The 1870 "Naturalisations in the UK Act" required anyone registering for citizenship to have lived in the United Kingdom for at least five years in the eight year period prior to naturalisation. It also took one month from the swearing of the oath of allegiance to becoming registered by the Home Office. All this information might be useful when working out the date of arrivals to Britain. The certificate stated the man's name, his present address, his occupation and the region and country of his birth. It also gave his parents' names, whether he was married or single and any children's names and ages at time of naturalisation. It did not, however, state his wife's name.

• For further information, visit the National Archives website, which has online versions of its finding aids.
   
• For useful dates in British history, see the History section.