This blog post forms part of History Day, a day of online interactive events for students, researchers and history enthusiasts to explore library, museum, archive and history collections across the UK and beyond.

Use Archives Hub, a free resource provided by Jisc, to find unique sources for your research, both physical and digital. Search across over 3.4 million descriptions of archives, held at over 440 institutions and organisations across the UK.

People

Peter Tatchell Papers: Peter Tatchell was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1952. In 1972 he emigrated to Britain to avoid being drafted to the Vietnam War, which he had actively opposed. He worked freelance in design and display whilst studying for a BSc in Sociology at the Polytechnic of North London; 1974-1977. During this period, Tatchell attended meetings of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and soon became actively involved in gay politics. He acted as the GLF delegate to the World Youth Festival in East Berlin in 1973. Following his graduation in 1977, Tatchell became a social worker with the North Lambeth housing agency in Waterloo. In 1978 Tatchell founded the UK AIDS Vigil Organisation, the first group to campaign for the civil liberties of those with AIDS. This was followed in 1989 by his creation of the London Act Up (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power). Outrage! was founded in May 1990 by Martin Corbitt, Simon Watney, Peter Tatchell and other gay rights activists. In 2000, Peter Tatchell stood unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate for the new Greater London Assembly. Held by Labour History Archive and Study Centre.

Feature: Cathlin du Sautoy and Hermione Blackwood: personal papers at the Royal College of Nursing Archives – Cathlin du Sautoy was born in 1875 to John and Annie du Sautoy. Her father was a civil engineer and the family lived in Yorkshire. After study of Domestic Science at Cardiff College she was appointed as lecturing sister at Tredegar House, the training school for nurses for the London Hospital, followed by training at Guy’s Hospital. A career in nursing and nurse teaching followed. Cathlin was deeply involved with nursing in France during and after the First World War, organising Red Cross units in the UK and in France, and helping to set up an English-style District Nurse programme in Reims after the end of the war. During the First World War, when she was in her late 30s, she met Lady Hermione Blackwood, who was a VAD in France. They would become lifelong companions, settling in the Vale of Health in Hampstead with their two adopted French children, Victor and Yvette, after the war. The couple acted as air-raid wardens during the Second World War and were active in the local area and hospital. Cathlin died in 1968, eight years after the death of Hermione. Collection held by Royal College of Nursing Archives.

Alan Turing Collection: Alan Turing (1912-1954) made two outstandingly original contributions to the development of computer science: his paper On Computable Numbers (1936) outlined a theoretical universal machine (or Turing machine), an idea which was more fully developed in his brilliant design for the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE), built after the Second World War at the National Physical Laboratory. He was also an important figure in the Colossus codebreaking operations at Bletchley Park during the War; made contributions to programming the Manchester University Mark I computer in the early 1950s; researched the subject of morphogenesis in plants at Manchester University; and from time to time explored the problem of machine intelligence. Held by University of Manchester Library

Tessa Boffin Archive: Tessa Boffin was born 24 December 1960. She was a lesbian photographer, writer, editor, and performance artist. Her work was at the front-line of international queer culture and politics. She initially studied photography in the mid 1980s at the Polytechnic of Central London, then undertook an MA in Critical Theory at the University of Sussex in 1987-1988. Her teaching was as a part time photography lecturer at the following institutions from 1986 to 1990: Adult Education, London; Oxford Polytechnic; West Surrey College of Art and Design; Polytechnic of Central London; Kent institute of Art and Design. Boffin’s work was sex and sexual fantasy, and explored lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender issues. She edited Ecstatic Antibodies in 1990 with Sunil Gupta, and co-curated the exhibition, which contributed to understanding of the role images played in the AIDS crisis, and in 1991 edited Stolen Glances: Lesbians Take Photographs, with Jean Fraser, which is contemporary lesbian photography. She was the first British lesbian doing political work around AIDS as early as 1985. Held by University for the Creative Arts Archives & Special Collections.

Noël Coward Collection: Noël Pierce Coward was born on 16 December 1899, the second of three sons of Arthur Sabin Coward, clerk, and Violet Agnes, daughter of Henry Gordon Veitch, captain and surveyor in the Royal Navy. His education was interrupted by his pursuit of a stage career, although he attended the Chapel Royal School in Clapham between 1908 and 1909. He also took lessons at Janet Thomas’ Dancing Academy in Hanover Square. He made his first professional stage appearance in 1911 in The Goldfish. Coward recorded some of his best-known songs between 1929 and 1936. However, his health was affected by his self-imposed workload, the pressures of public fame and his private life, and he had another psychological breakdown in 1926 and had to take an extended holiday to recover. He was in a relationship during the 1920s with John (Jack) C. Wilson, who had also become his manager, and had a series of brief affairs during the 1930s, but, at a time when homosexual relationships were illegal, had to be circumspect about this large area of his personal life. Held by University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library, Special Collections.

Papers of Vera (Jack) Holme: Vera Louise Holme (1881-1969) was born in Lancashire in 1881, the daughter of Richard Holme, a timber merchant, and his wife Mary Louisa Crowe. Holme was sent away from home as a young girl to be educated at a convent school in Belgium. As a young woman she was based in London, and began performing with touring acting companies, often as a male impersonator. She adopted a masculine style of dress, short hair and took on the nickname Jack or Jacko. She became a member of the D’Olyly Carte Opera company around 1906, performing in productions of Gilbert & Sullivan at the Savoy Opera House. She joined the Women’s Social & Political Union (WSPU) in 1908 and was active in suffrage propaganda work. The archive consists of diaries, correspondence, photographs and memorabilia relating to Holme’s activities as a suffragette; her work with the Women’s Volunteer Reserve and the Scottish Women’s Hospital Unit during the First World War; her visits to and relief work in Serbia / Yugoslavia; and her personal life and friendships. Many items across the collection relate to her girlfriend Evelina Haverfield. Held by the Women’s Library Archives.

Groups and campaigns

Stonewall: Stonewall was founded in 1989 by a small group of women and men who had been active in the struggle against Section 28 of the Local Government Act. Section 28 was an offensive piece of legislation designed to prevent the so-called ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools; as well as stigmatising lesbian, gay and bisexual people it also galvanised the LGBT community. The aim from the outset was to create a professional lobbying group that would prevent such attacks on lesbians, gay men and bisexual people from ever occurring again. Stonewall has subsequently put the case for equality on the mainstream political agenda by winning support within all the main political parties and now has offices in England, Scotland and Wales. Stonewall is renowned for its campaigning and lobbying. The collection comprises 66 boxes, posters and other loose items (1976-2016). Held by Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives.

Campaign for Homosexual Equality – Lancaster and Morecambe Branch: CHE evolved from the North-Western Homosexual Law Reform Committee, founded in 1963, and became a national organisation in 1969. It fights for: acceptance of homosexual and bisexual people by society as fully entitled to lead their lives openly; social and legal equality between all men and women; reform of laws which deny this equality; the eradication of the prejudice and hostility faced by the homosexual; the creation of social meeting places where homosexual men and women and heterosexual men and women may gather in a congenial atmosphere. The Lancaster and Morecambe branch of CHE was founded in 1975. 2 boxes of material, dated 1974-1996. Held by Lancashire Archives.

OutRage! Established in May 1990 after the murder of gay actor Michael Boothe, OutRage! was founded by Keith Alcorn (who came up with the name), Chris Woods, Simon Watney and Peter Tatchell (who drew up the first draft of what became the group’s Statement of Aims, and became one of its chief spokespersons throughout the next 20 years). According to its website, OutRage! is ‘a broad based group of queers committed to radical, non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to assert the dignity and human rights of queers; fight homophobia, discrimination and violence directed against [gays]; affirm [the] right to sexual freedom, choice and self-determination.’ OutRage! works to take up the cases of individuals suffering discrimination, provides information, advice and referrals, promotes awareness and education about lesbian and gay issues, and investigates and researches anti-gay discrimination. 15 boxes of material (1988-1999) held by Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives.

Records of St Andrews LGBT Society: 7 series consisting of minutes, administrative records, campaign materials relating to Section 28, factsheets and information booklets, newspaper cuttings and publicity including display relating to 1977 ‘Citizen-gate’ incident. The collection contains 1 box and 8 laminated posters, covering the period 1977-2010. Held by Glasgow Women’s Library.

Gay Medical Association: ‘GLADD: the Association of LGBT Doctors and Dentists’ had its roots in the Gay Medics and Dentals Group, a society of the University of London Students Union, established in 1976. The aims of the Gay Medics and Dentals Group was to support gay and lesbian clinical students in the University, and to promote the needs of homosexual patients to medical staff in London. One of their last actions, in December 1977, was to deliver a ‘Guide to counselling agencies for homosexual people in London’ to over 10,000 general practitioners and hospital specialists in London. The group was re-established in 1980 following the refusal of an advertisement by Scottish gay doctors in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). In 1983 the Society changed name to the Gay Medical Association (GMA) at which point they reported membership to be approximately 150 people. Around this time, GMA published its first leaflet ‘AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome’. Possibly the first of its kind in the UK, the leaflet was left in clubs and pubs with the aim of educating gay men and lesbians about the disease. At time of deposit (2016) the organisation was known as ‘GLADD, the Association of LGBT Doctors and Dentists’. Held by Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives.

The Lesbian Archive: The Lesbian Archive and Information Centre (LAIC) was set up in London in 1984 to collect material about lesbian lives, activism and achievements, primarily in the UK. The Archive relocated to Glasgow Women’s Library in 1995. LAIC was established as The Lesbian Archives Collective in 1984, receiving grant funding from the Greater London Council. After the withdrawal of this funding, the collections were sent to the Glasgow Women’s Library. In 1996, LAIC accepted the archives and library of the Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group as a complete collection. Jackie Forster, broadcaster, comedian, lesbian activist and founder of Sappho magazine was an active member of the LAIC Management Committee from 1992 until her death in 1998. In 1997 a BBC film crew came to the archive to film Jackie for a programme about her life which was to be part of ‘The Day That Changed My Life’ series. Her work has made a huge impact on shaping the archive. You can hire this inspiring documentary on video from the Library. 5 metres of material, from 1984 to present. Held by Glasgow Women’s Library.

Research and publications

Queering the Quarantine Project: Queering the Quarantine was a project run by queer/disrupt, a research collective of students and early career researchers based at the University of Warwick who describe themselves as “a queer community based in the UK, giving space and voice to members of the LGBTQ+ family and marginalised groups both locally and worldwide.” Queering the Quarantine brought together a collection of creative responses to the experience of Covid-19 quarantine. The submissions were international in scope and include images, text, audio and audio visual pieces (dated 2020-2021). The collection consists of 213 digital files. Held by Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick.

Gay News Photographic Archive: Gay News was a fortnightly newspaper in the United Kingdom founded in June 1972 in a collaboration between former members of the Gay Liberation Front and members of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE). At the newspaper’s height, circulation was approximately 18,000 copies. Amongst Gay News’ early “Special Friends” were Graham Chapman of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, his partner David Sherlock, and Antony Grey, secretary of the UK Homosexual Law Reform Society from 1962 to 1970. Gay News was the response to a nationwide demand by lesbians and gay men for news of the burgeoning liberation movement. The paper played a pivotal role in the struggle for gay rights in the 1970s in the UK. The paper and it’s editors were often in the courts, being charged with obstruction (1972), obscenity (1974) and blasphemy (1976). Despite this, a successful campaign was launched by various gay groups to force WH Smith, who largely controlled newspaper distribution in the UK, to distribute and sell the paper. Gay News Ltd ceased trading on 15 April 1983. 37 folders of material (1972-1988). Held by Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives.

Thesis, 2021: To What Extent Were Marinetti’s Conceptions of Masculinity in Line with the Definitions Employed by Futurist Women and Queer Italians: forming part of the University of Dundee’s History dissertations and theses collection (1969-2023), the thesis covers the topics: 20th century, Italy, gender, sexuality, futurism, Great War, identity. Held by University of Dundee Archive Services.

University of Birmingham Student (Alumni) Papers: Papers of Janet Batsleer: Janet Batsleer studied English at Cambridge and was a research student at the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham. She worked as a youth and community worker before taking up a post as Lecturer in Youth and Community Work at Manchester Polytechnic in 1986. She has published on informal groupwork responses to young people who self-harm; on groupwork with South Asian women survivors of domestic violence; on arts-based practice with young men who are on the edge of the sex industry; as well as on lesbian, gay, queer and trans youth work. She has completed project evaluations with The Blue Room, on the place of creativity in responses to young men who sell sex, and with Groundwork UK on developing strategies to increase the diversity of groups with whom they engage, including offering resources to people with long-term mental health difficulties, lesbian and gay communities, and to small minority ethnic communities in predominantly white areas. Held by University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library, Special Collections.

Feature: Researching LGBTQ+ History at North East Wales Archives: shines the spotlight on some of the initiatives which are helping Wales to uncover the LGBTQ+ heritage held within their archives.

Lesbian and Gay News media Archive: Over 80,000 newspaper and journal cuttings from national and local press, 1930s-1990s, covering all aspects of gay life from the 1930s to the present time. The range of topics covered in the collection is very broad and includes arts and the media (film, television, theatre, literature, and entertainment), censorship and obscenity laws, counselling and sex education, employment, international and British lesbian and gay organisations, sexual law reform, trials, prisons, lesbian and gay politics, ‘the pink economy’, religion, transsexuals, transvestism, sex education, health and biographies. The collection is of prime interest to those studying visual culture and the influence of the media on public and private attitudes, but also to law students, twentieth century historians, psychologists and social scientists. The collection also includes a complete bound set of Gay News and its photograph collection, a nearly complete set of Gay Times, and a collection of banners (including those of OutRage!), badges, T-shirts and other artefacts. Held by Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives. Held by: Bishopsgate Institute Special Collections and Archives.

Online Resource: Independent Voices: Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.

Events and more!

LGBTQ+ Celebration Event in Conwy: 11 digital images taken at Conwy’s LGBTQ+ History Month Celebration Event in 2023. The event was hosted by Conwy Museum’s Officer Rachel Evans and featured Norena Shopland who discussed the LGBTQ+ County Timeline Project; Anglican Priest Sarah Hildreth-Osborn who discussed her personal stories; these talks were followed by a performance of ‘Two Welshmen in Rome: The Story of John Gibson RA of Conwy’ by Jane Hoy and Helen Sandler of Queer Tales From Wales. Held by Gwasanaeth Archifau Conwy / Conwy Archive Service.

