Britain, UK, and the Empire - Primary Sources - by Subject (Historical)

Databases

AM Explorer This link opens in a new window
Primary source collections from the 15th-21st centuries, including Age of Exploration, East India Company, Eighteenth Century Drama, Eighteenth Century Journals, Empire Online, Global Commodities, India Raj and Empire, Literary Manuscripts Leeds, London Low Life, Mass Observation Online, Victorial Popular Culture, and World's Fairs.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents from the eighteenth century. See the Subcollections Guide for a list of collections.
The essential digital resource for researching the 18th Century, ECCO, contains over 184,000 English and Foreign Language titles printed in The United Kingdom in the 18th Century, including thousands of works from the Americas.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Primary source materials in world history.
This resource brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
Global Commodities This link opens in a new window
Primary source materials for the study of global commodities in world history.
Global Commodities brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of global commodities in world history. The commodities featured in this resource have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They helped transform societies, global trading operations, habits of consumption and social practices.

John Johnson Collection: An Archive of Printed Ephemera
Ephemera from the 18th through early 20th centuries. Categories include 19th-century entertainment, the book trade, popular prints, crimes and murders, and advertising

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archive of full-text scholarly journal articles in a broad range of academic disciplines.
Coverage includes the full text from volume 1, number 1 through the current date in some cases or, more often, up to a period of embargo from six months to five years depending on the arrangements with the title's vendor.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
Primary source materials about the Nineteenth Century. See the Subcollections Guide for a list of collections.
Includes books, newspapers, periodicals, diaries and personal letters, manuscripts, photographs, pamphlets, maps and musical scores.

Queen Victoria's Journals
Queen Victoria's journals from 1832-1901, plus supplementary materials. From the Royal Archives

Sunday Times Historical Archive (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
Archive of the London newspaper The Sunday Times 1822 - 2016.
Thoughtful analysis and commentary on the week's news and society at large.
Sunday Times Historical Archive (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
Archive of the London newspaper The Sunday Times 1822 - 2016.
Thoughtful analysis and commentary on the week's news and society at large.
Primary Sources Collection (Proquest) This link opens in a new window
Collections under "History" include: the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, House of Lords Parliamentary Papers, Documents on British Policies Overseas, Queen Victoria's Journals, Colonial Legacies, and more.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Full text database of current scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
JStor can also be searched simultaneously using the advanced search feature on the Project Muse page.

Royal Historical Society Bibliography of British and Irish History, 1934-2006

General Web Resources

Archives Hub
A gateway to many UK archives.
BHO - British History Online
A digital library primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain and Ireland, particularly from 1300-1800.
British Movietone (1895-1986)
Archives of this large British newsreel producer, originally shot in 35mm film.
British Pathé on YouTube (1896-1976)
Archival video footage from within and beyond Britain. Particularly strong coverage of the First and Second World Wars.
European History Primary Sources: British History Online
Created by the Institute of Historical Research in London and the History of Parliament Trust, British History Online is a digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles.
Trove
Collections from Australian libraries, universities, museums, galleries, and archives. A collaboration between the National Library of Australia and hundreds of Australian partner organizations.

British Empire Online Collections

Australian Newspaper (National Library of Australia)
Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire
Conservative Party Archive, Posters Collection
From Oxford University Libraries
Gertrude Bell Archive
The books and papers of Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), from her library of materials mainly on Arabic and Persian languages and on the histories of Arabia, and the Near and Middle East. A project of Newcastle University Library.
Hansard's Parliamentary Debates
From the UK Paliament. Digitized editions of Commons and Lords Hansard, the Official Report of debates in Parliament. Part of a project led by the Commons and Lords libraries.
Living in British Colonial India, 1750-1850
From Newberry Library
Livingstone Online
Peer-reviewed digital museum and library focused on the history of the British empire, particularly in Africa. Uses written and visual materials related to Victorian traveler David Livingstone (1813-1873) to explore ongoing debates about the creation of the archive.
London Lives, 1690-1800: Crime, Poverty and Social Policy in the Metropolis
Map of Early and Modern London
The Map of Early Modern London is comprised of four distinct, interoperable projects: a digital edition of the 1561 Agas woodcut map of London; an Encyclopedia and Descriptive Gazetteer of London people, places, topics, and terms; a Library of marked-up texts rich in London toponyms; and a versioned edition of John Stow's Survey of London.
Mass Observation
The Archive at the University of Sussex Special Collections. Documents materials from the Mass Observation Project in the UK, documenting everyday life.
The Proceedings of Old Bailey: London's Central Criminal Court, 1674 to 1913
UK Data Archive
UK's largest collection of social sciences and research data
UK National Archives
UK National Archives, British Empire
An online exhibition that looks at how and why the empire made Britain so important.
UK National Archives, Cabinet Papers
UK National Archives: Empire & Industry 1750-1850
VADS (Visual Arts Data Service
Freely available and copyright cleared images. A service of the Library & Student Services department of the University for the Creative Arts in the UK.