Oscar Wilde: triumph, tragedy and exile

In 1895 Oscar Wilde had two successful plays in the West End: ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ had opened at the St James’s Theatre on 14 February and ‘An Ideal Husband’ was enjoying a successful run at the Haymarket Theatre. Wilde was at the height of his fame and success. On 18 February the Marquis […]

‘Raided!!’ London headquarters of the Women’s Social and Political Union

The headquarters of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), the militant strand of the women’s suffrage movement, were constantly vulnerable to police raids. As militancy in the movement escalated, the methods used by the police and government to counter it became more dramatic and creative. These raids leave a great legacy of information about […]

Digitising images on seal moulds: an exciting resource

Our Collection Care department is giving a new lease of life to a set of 19th and 20th century moulds of seals. This collection of over 6,500 moulds includes depictions of heraldry, weapons and armour, buildings, fashion, landscape, plants and animals. The moulds are taken from seals held at The National Archives: the original seals […]

Machine learning in the archives

At our site at Kew, and in deep storage in a salt mine in Cheshire, The National Archives holds a total of around 200 kilometres of paper documents spanning almost 1,000 years. Our collection grows each year and we are currently transitioning from a 30-year rule to a 20-year rule in terms of receiving new records […]

Tate Library and Archive achieve Archive Service Accreditation

On Tuesday 5 June, Finance and Commercial Director, Neil Curtis, presented the Tate Library and Archive with their archive accreditation certificate at a ceremony at Tate Britain.

Awarding the certificate, Neil Curtis said: ‘While there are over 2,500 archives across the UK, only 124 have gained Archive Service Accreditation. This means that Tate Library and Archive now joins a select “club” of just 5% of these services in the country to earn the award – a great achievement.

‘In assessing Tate’s archive, the Accreditation panel were hugely impressed by the service’s considerable achievements, and by the high profile it has built up both within the organisation and publicly.’

The award was accepted by Maria Balshaw, Tate’s Director, and Rosemary Lynch, Director of Collection Care. Rosemary Lynch said: ‘This is an important moment for Tate. Achieving Archive Service Accreditation is a huge and public acknowledgement of our staff, our service and our collections.

Photograph credit: Peter Eaves, Tate

‘It means we have a clear mission, expert staff who are responsive to the public and robust, relevant and sustainable services. Most importantly, it means that at Tate, we are trusted in the management of our unique collections. For me, there is no higher accolade than that.’

Tate Library and Archive, based at Tate Britain, is part of its Collection Care Division. Founded in 1970, it holds the world’s largest collection of archives relating to British art, from 1900 to the present.

It contains over a million items, arranged in 900 individual collections, comprising both personal material and institutional records. Highlights include papers created by Francis Bacon, Kenneth Clark, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Graham Sutherland and Walter Sickert.

Archive Service Accreditation is the UK-wide standard for archive services, supported by a partnership of key professional archives bodies. It is a national benchmark and quality standard. It recognises good performance across three important areas: organisational health, collections management and access.

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Transforming The Gazette

When a bill is given royal assent, a company becomes incorporated, or a bankruptcy order is issued, there is one place in which all of these announcements are made: The Gazette. The Gazette is the UK’s official public record and publishes notices, either because it is required by law, or to put official information permanently […]

Trustworthy technology: the future of digital archives

If you wanted to watch one of your old video tapes, would you be able to? Do you still watch your DVD collection, or do you prefer to stream movies now? The technology we use at home is constantly modernising and many of our nostalgic favourites are now unusable – you would struggle to fit […]

Discovery and the users’ mental model

The first of four blogs about The National Archives’ own digital research projects, starting with a post about how users perceive and engage with Discovery.

