BT Archives

The records include minutes, subject files, photographs, film and advertising material that tell the story of telecommunications in the UK and from the UK to overseas, from the formation of the private telegraph and telephone companies in the nineteenth century to the present day.

The earliest records held by BT Archives are those of the Electric Telegraph Company from 1846.

Post Office Telecommunications activities continue concurrently and subsequently to the private telegraph and telephone companies.

The British Phone Book collection is a major resource for genealogy and family history, containing a near-complete set of United Kingdom telephone directories from the first one issued in 1880.

Full access, acquisition and preservation policies can be found on the BT Archives website It is a partner in the Connected Earth network, the heritage initiative founded by BT in 2001 to safeguard telecommunications artefacts.