poor'"
A page from 'The Northern Star', a Chartist newspaper
Poster for a 'Chartist' public meeting at Merthyr Tydvil
(facsimiles)
Project containing 40,000 browseable pages of newsprint digitised from microfilm gather from multiple collections.
(19th to 20th centuries; English newspaper facsimiles)
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)
Provincial historical documents regarding English and French interests.
Digitised by the National Library of Canada.
(19th-20th centuries; transcriptions)
Transcriptions of works by British women writers of the 19th century.
(19th century; transcriptions)
Provides illustrations, advertisements, excerpts from contemporary articles and books.
(19th century; Transcriptions and facsimiles)
A growing collaborative collection of Darwin's vast library, including his personal notes, marginalia and other annotations.
(19th century; facsimiles of Darwin's annotated books, journals and pamphlets)
Two of the sketchbooks of the artist who accompanied Charles Darwin on the voyage of the Beagle.
(19th century; image facsimiles and descriptions)
The British Library shares posters, pamphlets, diaries, political reports, and illustrations that tell
about this seven-decade stretch of the 19th century.
(19th century; posters, pamphlets, diaries, and political reports)
” Over 2,000 adverts and posters from Victorian daily life, collected by the stage magician and ventriloquist, Henry Evans - Evanion to his audience.”
In cooperation with The British Library
(1801-1914; photographs; facsimiles)
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)
Digital version of the Hansard, the official printed transcripts of the debates that took place in the British Parliament from the 19th century onwards.
Search by keyword or browse by volume, just the Lords Sittings, Commons Sittings or Westminster Hall Sittings.
(1803-2006; transcriptions)
(1803-2004; English)
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)
Regarding the British territories in Southeast Asia.
(1808-1890; English transcription)
Letters of Thomas Carlyle and his wife, Jane Welsh Carlyle.
Database assembled by Duke University Press to be browsed or searched.
(1812-1857; database of full-text transcriptions)
Sections of the Victorian Web.
(1813 - 1892; transcriptions)
” Livingstone Online is a digital museum and library that allows users to encounter the written and visual legacy of the famous Victorian explorer David Livingstone (1813-1873).”
(English facsimiles; photographs)
Dealing mostly with the British Royal Navy in twentieth century combat from Pax Britannica through the 20th century.
(1815-20th century; principally lists, chronologies, images, and descriptions)

Postwar Reaction & Whig Reforms (1816-1836)

