The British Library in St. Pancras needs little introduction or explanation. As its name suggests it is the national repository of not only the printed works of the British Isles, but also of many published works from around the world.

As such, any program of research that requires reference to a printed work not generally available will necessitate a visit to the library.

The British Library now also contains the entire archive of the India Office, the prime source in this country of material relating to the British in India, from the 18th century through to the mid 20th. The archive includes an extremely substantial series of registers of baptism, marriage and burial from the three Indian Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras, as well as the service records of the three armies representing the presidencies until 1861, and the Indian Army from that date through to the mid 20th century.

For anyone researching an ancestor who lived in India during the above period, the India Office will be an absolutely vital resource.