Civil Partnership Collection: In response to the change of legislation, which allowed gay and lesbian couples to form civil partnerships, The Women’s Library invited some of those lesbians who celebrated civil partnerships shortly after this was introduced to deposit material relating to the ceremonies. This collection (2003-2008) consists of items relating to Civil Partnership ceremonies in 2006: photographs, invitations, audio-visual recordings, celebration menus, registration forms, council registrar booklets. It also includes the participants’ answers to a questionnaire about their civil partnership. The documented ceremonies and celebrations include those held in Kent (on International Women’s Day, 2006); at Bromley Town Hall in Bow; in Hertfordshire and at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, London. It also includes one folder of Civil Partnership ephemera. Held by Women’s Library Archives.

Pride Portraits, Carmarthen: A collection of portraits of members of the Carmarthen LGBTQ+ community. The images were captured by the Welsh photographer Mohamed Hassan in partnership with LocalMotion Carmarthen, during the local PRIDE events in 2024. The collection consists of 54 A4 printed portraits in a mix of colour and black and white. There are also an additional 249 images saved on a USB. LocalMotion Carmarthen comprises people from the third sector, arts and youth organisations and educational establishments. The goal is to create the happiest and most prosperous town in Wales, with creativity and culture at the root of improving people’s well-being and delivering a more equitable and inclusive economy for everyone. Mohamed Hassan is from Alexandria, but now lives and works in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Held by Archifau Sir Gaerfyrddin / Carmarthenshire Archives.

Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM): Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM): Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) originated from a collection made at the 1984 Pride March for the striking miners. Shortly afterwards a meeting was held at the University of London Union with speakers from the South Wales National Union of Miners (NUM), this led to the formation of LGSM. LGSM was a single-issue group, which sought to support the miners and their communities in their fight against Thatcherism. The organisation lasted only for the duration of the 1984-5 miners’ strike. A sub-group called Lesbians Against Pit Closures (LPAC) formed a few months after LGSM was established. This was partly because many women in the group felt intimidated by the gay men who formed the bulk of the membership. Both groups had strong links with the mining community of Dulais, South Wales. Exchange visits were arranged and benefits organised, the money collected went to support striking miners and their families. Held by Labour History Archive and Study Centre.

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Previous History Day posts

Full steam ahead! Celebrating Railway 200 across the Archives

Autumn in the Archives!

Explore Science and Technology collections using Archives Hub

Discovering Environmental History collections using the Archives Hub

Exploring New Worlds in the Archives Hub

This blog post forms part of History Day North (at DCDC 2025), a day of online interactive events for students, researchers and history enthusiasts to explore library, museum, archive and history collections across the UK and beyond.

Use Archives Hub, a free resource provided by Jisc, to find unique sources for your research, both physical and digital. Search across over 3.3 million descriptions of archives, held at over 400 institutions and organisations across the UK.

History Day North 2025 takes place in Durham, in the North-East of England, which is very fitting for our theme! Railway 200 celebrates rail history, beginning with a landmark journey that took place in the NE region:

“on 27 September 1825, George Stephenson’s steam-powered Locomotion No. 1 travelled 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton, carrying hundreds of passengers to great fanfare. It set in motion a train of events that changed the world forever.” Rail 200 timeline

So, we’re exploring a fascinating range of archives relating to railways, train travel and more – all board!

Pioneers and Inventors

Collections of George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson (1790-1883): George Stephenson, the ‘Father of the Railways’, was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use steam locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway which opened in 1830. His son, Robert Stephenson, worked with him and also developed his own independent career in civil and mechanical engineering. His work took him to South America where he helped to develop infrastructure there. George Robert Stephenson, was George Stephenson’s nephew and also an engineer. Held by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Archive.

Richard Badnall Papers (1832-1834): Badnall and his collaborator Richard Gill interested many prominent people, including George and Robert Stephenson and the Directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, in his eccentric invention, ‘The Undulating Railway’. Comprises letters written to and by Richard Badnall, correspondence with the Patent Office including the original patent, and other documents relating to the invention. Held by University of Salford Archives & Special Collections.

Brunel Collection: Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) papers: In 1833, Brunel was appointed Engineer for the Great Western Railway Company, where he carried into effect his plans for a broad gauge railway system. Despite the controversy of his decision, his work brought him great renown, and he was asked to design railways in Italy and to advise upon the construction of the Victorian Lines in Australia and the Eastern Bengal Railway. He worked on the system of atmospheric propulsion and attempted to use it on the South Devon railway in 1844, though it did not work in practice. Held by University of Bristol Special Collections.

Thomas Edmondson Collection (1831-1988): in 1836, he became station master at Milton (now Brampton) station on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway. Milton was not a busy station, and Edmondson had plenty of time to apply his craftsman’s training to the improvement of ticket issue. At the time, railway staff would fill out tickets by hand, which proved impractical once passenger numbers grew significantly. A more efficient method of creating tickets was required, which would also ensure that fraud was limited. Edmondson decided to create an automated system. The Edmondson ticket became universal; in the UK, it was endorsed by the Railway Clearing House set up in 1842 as a condition of its membership and by the end of the 1840s nearly all major companies had joined. Edmondson himself died in 1851, but his family continued to run the highly-profitable business. Edmondson tickets continued to be used in the UK into the 1980s and are still issued by some heritage lines. Held by University of Manchester Library.

Online Resource: IMechE Virtual Archive (c 1720-1985): you can access the story of the world’s first railway to rely exclusively on steam power – the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Photographs reveal how the Bhore Ghat incline, India was constructed and show where workers lived. Artefacts include unique carved railway tokens used by George Stephenson to travel the railway lines he helped to build. Provided the by Institution of Mechanical Engineers Archive.

Railway Companies and Rail Magnates

Records of the Glasgow District Subway Co, Glasgow, Scotland (1894): Glasgow was the third city in the world to build an underground rail system, after London, England, and Budapest, Hungary. In August 1890, the Glasgow District Subway Co was given authority to build a 6.5 mile long route under the streets of Glasgow. The circular line is formed of parallel pair of tunnels built by tunnelling or cut and cover. The system uses an unusual gauge of 4 feet (about 1200mm), with the tunnels just 11 feet in diameter. The underground was opened on 14 December 1896, but a collision that day meant that the network did not open again until 21 January 1897. Held by University of Glasgow Archive Services.

United Railways of the Havana & Regla Warehouse Records (1871-1975): Records of the United Railways of the Havana & Regla Warehouses Ltd. This company, which went into voluntary liquidation in 1954 after the purchase of its property by the Cuban Government, incorporated a number of smaller Cuban railway enterprises. Records for these subsidiary companies are included in the collection: Cuban Central Railways Ltd, Havana Terminal Railroad Company, Mariano & Havana Railway Company Ltd, Matanzas Terminal Railway Company, Western Railway of Havana Ltd. Held by: University College London Archives.

Railways collection (1856-1987), forming part of the Oury Archive (1897-1977): The Oury Archive holds material related to the life and business activities of Libert Oury (1869-1939), specifically during his time as the London office director of the Mozambique Company, and his involvement in the development of the Port of Beira, the Trans-Zambezi Railway (TZR), and the lower Zambezi bridge. Additional material relates to the directorships and business interests inherited by his only son Vivian (1912-1988). Held by: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York.

Stations, Lines and Networks

Drawings of the Midland Railway Extension to London St Pancras (1867-1871): the collection comprises 33 architectural and engineering drawings as used or designed by contractors to the Midland Railway, covering architectural elements of St Pancras and Finchley Road Stations, various bridges and approaches and the design and emplacement of working equipment such as cranes and traversers. It represents a very small part of what must have been a much more extensive set of drawings. Held by: National Railway Museum Archive.

Online Resource: Rail Map Online (circa 1750 – to date): a free website that provides interactive maps of past and present to explore UK and Ireland railways, US West railroads and UK and Irish canals and more. There are options for exploring via layers (such as narrow guage, Metro, historic tramways), legend (companies) and places (stations). The resource also features a range of tools, including ability to select which coordinate system to display positions with.

Jonathan Backhouse & Company, Darlington (1774-1896): Jonathan Backhouse died in 1826, leaving the business to his sons. The eldest, another Jonathan (1779-1842), is remembered best for his involvement in the pioneering Stockton and Darlington Railway. He argued in favour of a railway during a public meeting at Darlington town hall in 1818, stressing its commercial advantages over those of the conventional option, a canal. The first track was laid in May 1821, and the completed railway opened on 27th September 1825. Jonathan served as the company’s first treasurer until 1833. Held by: Barclays Group Archives.

Railway Image Collection (1904-1930): Edward Alan Chard was chief locomotive draughtsman Eastleigh Works, British Railways, Southern Region. He was an avid collection of railway items. 29 series of postcards and some drawings of British and international locomotives. Held by: Institution of Mechanical Engineers Archive.

Mumbles Railway Records (1804-1959): The Swansea and Mumbles railway ran from Swansea to Mumbles. In 1804 the Oystermouth Railway and Tramroad Company was incorporated and work began on building the line. In 1806 goods traffic began to pass over the line in waggons pulled by horses. The main cargo was limestone at this stage. However, as Mumbles began to lose its industrial character and started to develop as a tourist resort, freight lessened and in 1807 the line became unique as providing the first regular rail passenger service in the world. Held by: Swansea University Archives.

Bridges and Tunnels

Records of P & W MacLellan Ltd, steel stockholders, Glasgow, Scotland (1626-1989): In 1878 the whole of Glasgow was shaken by the collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank, with whom P & W MacLellan had an account. Fortunately, orders began to pick up again in 1879 with Indian State Railways ordering 48 bridges and William Arrol & Co, a Glasgow bridge builder, placing an order for 12,000 tons of steel for the Forth Railway Bridge, Scotland. The Forth Bridge contract however was cancelled when a storm hit and destroyed the Tay Bridge, Scotland. The demand for railway bridges was not greatly dented by the Tay Bridge disaster and in February 1880 the South Indian Railways ordered a further 48. It was also in this year that Walter MacLellan purchased the Carntyne Iron Co, Glasgow, in order to ensure a steady supply of iron. In 1883, the firm won the contract to supply the approaches for a completely redesigned Forth Bridge. Held by: University of Glasgow Archive Services.

Photograph: “Woodhead Railway Tunnel, west” (Derbyshire, 1991), item forms part of the Richard Hills Collection. Held by the Mills Archive.

Channel Tunnel Association archive (1802-2002). The collection covers the history of tunnels under the Channel (172 boxes, material in English and French). Held by: Brunel University London Special Collections.

Beachley – Aust Ferry and Severn Rail Tunnel Timetables and Correspondence: The Beachley – Aust Ferry provided a crossing over the River Severn between South Wales and England from Beachley and Aust, Gloucestershire. From 1931 the ferry was run by Old Passage Severn Ferry Company Ltd. The ferry service was replaced by the Severn Bridge in 1966. The construction of the Severn Rail Tunnel began in 1873 and the tunnel was opened in 1886. Timetables of Beachley – Aust Ferry and trains ferrying cars through the Severn Tunnel with correspondence, 1966. Held by Gwent Archives / Archifau Gwent.

The “railway tunnel” at Harlaxton Manor was built at the same time as the north wing of the house (completed 1845-1850). The tunnel is on two levels meeting the north wing at the 2nd and 3rd floors. The presence of coal dust in the service shafts provides witness that the tunnel was in use for some time and in the 1937 Contents Sales Catalogue Lot 855 describes a railway coal trolley 4ft. 6ins. by 3ft. by 3ft. 6in. high. What seems to be unique about the service tunnel at Harlaxton is that it joins the house at high level, using gravity to deliver the goods rather than the use of expensive and time consuming hoisting equipment to haul goods up to the higher level. The tunnels are also home to several species of bats, with surveys of hibernating bats carried out annually, in January and February, by the Lincolnshire Bat Group. During the hibernation season (November to March) visitors are not allowed to enter the tunnels. The folder of material forms part of the collection ‘Harlaxton Manor Gardens, Conservatory, Walled Garden and Railway Tunnel‘ (1838 to present), held by Harlaxton Manor Archives.

Souvenir of the inauguration of the railway bridge over the South Channel of the River Niger by H.E. Sir Frederick Lugard at Jebba, Nigeria, West Africa (1916): Album containing general views of the bridge at Jebba, photographs taken during the opening and of the wreck of the ‘Dayspring’ which sank in 1857. Railway construction started in earnest in Nigeria in 1893 with the building of the Lagos Railway running north from Lagos to Ibadan. In 1907 work was started by the Northern Nigeria Administration on the Baro-Kano line which was completed in 1911. The Lagos line was then extended northwards to join the Baro-Kano line at Minna, but until the completion of the bridge at Jebba, trains still had to be ferried across the Niger. The opening of the bridge by Sir Frederick Lugard on January 31 1916 finally connected Lagos and Kano on a direct line of 705 miles. Held by: Royal Commonwealth Society Library.

Passengers and Journeys

Travel Journal of Rev. John Warner: a detailed travel journal from 1890, compiled by Rev. John Warner (1860-1933), describing a voyage aboard the SS. City of Chicago from Liverpool to New York, and a subsequent tour of the north-eastern United States and Canada, encompassing Dayton (Ohio), Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montreal, Lake Champlain, Saratoga Springs, etc., between May and November 1890. The journal is an important source for nineteenth-century American studies, offering a perceptive visitor’s comments on the condition of the north-eastern United States and Canada during a period of rapid industrial, economic, social development. The journal is also valuable for studies of trans-Atlantic passenger shipping and the railways of the U.S. and Canada. Held by: University of Manchester Library.

The Records of the Traveller’s Aid Society (1885-1939): The Travellers’ Aid Society was initiated in 1885 by the Young Women’s Christian Association to aid female passengers arriving at ports and railway stations, where they were met by accredited station workers who reported to the Travellers Aid Society Committee. Held by: Women’s Library Archives.

The diaries of Thomas Sopwith (1803-1879), mining engineer, land surveyor and philanthropist in the north-east of England, cover the period 1828-1879. The collection includes both the original diaries, and a copy of the material held on 16 reels of microfilm. They form a meticulous account of the professional life of Sopwith, detailing his work, projects and his travels both for business and for enjoyment. The diaries also include sketches and illustrations of people, views, and buildings and often include descriptions of lectures and conversations with people Sopwith met on his travels. A particularly notable aspect of the diaries is Sopwith’s descriptions of journeys he made by rail, often along newly-opened railway lines in a period where rail travel was in its early stages. Held by Newcastle University Special Collections and Archives.

Railway staff and Accidents

Papers relating to the railway and railway safety, including correspondence and note (1837-1843): forms part of the The notebooks and other papers of Sir George Cayley collection (1780-1957) held by National Aerospace Library.

Railway Accidents Book (1922-1930): The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Co.Ltd. was created in 1923 from a merger of several railway companies, most notably the London and North Western Railway and the Midland Railway. The LMS was the largest of the four UK railway companies created under the terms of the Railways Act 1921, and it was the second biggest employer in the UK after the General Post Office. The LMS also claimed to be the largest joint-stock company in the World. A volume containing records of accidents to LMS employees during the period 1923-1930. Accident returns were required under the terms of the Factories Acts, and each report provides details of the employee, the nature of the accident and its consequences, the date and time of the accident, and a decision on the category of accident (misadventure, negligence by injured party or other party, and “other cause” – nearly all cases were judged to be misadventure). Held by University of Manchester Library.