A journal of the reigns of King George IV., King William IV., and Queen Victoria. In 8 volumes.
(beginning 1818; English transcription)
British Parliamentary papers concerned with the Canadian Arctic.
Digitised and organized by the University of Manitoba.
(1818-1878; searchable facsimiles)
Includes other commentaries.
The official report into a meeting held at St Peter’s Fields, Manchester]
(16 August, 1819; English transcriptions)
Through documents from the Royal Archives, paintings and photographs from the Royal Collection, audio and film clips, learn about Queen Victoria's life and reign.
(1819-1897; English; facsimiles and photos)
Compiled chiefly from private sources of authenticity and comprising numerous interesting anecdotes of his late majesty, the royal family, nobility, etc.
(1820; English)
  • Sources on King George IV
Narrative of the visit of George IV to Scotland
The Royal Letter-Bag
A collection of loyal effusions occasioned by the visit of George IV. to Scotland
Tracts
Compiled by Christopher Newport University at Primary Sources on the Kings and Queens of England
(1820-1830; English)
  • Sources on Queen Caroline
Bill of pains and penalties against Her Majesty, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth
Letters between Princess Charlotte and her exiled mother, Queen Caroline
Queen's answers to various addresses presented to her
Speeches containing he defence of Her Majesty the Queen.
The diary of a lady-in-waiting, by Charlotte Bury
Investigation into the conduct of Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales
Memoirs of Miss C. E. Cary, written herself
The Queen's letter to the King.
The trial at large of Her Majesty, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth
Memoirs of the last days of Her late most gracious Majesty Caroline
Compiled by Christopher Newport University at Primary Sources on the Kings and Queens of England
(1820-1821; English)
In May 1820 a group of political radicals plotted to assassinate the British prime minister and his cabinet. Before they could carry out their aims, however, the conspirators were betrayed by a government spy.
From the British Library
(1820; English facsimile)
By Jospeh John Gurney, in company with Elizabeth Fry, an Englishwoman who advocated for prison reform after viewing the horrid living conditions of women prisoners.
(1820; English; book facsimile)
Regarding the death of Napoleon and the island of St. Helena
(July 30, 1821; English transcription)
Giving a geographic glimpse of London at a time just before exponential growth.
(1826; interactive and zoomable maps).
By Moyle Sherer, officer with the Border Regiment during the capture of Arroyo Drums
(1827; English)
  • Women's Experiences in the British Empire
Letter of Mary Moffat, wife of a missionary in southern Africa.
Travel Narrative of Mary Kingsley, who visited West Africa during the Age of New Imperialism
Autobiography of Buchi Emecheta, a Nigerian woman who immigrated to Britain
(1828-1986; English transcriptions)
Published in London
In cooperation with Bayerische StaatsBibliothek digital
(1829; English)
Executions were often advertised or reported in broadsides such as this one, which describes the crimes and confession of a twelve year old boy.
From the British Library Timeline
(1829; English facsimile)
This extract from the diary of social reformer Francis Place describes this punishment in all its gory detail.
From the British Library Timeline
(1829; English facsimile)
Includes Report from Committee on Sierra Leone and petitions for abolition of slavery
British History Online
(1830; English)
About the comic actress Dorothy Jordan, famous during the reign of William IV.
(1830; English)
Reform of representation and voting rules for the British Parliament.
Original manuscript version HERE
(1832; English)
Daughter of King George III. and Langravine of Hesse Homburg, written for the most part to Miss Louisa Swinburne.
(beginning 1832; English)
19th century English Newspaper online.
(1832-1835; transcriptions)
The various acts passed during the reign of William IV. For amending the representation of the people the commons house of parliament.
(1832; English transcription)
The Charles Darwin Papers in the Manuscripts Department of Cambridge University Library hold nearly the entire extant collection of Darwin’s working scientific papers...over 30,000 digitised and edited manuscript pages.
See also Darwin-Hooker Letters
(1835-1882; facsimiles)
From the Caledonian Mercury newspaper, on the six men who were arrested after "they founded the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers, demanding 10 shillings a week."
From the British Library Timeline
(1829; English facsimile)
Spoken before the House of Commons.
(4 February 1836; English transcription)
This minute book of the London Working Men’s Association...contains demands for ‘Universal Suffrage, the protection of the Ballot, Annual Parliaments, Equal representation, and no property qualification for members [of Parliament]’.
See also The People's Charter
Deportation of Chartist William Cuffay
From the British Library Timeline
(1836; English facsimile)

The Victorian Era (1837-1901)

  • Sources on Queen Victoria
A collection of the public general statutes
Chicago celebration of the Queen Victoria diamond jubilee
Leaves from the journal of our life in the Highlands
More leaves from the journal of a life in the Highlands
Letter to the Queen on the state of the monarchy
The early years of His Royal Highness the prince consort
The girlhood of Queen Victoria
The letters of Queen Victoria
The Greville memoirs
The training of a sovereign
The passing of Victoria : the poets' tribute
Two speeches at the Queen's Jubilee
Cambridge coronation festival
The coronation remembrancer
Compiled at the Christopher Newport Primary Sources: Kings and Queens collections
(1837-1901; English)
From her accession to the present time. A compendium of the history of Her Majesty's reign, told from the throne.
(1837-1881; English)
Large compilation of European primary documents. Topics include prelude to war, road to war, world at war, war poetry, home front, towards a conclusion and aftermath.
(1839-1919; English transcriptions and translations)
This article includes a letter from Lieutenant Lefroy to his sister. Lefroy was permitted to witness the disinterment of the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte and recorded the event in a plain, unvarnished tale.
(1840; transcription)
  • EyeWitness to History
Firsthand accounts of historic events
Victoria Becomes Queen, 1837
Entering the Forbidden City of Mecca, 1853
The Charge of the Light Brigade, 1854
Stanley Finds Livingstone, 1871
The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912
In cooperation with EyeWitness to History
(19th-20th century; English transcription, facsimiles)
Also provides a search of census data from 1841-1901.
An exhibition combining images and documents with census data.
(1841-1901; facsimiles and transcriptions)
Lady Florentia Sale (1790-1853), wife of Major-General Sir Robert Henry Sale, wrote a journal of her experiences during the First Afghan War.
From Women in World History
(1843; English transcription)
An early journal made available through HathiTrust.
(1817-1905; facsimiles)
"The condition of the working-class is the real basis and point of departure of all social movements of the present because it is the highest and most unconcealed pinnacle of the social misery existing in our day."
See also Factory Accidents Report
From the Marxist Internet Archive
(1845; English translation)
An early journal made available through HathiTrust.
1853-1925 full text available. 1926-1971 available to search.
From Its First Foundation to the Conquest, and From the Conquest to the Reign of King Henry VIII
(1850; English translation; eBook)
Visual details of a Victorian London landmark.
For detailed panel shots of the Great Exhibition, the first World's Fair, visit Getty Museum's "Devices of Wonder,"
and click on the exhibition scroll (right frame).
(1851; facsimiles)
Original Liverpool printing of Latter Day Saint scripture
(1851; English facsimile with Egyptian hieroglyphs)
Diary of a private who fought in the Crimean War.
(1852-1856; English transcription)
Orders, accounts, documents, reports.
(October 1853 – February 1856; English transcriptions)
Includes a sergeant's personal narrative, letters of a captain, diary entries and newspaper publications
(1853-1856; English transcriptions)
Diary kept of her husband's experience in the Crimean War. Duberly kept the diary from the British Army's departure from England in April 1854, to the Fall of Sebastopol in 1855.
Fanny Duberly was the wife of Henry Duberly, who took part in the Charge of the Light Brigade.
Also available here.
(1854-1855; English transcription)
Diaries and letters from the English side of the war.
(21 September 1854 - 19 October 1855; English transcriptions)
Great Britain and Japan signed a treaty of friendship in Nagasaki just months after Perry left the Islands. It established the relation between the two countries and secured the opening of Japan for resupply.
(1854; English transcription)
Records of some 10,000 letters, including copies, of James Mcneill Whistler's correspondence between 1855 and 1903.
Includes all the letters written by Whistler and all the letters written to him; letters mentioning Whistler are also included on a selective basis.
Find out more about the correspondence or search the online edition.
(1855-1903; transcriptions and footnotes)
Treaty ending the Crimean War.
Agreement between Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, Russia, Sardinia, and Turkey about peace, borders, war prisoners, and trade between countries.
Includes agreements about Black Sea and Danube use as well as territorial changes.
Modern Russian translation also available here.
(30 March 1856; Old Russian transcription; modern Russian translation)
Presented in both Houses of Parliament by command of her Majesty, 1857.
(London: Harrison and Sons, 1857)
(9 December 1856; English transcribed excerpts from print treaty)
This brief excerpt from her book highlights Seacole’s representation of herself as a professional relied upon by soldiers for medical treatment [during the Crimean War], her attitude towards British soldiers and the war, and the opportunities available during a 19th-century war for a determined woman.
From Women in World History
(1857; English transcription)
Map of London in 1860; the different divisions of the city are color-coded.
(1860; zoomable map)
Thomas Hill Green's statement of his liberal political philosophy.
From Hanover Historical Texts Collection.
(1861; excerpts)
From Documents Illustrating Jacobite History
Digitized by Noel S. McFerran as a part of The Jacobite Heritage.
(1861; transcriptions)
” While war was fought on American soil, the conflict had global repercussions, with Britain playing an important strategic, commercial and diplomatic role.”
The Bright Papers
The Layard Papers
The Index
In cooperation with The British Library
(1861-1865; photographs; facsimiles)
