Archive for July, 2009
Was your ancestor a social climbing soldier in the Hundred Years War?
Was your ancestor a social climbing soldier in the Hundred Years War?
Who do you think you are?
According to Digital Spy website the new series of Who Do You Think You Are? attracted 6.43m (27 percent of the total number of viewers) making it the most-watched programme between 9pm and 10pm last Wednesday. Its nearest rival, BBC Two’s Dragon’s Den, managed 2.8m viewers.
The opening episode delved into Davina McCall’s family history. To my mind this worked very well with a couple of strong stories, and it was nice to see a star genuinely interested in her ancestry.
News from The National Archives
As you may have seen The National Archives is proposing a number of changes to its operations and public services, including closing to the public on Mondays, and charging for car parking.
The proposals are part of plans to reduce running costs by 10 per cent by April 2010. These savings will ensure The National Archives has sufficient funds to continue with its core activities and be able to invest for the future.
Savings of £4.2m are being made across the organisation. However, The National Archives will continue to invest in improving online access to our records and expertise. At present 170 documents are seen online compared to every one in the reading rooms. Projects to be supported include enhancing the online catalogue, more digitisation projects and launching innovative online help and expertise pages.
The proposals are out for consultation until September. This will be followed by detailed planning until the New Year. The changes will be introduced during the first quarter of 2010.
The challenge is to reduce costs by 10% by March 2010 to meet operating costs. The National Archives very much values your views and is open to discussing the details of the changes and how the impact is minimised on you. However, please bear in mind that they cannot reduce the amount of savings needed.
You can email the Archives at changes@nationalarchives.gov.uk. Details of the changes can be found at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/changes.htm
We would also of course welcome your views in Ancestors.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. There are some very positive things happening at Kew. First of all check out the excellent research signposts, which offer informative and practical advice on many topics which historians are likely to be interested in. The initial signposts are mainly for family historians, but others on places and subjects are due to be added shortly [url]www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/gettingstarted/guides.htm?source=ddmenu_research1[/ur]
The National Archives is very successful in bidding for money for particular projects relating to the records. We’ve covered several of these projects in Ancestors such as using ships’ logs to identify the changing weather and naval medical journals to trace the spread of medical innovations in the early 19th century. Find out more in the research e-newsletter http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/research-enewsletter/june2009.htm
Business archives are perhaps not the first place to visit in your research, but they are important repositories of historic memory and in the present economic climate there is always the temptation to shut them or reduce their staffing. Along with the Business Archives Council and other interested bodies, The National Archives has just launched a new policy to raise the profile of these archives and promote their value to researchers and to the businesses themselves. We will be including articles on business archives over the next few months. The policy is at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/corporate-memory.pdf. Unusually for such a report it is both well-written and attractively presented.
The Annual Report has just been published covering The National Archives activities between April 2008 and March 2009 and as always makes interesting reading. The report at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/annualreport0809.pdf highlights key achievements during 2008-2009 as well as detailed set of accounts. There’s no mention of Ancestors though!
Business as normal
Anniversaries remind us that Britain’s rich company histories are relevant to today’s business success stories, says Alex Ritchie, Ancestors’ man with the clipboard and bowler hat.
In my end is my beginning
It all began on a Leeds market stall 125 years ago. Michael Marks had one of the simplest and best business ideas ever. He sold everything for a penny. You don’t get much for a penny at Marks & Spencer these days, though I got a great denim shirt knocked down to a fiver. M & S remain at the forefront of retail innovation but, as you’ll have noticed, they have proudly decided to celebrate their 125 year history. And they have plans for their archives. Did I mention Leeds already?
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/media/press_releases/current09/marksandspencer_archive.htm
Anglo-Dutch giant washes whiter
That doesn’t quite work as a slogan, does it? While sometimes a company’s name is synonymous with its product (done any hoovering recently?), others have such a diversified product range that the company identity is often secondary to the brand. There can’t be many brands with as strong a profile as Persil. If you haven’t realised that Persil is 100 years old, you can’t have been paying attention. Persil is just one of a number of brands owned by the same company. The giant in question is unlikely to forget its fascinating history or premium brands, for it is serviced by a pretty nifty archives department. As you will see, if you follow the link.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/searches/locresult_details.asp?LR=1752
80 years of good reading
The publishing world offers business records of particular interest and value. The concentration of so many publishers in London proved unfortunate when, in 1941, the Luftwaffe decided to leave only bomb craters where the book trade used to flourish around St Paul’s Cathedral. So let’s appreciate what there is left, including this publishing house (founded 1929) famous for its stable of distinguished authors and its association with TS Eliot. All of which will be reflected in an exhibition at the British Library this autumn.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/searches/locresult_details.asp?LR=2553
Dublin’s gift to the world
There I was walking through Helsinki’s fair city, when I first set my eyes on a pub called Molly Malone’s. It was a reminder how in recent years the Irish pub has conquered the world. But what use is an Irish pub without a decent drop of beer to go with it? It was in Dublin in 1759 that Arthur Guinness founded a business producing the legendary stout that bore his name. Its staying power was enhanced by advertising of great creativity and invention. So the next time you enjoy a pint of the black stuff, you won’t just be slaking your thirst. You will be savouring 250 years of business history in a glass.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon/searches/locresult_details.asp?LR=1634
Archives and globalisation
One can always learn from the experience of other nations, of course. My recent attendance at a seminar of the International Council on Archives (Section for Business and Labour Archives) in Helsinki showed that there are some very talented business archivists around the world. And it was a pleasure to meet them. But it was when I went shopping afterwards that an idea came to me. Stockmann is the biggest chain store in Finland and a great place for gifts, though it helps if you like reindeer motifs. Clearly, they have a history and they are doing something with it. So follow the link and don’t worry, it’s in English. And it made me smile as I followed the time line, so it should do the same for you. Especially when you reach their first computer!
http://www.stockmann.com/group/en/company_information/stockmann_through_the_years
It’s the business
It is impossible to do more than feature a fraction of the 32,500 plus businesses that are noted on the National Register of Archives (NRA). But there has never been a better time for users to check it out and test the functionality that allows you to search by different criteria. Click on the link and your journey into business history can begin here.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/advanceSearch.asp?subjectType=B