Library Guides: THIST 101 Introduction to History Methods (online) -- Sundermann: Primary Sources: British History

What is a primary source?

The collection and analysis of primary sources is central to historical research. A primary source can take many forms: letters, memos, newspapers, diaries, film, photographs, speeches, government reports, British parliamentary debates, sermons, magazines, web sites, etc. Often they are created during the time period which is being studied (correspondence, diaries, newspapers, government documents), but they can also be produced later by eyewitnesses or participants (memoirs, oral histories).

You may find primary sources in their original format such as in an archive. You may also find them as recently published book collections (often called a "documentary history"), microfilm, electronic databases, digitized images, etc.

Historic newspapers & magazines

Guardian 1821-2003 & Observer 1791-2003
British newspapers The Guardian & its Sunday partner paper The Observer
Times of London 1785-1985
Newspaper from 1785-1985; fulltext

Trench Journals and Unit Magazines of the First World War
Primary source periodicals written by and for servicemen and women of all nations during the First World War.

Suffrage Journals
Collection of two suffrage journals. The Common Cause was the journal of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies and was published from 1909 to 1920. Helena Swanwick was its first editor. Votes for Women was the journal of the Women's Social and Political Union, funded and co-edited by Emmeline and Frederick Pethick Lawrence. It was published from 1907 by St Clement's Press.

Published primary source collections

Beyond Rosie: A Documentary History of Women and World War II
Available as an ebook
The primary documents (newspapers, propaganda posters, cartoons, excerpts from oral histories and memoirs, speeches, photographs, and editorials) collected here represent cultural, political, economic, and social perspectives on the diverse roles women played during World War II.
Forgotten Voices of the Blitz and the Battle for Britain
Request from Suzzallo/Allen
This book brings together voices from both sides of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain. Soldiers, airmen, fire-fighters, air-wardens and civilians, people in the air and on the ground, give an account of Britain under siege.
War Posters: Weapons of Mass Communication
Covering bothh the onset of the Great War in 1914 and World War II this book charts the poster's evolution as a tool of protest and counter-culture.
Winston and Clementine: the Letters of the Churchills
Request from Suzzallo/Allen
These letters provide rare and revealing insights into both the great political and social events of a turbulent century and the intimate world of an extraordinary partnership.

Digital archives & collections

African Diaspora, 1860-Present
Sources covering the diaspora with a focus on communities in the Caribbean and United Kingdom. Includes UK Colonial and Foreign Office records, magazines such as the West Indian Digest & more.

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
Parliamentary papers including Bills, Command Papers, Reports & Hansard's debates for the 19th & 20th centuries (through the 2003/2004 session).

Mass Incarceration and Prison Studies
Primary sources and reference materials covering crucial global trends in mass incarceration and the detailed prison infrastructure of specific countries.