With rising unpopularity of foreigners in Japan, causing violence, the Tokugawa Shogunate and the British government agreed in 1862 to postpone of the opening of the designated ports of the 1858 Anglo-Japanese Commercial Treaty.
(1862; English transcription)
Of Alice, grand duchess of Hesse, princess of Great Britain and Ireland
(1862-1878; English)
(1862; Selected transcriptions)
by Helen Taylor.
(1867; English transcription)
"The history of the long struggle with which the name of William Wilberforce is identified, and which ended first in the abolition of the Slave Trade, and at last in the abolition of Slavery in the colonies of Great Britain, is traced in these pages..."
(1868 edition; English; book facsimile)
Speech on the principles of the Conservative Party.
(April 3, 1872; English)
He was one of five survivors of the Battle of Isandhlwana, and he took part in the later Battle of Le Cateau.
From the War Times Journal
(1879; 1814; English transcription)
Documents from the British socialist group the Fabian Society (1884-1984).
Modern Treatises of the Young Fabians (1961-2009)
(1884-2009; English transcriptions)
By Arnold Toynbee
(1884; English transcriptions)
Agreement between European powers on the partition of West Africa.
(February 26, 1885; English)
Surveying and documenting life and labour in London.
(1886-1903; transcriptions and facsimiles)
Includes MS. of the Marquis of Bath; MS. Rawlinson B. 355; Bale's Chronicle; MS. Gough London 10; MS. Tanner 2; MS. Western 30745.
(compiled 1886; English Ebook)
William Morris played a big part in the early socialist movement.
(1887; English transcription)
See also Depictions from Illustrated Police News
(1888; facsimile and transcription)
"An article by women’s rights campaigner Annie Besant in the weekly paper, The Link, described the terrible conditions of the factory...When one of the workers was then fired, an immediate full-scale strike among the match girls was sparked. "
From the British Library Timeline
(1888; facsimile)
The aim of this work is to present certain chases of life and character as described and exemplified by British letter-writers. With topics of family & friendship, and autobiographic sketches of figures like John Keats & Sir Walter Scott.
(1888; English)
Treaty between Germany and the UK regarding control of lands in Africa.
(1890; English translation)
By Ethel St. Clair Grimwood, whose husband was killed during the unrest following Britain's punishment of Senapati Tikendrajit Singh. During the Manipur Expedition (also called the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891), Mrs. Grimwood led surviving sepoys to Cachar.
From A Celebration of Women Writers
(1891; English transcription)
In the letter, written in 1894, Wilde asked Griffiths to send him a photograph "which I will keep as a memory of a charming meeting, and golden hours passed together."
(1894; English transcription)
"Although Wilde was married with two sons, he was a homosexual, something that was illegal in the UK... This is the front page of the Police News at the time of Wilde's trial in London's Bow Street."
From the British Library Timeline
(1895; facsimile)
Over 3500 hours of newsreels (may require special software).
Preview files are free; higher resolution images require payment
(1896-1970; video files)
"She insisted on thorough cleanliness, open balconies and airy wards, to counteract any hospital-generated ‘bad smells’, which she believed to cause disease."
From the British Library Timeline
(1896; facsimile)
  • British Official Documents on the Origins of the War
Multi-volume set ed. by G. P. Gooch and Harold Temperley
Vol. I, The End of British Isolation : 1897 - 1903.
Vol. II, The Anglo-Japanese Alliance and the Franco-British Entente (Facsimile digitized by BYU for Internet Archive)
Vol. III, The Testing of the Entente: 1904-1906 (Facsimile digitized by BYU for Internet Archive)
Vol. V, The Near East, the Macedonian Problem and the Annexation of Bosnia: 1903-1909 (Facsimile digitized by BYU for Internet Archive)
Vol. VII, The Agadir Crisis (Facsimile digitized by BYU for Internet Archive)
Vol. VIII, Arbitration, Neutrality and Security (Facsimile digitized by BYU for Internet Archive)
Vol. IX/1, The Balkan Wars: The Prelude; the Tripoli War (Facsimile digitized by BYU for Internet Archive)
Vol. IX/2, The Balkan Wars: The League and Turkey (Facsimile digitized by BYU for Internet Archive)
Vol. X/1, The Near and Middle East on the Eve of War (Facsimile digitized by BYU for Internet Archive)
Vol. XI, 'The Outbreak of War: June 28 - August 4 1914 (HTML transcript version)
Major Resource!
(1897-1914; English transcriptions)
William Bateson & Reginald Punnett were the founders of experimental genetics in Britain and the main advocates of Gregor Mendel's models of inheritance. The digitised notebooks...include two major sets containing records of poultry breeding and sweet pea crosses, along with notebooks recording their experiments on rabbits and on a range of plant species.
From the Cambridge Digital Library
(1898-1910; English facsimiles)
"How Britain strove for peace: A record of Anglo-German negotiations" compiled by Edward Tyas Cook, but told by "authoritative sources." Available through the Harvard University Library.
(1898-1914; English transcriptions)
In cooperation with Jstor
(19th century; facsimiles on PDF)
Contents include magazine articles, flyers, song lyrics, pamphlets, studies, and clippings, published by labor unions, women’s groups, consumers’ leagues, and government bureaus.
(late 19th-early 20th century; facsimiles)
Historical documentation displayed by various themes and date ranges.
(20th century; facsimiles, transcriptions and images).
A collection of firsthand accounts of Railway's 'London Extension', which ran between London and North Nottinghamshire between the 1890s and 1960s.
(20th century; English transcription)
A database being prepared by the National Archives.
(1901; transcribed statistics)

