Remembering Private Thomas John Morgan

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 11 November 2016

Written by Sally-Anne Shearn, Genesis Project Archivist

‘Well I far from home but you are not out of my mind. I hope to be home by Christmas, if not before then.’

These words were written by 18 year old Private Thomas John Morgan to his 7 year old brother Llewellyn in May 1916. Two months later, Thomas would be dead, one of 4,000 Welsh soldiers killed in Mametz Wood during the Battle of the Somme. The handful of letters he wrote home to his family in Llanfairfechan in North Wales survive as part of the Alfred Peacock Archive here at the Borthwick Institute, along with many other letters, postcards, diaries and photographs that tell of the terrible human cost of the First World War.

Thomas was born in early 1898, the eldest son of a Merionethshire quarry man and his wife. By 1911 the family had settled in the small Welsh town of Llanfairfechan, just along the coast from Bangor. Thomas was one of four surviving children, he had two younger sisters, Gladys and Margaret Ann, and his youngest brother Hugh Llewellyn, known as Llewellyn.

We know from Thomas’ surviving army service record that he worked as a baker before he enlisted. We also know that he lied about his age in order to join up. In this he was far from unique. It has been estimated that some quarter of a million British soldiers in the First World War were underage. Before the Military Service Act of 1916, recruits were supposed to be aged between 18 and 38, but they could not be sent abroad until they were 19. Thomas enlisted in November 1915 at the age of 17, giving his age as 19 years and 14 days so he would be immediately eligible to be posted overseas. He also barely met the height threshold of 5 feet 3 inches, coming in at only half an inch taller.

The ruse worked and Thomas was accepted into the 16th Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and posted to France in March 1916, at the age of 18. His letters home from France provide glimpses of his personality. Despite his claims that he is ‘not a letter writer at all’ he promises to write and send field postcards at ‘every opertunity [sic] I get’ and requests paper and envelopes from home and letters as often as they can send them. ‘You should see the smile on the lads’ faces when they get a parcel,’ he writes in May 1916, ‘It is the only thing to look forward to here.’

Photograph of a handwritten page from one of Thomas' letters home — Looking forward to leave and parcels from home in this letter from May 1916.

The occasional odd phrasing and misspellings in the letters are a reminder that English was unlikely to have been Thomas’ first language, but that Welsh speaking soldiers were expected to use it regardless so that their letters could be more easily censored.

His letters are full of local concerns. He mentions local men he has seen at the Front, telling his mother he has seen ‘Lloyd’s brother’ in the camp at Boulogne, and has spoken with ‘Tom Parry’ and asks to be remembered to everyone at Llanfairfechan ‘who I know.’ In May 1916 he writes to thank his mother for sending her ‘bara brith’ (a Welsh tea loaf) which was ‘very good indeed’ and asks if his father knows anyone from Manod Road as he had met a soldier from there by the name of Alun Jones. He also worries about his mother receiving enough of his army pay, ‘I know you cannot spare the money and I think I can do without it here.’

Born and raised in a still largely rural area of Wales, he is critical of the more wasteful practices he sees. In June he complains of skirmishing exercises taking place ‘in the middle of corn and potato fields which are to be seen for miles. Now it is all spoiled, it is a great shame I think. If the war happened to be there I wouldn’t say nothing but only for training it’s a great shame we all think.’

Photograph of handwritten letter from Thomas to his little brother Llewellyn

The most touching letter of all is the one to his little brother Llewellyn, enclosed with a letter to his mother in May. ‘I received your kind little letter quite safe,’ Thomas writes. ‘Thanks very much for the song you sent me I am very glad of it. I am sending you a handichief [sic] and one for Gladys & one for Margaret Ann. You can pick for yourself which you like best,’ adding ‘I must say that you are getting on well at school to be able to write letters like you are.’

He ends one of his final letters home with the hope that he might soon get leave, finishing ‘Well good bye now and God bless you all & please don’t worry.’

The Battle of Mametz Wood began on the 7th July and Thomas was reported missing on the 11th, later confirmed as killed in action. By some administrative error, his mother Margaret received notice only that he had been ‘discharged to duty’ and wrote to his regiment on the 21st July seeking further information, ‘Could you please let me know where he is, as I am so anxious to hear from him & trust you make enquiries for me, as it is a long time since I had a field post card, trusting it will not be troubling you too much.’

Photograph of official army form stating that Thomas John Morgan had been killed in action — The letter informing Thomas’ mother that he has been killed in action.

The terrible news was sent on the 28th and Margaret spent the next four years desperately searching for further news of the circumstances of her son’s death and his burial place, to no avail. An army chaplain, replying to one of her letters in September 1916, wrote that ‘the probability is that he was buried where he fell with many of his comrades from the Battalion. We did not have the opportunity of burying the brave fellows who fell in Mametz Wood, as immediately after the battle we moved elsewhere.’

Thomas’ resting place was never found and today he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme in France and at home in Llanfairfechan on the war memorial on Aber Road. His letters, and those of his mother, are a testament to just one of the many individual and family tragedies that make up the First World War.

On Armistice Day we remember them.

NB. This blog was written in 2016. In 2019 its author was able to locate the grave of Thomas Morgan’s parents in a quiet corner of a cemetery in his home village of Llanfairfechan. Although Thomas’ body was never brought home, his family had remembered him on the gravestone, which reads

‘In loving memory of John Morgan, 3 Lewis Terrace, Llanfairfechan, who fell asleep September 29, 1929. Aged 63 years

Also Thomas John Morgan son of the above who was killed in action, France, July 11th 1916 aged 18 years. Rest in Peace

Also Margaret, wife of the above, who passed away August 17th 1945. Aged 76′

Photograph of grave stone covered in ivy and other plants, the writing only partially visible. — The grave of Thomas and his parents in Llanfairfechan

Testing the online catalogue: results of user testing

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 9 November 2016

Written by Lydia Dean, Archivist

Back in the Spring of this year, we carried out two phases of user testing on our online catalogue, Borthcat. The key results of the first phase of testing are described over on our Digital Archivist, Jen Mitcham’s, blog, as well as some of the actions we were able to take prior to the public launch of Borthcat in April 2016. While the basic phase of testing allowed us to make some really practical and in some cases speedy changes to the catalogue interface, the second phase of testing really gave us insight into individual user interactions with the catalogue to examine how users search for and retrieve information from our holdings. Whilst results of similar testing have been carried out with Access to Memory (AtoM: our web-based, open-source archival description software) in one or two other institutions in North America, at the time of testing the Borthwick was the first UK AtoM user to carry out such detailed work. The findings of both the first and second phase of testing formed the backbone of my Masters dissertation in Archives and Records Management and, as I’m graduating from the University of Dundee next week (!), it seemed like the perfect time to give you a report into the results from the more detailed tests we carried out.

Why did we do it?

Across the archives sector, online access to information is now pretty much routine and users often expect digital versions of finding aids and, ideally, digitised version of the documents that they can search and examine. In developing our own online interface, Borthcat, we wanted to make sure that not only was information available to users but (more crucially, in my opinion) that users were able to successfully find that information using the tools we had provided. Looking at our own user base from the statistics we capture, between March and April 2016 – just prior to the launch of Borthcat – there were over double the amount of remote enquiries (1614) to physical visits (731) to the searchroom. In the same period there were over 13,300 unique hits our online digital document repositories: Find My Past, the Cause Papers and the Archbishops’ Registers. We wanted to make our catalogue as informative and accessible as possible, not least because a large proportion of both our current and future users are researchers who may never be able to physically visit us at all.

How did we do it?

Jen’s blog explores the results of the first phase of testing that we carried out – recruiting our users through a mixture of social media channels and onsite advertising in the searchroom and asking them to complete a brief online questionnaire.

The second stage of testing asked participants to work through a series of set exercises using Borthcat while being observed. During these sessions, participants’ screens were recorded using Screencastify to capture their mouse movements and the number of clicks they made.

We wanted to capture some qualitative data on user interactions to enrich the statistical information we’d obtained in the first round of testing. We used the Archival Metrics Toolkit (a fantastic resource!) to help design the exercises and tried to ameliorate the effects of such a controlled environment. Of course, we couldn’t hope to fully replicate a researcher’s independent enquiry but the results we obtained were interesting and gave us an insight into our users that we hadn’t had before.

What did we find out?

Here are just a few of the main findings from the testing.

Limited use of hierarchical menu

Users heavily relied on using the free text search bar at the top of the Borthcat homepage to identify records. Only one participant in the second phase of testing used the hierarchical information available on the left-hand side of the screen, and another used free text searching as their sole retrieval technique throughout the test period. This could be for a mixture of reasons. The majority of our entries in Borthcat are at collection level, and so there are fewer hierarchical descriptions available currently (although the test exercises focused on those archives with full catalogues). Further, and as reflected in the basic phase of testing, many users have become familiar with a free-text search when using search engines like Google.

Overwhelming ‘wall of text’

Users found the level of information available on each entry, and the amount of results returned for some searches, to be overwhelming in some cases. There was an overall idea, again in common with the basic testing, that users wanted Borthcat to be able to tailor information more specifically to their queries. I think that this is where the presence of an archivist or the staff in the searchroom who understand our holdings are the most valuable asset we can have; this situation would be more easily resolved for a researcher who was onsite and able to consult a staff member for advice. Where the researcher is remote and is searching for unfamiliar (or unknown!) material then it is vital that the catalogue presents information clear enough for them to make an informed choice. Some users in the observed tests used keyboard techniques like CTRL+F to narrow down occurrences of specific terms within an archival description, although the majority didn’t.

Understanding icons

A further usability issue to come out of the detailed testing was that the icons used in Borthcat’s ‘Typeahead’ search – where potential results are generated as you type – are not defined in our customised iteration of AtoM. In an exercise designed to look at how users interacted with our subject-term listings, participants were asked to find out how many of our holdings contain diaries – a subject terms that has been linked across several separate archives. The majority of users did this by searching for the term ‘diaries’ in the free-text search box. When they did so they were confronted by several entries, all called ‘Diaries’, at item, file and sub-series level, all from separate archives, as well as a subject term entry for diaries in general. The archival entries are all marked with a ‘description’ icon and the subject entry is marked with an icon showing a label. For those of us working with Borthcat on a daily basis, it was simple to select the relevant entry and to continue our work but most participants in the study repeated the search several times in order to work through all the options before finding the entry they required. This allowed us to identify a way to improve the usability of Borthcat as well as giving us food for thought in how we construct the titles of our records. The linking of records through the use of different subject terms is one of the most interesting capabilities of AtoM – it allows connections to be made across archives in a way that would be very difficult to do using paper finding aids and can draw out unexpected links. Being able to see how users interact with this capability over the longer term will be very important in understanding how researchers can make the most of the information we hold.

A personal connection

It really came across during the testing that users value a personal connection to their research, either through searching for personal names or through bringing their own research contexts and knowledge to the way they search for information. Several users commented that they would really appreciate a feature that would allow them to collect all the records they found interesting in order to look at them again or to send them through to the searchroom for retrieval. This wasn’t something I had expected, but is something that other archives do. A great example is the pinboard feature at the Marks and Spencer archive, Marks in Time.

Carrying out this exercise has been really helpful in understanding that what our users want from our records and what we think they want isn’t always the same thing. Involving our users directly in the development of Borthcat was also a fantastic opportunity to engage more with our audience on a project that will be of practical benefit. I must thank all of the participants who took part in each phase of testing; without their invaluable contribution of time in completing both the survey and the observed exercises, we would not have been able to gain the insights we have done into how our users retrieve information, and how they’d like to be able to retrieve information in the future. It is of vital importance for us and for other archive repositories to keep our users’ needs at the heart of their considerations when making archival information accessible online.

The results of this user testing have been discussed in more detail in my MLitt dissertation ‘Access to Memory: Understanding how users of the Borthwick Institute search for online archival information’ through the University of Dundee. You can find out more about our work with AtoM through our blog and Jen’s blog ‘Digital Archiving at the Borthwick‘ .

Up and AtoM: The Borthwick Institute Goes To South Korea

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 1 November 2016

In September I was fortunate enough to present a paper on the Borthwick’s new online catalogue at the International Council on Archives Congress 2016. Held every four years, the ICA Congress is a unique opportunity for record keeping professionals from all over the world to meet and share ideas and achievements and discuss the challenges facing the profession. It seems appropriate then that the theme of the 2016 Congress was Archives, Harmony and Friendship and the location chosen was Seoul in South Korea, a country with a history of codified archival practice that dates back to the advent of Joseon Dynasty in the fourteenth century.

I arrived in South Korea on Monday afternoon, after some 11 hours of travel, and had the evening to get acquainted with the Gangnam-gu District in which I was staying. Gangnam-gu is one of twenty-five districts in Seoul and home to half a million people (Seoul as a whole has a population of 10 million). Fortunately it was only a short walk from my hotel to the venue of the Congress, the COEX Convention and Exhibition Centre, although I had plenty of opportunity to try the city’s extremely efficient subway system later in the week for some night time sightseeing.

composite image of a busy shopping plaze; the medieval city walls lit up at night; and the path through Gangnam-gu at night — Out and about in Seoul. From left to right: navigating the Yongsan shopping plaza; climbing the medieval city walls in Naksan Park; walking back through Gangnam-gu to my hotel.

My experience of British conference centres had not prepared me for the scale of the COEX. The 4 storey conference and exhibition centre sits on top of the COEX shopping mall, Korea’s largest underground mall boasting several hundred shops, two food courts, a multi screen cinema and an aquarium.

Photograph of the COEX Convention and Exhibition Centre from outside — The COEX Convention and Exhibition Centre in the Samseong-dong area of Gangnam-gu

The congress itself was spread across a single floor and included archival exhibitions by the National Archives of Korea and opportunities to try traditional Korean arts, crafts and costumes, as well as two exhibition halls showcasing the work of various recordkeeping organisations and vendors.

Photograph of 3 display cases containing manuscripts — A display by the National Archives of Korea in the COEX, showcasing some of their most important Royal documents.

Close up photograph of a Korean manuscript — An example of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. The annals were kept from 1413 to 1865 and have been added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

Each day opened with a keynote speech, followed by a variety of panels and workshops running alongside each other, sometimes up to eight at once. Choosing which of the many presentations to attend was akin to going through the Christmas Radio Times with a highlighter, which is to say challenging! Over the course of four days I attended presentations and workshops by colleagues from Australia, Fiji, Nepal, Brazil, Amsterdam, Switzerland, Norway, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, America, Canada, the UK and of course, South Korea.

Photograph of a member of staff from the Korean National Archives demonstrating treatment of flood damaged documents. — Staff from the National Archives of Japan lead a workshop demonstrating the
latest restoration techniques used for flood damaged records.

The subject matter varied enormously. A keynote speech by John Hocking of the United Nations highlighted the crucial role played by archives on a global scale in testifying to atrocities and making it possible for victims to seek justice in the international courts. Equally sobering however were the case studies presented by colleagues from Australia and British Columbia looking at the role played by archive projects in addressing historical discrimination against Aboriginal and First Nation communities and the need to work with indigenous peoples to develop more inclusive recordkeeping protocols for the future.

Photograph of presentation screen and presenter standing at a lectern — Shaun Rohrlach from the National Archives of Australia discusses the Forced Adoptions History Project. You can read more about their work at their website.

Other presentations focused on the opportunities offered by new and developing technology, whether in meeting the challenges posed by born-digital archives or using new technology to bring more traditional records to a global audience. A keynote speech from Laurent Gaveau of the Google Cultural Institute demonstrated the ability of the Google cultural app to take users of virtual tours of museums and historic sites and to deliver high resolution images of art and documents. Tim Harris showed us how such innovative technology enabled archivists to find new solutions to old problems, showcasing the collaborative work of the London Metropolitan Archives in using 3D photography to digitally ‘flatten’ the previously unreadable Great Parchment Book, a unique record from 17th century Ireland.

Photograph of crumpled manuscript in a large box — The Great Parchment Book before conservation and digitisation work began.
Read more about the project here.

From developing new computer programmes and websites in conjunction with colleagues in computer science and the digital humanities to using the power of the world wide web to collaborate with colleagues across continents, the congress was an inspiring reminder that none of us are alone in our work and that the help and expertise of colleagues within and without the profession can enhance what we do and allow us to reach a wider audience than ever before.

I was certainly aware of this when presenting my own paper on Project Genesis at the Borthwick Institute as part of the Congress’ ‘New Professionals’ panel.

Photograph of conference room with chairs lined up — The nerve-wracking wait for my panel to begin!

The creation of our first online catalogue has drawn on the knowledge of colleagues in computer science and in the digital library, on the experience and insight of fellow archivists – both new professionals and more established colleagues – and the many users of AtoM around the world who have contributed to the development of AtoM and offered advice through the user forum online. I was pleased to be able to acknowledge this in my paper and to show how the launch of our catalogue, Borthcat, is already making a difference to how we share information about our holdings with our global userbase.

Screenshot of the front page of Borthcat — My paper was an opportunity to share our new online catalogue, Borthcat, with colleagues from around the world.

My paper was well received and led to a number of very useful conversations with current (and potential) AtoM users that I have been able to follow up on over the past few weeks.

The end of the Congress was marked with a day of professional visits. I chose to visit the Seoul Repository of the National Archives of Korea, followed by a traditional lunch and then a trip to the Korean Folk Village at Yongin.

Photograph of a large number of small Korean dishes lined up on a wooden table — Sharing a very plentiful Korean lunch on my last day in the country.

The National Archives is one of three in the country, a reflection of the three archives that housed the records of the Joseon Dynasty for hundreds of years. The Seoul Repository was completed in 2007 and is built in the shape of a traditional jewel case and surrounded by forest. We were given a full tour by the very friendly staff, and I think more than a few of us were rather envious of the repository’s impressive facilities!

Photograph of grey archive boxes on shelved in a strongroom — The strongroom containing the most rare and valuable records at the National Archives of Korea, Seoul Repository.

Photograph of 2 conservators seated on the floor and working at low tables — Visiting the Conservation Laboratory at the Seoul Repository.

We were even given a live demonstration of repository’s ‘water wall fire prevention system’ in case of forest fires. When ambient temperature reaches 80 degrees, a series of nozzles around the roof of the building pumps out 1,105 tonnes of water over the course of 75 minutes, creating a wall of water (and, as we discovered, an awful lot of spray).

After a very plentiful Korean lunch, we spent an enjoyable afternoon at the Folk Village, exploring recreations of houses and workshops from different eras in Korea’s history and buying some souvenirs to bring home.

Photograph of thatch-roofed historic building — Exploring traditional Korean houses at the Folk Village in Gyeonggi province outside Seoul.

I marked my last evening in Seoul with one final plate of Korean speciality Bibimbap and a trip to the COEX underground aquarium to try the promised ‘fantastic water journey’ which involved sharks, penguins, seals, and guinea pigs (but not all at once).

Photograph of red phone box filled with water and small fish, and of a penguin — A familiar red phonebox and a posing penguin at the COEX Aquarium.

Although I’d been nervous about travelling so far by myself and attending a conference where I knew no-one, I soon found I needn’t have worried. Archivists and record keepers are a friendly and welcoming bunch and the Seoul subway is hands down the most user-friendly transport system I’ve ever been on. I came back to York with lots of new ideas, a lot of photos, and a deep appreciation for the work archivists do and the important reasons we do it.

Photograph of food tables and guests at the conference dinner — The Thursday evening buffet dinner was an opportunity to chat about the week, try Korean food and enjoy some traditional song and dance performances.

To borrow from one of my favourite case studies of the Congress, looking at the excellent work of the Pacific Island archives, for those of us who work with archives every day it can sometimes be easy to forget what a source of wonder they can be. My week in Seoul was the perfect reminder.

Photograph of ornate medieval stone gate, lit up at night. — Heunginjimun, commonly known as Dongdaemun Gate. One of the 8 gates in the medieval wall of Seoul (and one that took me quite a hike to get to!).

A 4 minute highlight reel of the Congress is available on youtube.

James Hornby: Heslington Hall Horticulturalist

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 21 October 2016

Written by Lydia Dean, Archivist

Earlier this year we were gifted a very exciting archive – the archive of James Hornby, head gardener at Heslington Hall between 1870 and 1902. This small but fascinating group of records gives us some real insights into the day-to-day role of a Victorian head gardener, and well as a different perspective on life at Heslington Hall, formerly the home of the Yarburgh family and now one of the University’s most iconic buildings. The archive includes many photographs and drawings of the Hall as well as portraits of James Hornby, his wife Mary and members of their wider family, letters (including one from the then Lord Deramore thanking James Hornby for putting out a fire in the Hall!) and even a medal for prize-winning pears.

However, for me, the most fascinating document in the archive is James Hornby’s ‘Diary of Operations’ which documents the first eighteen months of his 32 year employment at Heslington Hall. It showcases the beginning of the changes in the gardens at the Hall, starting with a note dated 18th August 1870 stating ‘No peas, nor cucumbers, nor melons nor yet many vegetables of any kind’. Even over the span of time recorded in this journal, it is possible to see James Hornby, at the head of a team of gardeners, taking and shaping the gardens into both an ornamental space and a productive garden supplying Heslington Hall with fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The journal records successful cultivars, harvest dates, crop yields and temperature changes, as well as practical tasks such as cleaning the glasshouses, whitewashing and even (repeatedly!) mending a lawnmower. The image of the page above shows a typical spread of entries and illustrates one of the other ways in which this document helps us to understand the role of this head gardener. As with many of the other pages, these entries include backdated annotation, often in different coloured ink, which indicate how some tasks were recorded and then amended or added to at a later date. The detail below shows and entry recording potatoes being planted out on January 31st, with a note added in purple ink to say that the first dish was collected on April 9th but that it would be beneficial to plant a crop in time for Easter Sunday instead.

Even for those of us who aren’t keen gardeners, the journal is a really interesting record documenting as it does the rhythms of life at Heslington Hall and events in the life of the Yarburgh family, including visits from ‘company’ for evening events, periods when the family are away from Heslington and also the birth of George Nicholas de Yarburgh-Bateson, noted as ‘Master Nicholas’ in November 1870. With characteristic brevity, it also records events in James Hornby’s own life including frequent visits from his brother William and trips to country fairs, including one to his home-town of Gisburn.

The catalogue, listing each item in the James Hornby archive, is now available online through Borthcat and also includes a brief biography of James Hornby himself. All of the material is available for consultation in our searchroom and enquiries can be made via borthwick-institute@york.ac.uk.

