Skip to content
Menu
The Institutional History Society
  • Home
  • About The Institutional History Society
    • About The Institutional History Society
    • Meet The Institutional History Team
    • In The News
    • FAQs
  • Research
    • Timelines
    • Prisons
      • County Gaols, City and Major Prisons
        • Woking Male Invalid Convict Prison Prison
        • Petworth Jail
        • Millbank Prison
      • Bridewells, Houses of Correction, Town Gaols
      • Lockups and Tolbooths
      • Hulks
  • Blog
    • Blog
    • The Reading Nook
    • Humane Awards
  • Resources
    • Resources & Guides
    • Podcasts
    • Newsletter
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • Donate
    • Competitions
  • Search
The Institutional History Society
Homepage > Resources & Guides

Resources & Guides

Welcome to our resources page. Here you will find a list of valuable sources to help you with your research. Whether you’re looking to understand Victorian vernacular, are interested in free and easily accessed online assets, or are interested in learning more about what support is available, this is the place for you.

Guides, Research Tips and Resources

Guides

Language

General Victorian Slang

Victorian Thieves Slang

Research Tips

If you’re looking to improve the way you research your ancestors, these tips are perfect to enable quicker, smarter and faster searching; we’ve made the mistakes, so you don’t have to.

Online Genealogy Services

Your Ultimate Guide to Using FindMyPast Records to Research Your Criminal Ancestors Part 1

Your Ultimate Guide to Using FindMyPast Records to Research Your Criminal Ancestors Part 2

Using Google

Using Basic Google Search Operators for a Better Search

Using Advanced Google Search Operators to Accelerate Your Search

Resources

Paid

Title – British Newspaper Archive

Author – British Newspaper Archive

Source – Secondary/Primary

Years Covered – 1700 – Present

About – Bringing together over 300 years and 33 million pages of British Newspaper history, this site is a Mecca for social historians looking to understand the sentiments and feelings of the times.

Link – https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

Aristocracy & Politicians

Title – History of Parliament

Author – History of Parliament

Source – Secondary

Years Covered – 1386 – 2019

About – A comprehensive list of autobiographies for members of parliament stretching back to the earliest of times.

Link – www.historyofparliamentonline.org

Crimes and Punishment

Title – Old Police Cells Museum

Author – Old Police Cells Museum

Source – Secondary

Years Covered – ? – 1987

About – An exploration of punishment through the centuries with a particular focus on police and constabularies in Brighton.

Link – https://www.oldpolicecellsmuseum.org.uk/

Title – Our Convicts: Their Riots And Their Causes

Author – W Thwaites

Source – Primary

Years Covered – 1861

About – Correspondence submitted to parliament .

Link – https://archive.org/details/ourconvictstheir00thwa/page/n6

Diarists

Title – The Apprenticeship of a Mountaineer: Edward Whymper’s London Diary, 1855-1859

Author – Edward Whymper

Source – Primary

Years Covered – 1855-1859

About – Edward Whymper was a mountaineer and writer, famous for being the first person to climb the Matterhorn. Opinionated, at times acerbic, but always honest, Whymper’s diaries provide us with a very personal insight of the goings on in and around London.

Link – www.british-history.ac.uk/london-record-soc/vol43

Education

Title – Alumni Cantabrigienses (Cambridge Alumni)

Author – Alumni Cantabrigienses (Cambridge Alumni)

Source – Secondary

Years Covered – 1209 – 1900

About – The University records of Cambridge Alumni as well as any achievements or notoriety gains post higher education.

Link – http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/Documents/acad/2018/search-2018.html

Finance

Title – A Handbook of London Bankers

Author – Frederick George Hilton Price

Source – Primary

Years Covered – 1677-1876

About – A directory of all the major London banking firms in the period covered, exploring their histories, specialities and performance.

Link – https://archive.org/

Images

Title – The Victoria & Albert Museum

Author – The Victoria & Albert Museum

Source – Secondary

Years Covered – 2981 BC – Present

About – A compendium of some of the world’s greatest artworks with authorship and provenance information available.

Link – http://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/

Medical and Health

Title – A Dictionary of Medical Science

Author – Robley Dunglison

Source – Primary

Years Covered – 1860

About – A dictionary of various terms and treatments contemporary to 1860

Link – https://archive.org/details/101515262.nlm.nih.gov/page/n6

Military

Title – The Victorian Military Society

Author – The Victorian Military Society

Source – Secondary

Years Covered – 1837 – 1901

About – The VMS provide an in-depth examination of all things militaria from units, to weapons to punishments for insubordination.

Link – https://www.victorianmilitary.org/

Miscellany

Newspapers & Magazines

Title – The Gazette

Author – The Gazette

Source – Primary

Years Covered – 1665 – Present

About – The Gazette Is the oldest surviving and, indeed, longest continually printed newspaper in the UK containing a great deal of information regarding notices, commissions, insolvency and more.

Link – https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/notice?service=all-notices

Religious body

Title – English Heritage

Author – English Heritage

Source – Secondary

Years Covered – 1837 – 1901

About – The English Heritage have compiled a brief but fascinating overview of religious change in the Victorian Era and is well worth a read.

Link – https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/victorian/religion/

Sports

Title – Origins of the Boatrace

Author – The Boat Race

Source – Secondary

Years Covered – 1829 – 1835

About – A brief history of the Oxford v. Cambridge Boat Race.

Link – https://www.theboatrace.org/origins

Inside Out: A personal perspective on modern British Prisons

FacebookTwitterInstagram
  • Newsletter
  • Press Release
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs
  • Resources & Guides
  • Meet The Institutional History Team
©2025 The Institutional History Society | Powered by SuperbThemes