UK and Ireland: History

• British History Online is a "digital library of British historical sources .... including text and information about people, places and businesses from the 12th century to the present day".
• History On-line - a comprehensive resource from the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.
• The British Association for Local History's journal The Local Historian now makes all but the most recent three years of its issues freely available online.
• The British Library provides an extensive set of Learning History (and other subjects) pages.
• Listing of Rulers of England and Great Britain from 829AD, compiled by Dick Eastman.
• Information about the Kings and Queens of England and Scotland has been provided by Colin Hinson. He has also made available a table of Kings, Queens, Archbishops & Bishops which is also available as an Excel spreadsheet.
• Information from the book The English Peerage, which actually covers a wider area than just England.
• Local History Magazine have information related to the local history scene.
• The Virtual Museum of "treasures" from The National Archives - "collected over a 1000 years of British history".
• Anglo-American Legal Tradition - "Documents from Medieval and Early Modern England from the National Archives in London" (a huge resource).
• The Spartacus Educational website has provided some interesting and useful material on many aspects of British History, including:
  • Art & Artists
  • The Chartist Movement
  • First World War
  • Child Labour: 1750-1900
  • Journalists and Newspapers
  • Parliamentary Legislation
  • The Monarchy: 1750-1900
  • Members of Parliament: 1750-1820
  • Members of Parliament: 1850-1950
  • The Peterloo Massacre
  • Prime Ministers: 1780-1900
  • Political Parties and Government Legislation
  • Parliamentary Reform: 1750-1832
  • 19th Century Railways
  • Religion and Society
  • Emancipation of Women: 1780-1920
  • Entrepreneurs & Business Leaders
  • Political Parties and Election Results
  • Trade Unions and the Labour Movement
• The Brigham Young University of Utah has provided online versions of many Primary Documents relating to the History of the United Kingdom.
• Britannia's British History website (archived copy) offers some very useful material from many periods of British history. Their History Sources page (archived copy), which provides the text of many important documents and speeches, is particularly interesting, as are their Timelines of British History (archived copy).
• Another useful Timeline allows you to discover the historical events which were occurring throughout the lives of any chosen ancestor.
• The Great Britain Historical Database - from the Vision of Britain website.
• 19th Century: Victoria Research Web provided by the History Department of Indiana University.
• NetSERF's Hypertext Medieval Glossary (archived copy) explains many of the obscure terms we might encounter in our research.
• Robin Alston's Library History - The British Isles - To 1850 (archived copy) provides "a comprehensive series of files covering libraries, institutional, commercial and private in the British Isles from the late medieval period to the year 1850".
• A brief guide to British Coins 1861-2000.
• The Victorian Web covers many aspects of nineteenth century life including Biography, History, Politics, Gender, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Technology, Literature, Visual Arts and Victorian Design.
• The Heritage Trail (archived copy) - "One of his sceptred isle's greatest assets is her incredible wealth of heritage. From Stone Age Circles to Iron Age hill forts, Roman Baths to Medieval Castles, ruined Abbeys to vast Cathedrals, fine Manor Houses to Victorian seaside piers and pavilions - we have it all. The aim of this site is to offer the visitor a comprehensive insight into as much of Britain's heritage as possible."
• Current Value of Old Money - useful links and information by Roy Davies.
• The H-Net Discussion Network for British and Irish History.
• Great Britain and the United Kingdom History courtesy of "Teacher Oz".
• Knud Mariboe's Encyclopedia of the Celts.
• At the end of the 19th century, Mr Charles Booth held an Inquiry into the Life and Labour of the People of London - his 1889 descriptive map of London poverty is also online.
• An Overview of the The Great Exhibition of 1851 at Crystal Palace.
• Internet Modern History Sourcebook covers a wide range of topics dating from the 16th century to the present.
• The William Morris Gallery - "Discover the life and works of Britain's most inspiring designer at the newly-refurbished William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, London".
• History in Focus: The Victorian Era from the History Online website.
• A Web of English History - history of the period 1760-1850.
• The Victoria County History website gives information on the status of this ambitious project and includes the drafts of some unpublished articles destined for future volumes.
• Victoria County History: Place Index. An Index of places mentioned in the titles of articles in the published volumes of the Victoria History of the Counties of England.
• Useful dates in British History for the local historian or genealogist.
• Outlaws and Highwaymen a "History of the Highwaymen and their Predecessors, the Medieval Outlaws" made available by Gillian Spraggs.
• Roughly Date a Victorian or Edwardian Lady (archived copy) Photographs sorted by date by Roger F. Vaughan. Another useful site for dating photographs is The Costume Gallery which deals with changes in fashion over the years.
• A History of Women's Regency Fashion: Brocades, Fragrance, Lace, and Powder.
• Sewing Patterns and Guides for Historical Clothing and Costumes, by Lulus.
• The entire 3500 British Pathe news film archive covering "news, sport, social history and entertainment from 1896 to 1970" is now available online. The search facility allows one to locate and immediately view summaries and stills. Low resolution film "preview files" can be downloaded for viewing using Windows Media Player, free of charge to UK residents (though only after providing credit card and other identifying information).
• Britain on Film - by the National Film Institute: "1,000s of beautifully preserved films, capturing 120 years of Britain on Film"
• The National Co-operative Archive provides information on all aspects of the Co-operative movement.
• Historical Photographs are available from:
  • The Genealogist Image Archive.
  • Mary Evans Picture Library. 
  • Francis Frith.
  • History Pin - user-submitted historical photographs.
  • Britain From Above - free aerial photographs of Britain from 1919.
• Tim Lambert's Local Histories pages, provide histories of mny towns and cities in of towns and cities in the UK and Ireland.
• Jorge H. Castelli provides a large Tudor History web-site.
• Chamber's Book of Days - "a miscellany of popular antiquities in connection with the calendar".
• Pound Sterling - the History of the Pound, by Wikipedia.
• The British Isles - from the History Files website.
• The British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate website