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NewsletterWorking for Archives
Spring 2019 Series 5, Number 1
2019 ConferenceSuburbia revealed through records
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2019 HARLEY
PRIZE NOWOPEN
Also in this issue:Archives of the Royal Society of ArtsHow well
are we at work?Science in Cambridge A visit to Southill ParkA spy
at the BRA
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BRA members are invited toattend a visit to Southill
ParkBedfordshire on Thursday 6June. Southill has been home tothe
Whitbread family since 1795and was rebuilt by HenryHolland. The
house looks muchas it did when Holland died, withdecoration and
furnituredesigned by him still in situ.
Charles Whitbread, thepresent incumbent, and JamesCollett-White,
archivist at thehouse, will be giving the party atour of some of
the rooms, anditems from the archive will alsobe on display.
The Whitbreads have beenPresidents of the Bedfordshire
Historical Records Society sinceits inception in 1912
andCharles’s great grandfatherworked closely with Dr GeorgeHerber
Fowler, Bedfordshire’sfirst county archivist and a keyfigure in the
BRA.
Tickets for the house tour cost£15 for BRA members, £18
fornon-members. For more info visitthe BRA website. Booking will
bevia Eventbrite, or email us
[email protected].
PatronThe Marquess ofSalisbury, PC, DL
PresidentMaster of the Rolls, Sir Terence Etherton
Hon Vice-PresidentLord Mackay ofClashfern
Vice-PresidentsDr David RobinsonDavid Prior
Chair of CouncilJulia Sheppard
Vice-Chair of CouncilPenelope Baker
TreasurerJanet Foster
Editor of ArchivesDr Ruth Paley
Honorary SecretaryVictoria Northwood
MembershipSecretaryElizabeth Stazicker
British RecordsAssociationc/o 70 Cowcross St,London EC1M 6EJ
Tel: 07946 624713
Charity number 227464
NewsletterSpring 2019 Series 5, Number 1
News2019 Annual Conference 3Member News 4Archive news 5Records
at Risk 6Archive news 7Events and Grants 8
FeaturesWellbeing at Work 9The Archives of the RSA 10Books
11Helen Berry: fascinated by foundlings 12
Newsletter Editor: Sarah Hart Sub-Editor/Designer: Jeffery
PikeConsultant editor: Janet Foster
To contribute to the newsletter please email the editor Sarah
Hart:[email protected]
BRA Newsletter 3
This year’s Annual Confer -ence of the BRA took placeon 25 April
at CowcrossStreet, London and was deemed agreat success by all who
attended.
Under the title ‘Living on theEdge: Records of
Suburbia’,delegates heard from severalspeakers. Joanna Smith,
seniorinvestigator of Historic England,gave an overview of the
project onsuburbs initiated by EnglishHeritage in 2012 and now
nearingcompletion. Her talk was followedby Sally Bevan of
LondonMetropolitan Archives, whodescribed the creation ofHampstead
Garden Suburb.
Jim Ranahan of theShakespeare Birthplace Trusttalked about the
SuburbanBirmingham Research Project andthe development of
civicamenities within suburbandevelopments, while DeborahSugg Ryan,
Professor of DesignHistory and Theory at theUniversity of
Portsmouth,delivered a talk on the inter-warsuburban semi.
Further presentations weregiven by Sara Kinsey, head
ofHistorical Archives at Nation wideBuilding Society; Rachel
Freemanfrom the Church of England
Record Centre; JessicaScantlebury from the Universityof Sussex,
and Sally Gilbert fromMerchant Taylors’ School.
BRA Chair Julia Shepparddeclared: ‘It was a veryinformative,
successful and well-attended day – with excellentillustrated talks
on a wide range oftopics and stimulating animateddiscussion in the
lunch and coffeebreaks.’
Reflecting on the conference,one delegate tweeted after
wards:‘Interesting subject, greatspeakers and debate, and I
foundout things that I didn’t knowbefore. Well done to the
organisers!’A full report will appear in the
next Newsletter and some of thepapers will be published in
afuture issue of Archives.
2019 conference explores suburbia
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The National Theatre’s recent front-of-houseexhibition
celebrated the NT Archive’s 25thanniversary. Theatre-makers,
playwrights andresearchers were invited to choose an objectfrom the
archive and to respond to it. The poemhere was written by Jesc
Bunyard in response tothe prompt script of the first NT
production,Hamlet in 1963.