The nature of the job: surveying the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust archive

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 5 October 2016

Written by Lydia Dean, YWT Project Archivist

So, I’m about halfway through the 12 months of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust archive project – and what a six months it’s been! The time is going quickly; summer was filled with continuing the survey of deposited material, drafting and re-drafting an archival structure and finishing off my Masters in Archives and Records Management at the University of Dundee. Now the Autumn has rolled around again and the new academic year is here, I wanted to give a quick update on the progress of the project so far and what’s yet to come. I’m intending to do a few related posts, which you can explore through the labels at the bottom of the page – clicking either ‘Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’ or ‘new professional’ should show all the project-related posts – that will outline the more practical side of the project. This is the first in that series and is going to look at how I, as a newly qualified archivist, have approached surveying what is a large and complex archive.

I began my project by reviewing the box lists that were supplied when the material was accessioned. This gave me an idea of how varied the material is, as well as getting a handle on its original order. I then went to have a look at it on the shelves in the strongroom (left). This really brought home what just over 3.5m3 of archive looks like! For the most part, the material had been repackaged when it arrived so it was all neatly wrapped and divided in archival folders.

I decided to have a look at a couple of what I thought would be key files before I started the proper survey and I selected some of the foundation papers of the organisation, including correspondence from just before and just after the Trust was established, as well as the minutes of their first meeting. I also had a look at some of the unpackaged material relating to Askham Bog, which was the Trust’s first reserve. This not only gave me insight into the post-war context in which the Trust was established but also gave me key names of the founding members – among them Arnold Rowntree and Francis Terry – and an idea of how the original Council thought the organisation would be structured. Examining the reserve files was a further step in understanding not only the sort of information likely to be found in the files – from scientific recordings of the habitat and species present, to photographs, through to independent research about the site – but also how the files were put together.

I wanted to use the survey phase of the project to achieve several key objectives. Firstly, to get a good understanding of the material and how it fits together to intellectually represent a whole organisation. Secondly, to make a note of the content of each file: the types of records it contained, key topics covered by the file, significant correspondents and covering dates which will all be useful in describing the file at a later stage of the project. Thirdly, to gain an understanding of how the file was put together: did it have an intellectual order, was it structured around physical or practical constraints such as the size of the folder or the capacity of a filing cabinet drawer, who generated or collated the material and for what purpose. Fourthly, as both a new professional and as an outsider to the Wildlife Trust, to build up my knowledge of the depth and breadth of the archive.

Although only eight weeks were allocated to this phase of the project in the original project plan, I decided to take a little longer to do a more detailed survey concurrently with some structuring and describing of records (more of the latter in a future post). As the project was designed to describe the archive to file level, I needed to ensure I had enough information to create a usefully detailed description which could convey the right information to researchers – information to which they wouldn’t have access otherwise.

I have worked in what I suppose is a pretty analogue way, filling four notepads as I’ve gone along and then reappraising what I’ve written as I type it into a master spreadsheet. From there, I’ve been able to move files around and to separate different levels of the archive out for further examination. This phase of the project is coming to an end now and I will be continuing with the final tweaks to the structure of the archive and starting to describe the records in our online interface, Borthcat. Whilst it will be refreshing to move from leafing through files to adding to our online catalogue, I’ll miss discovering lots of little snippets, and discussing them with my (very patient!) colleagues. I have been adding some of these to Twitter and Facebook as I’ve gone along, and I’m sure there’ll be more to come as I finish the last few boxes this week.

Archbishops’ Registers Revealed: final thoughts of an indexer

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 28 September 2016

A year has flashed by and the project to index two of the registers of the Archbishops of York, 1576-1650, will very soon come to an end. However, both registers are now fully indexed and the results are available for searching on line at https://archbishopsregisters.york.ac.uk

Screenshot of project webpage showing the categories you can browse by: people; religious houses, groups and organisations; places; subject headings; registers; and related documents from The National Archives — What will you discover?

Looking back over the work, it was perhaps a little surprising to find that the majority of the contents of those two registers comprised York Consistory Court wills (but no probate inventories), mostly of clergymen, but also some lay people. Earlier registers, such as those of Archbishop Neville (1374-1388) and Archbishop Lee (1531-1544), for example, appear to record a much greater variety of business.

However, wills have long been known to provide a very valuable source of information on many aspects of daily life in the past, revealing the testator’s material possessions, personal tastes, relationships and place in society. Needless to say, the wills in Registers 31 and 32 have done the same for the sixteenth and seventeenth century clergy and their families, offering a rich seam of interest and, on occasion, entertainment! Who would have thought that anyone would wish to receive a legacy of a chamber pot (Reg. 31, fol. 125 v, entry 3) or a ‘stoole of ease’ (commode) (Reg. 31, fol. 123 v, entry 2)? Who would have thought that cows would have been named ‘Daisy’ as long ago as in 1625 (Reg. 31, fol. 249 r, entry 1)? And would a testator leave his daughter his musical instruments if she were not able to play them or at least keen to learn (Reg. 32, fol. 113 r, entry 4)?

Otherwise, the registers have revealed such other aspects of the archbishops’ business as the technicalities of providing a diocese with a new bishop, following a strictly-laid down ecclesiastical legal procedure still adhered to today, requiring royal assent and formal election. The process of the archbishop’s visitation or periodical inspection of clergy and lay people in the province is also found in the registers, but few details of matters for concern discovered and corrected appear. This omission is explained by the fact that by around this date, a separate series of records for visitations, including visitation court books, had been created (YDA/6, 1567-).

Image of manuscript page from the registers showing lists of names of Durham clergymen in 1577 — Durham clergy list 1577

Another feature of this type of material was that records of the archbishop’s visitation of the diocese of Durham in 1577 are very detailed in including lists of names of all the clergy in the archdeaconries and deaneries of the diocese summoned to appear before the archbishop with their credentials, together with the names of several churchwardens and others, such as schoolmasters, in each parish (see for example, Reg. 31, fols. 30r-34-v, containing 105 names).

