How to look for records of... Refugees

3. Where to start

Our records relating to refugees are mainly in the surviving Foreign Office (FO), Colonial Office (CO), and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) records. Home Office (HO) papers also contain records on the domestic treatment of minorities, including refugees, who sought asylum in the UK.

Records relating to the Kindertransport refugee programme are available on findmypast (£). See section 7 for more details.

The best place to start a search is in our catalogue, using keywords. Try searching for the word ‘refugee’ plus the term(s) you are interested in, such as:

• a country/former country (for example, Yugoslavia)
• a nationality, religion or ethnicity (for example, Rwandan, Jewish, or Asian)
• a time or event (for example, the First World War)
• an organisation (for example, the League of Nations)
• a treaty or agreement (for example, the Geneva Convention)

You can further refine your search results by subject, date, and government department depending on your research interests.

The Foreign Office’s political correspondence in FO 371, 1906-1966, is a key source of information about refugees.

For detailed advice on how to search for general correspondence from different periods see the following guides:

• Foreign Office correspondence 1782-1890
• Foreign Office correspondence 1891-1905
• Foreign Office correspondence 1906-1919
• Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office correspondence 1920 onwards

4. Refugees and international law

Most international discussion on the treatment of refugees occurs once the emergency that caused their condition has stabilised. Therefore you should keep your date ranges broad when you search for records.

British involvement in developing international laws on the treatment of refugees is the subject of many records at The National Archives.

These files mainly cover negotiated agreements, between nations and international institutions, to help refugees.

Search our catalogue, combining the keyword ‘refugee’ with, for example:

• League of Nations
• Hague Conference
• Geneva Convention
• United Nations
• human rights

These files can provide detailed case studies on specific instances of a refugee crisis as precedence for new laws and procedures. They generally do not include personal information on individual refugees.

5. Finding a refugee

It is extremely difficult to trace individual histories. Refugees who lose their rights as a citizen often lose the documents that record their legal identity. This also means there is no comprehensive central database of refugees.

Unless there was an organised government initiative to move refugees, the main records about an individual’s journey will probably be among documents created when the person travels.

You can try searching passenger list records online:

• inward passenger lists (BT 26), which contain the names of people travelling to Britain mainly from outside Europe, 1878-1960
• outward-bound passenger lists (BT 27), which contain the names of people leaving Britain for the United States and other places outside Europe, 1890-1960

Our research guide on Passengers gives more information and suggests some other sources.

Nowadays, non-government organisations and other charitable agencies often play a crucial role in dealing with the immediate circumstances of migrating populations.

If you know of an organisation operating in a region where refugees emerged, you can try contacting them for records.

6. Refugees in Britain

Since the start of the 20th century, Britain has been a refuge for many displaced populations from around the world. Many refugees have chosen to come to Britain not only to escape persecution, but also as a right afforded to them as British colonial citizens.

MH 8 contains minutes, history cards and other documents from the voluntary War Refugees Committee. These primarily relate to Belgian refugees settling in the UK during the First World War.

Once refugees arrive in Britain, responsibility for their right to settlement is mainly with the Home Office (HO). For example HO 294 are papers of the Czechoslovak Refugee Trust, established by the British Government in 1939. The series contains specimen personal files and case papers of over 15,000 refugees, in many instances these provide a detailed case history. The series can be searched by name of refugee.

Search our catalogue, using the search term(s) ‘refugee’ or ‘displaced person’ plus, for example:

• asylum
• immigration
• naturalisation
• alien’s registration

For more information about refugees please consult additional research guides on:

• aliens’ registration cards 1918-1957
• naturalisation, registration and British citizenship
• immigration and immigrants

The Housing and Local Government (HLG) records also provide information about welfare provisions to facilitate the transition of resettlement.

Try searching for ‘refugee’ with, for example:

• housing
• education
• employment
• name of a local area

7. Kindertransport refugees

Kindertransport records have been made available on findmypast.co.uk (£). These records relate to the arrival of Jewish children in Britain at the outbreak of the Second World War. They include lists of refugees, British government correspondence and official reports. The children were placed in British foster homes, hostels, schools and farms.

8. Further reading

The National Archives Library holds many books on refugees, which in turn cite records held at The National Archives. Refer to our recommended book list for some suggestions or try your own search.

You may also be able to find relevant books in a local library. You can buy from a wide range of history titles in our bookshop.