In Praise of the Archive (2018)Picture an archiveConjure up an
image in your head and you’ll probably
imagine something dusty and darkWith files and papers stacked on
high categorised
into numbered systemsTo those uninitiated it can seem
untouchable, another
world, barred off to those not given a special passHowever
archives are not places where history is
boxed away never to be seen by a wandering eyeevery again
They are treasure troves waiting to be uncoveredEach search on
the database or file is a step into the
unknown
An archive is a place where the jewels of history arekept, not
locked away
They contain a thousand voices whispering secrets,ideas, plans
and lost loves
Delving through an archive is a romantic endeavourTo use an
archive is to engage in an act of seductionAsk the right questions
and they will lie before you
and reveal their secretsAn archive is a guardian of history
ensuring that each
moment is secure for the next seeker of knowledgeEach visitor
carves their story in relation to each piece
they discoverThey make their own mark on the archive by
their
interaction with itEach single piece of treasure within an
archive
contains a thousand storiesSit within the archive and these
pieces will tell their
lives to youHistory will unfold before you, drama will spring
to
life and dance across the database.
Poem reproduced with the kind permission of writer and artist
Jesc Bunyard
Ode to an archive
A chance to visit Southill Park and its archiveC
over
pic
ture
: arc
hite
ct’s
dra
win
g o
f a ‘c
otta
ge’
in N
ewin
gto
n, re
pro
duc
ed b
y ki
nd p
erm
issi
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f of R
IBA
Am
and
a En
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SAVE THE DATEThis year’s AGM and MauriceBond Lecture will take
placeon 13 November. The lecture,‘Access to information in
turbulent times’, will begiven by Gill Bull, Director
ofComplaints and Com p lianceat the Information Commis-sioner's
Office.
Deborah Sugg Ryan spoke about the inter-war suburban semi
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
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In 1962, while at the BritishEmbassy in Moscow, homosexualcivil
servant John Vassall wascaught in a honey-trap set by theSoviet
Secret Service andblackmailed into passing themsecrets before
eventually beingdiscovered, tried and imprisoned.
On 25 April as part of TNA’sCold War Season,
contemporaryprincipal records specialist MarkDunton delivered
a talk at TNAwhere he examined some of theissues raised by
Vassall’ssituation, in particular that ofnational security at a
time whenhomosexual relations betweenmen were illegal and the
subjectof widespread prejudice.
The story of John Vassall didnot end with his arrest, as
theBRA’s current Treasurer JanetFoster recalls: ‘My first job as
anarchivist was with the BRA in1974 where I was introduced onmy
first day to John Phillipsthe administrator, a verydebonair
man wearing a pin-striped suit. We worked in thesame office
together and got onvery well.’
On his release from prison in1972, Vassall had changed hisname
to Phillips.
Janet says: ‘During early 1975 Ibecame aware, from his
phoneconversations, that he was
writing a book, although he gaveno hint of what it might
beabout. He took a week’s holidayand during that week his
bookVassall: The Autobiography of aSpy was published.
‘The first I knew of it wasseeing his picture on the frontpage
of newspaper being readby a fellow commuter! Hereturned to
work as if nothinghad happened.’
TNA’s Cold War Season runsuntil 9 November and includes anew
exhibition ‘Protect andSurvive: Britain’s Cold WarRevealed’. To
learn more, visitwww.nationalarchives.gov.uk/coldwar.
➦4 Spring 2019 BRA Newsletter 5
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BRA news
Vassall: a victim of his time?
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Training andworkshops22 May JISC, London.Workshop: Measuring
usageand impact with digitalcollections. Tickets £250 + VAT
from:www.jisc.ac.uk/training.
6, 10, 11 & 12 June LondonMetropolitan Archives, 40
Northampton Road,London EC1R 0HB. One-day courses in archivesand
records management(Building Blocks of RecordsManagement; Basic
ArchiveSkills; Archival Arrangementand Description
Explained;Managing Photographs in theArchives) delivered by
theArchive-Skills Consultancy Ltd.For more
information:www.archive-skills.com/training/index.php.
13 June University of Leeds27 June University ofBirmingham.Come
Together: Developingcollaboration betweenarchives services and
HigherEducation, aimed atacademics from all disciplines,funded by
MALD/TNA/History UK.Admission free; book
atwww.eventbrite.co.uk.