The Edwardian Era (1901-1914)

With contemporary footage and direct links to digitized books.
Compiled at the Christopher Newport Primary Sources: Kings and Queens collections
(1901-1910; English facsimile)
Ended the Second Boer War between the South African Republic and the Republic of the Orange Free State, on the one side, and the United Kingdom on the other.
(1902; English facsimile)
Alliance with provisions for mutual defense. This ended the period of splendid isolation when Britain refused to enter treaties.
(1902; English and Japanese transcription)
Full text of the Franco-British agreement and declaration, with a link to the Secret Articles signed at the same time.
(8 April 1904; English version taken from the 1911 Parliamentary Papers)
The notebooks kept by the soldier-poet Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) during his service in the British Army in the First World War are among the most remarkable documents of their kind, and provide an extraordinary insight into his participation in one of the defining conflicts of European history.
From the Cambridge Digital Library
(1905-1959; English facsimiles)
Armistice made during the Third Anglo-Afghan War
(1905-1919; English transcription)
Significant speech by English politician Frederick Edwin Smith.
(March 12, 1906; English)
With this treaty, Britain could trade in Yadong, Gyantse, and Gartok. Tibet was demanded to pay 7,500,000 rupees, until which time the Chumbi Valley was under British control.
(1904; English transcription)
Agreement between England and Russia about Persia.
(1907; English transcription)
With contemporary footage and direct links to digitized books from his life.
Compiled by Christopher Newport University at Primary Sources on the Kings and Queens of England
(1910-1936; English facsimile)
Containing speeches on finance, foreign affairs, home rule, and women's suffrage
(1910-1916; English)
Lectures Delivered in Queen's Hall, London
(1911; English)
A database and source material website.
Being developed by the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).
(28 January 1912; transcriptions and facsimiles)
The morse code cries for help.
From BBC News
(15 April 1912; transcription)
Speech to the House of Commons about banking.
(December 1913; English transcription)

The Great War (1914-1918)

