Stories from the collection

Sophia Duleep Singh (1876–1948) was an Indian princess and a formidable figure in the women's suffrage movement.

This ordinary will from 1587 gives us a glimpse of an Elizabethan woman’s concerns on her deathbed.

Our records tell the story of Emily Capper's desperate campaign to recover the bodies of the victims, including that of her son.

In 1888, the women and girls employed by Bryant & May in the East End of London went out on strike. Why did these workers feel so driven to remove their labour?

A life of charm, high-stakes, and duplicity saw Elvira Chaudoir play a cunning role in the Allied victory at D-Day.

Sarah Parker Remond (1826–1894) fought for a more equal world as an abolitionist and suffrage supporter. Why and how did she apply for British citizenship?

This volume offers a glimpse of the numerous ‘Black Loyalists’ who seized the American Revolutionary War as a chance to gain freedom from enslavement.

These intricate 1716 drawings were submitted by Sybilla Masters in the final stage of securing a patent for machinery for 'cleaning and curing Indian corn'.

The government tried to keep the details of the Bethnal Green Tube shelter disaster of 1943 private – but a court case brought the terrible story to light.

Records from the 1930s describe attempts to police sexual activities between men in public toilets – and officers’ thoughts on when to enforce the rules.

Sophia Duleep Singh (1876–1948) was an Indian princess and a formidable figure in the women's suffrage movement.

Pre-trial statements from this 1776 dispute between the Chevalier d’Eon and Charles de Morande provide intricate details about these two French spies.

Security Service files paint a vivid picture of what happened when Anthony Blunt – then employed in the royal household – admitted spying for the Soviet Union.

Records in our collection show how same-sex personal adverts published in the 1960s become part of a high-profile legal battle.

When can a lemon have fatal consequences? If it proves you are, in fact, a wartime spy…

Following the Napoleonic Wars, smuggling became a major concern for the British government.

This letter, sent by Princess Anne during the height of the Glorious Revolution, confirmed the betrayal of her father, King James II.

On 16 December 1773, 340 chests of tea were thrown into Boston harbour by protesting colonists. This letter from the East India Company requests reimbursement.