Nevertheless, even the routine business of the archbishops can have its lighter moments. That and other visitations of the diocese of Durham also show the immense difficulties encountered by the archbishops of York in carrying out these inspections. This was particularly true of visitations of the cathedral clergy, who strenuously resisted the process, to the point of excluding the archbishop’s deputy, the Bishop of Durham, also in 1577, from their chapter house by locking him out (Reg. 31, fol. 33v, entry 7). The registers then go on to present the farcical picture of the bishop, sitting on a chair near the entrance doors of the chapter house, attempting to continue the visitation proceedings from outside (Reg. 31, fol. 34 r, entry 2)!

Among the other high points of the project has been the discovery in Register 32 of a seating plan showing the allocation in 1636 of seats or pews in the chapel of Holmfirth in the parish of Kirkburton, in the West Riding of Yorkshire (Reg. 32, fols. 94 A & B). This plan is equally rich in names of local inhabitants, so giving a kind of snapshot of the area at the time, and would prove very useful for any local historians interested in the place in producing a study of the chapelry and its local families, perhaps similar to that created in 1700 by the English author and antiquarian, Richard Gough, who also based his work on such a plan of the church of Myddle, in Shropshire.

Image of hand drawn diagram of pews in Holmfirth Church with names written in each one. — Pew plan, Chapelry of Holmfirth, 1636

It was excellent to be able to publicise the registers and discoveries such as these showing potential for research at the ARKDIS conference in Uppsala in Sweden this summer and also present a poster session on the project at the ARA conference in London this month. Next year, a presentation on the project, also showcasing material from the registers, particularly items found in wills, will also be given at the University of Huddersfield’s ‘The Material Culture of Religious Continuity and Change 1400-1600’ conference to be held there.

Going back to wacky names for animals, however, it has also been most enjoyable blogging about the project and revealing that cow’s name to the world!

So, now that the work is almost complete, very many thanks to all at the Borthwick, especially Gary Brannan and also Julie Allinson in IT, for all their help and support during my time on such a fascinating and absorbing project.

Thoughts of an Indexer: I name this cow….

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 21 September 2016

Written by Helen Watt, Marc Fitch Project Archivist

As a recent authority states, we have been naming animals for thousands of years; not only did the ancient Egyptians give names to animals, but also the ancient Greeks, for example, Alexander the Great called his horse, Bucephalas (‘ox-head’)1. Apart from horses, other types of animal, particularly farm animals, may be given names for many reasons, predominantly because the animals are seen as individuals and are treated as such among the herd or flock, long before the days of factory farming with large herds and uniform breeds. Otherwise, they might be named according to any distinctive markings or characteristics, apparent to their handlers in everyday work.

Sources for names of animals are often provided by wills and when Canon J. S. Purvis, first Director of the Borthwick, compiled his Classified Subject Index for material held there, he included a section for Agriculture covering names of horses, cows and oxen. Examples for these were taken from various series of York Province ecclesiastical documents such as Probate Registers, Dean and Chapter Probate Registers and the Cause Papers. Only a few references to named animals in one of the registers of the Archbishops of York, Register 28 of Archbishop Lee (1531-1544), are given. However, it is now possible to add many more such references from other registers, thanks to the University of York’s project funded by the Marc Fitch Fund, developing the earlier Archbishops’ Registers Revealed Project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The results of this project are now available on line via https://archbishopsregisters.york.ac.uk/ and provide an index to all the entries in Registers 31 and 32, covering the period 1576 to 1650. In the process of adding keywords to entries for the many wills of clergymen found within, several legacies of horses and farm animals, especially cows, including those mentioned by name have been identified.

Apart from flower and bird names, such as ‘Primrose’, ‘Marigold’, ‘Nightingale’ (1581, Reg. 31, fol. 94r) and ‘Daisy’ (‘Daze’, 1625, Reg. 31, fol. 249r), names given to cows show many of the characteristics identified by scholars such as Leibring and also Keith Thomas and George Redmonds, particularly with reference to Yorkshire names and including some of those listed by Canon Purvis 2. For instance, ‘praise’ names, such as ‘Lucky’ (1632, Reg. 32, fol. 29r), or names celebrating the animals’ nature, such as ‘Stately’ (1599, Reg. 31, fol. 139r). Others might denote the animal’s physical markings or makeup, such as cows called ‘Brownie’ (1577, Reg. 31, 80v), ‘Great Brownie’ and ‘Young Brownie’ (1588, Reg. 31, fol. 106v), also ‘Great Allblack’ (1609, Reg. 31, fol. 158v).

Other names may seem to be harder to classify, including such names of heifers as ‘Jeliver’ (1594, Reg. 31, fol. 132r), ‘Tymlye’ (1629, Reg. 32, 96v), ‘Flowrell’ (1584, Reg. 31, fol. 97r) or ‘Sternill’ (1625, Reg. 31, fol. 249r). However, some of these appear to be favourites, handed down over the years. For instance, ‘Tymmyll’, perhaps a variant of ‘Tymlye’, occurs nearly a hundred years earlier (1546, Probate Register 13, fol. 171), as does ‘Starneld’, perhaps a variant of ‘Sternill’ (1565, Reg. 30, fol. 24r). One name which seems to have persisted in some form in the York Probate Registers between at least the 15^th and 16^th centuries is ‘Motherlike’ (‘Moderlybe’, 1441, Probate Register 2, fol. 25; ‘Motherlicke’, 1585, Probate Register 23, fol. 186), which may be of particular interest as it has been compared with similar types of cattle names from Scandinavia, perhaps suggesting an earlier origin, who knows, possibly even from Viking times 3.

This phenomenon is not restricted to Yorkshire, but is found in other areas of the country; evidence from Essex wills also shows the same kind of naming practices, with cows called ‘Gentle’ and ‘Brown Snout’ and even ‘one black cow called Tytt’ 4. Back in Yorkshire, if I had to choose one of these kinds of name, my favourite of all – for a cow difficult to milk, maybe – is Shorte Papps (1588, Reg. 31, fol. 106v)!