National Union of Railwaymen (1894-1992): The collection, 87 volumes and 14 boxes, comprises 5 series: proceedings and reports, 1894-1987; Executive Committee minutes, 1966-1992; other papers; Branch papers including Norwich, Stockport district and Manchester. Held by: Working Class Movement Library.

International Transport Workers’ Federation: Reports on Africa, 1952-1975: The International Transport Workers’ Federation was founded in London in 1886 by European seafarers and dockers’ union leaders who realised the need to organize internationally against strike breakers. In 2001 it is a Federation of 570 trade unions in 132 countries, representing around 5 million workers. The ITF represents transport workers at world level and promotes their interests through global campaigning and solidarity. It is dedicated to the advancement of independent and democratic trade unionism, and to the defence of fundamental human and trade union rights. It is opposed to any form of totalitarianism, aggression and discrimination. Held by: Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library, University of London.

Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) 1861-2018: The Engine Drivers’ and Firemen’s United Society was founded in 1865 and claimed a membership of over 10,000 by 1866 when they made initial demands for a 10 hour day and payment of overtime as well as an increase in pay. With the establishment of the ASRS in 1872, there was some dilution of membership but the ASRS was regarded as too conciliatory and eventually the demand for a more militant and focused union led to the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen which was formed in Leeds in February 1880. Held by: Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick.

Engines and Industry

Photograph: Steam Engine “Lady of the Lake” at Crewe: The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) 7 ft 6 in Single 2-2-2 class was a type of express passenger locomotive designed by John Ramsbottom. The class is better known as the Problem class for the first locomotive built, or the Lady of the Lake class for the example that was displayed at the International Exhibition of 1862. The first examples were built shortly after the acquisition of the Chester and Holyhead Railway by the LNWR, and primarily saw use on the Irish Mail route from London to Holyhead. They were the first locomotives to be fitted with water scoops, which could refill the tender from water troughs between the tracks without stopping. Item (photograph) held by: Archifau Ynys Môn / Anglesey Archives.

Dinorwic Quarry Records (1809-1970): Slate quarrying at Dinorwig, Caernarfonshire, dates back to the 18th century. In 1787, Thomas Assheton-Smith (1752-1828) of the Faenol estate, leased his workings to the Dinorwig Slate Company, a partnership of two solicitors, Ellis and Wright, and Mr Bridges, a merchant. By 1809, only Wright remained, but he was joined by Hugh Jones, a Dolgellau banker, and Assheton-Smith himself. In 1824, the Dinorwig Tramway was opened, and the Padarn Tramway in 1843, allowing greater amounts of slate to be transported to Port Dinorwic on the Menai Strait. Railways to Porth Penrhyn and Y Felinheli, Caernarfonshire, were completed by 1852. Held by: Gwynedd Archives Service – Caernarfon Record Office / Gwasanaeth Archifau Gwynedd, Archifdy Caernarfon.

William Jack Collection: William Jack worked for the Chatterley Whitfield Colliery Ltd, 1928-1957. His family connections with the Chatterley firm go back to 1870. Jack wrote a history of the colliery, History of Chatterley Whitfield Railways. William Jack photographed and also collected photographs of North Staffordshire collieries, railways and mineral workings. Held by: Keele University Archives and Special Collections.

Fiction and Film

The Railway Children: Production photographs from The Railway Children by E. Nesbit which was performed at the York Theatre Royal from 17th August-16th September 1989. Also photographs taken at the North Yorkshire Railway, Pickering. Also a letter regarding acquisition of props from the Vintage Carriages Trust. Forms part of the collection Post-1945 York Theatre Royal Archive. Held by: York St John University Archives and Special Collections.

Papers of Brian Tinley Shepherd Simpson (1936-1963): Brian Tinley Shepherd Simpson (1912-1997), was a priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and was Canon of St John’s Cathedral, Oban 1978-80. He retired in 1980, thereafter being Honorary Canon of Oban Cathedral until his death on 10 February 1997. The collection comprises his voluminous correspondence, and wealth of material, including photographs and correspondence with the Rev. W. Awdry, author of Thomas the Tank Engine stories, relating to his passionate interest in railway transport. Held by: University of St Andrews Special Collections.

‘Orient Express’ (1991-2007), part of the Gavin Mark Stamp Archive: Gavin Mark Stamp (1948-2017) was a British architectural historian, writer, journalist, and campaigner. Stamp presented a number of television programmes for Channel 5, including a five-part architectural travel series ‘Gavin Stamp’s Orient Express‘, in which he travelled by train from London, via Vienna to Istanbul. The show examines art and architecture alongside the cities’ historical and political contexts, to present how the history of Eastern Europe is told through its buildings. WagTV produced the series with Steven Green as Director, and Eliya Aman as Producer. The series was filmed between 12 Jun-15 Jul 2006, and aired on Channel 5 in 2007. Held by: Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.

Photographs from Alfred Hitchcock’s film The Lady Vanishes, starring Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood (1938): 1 folder of material, part of the Sir Michael Redgrave Archive. (1890-1996). Michael Redgrave was born on 20 March 1908, the child of actors Margaret (Daisy) Scudamore and Roy Redgrave. He studied at Cambridge University before becoming a teacher of modern languages at Cranleigh School, Surrey, where he spent much of his time directing and acting in amateur dramatic productions. His professional acting career began at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1934, where he met and married actress Rachel Kempson. Redgrave moved into films in 1938, starring in Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes. Held by V&A Theatre and Performance Collections.

More train-related collections!

The Great Train Robbery, 1963: material consists of manuscripts, typescripts, correspondence, press cuttings and list of banknotes recovered. Forms part of the Lord Edmund-Davies Papers (1908-1992) reflecting his career as a barrister and High Court judge, including papers deriving from court cases in which he was involved, 1936-1983; including the Great Train Robbery and the Aberfan Disaster Tribunal, 1966-1967, 1974. Held by: National Library of Wales / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru.

Records of the Railtrack Private Shareholders Action Group (RPSAG, 2001-2006): RPSAG was formed at a meeting of Railtrack shareholders on 19 October 2001. The RPSAG website stated that the mission of the group was to ‘obtain a fair and just settlement for the 255, 000 private shareholders of Railtrack who lost millions when their company was forced into administration by the government’. Railtrack was a group of companies that owned track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and stations that made up the British Railway System. It was placed into railway administration under the Railways Act 1993 on 7 October 2001 following an application to the High Court by the then Transport Secretary Stephen Byers. Held by National Railway Museum Archive.

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This blog post forms part of History Day 2022, a day of online interactive events for students, researchers and history enthusiasts to explore library, museum, archive and history collections across the UK and beyond. History Day is part of the Being Human festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 10–19 November 2022.

Use Archives Hub, a free resource, to find unique sources for your research, both physical and digital. Search across descriptions of archives, held at over 380 institutions and organisations across the UK.

This year’s History Day is themed ‘Human Discovery: Experiencing Science’, so we’re highlighting a range of archive collections relating to inventions, technology, medical advances and more.

Press photograph of women factory workers during WW1. Image copyright © Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Feature: Engineering and innovation during the First World War (October 2014).