11 September, OrdnanceSurvey Head Office,Southampton.
AnnualWorkshop of the MapCurators’ Group of the BritishCartographic
Society (BSC).Map collection development:dispersal, disposal and
digitaltransition. For more information,contact: MCG Convener
PaulaWilliams at [email protected].
This year’s Janette Harley Prize isnow open for entries. The
prizeof £350, in memory of JanetteHarley (1951–2015), is intendedto
generate interest in archivesand raise awareness of researchand
achievements in the world ofarchives.
It is awarded for the best/most original piece of workpublished
in a monograph,journal or magazine, or otherwisemade publicly
available (such as
in a blog) during the last threeyears.
Applications should bereceived no later than 30 June2019 and the
winning entry willbe announced following BRA’sAGM and Maurice
BondMemorial Lecture on 13November 2019.
For full details and informationon how to enter,
visitwww.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/the-janette-harley-prize.
Harley Prize 2019 now open
The BRA is sad to report the death of Alan Kucia.Alan (right)
trained on the Liverpool ArchiveCourse, 1983–84, and spent most of
his career inthe University archives sector. His first job was
atTrinity College, Cambridge where he spent nearlyseven years. He
then moved to be senior archivistat his beloved Churchill College,
Cambridge untilMay 2000, during which time he oversaw thedeposit of
the Thatcher Papers.
His only venture outside Cambridge was justover four years spent
at King's College London, asSenior Archives Services Manager. After
that heworked at the RAF Duxford Museum Film andVideo Archive.
Another four years were spent asSenior Cataloguer for the Tower
Project,
Obituary: Alan Kucia (14 June 1958–30 November 2018)
Archive news
Archives and science collideCambridge ScienceFestival, now in
its 25thyear, is a major regionalopportunity for all-comersto hear
about cutting-edgescience from cutting-edgescientists. But if
anyonethought archives an arts-side irrelevance, this
year’sprogramme surelyprompted them to thinkagain.
At Churchill College,Madelin Evans broughttogether archivists
fromacross the University toshow off and explaincollections from
Darwin toSir Fred Hoyle, polarexploration to IVF,
coccolithphotographs to therecreation of scientificcorrespondence
networksthrough the ambitiousEpsilon project
(seewww.epsilon.ac.uk).
At the University Library,Katrina Dean bravelyorganised ‘What to
do with my archive?’, howscientists and administrators need to work
witharchivists to build for the future. Four speakers
took us from the selectionof ‘stuff’ at the WhippleMuseum
through thecontinuing growth of theuniversity archive
(www.repository.cam.ac.uk), thepreservation and sharing,digitally,
of research andresearch data sets, andguidance on thepreservation
of personaldigital archives, includingadvice to use properlymanaged
earth-boundhard drives rather than riskcloud storage. The eventwas
surely worth repeatingand a model to emulate.
A warning to read theterms and conditions ofcloud storage was
vividlyexemplified by a Europe-wide distribution map ofcats, each
one capable ofbeing zoomed to full viewwithout their or
theirowner’s knowledge. (My cat Tischendorf now
pesters for at least his photographs to be sharedworldwide in
this way, convinced as he rightly is ofhis beauty.) Liz
Stazicker
Phot
ogra
ph
cour
tesy
of M
iss
Cre
ssid
a Sm
ithPh
otog
rap
hs: L
iz S
tazi
cker
Wik
imed
ia C
omm
ons
Cambridge Univ -ersity Library.Finally, he was aRecords
Managerwith the BritishAntarctic Survey,based inCambridge, from2013
to 2016.
He turned 60last June and waslooking forward toretirement.
Sadly,he died in his sleepin November,following a heartattack. He
will besadly missed by all who knew him. Our thoughtsare with his
wife Suzie, his brother Simon, and allhis family. Nigel Hardman
Vassall/Phillips pictured in 1984
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/coldwarhttp://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/coldwarhttps://www.jisc.ac.uk/training/making-your-digital-collections-easier-to-discoverhttp://www.archive-skills.com/training/index.phphttp://www.archive-skills.com/training/index.phphttps://www.eventbrite.co.ukmailto:[email protected]://www.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/the-janette-harley-prize/http://www.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/the-janette-harley-prize/https://epsilon.ac.ukhttps://www.repository.cam.ac.ukhttps://www.repository.cam.ac.uk
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6 Spring 2019 BRA Newsletter 7
Records at risk Archive news
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Records PreservationDevelopmentsThe Records@Risk Steering Group
is now wellestablished with representation from archivesand
academic sectors in England and Wales. It is anindependent advisory
body, supported by TNA andwill be lobbying for preservation of
records at riskand co-ordinating projects to achieve this goal.
