The National Archives at Kew: A Family History Guide
The National Archives (TNA) at Kew, in south-west London, is the official archive of the UK government and of England and Wales. For family historians it is the place for records created by central government: army, navy and air force service records, naturalisation and immigration files, wills proved before 1858, court cases, and the censuses and 1939 Register that TNA looks after. Its free online catalogue, Discovery, lets you search these records from home, and many can be downloaded free of charge.
What TNA does not hold matters just as much. Birth, marriage and death certificates come from the General Register Office, parish registers are in local archives, and wills from 1858 onwards are with the Probate Service. This guide explains what is at Kew, how to search Discovery, what you can see online, and how to plan a visit.
What The National Archives holds, and what it does not
TNA keeps the records of central government departments and the courts. Each department has a letter code that starts every document reference: HO for the Home Office, WO for the War Office, ADM for the Admiralty, AIR for the Air Ministry.
For a typical British family tree, the most used collections are:
- Military records: soldiers, officers, sailors and airmen, medal cards and pension files. Our guide to UK military service records covers them in detail.
- Censuses 1841 to 1921 and the 1939 Register, which you search through partner websites (see the census and 1939 Register guide).
- Wills before 1858 proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (series PROB 11). Later wills are covered in our probate guide.
- Immigration and nationality: naturalisation certificates and case papers, alien registration, passenger lists.
TNA’s own list of records it does not hold is a useful shortcut:
| You want | Where to go instead |
|---|---|
| Birth, marriage and death certificates from 1 July 1837 | General Register Office (see our certificates guide and GRO index and FreeBMD guide) |
| Baptisms, marriages and burials in Church of England parishes | Local record offices, many online (see parish registers) |
| Wills after 1858 | The Probate Service |
| Adoption records | General Register Office |
| Legal proof of a divorce since 1858 | The Principal Registry of the Family Division (TNA holds some older divorce case files; see divorce records) |
| Naturalisation certificates from 1 October 1986 | UK Visas and Immigration |
| Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland | National Records of Scotland, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, National Archives of Ireland |
| Schools, hospitals, local businesses, electoral registers | Local archives, such as London Metropolitan Archives |
How to search Discovery
Discovery is TNA’s catalogue. It describes records at Kew and also records held by more than 2,500 other archives across the UK, so a single search can point you to a county record office as well. Searching is free and needs no account.
Understanding a reference
Every document at Kew has a reference in three parts: department, series and piece. HO 334 is the Home Office series of duplicate naturalisation certificates; WO 363 is the War Office series of First World War soldiers’ service records, the so-called burnt documents. A reference such as HO 334/123/45678 identifies one item within that series. You need the full piece reference to order a document, request a copy or download it.
Step by step
- Start broad with a surname and a place or keyword. For naturalisation, TNA recommends the surname followed by nat*.
- Use the Held by filter to separate records at The National Archives from those at other archives.
- Narrow by date and by department, or run the search again within a single series (for example only HO 405) using the advanced search.
- Filter to records available to download if you only want what you can see today. Other entries will say whether the record is open, closed, or available on a partner website.
- Try every spelling. Catalogue entries follow the spelling in the document, and clerks wrote foreign names as they heard them.
What is free online, and what is on partner sites
TNA has digitised a large part of its most used material, and these downloads are free for registered users. You sign in to a free Discovery account, add up to 10 items to a basket and complete the order to get a download link. The fair use policy allows up to 100 documents in a 30-day period, for private and non-commercial use.
Digital microfilm is a second free category: whole series once read on microfilm at Kew, now supplied as large PDF files. They cannot be searched by name, so you scroll through them page by page. Examples include Royal Navy officers’ service records (ADM 196).
Some of the best-known collections were digitised with commercial partners and are searched on their websites. TNA names, among others:
- Ancestry: the 1841 to 1891 censuses, First World War soldiers’ service and pension records (WO 363 and WO 364), incoming passenger lists (BT 26), and alien arrivals and entry books.
- Findmypast: the 1901 and 1911 censuses, Royal Hospital Chelsea pension records (WO 97) and outbound passenger lists (BT 27).
These partner sites charge for access at home, but at Kew the Research and Enquiries Room gives free access to TNA records on partner websites, including Ancestry and Findmypast. For a range of other free sources, see our guide to free genealogy websites in the UK.
Visiting Kew: reader’s ticket, booking and what to bring
The Research and Enquiries Room and library are open to drop-in visitors. To see original documents you need a reader’s ticket and a booked visit.
