British history

Sources for Background Information

Biography

• British Biographical Archive (Via World Biographical Information System Online)
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• Kings and Queens of Britain (Oxford)
• Who's Who in History
• Who's Who in Roman Britain and Anglo-Saxon England
• Who's Who in Late Medieval England
• Who's Who in Tudor England
• Who's Who in Stuart Britain
• Who's Who in Late Hanoverian Britain

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and Handbooks

• Companion to British History (Routledge) (xreferplus)
• Dictionary of British History (Oxford)
• Market House Dictionary of British History (xreferplus)
• Oxford Companion to Black British History
• Oxford Companion to British History
• English Historical Facts, 1485-1603
• English Historical Facts, 1603-1688
• British Historical Facts, 1688-1760
• British Historical Facts, 1760-1830
• British Historical Facts, 1830-1900

Atlases

• Historical Atlas of Britain
• Routledge Atlas of British History
• Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England
• Atlas of Roman Britain

Searching the Library Catalogue

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Core and Additional Databases

History Periodical Indexes, Bibliographies, Full-text Articles (Electronic Databases)

• Bibliography of British and Irish History
• Historical Abstracts
• JSTOR 
• Project Muse

Multidisciplinary Databases

• British Humanities Index
• Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective, 1907-1984
• Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
• ProQuest Research Library
• Humanities Full Text

Government Documents (Electronic Databases)

• 19th Century Masterfile - including Palmer's Index to the Times 1790-1905
• 1801-1951 - HISTPOP contains all population reports, including censuses, for Great Britain and Ireland through 1937. (Note: No census was taken in 1941).
• House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, Great Britain, 18th century onwards
• State Papers Online: the Government of Britain 1509-1714
• Stormont Papers: 50 Years of Northern Ireland Parliamentary Debates Online

Newspapers (Electronic Databases)

• 17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers
• 19th Century British Newspapers
• Times Digital Archive 1785-1985

Journals (Electronic Databases)

• The Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2003
• Eighteenth Century Journals

Primary Source Bibliographies, Books (Electronic Databases)

• Defining Gender, 1450-1910
• Early English Books Online (EEBO) 1475-1700
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
• Empire Online
• English Short Title Catalogue
• Mass Observation Online
• Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue (NSTC) 1801-1919
• Past Masters

Primary Sources (Other) (Electronic Databases)

• British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries
• Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice, 1490-2007

Selected Internet Sites

• McGill University Department of History
• History section, Britannia Internet Magazine.
  Has timeline, primary documents, articles, monarchs (geneaology, portraits and biographies), sketches of prime ministers, related links, etc.
• Spartacus Educational
  Developed by British History teachers and UK's Schoonet, this site has several major sections: Encyclopedia of British History: 1700-1900, Child Labour: 1750-1900, Parliamentary Reform: 1750-1900, Peterloo Massacre, First World War Encyclopedia, Investigating the Vietnam War, and Emancipation of Women: 1860-1920. Includes many pages of selections from primary documents, short biographies, analyses, glossary, bibliography, and related links.
• Renaissance Faire
  Material for "renfaire" workers, covering basic faire accent and pronunciation, costuming, acting, and basic history from the Tudor through Elizabethan period.
• Victoria Research Web
  Primary material, bibliographies, guides, links, discussion groups, journal guide, etc. re 19th century Britain.
• Victorian Web
  Originally, a resource for Brown University Victorian Literature courses, with essays on political and social history, philosophy, religion, technology, gender, visual arts, theatre, genre; e-books and texts, bibliography, related links, etc. Contributions by faculty, graduate and undergraduate students from various countries as well as the United States.
• Romantic Chronology
  Mainly literary personnages, events, and movements in the romantic period (17th - 19th century), some with links etc.
• Ursula Stange's ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPY OF CHARTISM
  Compiled 1993 for a Master's thesis on Ernest Jones.
• Concise History of the British Newspaper Since 1620 Chronology.
• Imperial War Museum Collections On-line Database
  Catalogues of documents, film and sound, with short essays on major historical themes.

Primary Sources (Internet Resources)

• British History Manuscript Collection, Rare Books & Special Collections, McGill Univeristy Libraries
• Library Research: Finding Primary Resources
  Explanation of primary and secondary sources, by University of California at Berkeley Library.
• National Archives (UK)
  Formed by union of Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission. Includes links to National Register of Archives, ARCHON, Manorial Documents Register, etc.
• Life of the Industrial Worker in 19th-Century England
  Excerpts from several primary documents originally reprinted in Readings in European History Since 1814, edited by Jonathan F. Scott and Alexander Baltzly (Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1930).
• BOPCRIS
  British Official Publications Collaborative Reader Information Service. Search or browse by subject information from British Official Publications 1688-1995, and read abstracts. Full-text available for a limited number of documents.
• EuroDocs: History of the United Kingdom: Primary Documents
• BBC Audio Interviews
  Clips of audio interviews of many prominent global political personalities, writers, philosophers, etc. of the 20th century.
• Internet Library of Early Journals: A digital library of 18th and 19th Century journals
  Ca. 20 consecutive years of Gentleman's Magazine, The Annual Register, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Notes and Queries, The Builder, and Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.
• Proceedings of the Old Bailey
  Over 45,000 trials currently online 1674-1913.
• British Pathé, 1896-1976
  News and entertainment video film archive.

Maps (Internet Resources)

• Old Maps (old-maps.co.uk)
  "Britain's most extensive digital historical map archive", jointly owned by Landmark and Ordnance Survey, Britain's national mapping agency.

Statistics (Internet Resources)

• U.K. Data Archive
  Access to over 5000 computer-readable datasets for research and teaching purposes for many different disciplines. Searching and browsing is free but registration is required to access raw data. Other datasets also available through reciprocal arrangements with other data archives throughout the world, including CESSDA (Council of European Social Science Data Archives). Umbrella organisation for the History Data Service (HDS) [see below].
• AHDS History
  Formerly HDS: History Data Service provides access to historical digital resources (social and economic datasets, mainly U.K.) held by various organisations. Home of the Great Britain Historical Database Online. To obtain data, users must register once: data is sent within 28 days with invoice for any charges and costs.
• Statistical Accounts of Scotland
  Wealth, class and poverty, climate, agriculture, fishing and wildlife; population, schools, and the moral health of the people, 1790's and 1830's, based largely on information supplied by each parish church minister.
• Census And Related Materials For Students
  Introduction to Victorian censuses. From Staffordshire University.

Other Resources

Library Guides

• British History: a selective list of reference sources
• British North America, 1760-1867: Primary Sources
• World War I: A Select List of Primary Governmental Sources
• British History: A Student's Guide to Reference Resources :

  Part I: General Sources (1978)

  Part IV: Britain Overseas (1978)

  Other parts never published. Print copy only, available at the McLennan Reference Desk.