Stories from the collection

This previously unknown set of records from an 18th-century galleon shines a light on one of history's most significant trade routes.

The first Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was prompted by the sinking of RMS Titanic. Signed in 1914, it established international shipping standards.

We hold one of the lesser known records from the Battle of Trafalgar, the Surgeon’s journal for HMS Victory by William Beatty.

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.

This 17th-century mince pie recipe contains spices, eggs and raisins, but also something slightly stranger.

This Second World War War Office document assessed the British Indian Army's battle readiness and made recommendations for its development.

On one tragic night in March 1943 in Bethnal Green, East London, 173 people lost their lives taking shelter from German bombing as the air raid sirens sounded.

In 1325, officials found suspicious mistakes in the account of the former treasurer of Ireland and hauled him through the courts. What did they uncover?

Recently rediscovered, this letter offers new archival evidence into Britain and Portugal's shared history.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912) was a trailblazing British composer and conductor from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

We hold one of the lesser known records from the Battle of Trafalgar, the Surgeon’s journal for HMS Victory by William Beatty.

This 15th-century list of ‘alien’ residents, gathered for tax purposes, gives us a remarkable insight into London’s medieval immigrant population.