FOI reference: FOI-2026-3527
You asked
Please provide me with the latest available list of any documents, files or records that have been loaned, presented or otherwise transferred to the Royal Archives from the Department (temporarily or permanently). Please include the name of the document/file/record and any other information that is routinely logged by the Department for such documents, files or records (e.g. a date).
We said
Thank you for your request.
ONS primarily transfers records to The National Archives in line with its statutory obligations under the Public Records Act 1958. In 2016, however, we transferred two manuscripts to the Royal Archives.
The manuscripts comprised an Indenture Tripartite and a Trust Deed. Both of the manuscripts were written in 1762 during the reign of George III. The Indenture Tripartite grants ownership of a number of properties to Queen Charlotte, including Somerset House which was the headquarters of the General Register Office between 1836 and 1970, while the Trust details an annuity for Queen Charlotte.
We understand that the British Records Association sent the Indenture Tripartite to Sylvanus Vivian, Registrar General, in 1945, on the basis that his association with Somerset House gave the Registrar General a claim to the documents. We assume the manuscripts were subsequently moved between various ONS sites and predecessor organisations over the intervening years, until they were located.
Working closely with The National Archives, we were able to establish ownership and return these historical documents to the then Librarian and Assistant Keeper of the Queen’s Archive.