The blog for the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York.
Written by Francesca Taylor, National Archives Trainee. Did you know that before Terry’s Chocolate Orange, there was the Chocolate Apple? Neither did we until we delved into the Borthwick’s Terry’s archives and flicked through an old product brochure from the 1920’s. The Terry’s ‘Dessert Chocolate Apple’ was made from 1926 before being outshone by the … Continue reading Unwrapping the Terry’s Chocolate Apple
Written by Hugo Laffey, student intern. One of the most significant periods in Heslington Hall’s history is its occupation by RAF Bomber Command No.4 group from 1940 until 1947. Whilst attempting to reimagine life in the Hall and the village during these tense years of British history, Donald Ward’s Heslington Memories have become our discoveries. … Continue reading ‘Everyone must make sacrifices, even golfers’ – Heslington Hall during WW2
Written by Martha Cattell, student intern. A fellow Intern and I are currently working at the Borthwick Institute for Archives and are putting together an exhibition about the history of Heslington Hall. The building itself has not always been the administrative hub for the university, and it used to be a grand country seat and … Continue reading Heslington Hall – Country Life
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