How to Access National Archives Records Remotely

Whether you’re based in Australia, North America, or Europe, here’s what you need to know about accessing records held at Kew — without travelling to London.

For researchers outside the UK, The National Archives at Kew represents one of the most important — and most frustrating — collections in the world. Millions of records spanning centuries of British history are held there, many of them unavailable anywhere else. But for academics, writers, and scholars based abroad, getting to London isn’t always possible. Funding constraints, teaching commitments, visa complications, or simply the distance involved can make an in-person visit impractical.

So what are your options?

What’s available online

The National Archives has made a significant portion of its collection available digitally through its own website and through partner platforms. Records available online include many census records, wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, some military service records, and a growing range of digitised documents through the Discovery catalogue.

For some projects, this is enough. But for many researchers — particularly those working on 20th-century government records, colonial administration, legal history, or social history — the documents they need simply haven’t been digitised. They exist only as physical files at Kew, accessible only by visiting in person or by having someone retrieve them on your behalf.

Ordering copies directly from The National Archives

The National Archives does offer a document copying service, where you can request scans of specific records. This can work well if you know the exact reference number of the document you need and the file is straightforward to locate.

However, there are some limitations worth knowing about. The service works best for clearly catalogued, individual documents. For researchers who need to search across multiple files, identify relevant material within a large collection, or access records that require some navigational knowledge of the archive, the official copying service can be slow and sometimes returns incomplete results.

It also requires you to know precisely what you’re looking for in advance — which isn’t always the case at the early stages of a research project.

Using a professional retrieval service

For researchers who need more flexibility, a London-based retrieval service offers a practical alternative. This means having someone physically visit The National Archives on your behalf, locate the material you need, and deliver high-quality digital scans directly to you.

This approach works particularly well when:

• You need to search across a collection rather than retrieve a single known document

• You’re working to a deadline and need reliable turnaround

• You want someone familiar with the archive to exercise judgement about what’s most relevant

• You’re also accessing material from multiple London collections in one project

At Digitised Archive, this is exactly what we do. We visit The National Archives, the British Library, the Wellcome Collection, and the British Medical Association on behalf of researchers who can’t travel to London — retrieving and digitising the documents their research depends on. We work with academics at universities across Australia, North America, and Europe, and we only ask for payment once you’ve received your documents and you’re completely satisfied.

Tips for making the most of a remote retrieval

Whether you use the official service or a retrieval specialist, a few things will make the process much smoother:

• Know your references where possible. The National Archives Discovery catalogue (discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk) is free to search and will give you document reference numbers that make retrieval faster and more accurate.

• Be specific about your needs. The more clearly you can describe what you’re looking for — the date range, the department or person involved, the type of record — the better the results.

• Think about format early. Consider what file format and resolution you’ll need for your purposes. High-resolution PDFs work well for most academic uses, but if you’re publishing images, you may need higher quality scans.

• Build in time. Even with an efficient retrieval service, allow a week or two for the process, particularly if you’re working across multiple collections.

Other London collections worth knowing about

The National Archives is just one of several major London repositories that hold material of international research significance. Depending on your field, you may also need access to:

• The British Library — particularly its manuscript collections, newspaper archive, and India Office Records, which are invaluable for researchers working on British imperial history.

• The Wellcome Collection — one of the world’s great medical history archives, holding records on public health, medicine, and the history of science.

• The British Medical Association — holding institutional records relevant to the history of medicine and healthcare policy in Britain.

• London Metropolitan Archives — strong holdings on London’s social, political, and administrative history.

All of these collections can be accessed remotely through a retrieval service, meaning your research doesn’t have to stop just because you can’t get to London.

If you’re planning a project that requires material from any of these collections and you’re based outside the UK, feel free to get in touch. We’re happy to discuss what you need, provide a cost estimate, and answer any questions before you commit to anything. Enquire at: www.digitisedarchive.co.uk/contact-1