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2 years ago in Archival Science By Nirav

I’m tracking down a specific British historical document—a particular Parliamentary Paper from 1943—for my thesis. Where would be the best place to obtain a certified copy?

My research requires an official copy of a specific document, not just a reference. I’ve found citations in secondary literature, but I need the primary source itself for detailed analysis and potential reproduction. I’m unsure whether to contact The National Archives directly, a parliamentary archive, or if there’s a specialized service for document reproduction and certification for academic use.

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By Dolma Tsering Gensangphenpo Answered 1 year ago

From my experience, your first stop should be the UK Government Web Archive and Parliament.uk site for digital copies of modern Parliamentary Papers. If it’s not digitized, you must identify the holding archive. For most central?government documents, that’s The National Archives (TNA) in Kew. Use their Discovery catalogue to find the document reference (e.g., FO 371/…). TNA offers a paid record?copying service. For purely parliamentary documents, contact the Parliamentary Archives. I always recommend emailing the archive’s enquiry service first with your full citation; they can confirm the reference and the fastest way to get a copy.

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