The blog for the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York.
Written by Maddy Pelling, Ayckbourn Intern. For two years now, the Borthwick Institute for Archives has been holding the library of Alan Ayckbourn. As the author of over seventy plays, Ayckbourn is one of Britain’s most successful and prolific playwrights. But, whilst Ayckbourn is primarily a writer, he is also known for his work as … Continue reading Archiving the Life and Works of Alan Ayckbourn
Written by Kerstin Doble, National Archives Trainee. Paintings in an archive? I was surprised to find 17 portraits of young women nestling in the Rowntree company archive here at the Borthwick Institute. I previously worked for Tate Gallery, organising art exhibitions, and joined the archives sector expecting to be immersed in a landscape of mostly … Continue reading Anna, Alice, Wendy… introducing the Aero Girls
We are finishing off the series of Tuke work experience blog posts with an entry from Alex and Martha who looked at some views of York, and the Tuke house. We start with some views of York from Alex One of the most interesting items I have had the opportunity of handling this past week … Continue reading The Tuke Work Experience Project: Views of York
Written by Lydia Dean. Today marks the 65th anniversary of the National Health Service. During the Second World War, concerns for the sustainability of voluntary hospitals (already subsidised by the government before 1945) contributed to the proposal of a comprehensive health service, open to all members of the community and free at the point of … Continue reading ‘An end and a beginning’: York County Hospital and the NHS
Written by Francesca Taylor, National Archives Trainee. Hello! My name is Francesca Taylor, and together with Kerstin Doble we are the new dynamic duo of National Archive Trainees here at the Borthwick, specialising in interpretation and online engagement. We’ve been here since the beginning of April 2013 and our job over the next year will … Continue reading The BT Digital Archives Conference
This week we continue our Tuke themed blog posts with a look at some of the poetry found in the collection, written by one of our work experience students, Rebecca. You can catch up by reading Part I here. Studying personal documents from the early nineteenth century, I inevitably found myself looking out for glimpses … Continue reading The Tuke Work Experience Project: Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Bonaparte?
Between April 15th and April 19th 2013, the Borthwick enlisted the help of a team of Work Experience students to help us work through the large collection of Tuke material that we hold. Part of their remit was to pull out interesting documents from the collection to form a series of blog posts. This week … Continue reading The Tuke Work Experience Project: Growing up with the Tukes
Written by Dr Katherine Webb. The 15th May 2013 is the 60th anniversary of the Borthwick’s official opening. To mark the occasion we have added a small ‘vintage’ showcase – made for the Borthwick in 1953 – to the current “Best of the Borthwick” exhibition. In here, we have put a little display about the … Continue reading The Borthwick at 60
Written by Alexandra Medcalf. On April 10th 1733, a man leapt from the top of the steeple of Pocklington parish church. He was Thomas Pelling, the Flying Man. A rope had been attached to the top of the tower, with the end wound into a windlass near to the Star Inn on Market Street. Straps … Continue reading Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s the Flying Man of Pocklington
Followers of our Twitter feed, and keen visitors, may have noticed a new exhibition which has gone into the space outside our offices on the second floor of the Borthwick. This new exhibition, Best of the Borthwick, was designed by our archival trainees for 2012/13, Zoe and Amy, who have now finished their placement at … Continue reading The Best of the Borthwick