Alan E

Alan E. Mann, A.G. Accredited Genealogist

KEW LISTS

Have you ever wished there was a better way to find out what records were in the Public Record Office (PRO)? When requesting copies from the PRO, would you like to be able to refer to specific documents? A recent Family History Library acquisition makes it easier to identify this impressive repository's holdings.

The Kew Lists (FHL book 942 A3gp, 17 volumes) is a set of microfiche containing a brief introduction (on blue paper, contained in volume 1 of the set) followed by the Current Guide to the Public Record Office (see sidebar) and the class lists. To explain the Kew Lists, it is necessary to understand the organization of records at the PRO (see sidebar, page 2).

Having an understanding of the organization of records, we can better follow the layout of Kew Lists. As shown below in Table 1, the Introduction is followed by the Current Guide, and finally the class lists.

The Current Guide is divided into three parts.

Part I. This section contains an "administrative history of each institution, outlining the development of its organization and functions and indicating the classes containing its records." You should consult this section to get an understanding of the organization that created a particular class of records, to see the time period(s) involved, and when that department was created, abolished, transferred, or absorbed. The fiche will give general information about the institution, its hierarchy, functions, and procedures.

Each institution is assigned a 3-digit number according to a pattern explained on pages 8-12 of the introduction on blue pages in Volume I. Each number is subdivided into subsections according the numbering pattern, but the user does not need to fully understand the pattern thanks to the index (see Part III). The three digit number is followed by subsection numbers. The subsection numbers refer to the topic. Subsection 1, for example, always contains the history and origin of the instituion, while subsection 3 always relates to internal services of the institution. Thus, the reference "Current Guide, Part I, 216/4/1" refers to the Board of Customs (216), Private papers (subsection 4, paragraph 1).

Part I has not been finished. Some sections, such as 704 (War Office) simply state that nothing has been written yet. Generally, unwritten sections on the fiche refer you to the printed editions of the Guide to the PRO for whatever background information it provides.

Part II. This section describes the record classes in alphanumber order of the class designator (for example, part I showed us that CUST is the class designator for the Board of Customs). This part lists each of the classes starting with CUST and gives a brief description of each records class. Thus, if you had a reference to W.O. 42 and wondered what that class was, you would look for WO 42 in Part II and find that it is "certificates of births, marriages, and deaths of army officers in support of widow and children's pension applications." It also explains some of the oddities of the class and its origin. Part II has not been written for all institutions. Where class desciptions have been written, cross references are given to the pages of the earlier Guide to the Public Record Office.

Part III. This section is an index to parts I and II. The fiche have a pink title bar. Index entries include topics and organizations. It is an extensive index, which is worth the time to consult. For example, under "Army Officers, birth certificates" is a reference to WO 42. The index gives two types of references, a number or a combination of letters and numbers (alphanumeric). A number without a letter refers to a section in Part I. If the reference contains a letter, it refers to Part II. For example CAOG7, WO 42, and T24 are references to part II, while 216/4/1 and 705.1.2 are references to Part I.

Class lists. These lists come after all three parts of the Current Guide. They start in Volume I of Kew Lists and continue through to the end, Volume XVII. This is the detailed description of the records, but is not included in the index. It enables the user to see how a particular record class is organized and subdivided (by alphabet, by date, by regiment or department, by geographic area, or ...).

The layout and content of the various class lists vary widely. A few are actually indexes, and in a few cases the class list contains a name index that is not found anywhere else. Such indexes include those for naturalizations (HO 1/Index) and miscellaneous officers' birth certificates (WO 42/66). Other class lists contain document or subject indexes. Most simply list each bundle and give a brief description of that bundle.

Not all record classes have been listed. Some classes, including nearly all records held at the Chancery Lane branch of the PRO are not included in the class list section.

Kew Lists is a potentially valuable collection in several ways. It helps you know what records are held at the PRO, enables you to reference specific documents which can then be obtained, and it contains some name or subject indexes that are not available elsewhere.