Inventions and inventors

John Logie Baird papers (1906-2009). Baird was born in Helensburgh and studied electrical engineering at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, then attended Glasgow University. After becoming apprenticed with Argyll Motors and then to working with other firms, from 1916 he engaged in various private business ventures in Glasgow, London and the West Indies. In 1922 he began to experiment with transmitting and receiving visual signals. In 1924 his efforts were rewarded by a flickering image on his screen. A public demonstration was given at Selfridge’s Oxford Street store in April 1925 and showed the transmission of crude outlines of simple objects. The world’s first demonstration of television followed on 26 January 1926 at the Royal Institution, London. In May 1927 the first demonstration of television between London and Glasgow took place, and in February of the following year the first transatlantic television broadcast was successfully carried out. On 30 September 1929 the BBC made its first television broadcast using the Baird 30-line system. Material held by University of Strathclyde Archives and Special Collections – see full collection description.

Papers of Marjorie Jean Oswald Kennedy (19th-20th century). Marjorie hailed from the Kennedy family of Kilmarnock which included Thomas Kennedy c1796-1874, founder of Glenfield & Kennedy (producers of valves) and inventor of the world’s first water meter. During the Second World War, Kennedy served with the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS), 1942-1945. She was stationed at HMS Pembroke III, the WRNS training depot at Mill Hill in 1942, then at HMS Beaver, Hull, from 1942 to 1943, at HMS Drake, Devonport, in 1943, and then at HMS Pembroke III again and HMS Pembroke V, Bletchley Park, between 1943 and 1945. At Bletchley Park Kennedy was working with the team of allied codebreakers who were able to decrypt a vast number of messages that had been enciphered using the German’s Enigma machine. The intelligence gleaned from this source, codenamed ‘Ultra’ by the British, had been a substantial aid to the Allied war effort. Material held by Edinburgh University Library Special Collections – see full collection description.

Frederick Lanchester at the wheel of the 8 h.p. two cylinder Lanchester known as the ‘Gold Medal Phaeton’ with his brother George as passenger. c1899. Coventry University [reference no. LAN/1/16/4].

Photograph copyright © Coventry University.

Feature: The Frederick Lanchester archive at Coventry University (December 2018):
The work of car manufacturer, engineer, scientist and inventor Frederick Lanchester (1868-1946) is being celebrated by the Lanchester Interactive Archive project at Coventry University. He was one of the UK’s leading automobile engineers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and creator in 1895 of the first all-British four-wheel petrol driven motor car.

Records, publications and artefacts relating to James Watt (1705-1990): Watt was born at Greenock in 1736. He trained as an instrument maker in London and began to practise this trade in Glasgow. Watt soon developed a reputation as a high quality engineer and was employed on the Forth & Clyde Canal and the Caledonian Canal. In 1763 he repaired the model of Newcomen’s steam engine belonging to Glasgow University, and began experiments on properties of steam. Watt improved on the engine’s design and took out a patent for the separate condenser in 1769. He later adapted the engine to rotary motion, making it suitable for a variety of industrial purposes, and invented the flywheel and the governor. In 1774 he went into partnership with Matthew Boulton to make steam engines at their works at Soho, Birmingham. The first engines were used in collieries and iron works and were the driving force behind the transformation of cotton spinning from a cottage to factory industry. Watt’s inventive talents led him to patent a variety of machines and devices including a letter-copier and a smoke-consuming furnace. Material held by Heriot-Watt University Museum and Archive – see full collection description.

Technology

Lithograph of George Biggin, Letitia Sage and Vincenzo Lunardi ascending from St George’s Fields, London, 29 June 1785. Image copyright © National Aerospace Library.

Feature: Planes, pilots and politics: National Aerospace Library’s collections fly onto Archives Hub (April 2020).

Private Telegraph Companies (1846-1899): The development of the telegraph system in the United Kingdom closely followed the growth of the railways with telegraph offices often being located at stations. The Government allowed the network to develop under private ownership and did not intervene significantly in its running. This was in sharp contrast to the telegraph system on the Continent which had been under state ownership since its inception. By 1868 there were five major telegraph companies operating the inland network, all of which were open to criticism regarding errors, delays and high prices. Frank Ives Scudamore campaigned on behalf of the Post Office for them to be nationalised citing how unfavourably they compared with those on the Continent. Despite protestations from the companies a series of Acts of Parliament were passed and the inland telegraph system came under control of the Post Office in 1870. Material held by British Telecom Archives – see full collection description.

Online Resource: Developing LEO: The world’s first business computer. Reports, memoranda, photographs and other documents from the archives of the statistician John Simmons (1902-1985), including key material on the development of the pioneering LEO computers by J. Lyons & Company Ltd. during the 1940s and 1950s. Provided by Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick.

Barclaycard 1972 promotions. Photograph copyright © Barclays Group Archives.

Feature: Barclaycard: 50 years of plastic money – the story from the Archives (June 2016).

Illustration: Spare Rib, April 1978, photo copyright © The Women’s Library.

Feature: Typewriters and Office Machines

Online Resource: Hiroshima Archive – the Hiroshima Archive is a pluralistic digital archive using the digital earth to display in a multi-layered way all the materials gained from such sources as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the Hiroshima Jogakuin Gaines Association, and the Hachioji Hibakusha (A-bomb Survivors) Association. Beyond time and space, the user can get a panoramic view over Hiroshima to browse survivors’ accounts, photos, maps, and other materials as of 1945, together with aerial photos, 3D topographical data, and building models as of 2010. The archive aims to promote multifaceted and comprehensive understanding of the reality of atomic bombing. Stories of Atomic bomb survivors living across Japan. Around 170 testimonies and around 150 photographs can be browsed.

Medical Advances

Papers of the Dorset House School of Occupational Therapy (1919-2005): Dorset House, the first School of Occupational Therapy in England, was established by its visionary Medical Director, Dr Elizabeth Casson, in the latter part of the 1920s. Over the years the School has moved from its original base in Bristol to Bromsgrove, and finally to Oxford, firstly in Nissen Huts in the grounds of the Churchill Hospital and then to London Road in 1964. In 1992 Dorset House School of Occupational Therapy became part of Oxford Polytechnic, which, later that year, was conferred with university status and was named Oxford Brookes University. Material held by Oxford Brookes University Special Collections and Archives – full collection description.

John Charnley/William Waugh Collection (1922-1989): John Charnley, orthopaedic surgeon, born in 1911, was educated at the Medical School of the Victoria University of Manchester. In 1937, he took up his first post as a resident surgical officer at Salford Royal Hospital, and demonstrated an early talent for making and developing specialist apparatus and equipment. He first encountered work in orthopaedics and fractures in 1939 as resident casualty officer at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. During the Second World War, Charnley worked at an Orthopaedic Centre near Cairo, applying to become an orthopaedic specialist in 1942. Charnley returned to Manchester in 1946 at the Manchester Royal Infirmary as an honorary assistant orthopaedic surgeon and lecturer in orthopaedic surgery, and later as a consultant. In 1949, Charnley became a visiting orthopaedic surgeon at Wrightington Hospital. He began to work on the mobility of the hip in painful hip conditions due to arthritis. His discoveries in this field were made possible by his outstanding ability in engineering, and in working with materials. In 1961, Charnley established the Centre for Hip Surgery at Wrightington Hospital, where he pioneered and developed prostheses for hip replacement surgery, and studied the acceptance of artificial materials within bone and joint tissues. The hip replacement operation is now one of the most common operations performed in the UK. Material held by University of Manchester Library – full collection description.

