British History

Contemporary in Primary Sources

This is a guide to researching British History at Boston College.

Page under Construction

This page is currently under construction and far from complete. If you notice broken links or have suggestions, please write the subject liaison e-mail.

What's on This Page

This page has a lot on it. You can use the following anchors (links down the page) to jump straight to a relevant box.

Broad Digital Collections

JSTOR Images
A database of more than 1.3 million digital images. It covers many time periods and cultures and represent architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, etc. Users are required to create a personal account to access this database off campus.

British Library Online Gallery
Over 30,000 images of maps, manuscripts, documents, monuments, photographs from the British Library including online exhibitions and virtual books.
Cambridge Digital Library
Digital Collections associated with Cambridge University.
Digital Bodleian
Digital collections for Oxford University Libraries.
EuroDocs
Interface in English. Content in English or original languages.
Links to European historical documents that have been transcribed, reproduced in facsimile, or translated. Maintained by Brigham Young University.
Open Access.
Europeana
Interface in English or other, major European languages. Content in multiple languages.
Europe-wide unified search of digitized collections. Images, audio, texts, and more. Funded by the EU. Covers more than 1,000 years of history. Strongest for 1500 to 2000.
Open Access.
Gallica
Interface in English and French (and other major, European languages). Majority of the content in French.
France's fantastic digital library from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Digitized periodicals, images, recordings, and more. Covers two millenia with particular strength from 1500 to the present.
Open Access.

HathiTrust
A digital repository for the nation's research libraries, HathiTrust brings together the digitized book and serial collections of major universities and other partner institutions, a significant portion of which is in the public domain and available full text. Boston College's status as a partner makes it possible for members of the Boston College community to download any of the out-of-copyright items as PDFs.

Library of Congress and the World Wars
Access to more than 86,000 digital facsimiles of personal narratives, music, photos, books, maps, and more associated with the World Wars.

World Digital Library
The World Digital Library is a Library of Congress project sponsored by UNESCO. Items in this digital library, including books, manuscripts, photographs, maps and sound recordings, are individually described and searchable in seven languages. Most countries and regions around the world are represented.

London School of Economics Britain & Europe
LSE has a unique archive of primary research material covering all aspects of the debate around Britain and the European Union.

Sources: Data & Statistics

British Religion in Numbers
We host a selection of data sets as well as maps and charts, illustrating religion in present-day Britain and religious change over time.
Integrated Census Microdata (UK)
Explore and download census records, digitised and harmonised from the original enumeration books, detailing characteristics for all individuals resident in Great Britain at each census from 1851 to 1911, developed by the I-CeM project.
Northern Ireland Statistic and Research Agency
Data reaches back across the 20th century.
Office for National Statistics
The UK's largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognised national statistical institute of the UK.
Scottish Government Statistics
Information on different topics with datasets coverage differing by topic. Some sets go back to the 1920s and others begin in the 1990s.
UK Data Archive
A centre of excellence in acquiring, curating and providing access to the largest collection of social science and population data for over 50 years, the UK Data Archive is based at the University of Essex.
UK Data Service
Explore the UK’s largest collection of social, economic and population data resources (recent past).

To access additional data sets, visit BC Libraries' Historical Data & Statistics page. Examples include:

UN Data
Produced by the United Nations Statistics Division, UN Data provides general information on countries around the world. Each country has a page that includes everything from social indicators to economic indicators.

World Bank Open Knowledge Repository (previously World Bank eLibrary)
World Bank eLibrary offers quick and easy access to the complete collection of World Bank publications since the 1990s. Search for your country statistics or by topic.
International Historical Statistics
Statistical data from around the world covering a wide range of socio-economic topics between 1750-2010. Downloadable as an ePDF or Excel file.

Sources: Film, Radio, and Television (A/V)

BBC handbooks, annual reports, and accounts, 1927-2001/2
This collection, covering 1927-2001/2, includes all the handbooks, annual reports and accounts published by the British Broadcasting Corporation during the 20th century.

British Pathè
British Pathe is one of the oldest media companies in the world.Their roots lie in 1890s Paris where their founder, Charles Pathe, pioneered the development of the moving image. They were established in London in 1902, and by 1910 were producing their famous bi-weekly newsreel the Pathe Gazette. After the First World War they started producing various Cinemagazines as well. By 1930 they were producing the Gazette, the Pathetone Weekly, the Pathe Pictorial and Eve's Film Review, covering entertainment, culture and womens' issues.

