Thousands of people appear in documents in the Parliamentary Archives, for many different reasons.
Below are some of the types of record that your ancestor might feature in. You might also want to see our case studies on finding ancestors in personal paper collections and divorce records.
Before 1844, foreigners wishing to become British subjects (the process known as naturalisation) had to do so by obtaining a private Act of Parliament.
The Protestation Returns are the closest record we have to a census from 1642.
Between 1680 and 1781, Parliament requested information about known or reputed Roman Catholics on a number of occasions.
Thousands of roads, railways, canals and other public works were built by Act of Parliament and affected many people.
Many people have signed petitions to the House of Lords and House of Commons over the centuries.
The Private Bill witness database is a giant name index of potential use for family historians.
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Explore the history, building and collections of Parliament, and find out about the impact of Parliament on everyday lives over the centuries