Record revealed
A dramatic plea for Churchill’s help from Bletchley Park
In 1941, four Government Code and Cypher School cryptanalysts, including Alan Turing, made a stunning appeal directly to Winston Churchill.
Series
Home Office: Police National Computer (PNC Symbol) Series: Files
Catalogue reference: HO 521
What's it about?
HO 521
This series consists of papers on the establishment of the Police National Computer (PNC), strategy plans, committee records and general management and administration papers.
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
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HO 521
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Title (The name of the record)
- Home Office: Police National Computer (PNC Symbol) Series: Files
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Date (When the record was created)
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1967-1992
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series consists of papers on the establishment of the Police National Computer (PNC), strategy plans, committee records and general management and administration papers.
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Related material (A cross-reference to other related records)
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See also HO 337
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Former department reference (Former identifier given by the originating creator)
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PNC symbol
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
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Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
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English
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Home Office, Police Department (F Division), 1918-1918
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
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105 file(s)
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
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Open unless otherwise stated
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
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In 2018 Home Office
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
- Computing
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Accruals (Indicates whether the archive expects to receive further records in future)
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No further accruals are expected
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Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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Plans for the Police National Computer (PNC) began in 1968 and the system was introduced in 1974. Since this time PNC has evolved to meet the ever changing needs of operational and intelligence led policing. PNC is the prime source of information for previous convictions, vehicle information, such as if a vehicle is stolen, and seven categories of lost and found property. It operates on a 24/7 basis to provide accurate and timely information for people who are wanted, missing, disqualified from driving, are a firearms certificate holder or have come to the notice of the criminal justice system, also vehicles and property of interest together with other useful information. The PNC is linked to a fingerprint identification system and the National DNA database. If a record exists, biometric information can be used to prove identity for missing or vulnerable persons and crime detection. PNC information is governed by the Data Protection and Misuse of Computers Acts.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C13430160/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
1,719,919 records
Within the department: HO
Records created or inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related...
You are currently looking at the series: HO 521
Home Office: Police National Computer (PNC Symbol) Series: Files
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