Celebrating archives all over the world

This Saturday 9 June, archives across the globe will be taking part in this year’s International Archives Day. Alongside our colleagues and peers at the International Council on Archives (ICA), and other archives and institutions across the world, I’m delighted that The National Archives is once again joining in with this day of global celebration. […]

Suffrage study day: a special event for schools

On Monday 21 May The National Archives welcomed Key Stage three students from three different schools to our special Suffrage Study Day. Many of the students were visiting the archives for the first time and were in for a fun- and fact-packed day featuring bespoke workshops, rosette-making, meeting a ‘real life’ suffragette, hearing a talk by the historian […]

Summer Lecture Series open for registration

This year’s Summer Lecture Series will focus on the theme of contested spaces over time. The series, which takes place throughout July and August, is now open for registration.

Sponsored by the Friends of The National Archives and supported by the Royal Historical Society, the series welcomes five leading academics to explore issues including land disputes, migration and human stories of place and identity.

From medieval migration to Pakistan in the aftermath of Partition, each lecture is underpinned by the rich collections held at The National Archives and will feature a display of the original documents used during the speakers’ research.

Val Johnson, Director of Research and Collections at The National Archives says:

‘We are thrilled to announce our second annual Summer Lecture Series and are delighted that five such distinguished academics are contributing to the programme. The series forms part of our growing research programme as an Independent Research Organisation and reflects the breadth of research that can be undertaken using our rich collections.’

Dr Tony Wakeford, Chairman of the Friends of The National Archives says:

‘The Friends of The National Archives are delighted to sponsor this year’s Summer Lecture Series which will highlight the influence that “place” has on our identity. We look forward to showcasing the vital role that cartography plays in documenting this changing relationship through The National Archives’ collection.’

You can now book your place at any of the lectures in our programme:

Thursday 5 July Resisting boundaries: landscape and memory in early modern England, Professor Andy Wood (Durham University) – Book your place

Thursday 19 July Medieval migration: mapping the foreigner 1300-1550, Professor Mark Ormrod (University of York) – Book your place

Thursday 2 August Pakistan after Partition: the British High Commission 1947-65, Professor Ian Talbot (University of Southampton) – Book your place

Thursday 16 August Preserving the evidence: the trials of an early modern map, Sonja Schwoll (The National Archives) and Susan Littledale – Book your place

Thursday 30 August Great escapes: The story of MI9’s secret maps, Dr Barbara Bond – Book your place

All lectures are free to attend but registration in advance is required.

Join the conversation on social media #summerlectures

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‘Fighting like angry sheep’: Wendell Phillips in the Gulf

Wendell Philipps has often been described by the press as ‘America’s Lawrence of Arabia’, and by British diplomats as a real thorn in their sides. To quote from one of his books: ‘herein lies the story of a dream, which like many dreams occasionally achieved nightmarish qualities’. Wendell Phillips and his expedition, funded by the […]

Allocation of papers accepted in lieu of tax

The archive of the Walpole family, Barons Walpole of Wolterton, formerly Earls of Orford, has been accepted in lieu of tax by the government.

Notable material includes manorial and estate maps and papers from the 13th to the 20th century and the personal and collected papers of the family from Horatio Walpole (1678-1757) onwards.

Any library, record office or analogous institution in the United Kingdom interested in being allocated the papers should contact James Travers, Cultural Property Manager, Archives Sector Development, The National Archives, Ruskin Avenue, Kew TW9 4DU (email: asd@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk) for further particulars in the first instance.

Applications for allocation of this material must be received in writing at the same address by 22 June 2018.

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The National Archives and personal data under GDPR

The National Archives has always taken seriously our compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998. From today, 25 May, we are processing personal information under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the new Data Protection Act. We have not been in touch with all of our contacts individually about this, as there is no requirement under this new data protection legislation for us to do so.

Anything you have signed up for in the past remains valid; you do not have to reconfirm your consent in order to continue receiving our newsletter and updates. As always, you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the newsletter, or by contacting us.

Most of the records in our archives dating back 1,000 years are unaffected as data protection legislation only applies to living individuals. Data protection legislation permits the continued processing of personal data for permanent preservation subject to appropriate safeguards.

Please take a moment to read our revised Privacy notice, which sets out the many ways in which The National Archives engages with people and their personal information, in order to make our collections, our premises, and our expertise available to all.

Further information

The Information Commissioner’s website has details of the data protection legislation for organisations and for members of the public.

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