| Activity | The Public Record Office (PRO) was founded by Act of Parliament in 1838. It occupied a purpose built repository in Chancery Lane, Holborn, which was designed and built in three phases between 1851 and 1900 specifically as a repository for the nation's records. After the Second World War, a second building was established at Kew, Surrey. Records from Chancery Lane were relocated to Kew in the 1990s. The leasehold on the Chancery Lane repository was sold to King's College London, and the building now holds the Library. In April 2003, the PRO merged with the Historical Manuscripts Commission to form the National Archives (TNA).
It is responsible for looking after and administering the records of central government and the courts of law, for England, Wales and the United Kindgom and making sure everyone can look at them. The collection is one of the largest in the world and spans an unbroken period from the 11th century to the present day. The Public Records system was established by the 1958 and 1967 Public Records Acts, which were ammended by the Freedom of Information Act (2000). |