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The purpose of this lesson is to explore some extracts from the will of Samuel Pepys made in 1701 and later added to in 1703. You may have already ‘met’ Samuel Pepys whilst finding out about the Great Fire of London in 1666 and read his descriptions of the fire in his famous diary. Suitable for: Key stage 1, Key stage 2, Key stage 3 The National Archives has a huge collection of wills and they are important sources for finding out about people in the past. A will is a legal document in which a person records their wishes as to how their possessions and property are to be disposed of after their death. The document always names a particular person to ensure that people listed in the will receive what is due to them. Through this lesson you will discover more about Samuel Pepys and the different features that make up a will.

This lesson looks at what seals can tell us about what it was like to live in medieval England and Ireland. It also explores why people from a range of social backgrounds might need or want to have a seal of their own. Suitable for: Key stage 3 A medieval seal was used to prove that a document was really from the person or group that it said it was from. Not everyone sealed a document with their own personal seal. Seals have designs which show us what people wanted to say about themselves and the institutions that they were involved in.

Use this lesson to find out if the design of a board game can tell us anything about life in the past. Suitable for: Key stage 2, Key stage 3 Many board games, not on sale today, were devised in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and some of their designs are held at The National Archives. The board games used in this lesson are very interesting as historical sources as they can reveal something about the society that made them. How did people in the past like to have fun? Were their games very different from ours? Board games were highly valued as a form of entertainment for Victorian or Edwardian children as they were not too physical or noisy, allowing them to be ‘seen and not heard’. They could be played at home with the whole family or a group of children under the watchful eye of a parent or governess. They offered a change from the usual ‘parlour games’ that the Victorians favoured such as ‘Charades’ or ‘Pin the tail on the donkey’.

In this lesson you will explore some original nineteenth century criminal petitions held by The National Archives. Suitable for: Key stage 4, Key stage 5 Petitions are formal written requests made to an authority such as a monarch or government department. Petitioning was a long-established right to appeal to a higher authority to ask for a favour or correct an injustice. Petitions could be made by anyone in society, but they were usually written by people who were less powerful or wealthy than those they petitioned. Despite their humble position, by asking for help, petitioners offered their obedience in exchange for valuable assistance from the monarch or government. Those who received petitions were obliged to listen and to respond. However, the outcome of the petition was not always successful. Although criminal petitions are usually about one individual they also are useful case studies to learn about wider changes in attitudes towards crime and punishment.

What were Cromwell’s main political and religious aims for the Commonwealth 1650-1660? This resource contains original sources written by people who observed and reported on the events during this time period. Their accounts contain clues about Cromwell’s main aims during this period, as well as the difficulties that he came up against trying to implement them. Suitable for: Key stage 3, Key stage 4

While the fight for votes for women has been long been regarded as a movement led and supported by women, it is important to recognize that men participated in the struggle, both in and outside Parliament. Use the sources in this lesson to investigate the role played by male supporters, or ‘suffragettes in trousers’ during the campaign for votes for women. Suitable for: Key stage 1, Key stage 3, Key stage 5

The first battles of the American Revolution took place on the 18 and 19 April 1775, at Lexington and Concord near Boston in Massachusetts, in what later became known as a ‘shot heard round the world’. Despite attempts at reconciliation by the colonists, conflict continued throughout 1775 and 1776. This lesson explores the skirmishes that happened before the Declaration of Independence was issued on 4 July 1776. Use documents from The National Archives’ collections to consider why war broke out in 1775 and why hostilities continued until the colonies declared independence from Great Britain.

This curated collection can be used to help students develop their own historical enquiries as well as to prepare and practice source-based exam questions. The collection includes a range of sources to encourage them to think more broadly about the reign of Charles II beyond the Great Fire. Teachers have the flexibility to download all documents and transcripts and simplified transcripts to create their own resources. Teachers may also prefer to use document extracts if the sources appear too long. With each document we have provided a caption about the content and 3-4 suggested prompt questions. We hope this will allow students to work independently if wished on any document, or within small class discussion groups, or to assist teachers in the development of their own questions. We hope too, that exposure to original source material may also foster further document research.

This themed collection includes all the original documents used to create The National Archives resources for use in secondary level school assemblies to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement which ended the conflict in Northern Ireland. In addition, our short video gives an overview of the conflict and the peace process that brought it to an end, what the Agreement did and its results. These resources can be used to build knowledge about the Agreement and support student discussion about how it successfully brought an end to the violence and brought in a new era of peace in Northern Ireland. This themed collection, however, allows teachers to create their own differentiated resources.

In contrast to dominant narratives about refugees from Asia and Africa arriving at the borders of Europe, between 1939 and 1945 thousands of European refugees took shelter in South Asia. They were joined by other war evacuees from Southeast Asia and refugees from China. This lesson looks at Polish and Jewish refugees who came to India from Europe and were joined by refugees from Malta and the Balkans. Alongside these refugees nearly half a million people fled from Burma and Southeast Asia as the Japanese advanced and sought shelter in colonial India. Thus, during the Second World War, India became home to thousands of refugees from Europe and Asia. This lesson uses original documents to explore how these refugees were provided with relief, how they were treated, and what happened to them when the war ended.