Reader’s ticket
- You must be over 16.
- Register your details online and watch a short video first, then collect the card at the Start Here desk.
- Bring two original documents: one proving your name with your signature (for example a passport, driving licence or bank card) and one proving your address issued within the last six months (for example a utility bill or bank statement). Copies are not accepted.
- The ticket is valid for three years.
Booking and ordering documents
Booking a visit is free and done online in four steps: choose a date, enter your personal details, enter the details of the visit and order documents. You can register for a reader’s ticket as part of your first booking. Document references must be added at least four working days before the visit, or the booking is cancelled. On the day you can order more, up to three documents at a time.
Opening times
At the time of writing (September 2026), TNA lists the document reading rooms as open Tuesday to Saturday from 09:30 to 19:00 on Tuesday and Thursday and to 17:00 on other days. The building is closed on Mondays, and the document reading rooms are also closed on Sundays and on the Saturday before each bank holiday Monday.
In the reading rooms
- Only graphite pencils without erasers, and notebooks. Pens are not allowed.
- Coats, bags, umbrellas, food and drink go in the free lockers; carry your things in the free clear plastic bag from the cloakroom.
- You can photograph documents with your own camera, phone, tablet or laptop for personal use, free of charge. Flash, tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed.
Getting there
The address is The National Archives, Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU. The nearest station is Kew Gardens (District line and London Overground Mildmay line), about a 10-minute walk away. From Kew Bridge (South Western Railway), about a mile away, TNA advises ignoring the signposted footpath and following its own maps.
Ordering copies without visiting
If a record is not digitised and you cannot get to Kew, use the record copying service. Find the document in Discovery and use the order a copy link on its catalogue page. Every request begins with a page check, in which staff find the record, check that it can be copied and give you a quotation. At the time of writing (September 2026), TNA’s fees page lists the page check at £9.92 and a digital copy of an A3 or smaller page at £1.52; TNA says the whole process can take around 29 working days.
The copying service is not a research service: you need to know which document you want and roughly where in it the information is.
Research guides, closed records and FOI
Before searching a new subject, read TNA’s research guides. There are more than 350, and each lists the series to use, the date ranges and what is online.
Some records are closed, usually because they contain personal information about people who may still be alive. Discovery shows a closed record’s status and, where it applies, a Submit FOI request button. TNA does not charge for deciding whether you can see a closed record, and it has 20 working days to reply, with an extra 10 working days when it must consult another government department. If you disagree with the answer, you can ask for an internal review and then appeal to the Information Commissioner.
Polish ancestors at The National Archives
For families with Polish roots, Kew is usually the next archive after the certificates and census. A Polish-born ancestor can appear as a Russian, German or Austrian subject before 1918, and the name may be spelled phonetically: Wiśniewski as Wisniewski or Visnevsky, Szczepański as Sczepanski. Search every form, and the anglicised name too (see anglicised Polish surnames).
| Series | What it holds | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| HO 334 | Duplicate naturalisation certificates from 1870 | Search by name followed by nat*; gives birthplace and parents’ names |
| HO 405 | Naturalisation case papers for people who arrived 1934 to 1948 | Subject to 100-year closure, about 40% survive; ask for access through FOI |
| MEPO 35 | Sample alien registration cards, London area | About 1,000 survive; download only if the person was born more than 100 years ago |
| WO 315 | Army Records Centre (Polish Section): Polish forces and the Polish Resettlement Corps, 1932 to 1959 | 71 files, mostly administrative; some in Polish |
| AST 18 | Assistance Board files on Polish resettlement, 1946 to 1999 | Camps, hostels and allowances under the Polish Resettlement Act 1947 |
| BT 26 | Incoming passenger lists | Searchable on Ancestry |
A naturalisation file is often the single best clue, because it names a town or village in Poland and the parents. Our guide to naturalisation records of Poles in the UK explains each series. Note that the individual service files of Polish soldiers, airmen and sailors who served under British command are not at Kew: they are requested from the Ministry of Defence, as explained in our guide to MOD Polish service records. WO 315 and AST 18 help you understand the resettlement years described in Polish veterans’ resettlement in Britain.
Once you have a birthplace and date, the next record is the Polish birth or baptism entry. Our guide to finding a birth entry in Poland shows how to identify the parish and register.
Official sources
- The National Archives: research guides, visiting information and fees
- Discovery catalogue
- General Register Office
- GOV.UK: get a copy of military records of service