Advice to private owners
Private owners are owners of collections of virtually all records, apart from those of the state and its judicial institutions.
They include:
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Corporate bodies, such as estates and trusts
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Charitable foundations and organisations of all kinds, such as schools, colleges and religious institutions
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A vast array of societies and associations, such as political parties, pressure groups, sports and recreational clubs and businesses
Equally owners may be individuals, who have acquired papers by inheritance, as a gift, through collecting activity or have accumulated personal papers in the pursuit of a career or profession. They may be the current owners of historic collections of family, estate or other papers.
What The National Archives can offer private owners
We offer impartial and free advice on the long term care of private records:
- On the historical interest of collections of papers
- The care, preservation and storage of records
- Guidance on the sorting and listing of records
- Information on suitable places of deposit
- Information as to the location of related manuscript collections
- Assistance in identifying further sources of help and advice
- General guidance on the availability of tax concessions for owners of manuscripts
The advice given to owners is always treated as a confidential matter between the owner and The National Archives.
We do not provide:
- Valuations of manuscripts
- Legal advice
- Grant aid for the preservation or cataloguing of manuscript collections
