We warmly invite historians to give us feedback on the following trial resources from British Online Archives.
This resource charts nearly 150 years of British trade and shipping by giving access to a collection of trade ledgers, registers and indexes that supply detailed statistical data on trade throughout the Long Eighteenth Century. It also includes official registers of “Mediterranean passes” which include information on which vessels were issued passes, their port of embarkation and destinations, as well as additional information on their size, crew, and defences.
Throughout this pivotal period of British and global trade expansion, this resource shines a light on Britain’s increasing naval capabilities and the expansion of lucrative maritime trade networks fuelled significant economic growth. Frequently built upon exploitation and enslaved labour, the establishment of British trading outposts and plantations throughout Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Caribbean laid the foundations for a worldwide empire and secured access to sought after commodities, such as sugar, tobacco, and textiles
This resource will be useful to those researching the colonial, economic, and maritime dimensions of British history throughout this period. It should also interest those exploring broader themes, such as the escalation of global trade and the development of the fiscal-military state.
This collection is composed of British Naval Office shipping lists between the years of 1678 and 1825. These 150 years saw the rise of British naval power across the globe, which significantly contributed to the proliferation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the eventual establishment of the British Empire.
Information provided by the shipping lists includes the name of the vessel, the name of its home port and colony, details of the vessel’s construction, the name of the owner(s), the tonnage of the vessel, the number of guns carried, the number of crew, and the cargo carried (including enslaved people as well as raw material). Thus, the files paint a detailed picture of how triangular trade was conducted between Britain, her colonies, and lucrative markets in Europe and the Americas.
Content Warning: This collection contains racist or offensive terms. Owing to their historical importance, the sources are in their original state.
Feedback should be sent to isabel.holowaty@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
While you are here, check out:
London Life, 1965-66 (British Online Archives) [trial ends 30/6/25]
Launched in 1965, this new magazine endeavoured to “reflect all aspects of the life of London”. Throughout its brief existence, it proved adept at conveying the spirit of the “Swinging Sixties” in the world’s “capital of cool”. Featuring interviews with cultural icons as well as contributions from rising stars, such as the supermodel, London Life remains emblematic of 1960s counterculture.
Encompassing nearly 5,000 images, this collection contains all 63 issues of London Life, published between October 1965 and December of the following year.
London Life covered a wide range of topics, from music and film to sexuality and the thriving nightlife of London’s West End. It likewise captured the increasingly cosmopolitan nature of British society, documenting the emergence of a more diverse media landscape and audience. This collection contains essential material for those interested in the cultural history of the 1960s and, more specifically, in Britain’s cultural revolution and the advent of its “permissive society”.
Feedback should be emailed to Isabel Holowaty.
The Sphere, 1900-1964 (British Online Archives) [trial ends 30/6/25]
From its first issue, The Sphere adopted a consciously international outlook, aiming to “hold pictures and thoughts from all lands”. Upon its release, it was praised as “a striking advance in illustrated journalism” due to the beauty and artistry of its presentation. It soon became popular. This collection includes nearly 160,000 images and almost 4,000 issues published between January 1900 and June 1964.
The Sphere reflected a patriotic and staunchly pro-establishment position, expressing support for the British monarchy and for the empire. The publication reported extensively on world events, such as the rise of communism, the First and Second World Wars, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It printed articles discussing a wide range of prominent personalities from the arts, sciences, and politics—from John Ruskin to Albert Einstein; from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Golda Meir. It also featured contributions from well-known literary figures. This collection contains vital material for researchers and students of British society, military history, and the legacies of colonialism.
Feedback should be emailed to Isabel Holowaty.
This collection contains reports and other records compiled by the Communist Party of Great Britain’s (CPGB) International Department between 1944 and 1986. The majority of the documents cover the Sino-Soviet split and the Chinese-Indian disputes of the 1960s and 1970s. There are also materials relating to Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe, the left in Western Europe, and anti-colonial movements in the developing world.
Feedback should be emailed to Jo Gardner.
Are you interested in LGBTQ+ history? Do you want to be part of an informal collective research effort?
Consisting of approximately twenty-five million pages, the UNESCO Memory of the World-listed archives of the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) offer a unique view on interactions between European and non-European actors in Asia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 5 million scans of the ‘Overgekomen Brieven en Papieren’ (1610-1796) of the VOC are now fully searchable. From early October 2023, a prototype of the GLOBALISE transcriptions viewer is online at: