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You are searching our UK Passport Applications
- Our Passport Applications date from 1851 to 1903. If your ancestors applied for a UK Passport during these years you can search our Passport Applications records to see if they are listed.
- We will search our Passport Application Records for names that match your search criteria. The information on passport applications is very limited, but the fact that a passport has been applied for is most relevant.
- You only need enter the first three characters of the surname, as the pages are not indexed fully, and are listed by the name groups they relate to.
- You can search a number of different record selections by choosing them from the left hand green panel.
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Search passport applications
Enter a name to search hundreds of UK passport applications between 1851 and 1903.
This table shows all the pages that match your search in the Passport Applications.
To view a page, click on the ‘image’ button. This will take you to the original image. The data contained in each image is limited, but typically contains the date of application and the names of all people in the surname group across that period.
What are Passport Applications?
The Archive of Names of Passport Applicants contains digitised images of the original indexes of Names of Passport Applicants from the Chief Clerk"s Department and Passport Office of the Foreign Office.
Show moreThese indexes cover the years 1851-1862 and 1874-1903. Note that there are no indexes for 1857 (all surnames), for 1858 (A-G surnames) or for the period 1863 to 1873.
From 1851 to 1862 applicants are listed alphabetically and record the surname, forename and often further initials and title; the passport number, date of passport and in some cases observation notes.
From 1874 to 1903 the index is not strictly alphabetical, applicants are grouped by the first letter of the surname and listed chronologically recording the Surname and Forename Initial, and there are no passport numbers or observation notes.
Passports were not mandatory for British travellers until 1914. Until 1858 UK passports could be granted to people who were not British but who requested the protection of the UK whilst travelling; these passports were simply certificates requesting that foreign officials should allow the bearer to travel without hindrance.