We have a definition of records at risk, which is:‘Records at
risk regardless of format whose futurepreservation, accessibility
and security is uncertain –particularly records held outside a
recognisedcollecting archive institution, but not excludingrecords
at risk from institutional failure of the recordcreator or the
current custodian.’ We have alsomade progress on following
objectives:A contingency fund for emergency storage/actionto save
records at immediate risk: the BRA isworking with TNA on
arrangements for holding thisfund. The steering group will finalise
terms ofreference and eligibility as well as raising funds so itcan
open for applications and has already beenalerted to several
collections which might need help,including records of National
Union of Mineworkersin Barnsley and Salter’s Steamers in Oxford.A
website page
(britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/records-preservation)to advertise
the group’sactivities, to allow people to alert us to records
atrisk and to provide advice. An event to raise awareness in the
researchcommunity of records at risk. This is being arranged
by TNA for the autumn as part of its HigherEducation Archive
programme as the ‘final’ event inthe celebration of the Historical
ManuscriptsCommission 150th anniversary celebrations.
Helping othersThe BRA is working on a title deeds project with
theFamily History Federation and has been approachedfor advice on
organising archives of private andcharity organisations. We had a
table at the BritishAcademy day in March on Voluntary
Organisations,Archives and Records and spoke to several
smallcharities concerned about their record-keeping. Weare helping
our neighbours in Cowcross Street withtheir records, notably the
Public Monuments andSculpture Association, and continue to
finalisedeposits of material left over from the RPS.
Alison Cassidy has finished lists of the BRArecords deposited in
April 2017 and is working onthe BRA archives previously deposited
at LondonMetropolitan Archives, improving descriptions sowe can
merge the archive lists and make all ourarchives available for
research. There is alreadyacademic interest in our work on salvage
duringWorld War II and we have received some requestsabout deposits
made as far back as the 1930s,including a new owner of a property
wishing toreclaim their deeds, so it is important that we haveour
own archives in order!
Penny Baker outlines the progress made by the steering group in
the past few months
© N
ew C
ollege Lib
rary and A
rchives, Oxford
, NC
A 2814. Rep
roduced
courtesy of the Ward
en and Scholars of N
ew C
ollege Certificate recording
Alfred Allnott’s gift to New College of El Greco’s painting of
St James
Nine services getscoping grantsNine archive services
haverecently each received scopinggrants of up to £3,000 from
theArchives Revealed fundingprogramme. The grants fund anexpert
assessment that enablesarchive services to gain a
betterunderstanding of the needs,content and significance of
theircollection and plan for improvedcollections management and
the
future development of thearchive.
The nine services are: theLighthouse Archive, the RoyalSociety
of Sculptors, theTavistock Institute of HumanRelations, Wheal
Martyn ChinaClay Museum, the British DeafHistory Society, Scottish
Opera,Coventry Cathedral, TowerHamlets Local History Libraryand
Archives, and the TheatresTrust. Archives Revealed is apartnership
programme
between The National Archivesand The Pilgrim Trust, supportedby
The Wolfson Foundation.
More archivesaccreditedTNA has awarded accreditedstatus to
Rotherham Archivesand Local Studies Service; RoyalCollege of
Physicians of LondonArchive; Suffolk Record Office;the Postal
Museum: the RoyalMail Archive, and Wirral ArchivesService. The
accreditationacknowledges the continuingdevelopment of their
servicearound the management, careand access to their
collections.
Archive Trust motors to successThe Motorway Archive
Trustcollection, held by GlamorganArchives, is this year’s winner
ofthe John Armstrong Award forTransport Archives. The award,which
is a one-off cataloguinggrant of £4,000 jointly funded bythe
Business Archives Counciland the late John Armstrong, willenable
the Trust to catalogue itscollection material related to
thebuilding of the M4 and A55.
The records date from 1939 to2010 and include reports, corres
pon dence, contracts,photographs and plans. Theproject will be
completed byAugust 2019.
Box of delightsDundee Archive’s first donationof 2019 arrived
posthumouslyafter a friend of Isabell Phil, whodied in October 2018
aged 98,found a note left by her to‘please offer [this box] to
DundeeCity Archives or the Nine Tradesarchivist’. The box
containedmany items of historical interestincluding World War
IImedallions, a 1953 ration book,letters and old
familyphotographs.
