Podcast: 'There is no aspect of government activity on which the State Papers may not throw light': the papers of the secretaries of state 1509-1782

The state papers are the correspondence and papers of the ministers of the Crown during the early modern period. For the first time individuals and personalities emerge from obscurity and we are able to go behind the scenes of government and explore motives, policy-making, and ideas. The state papers are the backbone of early modern records transforming the historians' approach to this lively period. The talk begins with an overview of the state papers, followed by their use over time, and how the State Papers Office was run. The podcast ends with a summary of finding aids available, including what is accessible on State Papers Online. Dr Adrian Ailes is a principal records specialist in early modern records and is particularly interested in local history, the gentry, heraldry and seals. Dr Katy Mair is an early modern records specialist whose research interests include the Jacobites, the history of reading, and the religious culture of women. Her doctorate examined the correspondence of the 16th century gentlewoman Lady Anne Bacon, and focused particularly on her unpublished letters to her sons, Anthony and Francis Bacon