1. Katharina Leibring, ‘Animal Names’, in Carole Hough (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming (Oxford, 2016), Part VII, section 43, 615-627.

2. Keith Thomas, Man and the Natural World (London, 1983), pp. 93-6; George Redmonds, Names and History: People, Places and Things (London, 2004), p.148.

3. Katharina Leibring, ‘Animal Names’, in Carole Hough (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Names and Naming (Oxford, 2016), Part VII, section 43.3.2.1, Names in Europe’s Traditional Agricultural Societies.

4. F. G. Emmison, Elizabethan Life: Home, Work and Land, Essex Record Office Publication No. 69 (Chelmsford, 1991), p. 52.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Operation Cleft Stick

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 13 September 2016

Written by Lydia Dean, YWT Project Archivist

Since April, I have been steadily working through the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s fascinating and extensive archive. I have now surveyed over half of the records that have been deposited here at the Borthwick Institute – about 84 boxes, or 570 files! – and along the way have rediscovered items that give interesting insights into the history of the Trust. I’m going to release some of these snippets as blog posts, and some of them – like this one – will also be published in Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s magazine.

One of the first things I came across during my survey of the archive was a volume of press cuttings from 1971. The entry that immediately drew my eye was a handwritten note that read ‘Due to a postal strike, most of the annual reports were delivered by hand in this year. To mark the occasion, our own stamp was produced by the computer in the Biology Department at York University.’ This intrigued me for several reasons – least of all trying to imagine a Biology department with just a single computer!

The strike mentioned was Britain’s first national postal strike, and it was to run for seven weeks from 20th January to 7th March 1971. With no postal service available, the February meeting of the Trust’s Executive Committee began to make plans for what was known as Operation Cleft Stick. Overseen by then Executive Officer, Colonel John Newman, the operation saw the delivery of 2,500 copies of the 1970 Annual Report to Trust members.

The Yorkshire Evening Press described the ‘hectic week’ of filling envelopes and transporting them across Yorkshire and beyond to be delivered by Trust volunteers. The report was an important one, marking both the Silver Jubilee of the Trust and the end of European Conservation Year, and including updates on the ongoing threat to Askham Bog from the construction of York’s outer ring road.

As well as capturing an example of how the Trust responded to the impact of national events, this snippet from the archive also represents just one example of a longstanding history of collaboration between the University and the Trust, which continues to this day.

Cardigans, Cake…Career? My 8 weeks at the Borthwick Institute

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 19 August 2016

Written by Gaby Davies, archives intern and University of York History undergraduate

I didn’t really know what to expect when I first started interning at the Borthwick; I had never visited the institute before, but as a history student I knew that spending eight weeks surrounded by old papers and documents, in one of the UK’s biggest and most well-respected archives, would be heaven. My role for the past two months has been digitising the finding aids of several archives and putting them on the Borthcat website, making them more easily accessible so people know what archives the Borthwick has without having to call up and ask for a list. I have also been contributing to Facebook and Twitter posts whenever I find something interesting, and I wrote a blog post about medicinal alcohol, a subject which I wanted to investigate after puzzling over a ‘wine and spirits book’ found in the York Medical Society catalogue. I was given a lot of freedom to write about anything I thought was interesting, and I love the way that everyone working in accessions with me was encouraged to do personal research into what really interests them, as it leads to impassioned blogs and social media posts that are well-researched and great for drawing people in and inspiring them through our collection.

Photograph of a Typhoo tea advert with the slogan 'The tea the Doctors recommend!' — Questionable medical advice in The Retreat Archive,

I have especially loved digitising the finding aid for the Miscellaneous Documents archive; the collection is so eclectic, and from such a diverse range of sources and time periods, that without being able to access the listing online people had no idea of the amazing and often surprising things hidden within the archive. Items in MDs can range from an early 13^th century charter, to a 1930s album of Nestle-produced stamps, and from beautiful 18^th century family photographs to a euphemism-laden medical pamphlet for teenagers from the early 1900s entitled ‘The Dawn of Womanhood’ (side note: this is a very entertaining read).

Photograph of the last part of a handwritten letter signed W.B Yeats — A letter from the poet W. B. Yeats in the MacCarthy Foulds Archive

The whole process of digitising the archive included linking accession records and writing authority records associated with the items, which involved a lot of research, and I also photographed many of them to use the most interesting on social media. The social media I was particularly excited about, as I wanted to photograph the documents that would inspire people to take an interest in this seemingly random collection. (There will be tweets about the MDs soon, by the way; look out for the hashtag #miscdocuments!). I feel like this is a significant mark I have been able to make on the Borthwick online catalogue, and it has been incredibly enjoyable being able to go through these items and research more about them. I was, however, very worried about breaking something priceless and for the first few weeks found myself constantly asking ‘Are you sure I’m allowed to touch this? Absolutely sure?! I might just leave it there…’

A double page spread from a booklet detailing what is provided by the new National Health Service, with photographs — Commemorating the launch of the new National Health Service in this 1948 magazine from the
York County Hospital Archive

I have also learned so much about the process of archiving collections, various archival schools of thought and the importance of archives to academia as a whole. My wonderful colleagues Sally and Lydia showed me how an archive goes from being deposited to being catalogued, the importance of organisation and thoroughness in all aspects of the archive, the correct way of handling documents and some very important research skills, as well as being encouraging and friendly throughout. They’ve also given some very useful advice on how to work towards a career in archives. The people who work at the Borthwick make it such a welcoming and exciting environment to work in; ask any Borthwickian what they have been doing that day, you are guaranteed to receive an interesting story about a document they found that morning, or a snippet of historical information they’ve been researching. Some of the most interesting bits of history I’ve learned about during the internship have been completely unrelated to the documents I’ve been looking at, and have just been things I stumbled upon whilst researching authority records or talking to others. Did you know, for instance, that in late 16^th century East Sussex puritans often baptised their children with strange, devoutly Christian names, such as in the case of ‘If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned Barebone’ and our own Archbishop of York ‘Accepted Frewen’? Or that in the 16^th century it was assumed that if you were born through caesarean section you would have a lifelong fear of women?