New College Library andArchives, Oxford has set up anew online
Archives Gallery,featuring some of thefascinating and beautiful
itemsin its extensive collection,including some stunningmanuscripts
and early printed
and rare books. Some of thecollege’s oldest documentsdate back
to the 11th century.
The galleries are available toview on three web
pages:new.ox.ac.uk/archives-gallery,new.ox.ac.uk/manuscripts
andnew.ox.ac.uk/antiquarian-gallery.
Visual treasures now online
Archives is the peer-reviewedjournal of the British
RecordsAssociation, whose aims andobjectives it seeks to
promote.
Published twice-yearly byLiverpool University Press, itcontains
essays, case studies andreports on all aspects of archives.The next
issue will be mailed tomembers in summer. ✦ We welcome submissions
andare always keen to receive work
by early-career scholars. ✦ There is no upper limit onlength of
submissions, but 8,000words including notes issuggested. ✦
Submissions must be theoriginal work of the author(s) andmust not
have been publishedpreviously, or be about to be.
For more information, pleasecontact Dr Ruth Paley:
[email protected].
Archives
https://www.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/records-preservation/https://www.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/records-preservation/https://www.new.ox.ac.uk/archives-galleryhttps://www.new.ox.ac.uk/manuscriptshttps://www.new.ox.ac.uk/antiquarian-gallerymailto:editor@
britishrecordsassociation.org.ukmailto:editor@
britishrecordsassociation.org.uk
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13–15 July 2019St Anne’s College, OxfordDame Iris Murdoch
(right), bornon 15 July 1919, read Greats atSomerville College,
Oxford in1938 before going on to have arenowned career as a
fictionwriter and philosopher, whichincluded returning to Oxford
asPhilosophy Fellow at St Anne’sin 1948.
The Iris Murdoch ResearchCentre at the University ofChichester
will be holding acentenary conference inassociation with St
Anne’s,which is providing the mainvenue, and Somerville, which
ishosting an exhibition of majoritems connected with Murdoch.
The conference will bepreceded by a public lecture atthe
Bodleian Library on 12 Julyby Professor Peter Garrard ofSt
George’s Medical School,London. For more informationemail
[email protected].
BAC Grants openfor applicationsThe Business Archives
Council(BAC) is welcoming applicationsfor the Cataloguing Grant
forBusiness Archives and a newgrant for Business Archivesrelated to
Sports, which replacesthe previous Arts grant.
The grants are for £4,000 eachand their aim is to fund
thecataloguing of a businesscollection in the private or
publicsector and to provide financialsupport for institutions
orbusinesses that manage businessarchives; reach collections
thathave not yet been prioritised buthave potential academic
orsocio-historical value; create
opportunities for archivists, para-professionals or volunteers
togain experience in listingcollections, and increase accessto
business collections.
For more information
visitbusinessarchivescouncil.org.uk.Deadlines for applications
forthe grants are 25 June and 26July 2019 respectively.
Previousapplicants are welcome toreapply but the BAC will notaward
a grant to the sameinstitution within three years.
HMC at TNATo commemorate the 150thanniversary of the creation of
theHistorical ManuscriptsCommission (HMC) in 1869 byRoyal warrant,
a one-dayconference is being held on 12June at TNA with a focus
onreflecting on the history andachievements of HMC throughseries of
dialogues betweenexternal and TNA speakers.
GSHQ revealed10 July 2019–23 February 2020Science Museum,
LondonCoinciding with the 100thanniversary of GCHQ, thisexhibition
explores more than a
century’s worth of communic -ations intelligence
throughhand-written documents,declassified files and
previouslyunseen artefacts from theScience
Museum Group'sand GCHQ’s historic collections.Admission
free; advancebooking
required:www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/top-secret.
Other events20–22 May The CatholicArchives Society
Conference,Ushaw College, DurhamTickets: £185 members;
£195non-members. More info fromwww.catholicarchivesociety.orgor
[email protected].
31 May London History Day2019: The Past is Yet to
Come,10.30am–4pm at LondonMetropolitan Archives, LondonEC1R
0HB.Admission free: register atwww.eventbrite.co.uk.
5–6 July Annual Conference of the Oral History Society,Singleton
Campus, SwanseaUniversity. Tickets: from
£70www.ohs.org.uk/conferences/conference-2019/.