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You can view and buy films and still photographs from the entire archive of 90,000 videos covering newsreel, sports footage, social history documentaries, entertainment and music stories from 1896 to 1976.

Mass Observation Online
British social history, 1937-1972. Topics include popular culture, consumerism, branding and fashion, sex, marriage, and the family, as well as attitudes to war and politics. Mass Observation Online makes available original manuscript and typescript papers created and collected by the Mass Observation organisation, as well as printed publications, photographs and interactive maps.

Sources: Gov. Docs. and Law

The Cabinet Papers - The National Archives
History through the eyes of 73 years of the British Cabinet.
JustisOne
Access to UK (1163-present), Irish (1838-present), and EU (1951-present) law as well as Case Law for the UK, Caribbean (region dependent), and European Court of Human Rights (1960-present). Must visit BC Law Library for login.
legislation.gov.uk
Legislation.gov.uk carries most (but not all) types of legislation and their accompanying explanatory documents for almost a century.

ProQuest U.K. Parliamentary Papers
Full text of the sessional papers presented to Parliament. Papers include reports of committees, royal commissions, public bills, and accounts and papers. Coverage: 1688-2005. Formerly called House of Commons British Parliamentary Papers, Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.
Hein Online
HeinOnline is an image-based legal research database with over 50 million pages of legal information in fully-searchable PDF format, comprising over 30 separate collections including Law Journal Library, Legal Classics, U.S. Supreme Court Library, U.S. Federal Legislative History Library, U.S. Congressional Documents, Treaties and Agreements Library and many others. Additional titles and years are added regularly.

Sources: Historical Newspapers

Financial Times
Provides same day access and 10 year archive. Access Requirements: First-time users: You need to complete the sign-in form using your Boston College email address.
Globe and Mail (Historical Newspapers)
Available from 1851. Most recent 4 years not available.
Searchable full text images.
Guardian & Observer (Historical Newspapers)
The Guardian (Available from 1821. Most recent 15 years not available) and The Observer (Available from 1791. Most recent 15 years not available)
Illustrated London News
1842-2003 (full run). Searchable full text color images. Covers politics, social history, fashion, theatre, media, literature, and advertising.
Times Digital Archive (London)
1785-2009. Over 200 years of the Times of London. Searchable full text, including news articles, editorials, obituaries, and advertising.
Times of India (Historical Newspapers)
1838-2009. The most widely-circulated English-language daily in India.

For historical newspapers and television, visit BC Libraries' Historical News page.

Sources: Magazines and other Periodicals

British Periodicals
Full text of hundreds of popular British periodicals from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century.
Punch Historical Archive, 1841-1992
From 1841 to 1992 Punch was, arguably, the worlds most celebrated magazine of humor and satire. The database is composed of about 7,900 issues (200,000 pages) from all volumes of Punch between 18411992. It includes almanacks and other special numbers, as well as prefaces, epilogues, indexes and other specially produced material from the bound volumes. Images originally published in full color appear in full color in the archive.

Sources: Personal Papers

Churchill, Winston Archives at the George C. Marshall Foundation
Research subject guide curated by Foundation librarians and is a collection of primary source material about Winston Churchill.

Churchill Archive
Digitized original documents, produced between 1874 and 1965, ranging from Winston S. Churchill's personal correspondence to his official exchanges with kings, presidents, politicians, and military leaders.

British Diplomatic Oral History Programme
The BDOHP interviews former diplomats or other officials who have played a significant role in events bearing on international relations. The tendency towards greater openness in government has strengthened in recent years.
Prince Albert: His Life and Legacy
This website will make available some 23,500 items from the Royal Collection, Royal Archives and Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. This wide-ranging material can be explored together online for the first time, illuminating our understanding of Albert’s life and legacy.

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Prince Albert had a profound influence on Victorian society that continues to be felt today. As Consort of Queen Victoria, his roles in national life included unofficial Private Secretary, a mentor to some of the greatest national projects of his day, and collector and patron of the arts. His contributions fundamentally shaped the history of the United Kingdom and its relationship to the world.
The Thatcher Papers
The archive contains over 1 million documents in nearly three thousand archive boxes currently occupying around 300 metres of shelving. The papers date from Margaret Thatcher's childhood to the end of her life, and include tens of thousands of photographs, as well as a vast collection of press cuttings, and many audio and video tapes of public and private events. Thatcher never kept a diary, but the archive includes rich details of her role in important domestic and world events.