The front cover of a book titled 'Wonders of the World. Nestle's Picture Stamp Album' with a colour illustration of a biplane flying over fields. — One of the many hidden gems of the Miscellaneous Documents collection

Interning here has made me want to rush out and remind all of my fellow history students at York about the amazing resource that we have, sitting in the library packed to the brim with incredible documents that you can look at for free. I will definitely be using the archives for future history projects, or maybe just if I have a spare hour next time I’m in the library and I want to look at some old editions of the student newspaper. I want to thank everyone at the Borthwick for making my internship so enjoyable and for teaching me so much, I’m going to miss working here and it has inspired me to consider a career in archives, as it seems like a job in which you can take immense personal pride in your achievements, is interesting and varied and you can always be intricately involved with the subject that you love, and surrounded by people who love it as much as you do.

Archives on Loan

Posted by sallyanneshearn on 3 August 2016

Written by Catherine Dand, Conservator

Our Conservation department is pleased to report that we have a number of archives and special collections that will be going on loan this year. Loaning archival material, especially for the purpose of display, is an exciting way to increase access to the archives. It is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of our collections, and to build up context and associations for our archives, giving them greater depth.

Our largest loan request this year was from Fairfax House in York. Fairfax House has asked to borrow 4 books and 1 pamphlet from the University of York Special Collections and 4 objects from the Retreat Archive at the Borthwick Institute, to be displayed in their exhibition In Pursuit of Pleasure: The Polite and Impolite World of Georgian Entertainment, which runs from Friday 29th July to Saturday 31st December 2016.

The conservator’s role in the loans process is to reduce the risks that the archives might face while away from home. This can take various forms.

Initially we need to gather details about the loan that could impact on the safety of the archives. We want to ensure that security has been fully considered at all stages of the loan, including transport, storage, access and display. We would request information about the environment that the archives will be stored and/or displayed in, which would take into account aspects such as temperature and humidity, light levels and exposure, and fluctuations in these environmental factors. We would also want to know what materials the display cases, mounts or supports will be made from, to check that they are appropriate and there will not be anything that might damage the archival materials.

Often facilities reports will be filled in and returned to us, which provide most of the information outlined above (fig.1). Fairfax House sent us a facility report along with 2 supplementary reports – one on security and one on display cases – which addressed almost all of our questions very quickly. Any extra enquiries can then be easily answered.

If there are any concerns with the information that we have gathered, our first response is to look for solutions to problems and ways to work around any issues. If we can be helpful, we are keen to provide advice and support to the people and/or organisation that will be responsible for the archives while they are on loan.

There were no obstacles to the Fairfax House loan, but as they will be providing their own mounts and supports we were able to offer advice and suggestions on these aspects from our condition reports (see below). Previous loans to other organisations have included the additional loan of equipment such as display cases, book rests or weights, as well as environmental monitoring equipment such as data loggers to record temperature and humidity, blue wool samples to monitor light exposure or simple Oddy testing materials to check for off-gassing.

Each item requested for loan is condition assessed to confirm that it is in adequate condition for the purpose of the loan. We will undertake written and photographic documentation of each item, which should effectively communicate the structure and materials of the item and the condition of these different aspects (fig.2).

Accurately recording the condition of items before they leave the building is also the only way in which we can monitor any changes that may occur while they are away. The vast majority of loans are made to people who are careful with the archives, but there have been occasions where carelessness or lack of knowledge has led to damage. If we are aware of what has happened then we can prepare for it better next time.

Assessment also gives us the opportunity to highlight any specific advice or cautions with regard to individual items and the purpose of the loan. If a volume requested for exhibition is very large or has a restricted opening and extra thought will be needed regarding a book rest, this can be passed on. If the item has been requested for access but the materials are too unstable to be handled, we can discuss what the options are.

As Fairfax House had decided to provide their own book supports, our condition reports allowed us to make recommendations as to the maximum angle of safe opening for display on books that have a restricted opening or damaged joints. It also gave us the opportunity to highlight any particular damage or weaknesses – forewarned is forearmed!

Once we have assessed the items conservators can also undertake any treatments to ensure that the items are as stable as possible for the loan.

One of the volumes requested for the Fairfax House exhibition had several detached pages, one of which was the page selected for display (fig.3). The volume does not open freely, and straps will be required to keep the book open at this page; therefore the loose, protruding pages could be at risk of damage from both handling and the straps. All detached pages were reattached to the volume.

This book also had a detached back board. It was decided that it was not necessary to reattach the board for the exhibition. As long as the board is carefully positioned on the book support, it will still be able to provide the necessary support for the textblock while the volume is on display. The damage has been noted, and this information will be stored on our Work Required database, to be addressed in the future.

Finally, conservators package loan items to ensure that they are transported safely. Usually this will include: individual packaging for each item; a box for easy transfer; padding within the box to stop the items moving around and to provide an environmental buffer for the items; and a plastic covering for the box in case it rains!

Sometimes packaging for loans needs to be more extensive. Fairfax House has requested a number of un-accessioned objects from the Retreat archives, including various manacles and restraints. It was necessary to rethink their packaging, to ensure that the items were secure during transit. Layers of Plastazote were built up to create a mould for each item, and these were slotted together in a box (fig.4). The mould for each item is still separate, and so items can be stored in individual boxes on their return to the archive.

The exhibition at Fairfax House opens on Friday 29th July, and we are excited to see the items on display. If you get a chance to attend, see if you can spot the items that have come from the Borthwick and the University Special Collections!

For more information on the Fairfax House exhibition In Pursuit of Pleasure: The Polite and Impolite World of Georgian Entertainment, please see our news page.