8 Spring 2019 BRA Newsletter 9
Events and GrantsIris MurdochCentenaryConference
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How well arewe at work?Janet Foster and Jessamy Harvey report on
Archives: Wellbeing Impact Seminar
Representatives of the archivessector – mainly local
authorityarchivists, as well as those linked tospecialist
repositories including businessand consultants – came together
inBirmingham in March to discuss waysto measure wellbeing in
relation toarchives, with specific mention ofimpact and the
National LotteryHeritage Fund bids (formerly HLF).
The morning presentation was givenby Ingrid Abreu Scherer from
WhatWorks Centre for Wellbeing, anindependent centre supported by
theEconomic and Social Research Centreand partners to produce
evidence ofwellbeing in specific areas, such asculture and
communities. The centredefines wellbeing as ‘how we
experiencelife’, including quality of life, health andbelonging,
and translates publishedresearch into effective interventions.
InMarch it published a report on Heritageand Wellbeing based on
3,500 papersand reports, of which 75 were includedalthough none
were directly related toarchives. It appears there is a lack ofbody
of evidence within the archivessector that can feed into these
reports.
A key aspect of wellbeing, asmeasured by the centre, is based on
lifesatisfaction – not happiness but abalance between pleasure and
purpose.We were introduced to severalframeworks, such as ONS4
andWEMWBS among others, but the
participants generally thought thatthese were not useful to the
sector. Anexception was the UCL WellbeingMeasures Umbrella.
After lunch, we worked in groups inresponse to set questions
from TNA toprovide data towards designing atoolkit for measuring
wellbeing impactof interactions with archives. (Someparticipants
had understood that theseminar would be reviewing an
existingtoolkit rather than working towardsdeveloping one – no such
thing as afree lunch!) The discussion tended tofocus on impact and
volunteers, whichexcluded discussion around thewellbeing of
archivists, some of whomare working in difficult circumstances,and
users.
The examples provided to kick-startdiscussion were not adequate
in thecontext of archives, but after somebrainstorming each group
deliverednotes about what we understoodwellbeing to be, why we were
curiousabout it and whose wellbeing we wereinterested in, with some
suggestions asto how this could be measured. Weawait the TNA
write-up towards anarchive specific Wellbeing ImpactToolkit. Janet
Foster is an archives andrecords management consultant andTreasurer
of the British RecordsAssociation. Dr Jessamy Harvey is aresearcher
and archives assistant.
Further information and resources✦ UCL Wellbeing Measures
Toolkit by Thompson and
Chatterjee,www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/sites/culture/files/ucl_museum_wellbeing_measures_toolkit_sept2013.pdf✦
Change Minds, a joint project between Norfolk Record Office,
theRestoration Trust and Together for Mental Wellbeing:
changeminds.org.uk.✦ https://whatworkswellbeing.org.uk
This is the first in aseries of threearticles focusing
onwellbeing. Futurearticles will look atDisplay
ScreenEquipmentassessment forarchivists and theAlexander
Techniquefor archivists
Phot
ogra
ph:
Jan
et S
tone
, rep
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uced
b
y ki
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issi
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f Ian
Bec
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mailto:[email protected]://www.businessarchivescouncil.org.ukhttps://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/top-secrethttps://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/see-and-do/top-secrethttps://catholicarchivesociety.org/training-events/conference-agm/conference-2019/mailto:[email protected]://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/london-history-day-2019-tickets-59157277008https://www.ohs.org.uk/conferences/conference-2019/https://www.ohs.org.uk/conferences/conference-2019/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/sites/culture/files/ucl_museum_wellbeing_measures_toolkit_sept2013.pdfhttps://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/sites/culture/files/ucl_museum_wellbeing_measures_toolkit_sept2013.pdfhttp://changeminds.org.ukhttps://whatworkswellbeing.org
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BooksA confused heap of papers
Susan Bennett traces the history of the archives of the Royal
Society of Arts
In 1778 a Mr James Dunn wasappointed to assist the Secretarywith
the task of indexing thecorrespondence and papers that hadbeen sent
into the Society of Arts(founded in 1754 and granted thetitle
‘Royal’ in 1908). He found a‘confused heap of papers’ and,despite
his ‘best endeavours andstrictest care’ over a period of 18months,
it had proved impossibleto put the papers in strictchronological
order.