The Cultural Revolution took place in China from 1966 to 1976. It was not a revolution to overthrow the government or people in power. Instead, it was a political movement initiated by Mao Zedong, who was Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and leader of China. It aimed to purge capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society and to reassert Mao’s authority. It caused an estimated 500,000 to 2 million deaths and deeply impacted China and its people. To achieve the objectives of the Cultural Revolution, Mao mobilised young people to form Red Guard groups, following his ideas as written down in his famous Little Red Book. The cult of Mao soared to new heights and his image was seen throughout China. The Red Guard targeted people that represented the ‘Four Olds’: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits. This included intellectuals, scientists, and senior officials. The violence exhibited by the Red Guard soon spiralled out of control, and Mao had to send in the People’s Liberation Army to restore order. The Cultural Revolution, however, did not end until his death in 1976. Use the original sources in this lesson to explore the Cultural Revolution. How and why did it come about, and what were some of its impacts?

What political ideas in the colonies influenced the American Revolution? On 4th July 1776, the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain. This declaration of independence from British colonial rule has been explained in terms of anger over taxation, fear of losing rights and liberties, and the idea of fundamental corruption within the colonial administration. This lesson focusses on the political thought that inspired the American Revolution, and the ideas that influenced the decision to declare independence. Use the documents in this lesson to explore the context for the political thought that inspired the American Revolution.

This lesson asks students to examine a set of letters to discover the health concerns of a sample of poor people in the Victorian era. The activity can be done in groups or as a carousel providing the whole class with knowledge of the content of each letter. The letters have been grouped into five main themes related to health allowing you to select the letters most appropriate to your group’s studies. You may also want to pair this activity with the use of our interactive maps on our Voices of the Victorian Poor website where there are over 3500 letters from the victorian poor to explore. There is a curated map on health within the ‘secondary’ student portal, or further health related filters within the ‘research’ portal. Using these maps can allow you to explore health issues in your local area or explore national trends in medical care, sanitary reform or disease outbreaks. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This resource is designed for a KS3 year 8-9 class with prior knowledge on the Victorian Workhouse. It could be used as a partner lesson for the already existing source lesson using the 1837 poster. The lesson examines the Victorian Poor in their own words and seeks to address the common misconception that the Victorian Poor were helpless when in the workhouse and accepted the consequences of becoming a pauper and being institutionalised. This resource is designed as a full lesson and has a section for lower-ability students, depending on whether you wish to differentiate. This lesson would best be used as part of a scheme of work on the Victorians and life during the Industrial Revolution. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This lesson will explore the topic of food, placing it within the wider context of the enquiry question of ‘What was life like for a child in the Victorian Workhouse?’. This lesson will allow the children an opportunity to explore a range of primary sources, also to draw comparisons towards Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’. This will support the children’s’ understanding of historical interpretation. The key historical aim for this lesson will be to use primary sources to support the understanding of a period in time. They will also be able to draw comparisons between their lives today and understand what life would have been like in the past. This lesson will support an exploration of the Victorians where it is either your post 1066 unit or linked to local history, for example if you have a local workhouse that is now a hospital or converted for other uses. It could also be used if you were exploring children’s experiences through history. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This lesson explores source material in the form of letters written by Paupers which were sent to the Poor Law Commission in London, generally complaining about the treatment and conditions the pauper children were enduring. The pupils will analyse up to 3 individual letters (see below) to gain an understanding of some of the things which happened to children during this time. This lesson focuses on Schools and is part of a series of lessons which include a focus on Southwell Workhouse followed by two other lessons focussing on clothing and food. You can choose to do individual lessons , or all of them, depending on your context and objectives. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

It has previously been assumed that paupers themselves had little knowledge nor understanding of the legislation governed their position, yet letters sent to the poor law commission from across England and Wales challenge this notion. In fact there is evidence that paupers were frequently writing to contest the way that they were being treated, complain about actions of their Guardians and in some instances even quoted specific parts of legislation in an attempt to change their lives. The legal terminology contained in the letters written by the poor, and the inferences that historians can make from this is a fascinating challenge to students of both History and Law related subjects. This resource aims to demonstrate, through a selection of letters and accompanying tasks, how paupers were active in exercising what they believe to be their ‘right to relief’ and were in fact agents who held the Poor Law to account. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This lesson explores source material in the form of letters written by Paupers which were sent to the Poor Law Commission in London, generally complaining about the treatment and conditions the pauper children were enduring. The pupils will analyse the individual letters to gain an understanding of some of the things which happened to children during this time. This lesson focuses on clothing and is part of a series of lessons which include a focus on Southwell Workhouse followed by two other lessons focussing on schooling and food. This lesson will support an exploration of the Victorians where it is either your post 1066 unit or linked to local history, for example if you have a local workhouse that is now a hospital or converted for other uses. It could also be used if you were exploring children’s experiences through history. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This document pack and associated activity are designed to support students with their depth study of Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain c1780 – 1939. The period of 1834-55 has been chosen to allow focus on the Poor Law Amendment Act and its impact on society. The letters provided in this pack are largely from paupers or interested parties writing to the Poor Law Commission, the Poor Law Board or local authorities in regards to the act, as such they offer genuine contemporary reactions to the Act. The letters have been presented as photographs with transcripts available (printed on the reverse if this pack is printed double-sided). An accompanying powerpoint has been provided which can be edited to suit your needs. Teachers notes have been provided within the powerpoint with suggested activity instructions. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This lesson explores descriptions of the punishment of the Victorian poor in the MH12 collection in The National Archives. It comes in two parts. The first lesson explores punishments given to children while the second lesson examines pauper attitudes to punishments for the general population. It was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.