Online Resource: London’s Pulse: Medical Officer of Health Reports 1848-1972. This collection features digitised reports of the UK Medical Officers of Health for the London area during the 19th and 20th centuries. These reports were compiled on an annual basis and include written information and statistical data on public health issues, such as infectious diseases, mortality rates, health services and environmental impacts on health. Selected reports are available from the period and the areas covered include the present City of London, the current 32 London boroughs and the predecessor local authorities for these areas. The reports also highlight the differences between different Medical Officers of Health and show how individual personality influenced their work and reporting style. Provided by the Wellcome Library.

Papers of Martindale, Louisa (1872-1966): Louisa Martindale was born in 1872 and studied at the London School of Medicine for Women and in Vienna, Berlin and Freiburg, obtaining her M.D. in London in 1906. She practised in Brighton and was founder of the New Sussex Hospital here in 1918, where she was Senior Honorary Surgeon. In 1921 she moved to London as a Consultant Surgeon and was Honorary Surgeon to the Marie Curie Hospital at Hampstead. During a visit to New York in 1919 she was a moving force behind the foundation of the Medical Women’s Federation and in 1931 she was elected President of that body. Martindale was a pioneer in the treatment of uterine cancer and fibroid growths in women through deep X-ray therapy. She died in 1966. Material held by the Wellcome Collection – full collection description.

HD/1/81: The minute book of the founders of the hospital, discussing the principles of kind treatment and moral management, dated 1842-1848. Image copyright © Archifau Sir Ddinbych / Denbighshire Archives.

Feature: Unlocking the Asylum: Cataloguing the North Wales Hospital Archive (August 2019).

Northern Ireland Hospitals Authority Archive (1948-1974): The collection consists of reports and monographs on the location, construction and administration of hospitals in Northern Ireland covering the period 1948 to 1974. Items include reports from The Northern Ireland Hospitals Authority, Hospital Management Committees, research organisations and central government. The archive constitutes the nucleus of the Northern Ireland Hospitals Authority library which passed to The Queen’s University of Belfast at the Authority’s demise in 1973. Queens University Medical Library continues to maintain an archive of material related to health and social services provision in Northern Ireland. Material held by Queen’s University Belfast Special Collections & Archives – full collection description.

One of our first attempts at archiving the RCN COVID-19 webpages using our digital archive. Image copyright © Royal College of Nursing Archives.

Feature: Creating a COVID-19 archive at the Royal College of Nursing (November 2020).

Florence Nightingale letters (1882-1883): Florence Nightingale, (1820-1910), nursing pioneer and reformer, is regarded as the founder of modern nursing. Born in Florence, Italy, she dedicated her life to the care of the sick and war wounded. In 1844, she began to visit hospitals; in 1850, she spent some time with the nursing Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul in Alexandria and a year later studied at the institute for Protestant deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, Germany. In 1854, she organized a unit of 38 nurses for service in the Crimean War. In 1860, she established the Nightingale School for nurse training at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London and in 1907 became the first woman to be given the British Order of Merit. This collection contains letters from Florence Nightingale to William Rathbone the MP for Caernarfonshire, concerning public health issues and the typhoid epidemic at Bangor in 1882. Material held by Archifdy Prifysgol Bangor / Bangor University Archives – full collection description.

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Read more features

Explore more Online Resources

This blog post forms part of History Day 2021, a day of online interactive events for students, researchers and history enthusiasts to explore library, museum, archive and history collections across the UK and beyond.

Use the Archives Hub, a free resource, to find unique sources for your research, both physical and digital. Search across descriptions of archives, held at over 370 institutions across the UK.

This year’s History Day is themed ‘environmental history‘, so we’re showcasing a range of archive collections relating to nature, landscape, climate change and more.

Nature

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Archive, 1933 onwards: The Trust was established in 1946 to receive the gift of two plots of land at Askham Bog, York. The land had been purchased in 1944 by prominent confectioners and keen naturalists Sir Francis Terry and Arnold Stephenson Rowntree, following the earlier unsuccessful attempt of the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust to acquire the site at auction. Today, the Trust is one of a national partnership of 47 Wildlife Trusts across the whole of the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney, and cares for over 100 nature reserves throughout Yorkshire. Held by the Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York – see full collection description.

“Wild Rose haups. Rosa Canina. Sidlaw Road, Strathmartine. September 1912”. Detail from Illustrations of Scottish Flora (1912-1913) by David R Robinson. From the Kinnear Collection, reference GB 0254 MS 103/3/5. Photograph copyright © University of Dundee Archive Services.

Feature: Botany – botany and botanists (March 2005).

Ida Margaret Hayward Collection: Ida was born in 1872 to a family very much connected to the cloth industry. After her father died, she and her mother went to live near her mother’s family in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders where her uncles owned the woollen mills of Messrs. Sanderson. It was noticed by one of her uncles, William Sanderson, that many of the seeds brought in with the wool imported from Australia, New Zealand and South America survived the treatment process and went on to germinate on the banks of the Tweed. Encouraged by him, Hayward set about conducting a thorough study of this alien flora. She jointly published “The Adventive Flora of Tweedside” in 1919. Ida was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society in 1910 and the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1913. Before her death in 1949, she donated her herbarium of adventive (alien) plants to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, along with her scrapbook and letters relating to the Flora. Held by Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Archives – see full collection description.

Online Resource: Historical UK Tide Gauge Data (19th and 20th Century): this collection offers registered users the chance to search UK sea level records, including some of the UK’s earliest recorded sea level data from Sheerness – a port on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Records available include several large datasets of tide gauge charts and ledgers from around the UK. Resource is provided by the British Oceanographic Data Centre:
https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gbah5-historicaluktidegaugedata.

Stopes (Marie) Papers: Marie Stopes was educated in Edinburgh and London. She obtained a first class honours degree and was a gold medallist at University College London. She studied for her Ph.D. in Munich. Marie was the first woman to be appointed to the science staff of the University of Manchester in 1904. She went to Japan on a Scientific Mission in 1907, spent a year and a half at the Imperial University, Tokyo, and explored the country for fossils. She specialised in coal mines and fossil plants. She founded, jointly with H. V. Roe, the Mothers’ Clinic for Constructive Birth-Control, 1921 (the first birth control clinic in the world). Marie was President of the Society for Constructive Birth Control and Racial Progress. She was also Fellow and sometime Lecturer in Palaeobotany at University College London and Lecturer in Palaeobotany at the University of Manchester. She published many books, mainly concerning botany and birth control. Material held by University College London Archives – see full collection description.

Image of butterflies: courtesy Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford.

Feature: Insects and Entomologists, enthusiasts and biologists, entomologists and zoologists (March 2006).

“Fringilla Carduelis. The Goldfinch”, from the Bird Book. Image courtesy of the University of Exeter Library Special Collections.

Feature: Ornithology, scientists, enthusiasts, and illustrators (May 2003).

Landscape

Papers of Sir Robert Hunter, Solicitor and Co-founder of the National Trust: Robert Hunter was in South London in 1844. He took his degree at University College, London. In 1867 he was appointed solicitor for the Commons Preservation Society and was instrumental in the preservation of Wimbledon Commons and Epping Forest among other open spaces. In 1876 he wrote a competition essay for the Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society on the means of preserving common lands for the enjoyment of the public. This was chosen as one of six to be published. In 1882 he became Chief Solicitor to the Post Office but continued to advise the Commons Preservation Society. In 1894 he was knighted for services to the open space movement. Coupled with the work of Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley in the Lake District, Hunter’s influence led to the foundation of the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. Material held by Surrey History Centre – see full collection description.