He came across small bundlesof different dates and yearsmixed in
with larger groupings of
corres pondence, drawings and sampleswhich had been submitted
for theSociety’s awards. From this heap hefilled 12 folio volumes
covering theperiod 1754 to 1766 and produced anindex for these
Guard Books.
No further attempts appear to havebeen made to formally
catalogue orindex the rest of these loose archivesuntil the RSA,
the third oldest nationallearned society, approached
itsbicentenary. In the 1950s they appointedhistory graduate David
G.C. Allan tocarry out an evaluation of the archive.
The Society took an active interestin agricultural, artistic,
economic,educational and scientific progress byawarding monetary
and medallicawards. The rise of new and specialisedsocieties
together with the restriction onpatented items led to a decline
insubmissions by the mid-19th century.Prince Albert’s acceptance of
thePresidency saw the Society lay thegroundwork for the Great
Exhibition of1851, and it continued to supportnational and
international exhibitions.The RSA turned from awarding
premiums to a lecture-based pro -gramme to inform its work as
well asestablishing an examinations system.
Allan unearthed correspondence,papers and drawings scattered
aroundthe RSA’s headquarters building, whichit had occupied since
1774, includingtea-chests full of letters dating from themid-1800s
which had been stored in thecoal cellars. The original organisation
ofthe material had been lost. He indexedthe early material in
relation to therelevant premium committees butwhereas he had
identified the authors ofthese early papers, much of
thecorrespondence dating from the 1840sonwards was put into a loose
alphabeticalsequence for later cataloguing.
However, in surveying this materialhe came across a letter from
Karl Marx,dated 28 May 1869, acceptingmembership of the Society.
Culls of thislater material have taken place onseveral occasions
but there are stilldiscoveries to be made, such as a letterdated 30
May 1908, on ‘Votes forWomen’ letterhead, in which MrsPankhurst
asked her assistant to enquireabout the availability of the
RSA’smeeting room for use by the NationalWomen’s Social and
Political Union.
As well as correspondence andpapers the archive holds the
Society’sMinute Books, committee minutes,including those for the
Committee ofCorrespondence and Papers and theCommittee of
Miscellaneous Matterswhich, Allan reported, are the mostuseful
sources for studying the Society’streatment of its early archives.
Thecollection also contains drawings,including a dog drawn by an
11-year-old Edwin Landseer, and trial paintingssubmitted for the
Society’s ‘Polite Arts’
10 Spring 2019 BRA Newsletter 11
Karl Marx looks forward to
membership of the Society
Top: trial paintings submitted for the Society’s ‘Polite
Arts’
premiums. Above: 18th-centurytextile samples in the Guard
Books
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premiums, the remnants of theEarly Library and
19th-centuryexhibition catalogues.
In 1997 the RSA received asubstantial grant from theHeritage
Lottery Fund to ensurethe future accessibility of theSociety’s
archive. A ProjectArchivist was appointed to overseeover two years
the creation ofsecure archival strong rooms andthe establishment of
aconservation programme forfragile items, such as the GuardBooks
with their samples of dyes,textiles and other items. He alsochose
CALM to re-catalogue theearly archive for online
searches(calmview2.eu/RSA/CalmViewA).
The current RSA Archivist EveWatson, has initiated a
scanningprogramme to provide moreonline accessibility. Email her
[email protected] toarrange to see the archives.Susan
Bennett is HonorarySecretary of the William ShipleyGroup for RSA
History, foundedin 2004 to build on the work ofthe former RSA
History StudyGroup set up by Dr Allan.
Sisters of Sinaiby Janet SoskiceVintage Books (2010), £10.99
paperbackIn the second half of the 19thcentury, sisters Agnes Lewis
andMargaret Gibson travelledseveral times to the Middle East.Their
inherited wealth, passionfor learning and curiosity ledthem to make
discoveries ofmajor importance to scholars:they found some of the
earliestknown versions of the Gospels.
Their self-ordained researchinvolved learning severallanguages
including Arabic,Syriac, Greek and Hebrew;acquiring palaeographic
skills;negotiating access to material;purchasing items that had
foundtheir way on to the market;translating, deciphering
andunderstanding what they hadfound; becoming skilled in takingand
developing photographs;
and making sure the documentswere catalogued, preserved
andpublicised. Along the way theylearnt to survive arduous, some
-times dangerous situations andto ride camels.