He was one of five survivors of the Battle of Isandhlwana, and he took part in the later Battle of Le Cateau.
From the War Times Journal
(1879; 1814; English transcription)
Documenting events from before Sarajevo until after Versailles.
Major Resource!
(pre-1914 - post-1918; translations and transcriptions)
Statement by Sir Edward Grey before Parliament, including House commentary
Transcriptions including the subsequent debate on war found HERE
(1914; English facsimile)
"Soldiers sharing cigars, singing songs and walking together in no-man's-land on Christmas Day 1914 are some of the scenes described in a letter uncovered in a council's archives."
(1914; facsimile, photos and transcription)
Database of firsthand accounts
EyeWitness to History
(1914-1921; English transcription, photographs)
A collection of primary documents from the Internet Modern History Sourcebook.
(1914-1918; transcriptions and translations)
Source materials digitised by the British National Archives.
(1914-1918; transcriptions and translations)
Manual by Captain Leopold McLaglen for soldiers using bayonets during WWI
(1914; English facsimiles; photographs)
Online repository of over 4000 items of text, images, audio, and video.
The archive consists of collections of highly valued primary material from major poets of the period.
Browse the collections or use the advanced search.
(1914-1918; Facsimiles and descriptions)
An archival research resource containing a vast collection of rare magazines by and for servicemen and women of all nations during the First World War.
(1914-1919; facsimiles; English interface)
(4 August 1914-11 November 1918; images, English facsimiles)
This Section of WWI/WWW is concerned with the publication of primary documents of the Medical aspects, Military and Civilian, of World War One
(1914-1918; English)
The war diaries include details of the unit’s activities, often on a daily basis. While not personal diaries, they do often refer to individuals and in some cases offer personal insights into life (and inevitably death) on the front line.
(1914-1918)
A collection of documents concerning the war in all its aspects, so arranged as to record the events of the great struggle in which the nations are now involved, and the circumstances which led up to them. In 11 volumes.
(1914-1918; English facsimieles)
Searchable and browseable access to Cabinet papers from 1915-1981.
(1915-1981; facsimiles, commentary, images, maps)
The diaries and photographs digitised here give a vivid impression of the life of an army surgeon during the First World War, first on the Western Front, including the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Loos, and later in Salonika.
From the Cambridge Digital Library
(1915-1918; photos and facsimiles)
Multiple firsthand accounts scattered throughout the article
Made available by Liber Gentium
(1915; English)
Agreement between Great Britain and France with Russian consent planning the partition of Ottoman territories upon the conclusion of WWI.
(16 May 1916; English)
"From the original 1919 release of this first hand account of the British Navy during World War One." Selections include the Battle of Jutland.
(From The War Times Journal
(1916; English transcription)
Dispatches under Haig's command regarding British operations in WWI.
(19 May 1916 - 21 March 1919; English transcriptions)
“Lawrence was an archaeologist and mapmaker seconded to Military Intelligence... Standing in the way of his visionary [Arab] Kingdom, however, stood the Jews, the French and, as he would ultimately come bitterly to comprehend, the British establishment itself…”
On Palestine: No One There Trusts the British for Two Minutes
In cooperation with Shapell
(1917-1922; English facsimiles)
  • The Egyptian Expeditionary Force: General Allenby's Dispatch
Transcribed from the "official record of the actions of the Allied forces which fought in the Middle East and North Africa during World War One. The record covers events between July, 1917 and October, 1918, which eventually resulted in the collapse of the Ottoman defenses."
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
(1917-1918; English)
  • Fake Newspaper Reports for Propaganda
For those who spread fake news in 1917 the Germans were so evil that anything could be used as a weapon against them – including rumours and lies. But lies have consequences. During the 1930s the corpse factory [lie] was used by the Nazis as proof of British perfidy during the Great War.
The Kaiser's Ghouls
The Germans and their Dead
The Cadaver Factory
Alas! My poor Brother!
The Huns and their Dead
Learn more at the article HERE.
(1917; English facsimiles)
Scenes from WWI on footage
Compiled by EyeWitness to History
(1918; film)
The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed after World War One had ended in 1918. The treaty was signed at the vast Versailles Palace near Paris - hence its title - between Germany and the Allies.
(1918; video; English)
To celebrate 100 years of the RAF on 1st April, we have put together this comprehensive collection looking back at the history of the Royal Air Force.
Compiled by British Pathe
(1918- ; English; video)

Other Victorian Collections

A large collection of facsimiles of a variety of historical events, along with classroom discussions of these works.
(1066-today)
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.
In this collection of programmes we hear from those women whose part in the struggle would finally culminate in the 1918 Representation of the People Act and the election of the first woman MP.
(film and audio)
With separate portals to numerous disciplinary approaches.
See especially Victorian texts.
(transcriptions, facsimiles, timelines and commentaries)
An online list of accessible digitized newspapers.
(Browseable list database of newspaper facsimiles)
Digitized from the collections of the Library of Congress.
Collection includes photographs, political cartoons, and posters.
(Searchable database of facsimiles and images)
Hidden Lives Revealed provides an intriguing encounter with children who were in the care of The Children's Society in late Victorian and early 20th Century Britain. Includes photographs, case files, and contemporary publications.
(photos and facsimiles)
“Take a look at Victorian Britain as captured in almost 1,500 early photographic prints, including works by distinguished pioneers of the medium.”
The British Library
(photographs)
Discover a wealth of original sources from the Romantic and Victorian periods, including original manuscripts, rare first editions, newspapers, diaries, letters, photographs and maps.
The British Library
(facsimiles)

EuroDocs > History of the United Kingdom: Primary Documents > 1816 - 1918



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