Papers of Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875): influential geologist, fellow of the Royal Society; these papers include notes on the New Zealand earthquake of 1856. Charles Lyell was born at Kinnordy, near Kirriemuir in Angus, in 1797. During his lifetime he wrote many geological papers, mainly published by the Geological Society of London, however his reputation rests almost entirely on his work Principles of Geology. In this work, Lyell propounded his theory of uniformitarianism, which holds that the Earth’s history is explained by gradual change over time, and that geological processes going on today (like erosion) have occurred in the past and have shaped the Earth’s surface, and this had a strong influence on Charles Darwin. In 1828 he explored the volcanic region of the Auvergne, then went to Mount Etna to gather supporting evidence for the theory of geology he would expound in his Principles of Geology. The collection is held by Edinburgh University Library Special Collections – see full collection description.

Cartouche from Moore’s Mapp of the Great Levell of the Fenns re-printed in 1706 [R59/31/40/13/1]. Image copyright: Cambridgeshire Archives.

Feature: Silt, sluices and smelt fishing – The Eau Brink Cut and the Bedford Level Corporation Archive (July 2018).

Climate change

G.S. Callendar Archive, 1930-2003: In the first half of the twentieth century, the carbon dioxide theory of climate change had fallen out of favour with climatologists. Beginning in 1938, Guy Stewart Callendar (1898-1964), a noted steam engineer and amateur meteorologist, revived this theory by arguing that rising global temperatures and increased coal burning were closely linked. Working from his home in West Sussex, England, Callendar collected weather data from frontier stations around the world, formulated a coherent theory of infrared absorption by trace gases, and demonstrated that the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere, like the temperature, was indeed rising. Although he was an amateur meteorologist, Callendar worked on a truly global scale, compiling a reliable world data set of surface temperatures from earliest times and insisting – long before it became fashionable to do so – that climatology must deal with physics and atmospheric dynamics. Just before the beginning of the International Geophysical Year in 1957, Hans Seuss and Roger Revelle referred to the ‘Callendar effect’ – defined as climatic change brought about by anthropogenic increases in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, primarily through the processes of combustion. Collection held by the University of East Anglia Archives – see full collection description.

Guy Stewart Callendar (1898-1964)
Photo courtesy of the G.S. Callendar Archive, University of East Anglia.

Feature: Seeing the light: G.S. Callendar and carbon dioxide theory of climate change (November 2007).

Records of the Geological Society of Glasgow, learned society (1858 onwards): The Geological Society of Glasgow was founded in 1858. The Society aims to gain an understanding of the study of the earth through excursions and lectures, and is still active to this day. The Society’s early contribution to geological research includes, fossils, an understanding of Scotland’s glacial history, geological time and the relationship between climate change and the Earth’s rotation. Famous 19th and early 20th Century Presidents include Lord Kelvin (for 21 years), Sir Archibald Geikie, Charles Lapworth, Ben Peach and Walter Gregory. Material is held by the University of Glasgow Archive Services – see full collection description.

Research Papers relating to the Global Environment Facility (1990-2002): The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is an international financial instrument situated within the World Bank. Establishment of the GEF took place just prior to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit (also known as the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development or UNCED) held 3-14 June 1992. It also resulted in three legally binding agreements known collectively as The Rio Convention: Convention on Biological Diversity; Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Compliance to agreements was ensured with the establishment of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), the GEF was to be the financial mechanism for these conventions, and the work of the GEF was informed by the outcomes of the Rio Earth Summit. The GEF’s main areas of work focus on biodiversity, climate change, chemicals & waste, land degradation, international waters, sustainable management of forest and REDD+. The body’s work also cuts across food security, sustainable cities, commodities, public private partnerships, capacity development, the small grants programme, gender mainstreaming, small island developing states, and indigenous peoples. The collection is held by Hull University Archives, Hull History Centre – see full collection description.

Other collections related to Environmental History

Environment Agency Collection, 1786-2010: The Environmental Agency is an executive Non-departmental Public Body responsible to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and a Welsh Government Sponsored Body responsible to the Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development. The collection consists of reports, surveys, data records, maps, administrative records and other material relating to the work of the Environment Agency (and of its predecessor organisations the various River Boards, River Authorities, Water Authorities and the National Rivers Authority). While a few documents date back to the 19th century and earlier, the majority spans the 1930s to the 1990s. Material held by Freshwater Biological Association Archives – see full collection description.

“Yellow water-lily. Pools in Camperdown Woods. Nuphar lutea (Nymphæaceaæ) July 19, 1913”. Detail from Illustrations of Scottish Flora (1912-1913) by David R Robinson. From the Kinnear Collection, reference GB 0254 MS 103/3/5. Photograph copyright © University of Dundee Archive Services.

Feature: Botany – botany and botanists (March 2005).

Dee and Clwyd River Authority records (1653-1979) 1544 items. In 1965, the Dee and Clwyd River Authority was constituted, superseding the numerous earlier authorities concerned with the navigation of the Dee Estuary and the drainage of low-lying coastal and estuarial land. The construction of a navigable cut from Chester to Connah’s Quay had been empowered by an Act of 1732, to replace the old deep-water channel to the north of the estuary, and in 1740 the River Dee Company was created to maintain the navigation. The Dee Conservancy Act 1889 established the Dee Conservancy Board, taking over the Company’s functions. In 1938, the Conservancy Board officially came to an end. Material held by North East Wales Archives – Flintshire / Archifau Gogledd Ddwyrain Cymru – Sir y Fflint – see full collection description.

Online Resource: Freeze Frame. The collection will be of interest to anyone studying or teaching the arts as examples of landscape, portrait and historical photography. There are images related to the environment, wildlife and travel. Themes such as ‘History of Photography in the Polar Regions’, Changing Britain and the Heroic Age’ and ‘Surviving in Extreme Environments’ can all be explored within this collection. The resource includes 20,000 images, biographies, photographs, still images and text. Provided by Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge: https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gbah17-freezeframe.

Meteorological Office Archive (Mid-19th Century – 2010): as a result of the Brussels Conference of Maritime Nations in 1853 and following consultations by the Board of Trade with the Royal Society, a Meteorological Department was formed at the beginning of August 1854 for the collection and co-ordination of meteorological observations made at sea. The National Meteorological Archive is the official UK Place of Deposit for meteorological records. It is home to one of the most comprehensive collections on meteorology anywhere in the world and provides a major resource for scientific and historical research of international scope. Their aim is to support the Met Office and the wider scientific community by providing a targeted, proactive and flexible information service; their primary role is to preserve the public memory of the weather and to conserve the records in their care. The collection comprises around 500,000 meteorological records stored across four large, environmentally controlled strongrooms. See full collection description.

Online Resource: GB3D Type Fossils (Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic; Early Neolithic). This collection currently holds examples of macrofossil types found in the UK, and will develop in future to include examples from collections based around the world. The study of fossils provides insight into the Earth’s history, how creatures evolved, continents separated and environments changed across vast periods of time. Fossil types available to view in the database include ammonites, belemnites, fish, corals and trilobites. Institutions who have contributed to the database include the Sedgwick Museum, Oxford University, National Museum of Wales, Geological Curator’ Group and the collection’s publishers – British Geological Survey: https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gbah2-h2-gb3dtypefossils.

Chameleon: photograph of vivarium in The Manchester Museum, copyright © The University of Manchester.

Feature: Charles Darwin and Evolution (February 2009).

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