Topics: Empires, Colonialism, and Globalization

Empire Online
Digitized manuscript and print documents on colonial history, politics, culture.
Global Commodities
Focused on 15 significant commodities: Chocolate, Coffee, Cotton, Fur, Oil, Opium, Porcelain, Silver & Gold, Spices, Sugar, Tea, Timber, Tobacco, Wheat, and Wine & Spirits. Each commodity is documented through manuscript materials, maps, posters, paintings, photographs, and rare books, allowing students to explore the origins of the commodity, their first uses, the trade that developed and the ways in which these items were marketed and consumed.
Making of the Modern World
Digitized Goldsmiths'-Kress Collection, drawn from the University of London and Harvard's Baker Library. Offers primary sources focused on "the dynamics of Western trade and wealth that shaped the world from the last half of the 15th century to the mid-19th century." Part II includes a supplement that extends coverage to 1914.

Colonial Administration of Nigeria (BL's Endangered Archives)
Thousands of facsimiles of documents related to British colonial administration of different regions in what is now Nigeria dating predominately from 1900 to 1960.
Open Access.

Topics: Foreign Office

Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan
Events covered include independence and partition, the Indian annexation of Hyderabad and Goa, war between India and Pakistan, tensions and war between India and China, the consolidation of power of the Congress Party in India, military rule in Pakistan, the turbulent independence of Bangladesh and the development of nuclear weapons in the region.
Foreign Office Files for Japan
1931-1945, This collection of digitized Foreign Office Files from the National Archives, UK, documents Anglo-Japanese diplomatic relations and Japanese history. The current collection contains the module: Japan, 1931-1945: Japanese Imperialism and the War in the Pacific. Documents include memoranda, reports, correspondence and assessment of events and speeches.
Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, 1971-1981
This collection, sourced from the National Archives, UK, provides an expansive view of key events and their global political impact through access to files and documents of the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices. It covers the Iran-Iraq War and Arab-Israeli conflicts, Cold War politics, relationships with superpowers, the impact of oil wealth, and civil conflicts in Lebanon, Iran, Cyprus and Yemen.

Topics: Windrush

The Windrush Generation denotes the people who emigrated from the Caribbean to Britain between the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush on 22 June 1948 and the Immigration Act 1971, including the passengers on the first ship.

British Library Windrush Stories
In June 1948 the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks, Essex carrying hundreds of people from the Caribbean. 70 years on, Windrush Stories invites us to consider a longer, more complicated and ongoing relationship between Britain and the Caribbean.
Goldsmiths University Arrival Cards
Explore 1,027 individual landing cards representing each passenger who arrived on the MV Empire Windrush at Tilbury docks on 22 June 1948.
Horniman Museum Windrush Stories
The Horniman connects us all with global cultures and the natural environment, encouraging us to shape a positive future for the world we all share.
Museum of London Docklands Windrush Stories
From never-heard-before oral histories to articles exploring our extensive photography collection, we have curated a selection of content that explores the history of the African-Caribbean community in London.
The National Archives Windrush Collection
Letter from Prime Minister Attlee to an M.P. about immigration to the U.K, 5th July, 1948 (CO 876/88)

Central Intelligence Agency, CIA Locator Map: United Kingdom, 2020, The World Factbook, 2020, https://www.cia.gov/.

What's on This Page

This page has a lot on it. You can use the following anchors (links down the page) to jump straight to a relevant box.

BC's Research Guides for Contemporary History

For Additional Help

For additional recommendations, contact your History Liaison, Erin, at erinkate.scheopner@bc.edu or schedule an appointment.

O'Neill Library

Bapst Library

Burns Library

Educational Resource Center

Law Library

Social Work Library

Theology & Ministry Library

O'Connor Library

Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies

British History

Contemporary in Primary Sources

Page under Construction

What's on This Page

Broad Digital Collections

Sources: Data & Statistics

Sources: Film, Radio, and Television (A/V)

Sources: Gov. Docs. and Law

Sources: Historical Newspapers

Sources: Magazines and other Periodicals

Sources: Personal Papers

Topics: Empires, Colonialism, and Globalization

Topics: Foreign Office

Topics: Windrush

What's on This Page

BC's Research Guides for Contemporary History

For Additional Help