Between 1892 and 1906 theymade six visits to St
Catherine’smonastery, Mount Sinai, andgained the confidence of
theArch bishop and the monks. As a
result they were shown itemsthat the Greek Orthodoxmonastery was
normallyreluctant to disclose.
Agnes and Margaret workedunder appalling conditions attimes, and
many of themanuscripts were in a terriblecondition too. When they
werefilthy and stuck together, thesisters steamed them open
usingtheir camp kettle, often findingunderwriting of crucial early
texts– palimpsests. To read them theyused a chemical
reagentrecommended by the Keeper ofManuscripts at the
BritishMuseum, and they were sure totake and process photographs
–which became vital evidencewhen some original items
weresubsequently misplaced or stolen.
News of their initial discoverywas announced as soon as
theyreturned in 1893. Meanwhilerecognition, when it came,included
honorary degrees fromuniversities in Germany, Irelandand America –
but not fromEngland, which did not awardwomen degrees then.
Theirdogged determination andarchival achievements makeSisters of
Sinai a fascinating andenjoyable read. Julia Sheppard
Manual for Survivalby Kate BrownAllen Lane, £20 hardbackThe
official death toll of the 1986Chernobyl accident is 54 andstories
today suggest that natureis thriving there, but historianKate
Brown, a professor at theMassachusetts Institute ofTechnology,
uncovers a moredisturbing story. Based on adecade of archival and
on-the-ground research, Manual forSurvival is a gripping account
ofthe consequences of nuclearradiation in the wake ofChernobyl and
the plot byinternational organisations tocover it up.
http://calmview2.eu/RSA/CalmViewA/mailto:[email protected]
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12 Spring 2019
Fascinated by foundlings➦
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You’ve written extensively onGeorgian Britain – what’s
theattraction for you? So few people learn about theGeorgian period
at school, whichis a shame. Many of the themesthat preoccupy our
society today– how to live well in an urbanenvironment, how to deal
withunprecedented social change andwhat solutions could be found
toproblems such as poverty,environmental degradation, theexpansion
of global empires andastonishing technologicaladvances – took off
in the 18thcentury. It’s endlessly fascinating.What led you to
write aboutthe London FoundlingHospital? For my last book,
I’d done someresearch on the composer Handelusing records held in
the GeraldCoke Collection at the FoundlingMuseum. Handel was a
tremend -ous philanthropist whose workbenefited the Foundling
Hospital,and it led me to look at their mainarchives at the London
Metropol -itan Archives. They’re fascinating– unique insights into
how thepoorest members of Londonsociety lived – and they make
forwonderful and terrible reading.
How long did thebook take to write? About five years. What were
the mostenjoyable aspects ofwriting it? Probably the
sectionswhich deal with thefirst-hand experiences ofthe children
raised atthe Foundling
Hospital. The diary of GeorgeKing, which runs throughout
thebook, was pure gold. It’s the onlydetailed diary by a foundling
bornin the 18th century, and itincludes his eyewitness accountfrom
below decks of the Battle ofTrafalgar.How hard was it to build
apicture of the lives of childrenat the Foundling
Hospital? Many historians have alreadylooked at what happened
to thechildren while they were at theHospital; I was interested in
whathappened to them when theywent out into the world. I had
tostart with the register ofapprenticeship records and thento try
to link the various kinds ofevidence. There were just under6,000
entries on firstapprenticeship.
I had tremendous help fromarchivists, a team of researchers,and
colleagues. With researcherhelp, we compiled a database thatenabled
me to make nominallinkages with other sources. Thatapproach can be
a nightmare ifyou have too many ‘John Smiths’but fortunately the
FoundlingHospital Governors were fond ofgiving the children
distinctive
names, so that helped a bit.What were the most
surprisingdiscoveries you made? The main surprise was that so
fewfoundling boys became soldiers orsailors. A huge number in
factwent to work in traditional small-scale industries and
retailing, or inthe new factory systems oragricultural labour.
What’s your next project?I’m exploring two ideas – one onwellbeing
and old age, andanother on how we could lookagain at the history
ofindustrialisation from theperspective of climate change.These are
the big issues of ourtime, and historians must getinvolved with the
discussion.
Interview by Sarah Hart
Helen Berry, Professor of British History at Newcastle
University, talks about her latest book Orphans of Empire
Orphans of Empire by HelenBerry is published by OxfordUniversity
Press, ISBN9780198758488 (£25 hardback)