Registry files

The earliest files date from 1913 (although some material dates from the nineteenth century). The files are the central record of National Gallery administration from 1913 to 1988 and include the incoming and outgoing letters of the Director, the Keeper and other senior staff.

The Registry was established at the time of the First World War and replaced the existing filing system where incoming correspondence (NG5 and NG7) was separated from copies of outgoing correspondence (NG6). It was maintained until the late 1980s when departmental filing systems became the norm for recordkeeping. Some material from the early 1990s was also subsequently added to the Registry files and some sub-series have since been listed separately, e.g. Board papers and exhibition case files.

This series of files was created by the Director's Office. They were transferred to the Archive in the 1990s.