Blogposts | The National Archives Blog

Thu May

2013

My Tommy’s War: Youth Mourning

Posted by Caroline James in Records and research

This month’s ‘My Tommy’s War’ blog post features the fascinating story of the grief of a young woman on hearing of the death of her fiancé in the First World War. This grief was captured in a stunning oil painting by her father, Sir George Clausen RA.

Sir George Clausen was the great-grandfather of Bruno Derrick, who worked in the Advice and Records Knowledge (ARK) department at The National Archives. Sadly, Bruno passed away last year before he could see his blog posted. As a tribute to Bruno and with the agreement of his family, we have decided to post the story he was keen to share.

As with all of our ‘My Tommy’s War’ posts, it is full of details of research, which we hope will help you in researching your own First World War ancestor.

The blog is all in Bruno’s words.

Youth Mourning by Sir George Clausen RA © IWM (Art.IWM ART 4655)

Wed May

2013

Bevin Boys

Posted by Simon Demissie in Records and research

The recent unveiling of a memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, dedicated to those who worked in British coal mines during the Second World War, was another reminder of the often unsung sacrifices made during wartime. By late 1943 coal stocks were running low and in order to ensure that the war effort could still be fuelled, the Minister for Labour and National Service Ernest Bevin was charged to enhance the mining labour force.

Bevin Boys - Training, Feb 1945. By Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer (Public domain or Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons

Bevin decided that a ballot amongst men aged 18-25 would be the fairest and most sensible way of selecting miners, and that the selection group should be as wide as possible. As Lord President of the (Privy) Council, though, it was Clement Attlee, Deputy Prime Minister of the wartime coalition, who circulated the Cabinet memorandum that forwarded the idea (CAB 66/43/31). Ballotees would attend a four-week training session, after which they would work in mines, in physical roles supporting miners (they wouldn’t actually mine the coalface).

Tue May

2013

The Hunger Games

Posted by Rebecca Simpson in Records and research

The centenary of the Women’s Suffrage Movement

2013 is the centenary of some of the most prominent events that happened in the name of the women’s suffrage movement. One of the most famous took place on 4 June 1913, when Emily Wilding Davison threw herself in front of King George V’s horse at The Derby in protest at the lack of women’s rights (look out for another post on 4 June). We have some amazing documents held here at The National Archives on Emily Wilding Davison, which were recently filmed for the Channel 4 documentary Clare Balding’s Secrets of a Suffragette shown on Sunday 26 May 2013.

Surveillance photographs of Suffragettes (catalogue ref: AR 1/528)

The story of Emily Wilding Davison, the first martyr in the name of women’s rights, will be preserved in history, but the suffragette movement was more than just the work of one woman. The many records held here at The National Archives are testament to the number of women that bravely fought for justice (a few of which are pictured right – catalogue ref: AR 1/528).

A game of cat and mouse

Another historic event in 1913 was the introduction of the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913, also known as the ‘Cat and Mouse Act’, owing to the way the government seemed to play with prisoners as a cat may with a captured mouse. The Act allowed temporary release, on licence, for suffragettes on hunger strike, until they were well enough to be rearrested and complete their sentence.

Eileen Casey, 1897. Image by kind permission of Sarah Laughton

Fri May

2013

Brothers in arms

Posted by David Langrish in Records and research

Loss and sacrifice on the Home Front, 1914-1918

Today’s blog post, using the Military Service Tribunal papers from MH 47, will look at the emotional impact of the First World War on the Home Front. We will specifically see how the shared experiences of military service, loss and sacrifice affected individual households and the local communities they formed a part of.

97 years ago, on 25 May 1916, compulsory military service into the Army was extended from single men and widowers without children to cover all men – single and married – aged between 18 and 41, and who had been resident in Great Britain since 4 August 1914. This extension of conscription was a result of the continued difficulties of manning the army due to the number of casualties overseas.

The story of John Gordon Shallis is one of the many interesting finds from our MH 47 pre-digitisation work. Mr Shallis appealed for exemption from military service on grounds of domestic hardship, having lost four of his brothers during the war. John’s mother is described as a “cripple” on his appeal form, having broken her leg, and his father was away carrying out Home Defence duties with the Territorial Force. ¹ This left John as the only son left for the family.

The first of John’s brothers to lose his life was George Victor Shallis, a member of the Merchant Navy. George was on board the armed merchant ship HMS Viknor when it went down off the coast of Northern Ireland on 31 January 1915. The Admiralty case file in ADM 116 reveals that the Viknor most likely struck a mine having been blown off course by bad weather. ² George is listed as a Steward, with his wife and their address listed under Next of Kin (see image, below).

Entry for George Shallis found in Admiralty case file for loss of HMS Viknor (ADM 116/1442)

Notes:

1. The National Archives, MH 47/95: Middlesex Appeal Tribunal Case Paper, V.3628, John Gordon Shallis. ^
2. The National Archives, ADM 116/1442: Admiralty: Record Office: Cases, Loss of H.M.S. Viknor. ^

Thu May

2013

Texture mapping: part four

Posted by Dinah Eastop in Behind the scenes, Records and research, Technology and innovation

Following on from my previous blog posts, I’d like to demonstrate how Polynomial Texture Mapping (PTM) can overcome the difficulties of photographing lace. In particular, cream-coloured lace mounted on cream-coloured paper, is hard to photograph. The three lace designs below show how this image capture and processing technique enables the viewer to adjust the lighting to meet his or her own needs, via virtual-relighting. Lace makers and textile historians have welcomed the opportunity to adjust the lighting to see the technical features which interest them. When combined with the zoom facility, this provides a user-friendly way of studying and discussing the materials and technologies of lace. These representations of registered lace designs also demonstrate the richness of the BT Design Register as a resource for understanding the history and technology of the lace industry, particularly of Nottingham.

Wed May

2013

‘Winston…was complaining of a slight headache’

Posted by Tommy Norton in Records and research

I never cease to get a sense of excitement from opening newly-accessioned files for the first time. Occasionally, documents released to The National Archives will fundamentally change our view of history, but more often, they add colour and fill in the blanks to events and personalities with which we’re already familiar.

Today’s release of almost 500 files from the Foreign Office’s Permanent Under-Secretary’s Department (PUSD) is a good case in point. Among the papers, is an extraordinarily entertaining account of ‘Operation Bracelet’, Winston Churchill’s August 1942 mission to Moscow and first face-to-face meeting with Stalin.

Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 (catalogue ref: INF 14/447)

The meeting came at a crucial point in the war and Churchill was there to inform Stalin of Allied plans for the invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch) as well as delivering the bad news that there would be no ‘second front’ in Europe. Accompanying Churchill on the trip was Sir Alec Cadogan, Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, who later relayed his take on events in a letter to Viscount Halifax (FO 1093/247).

Wed May

2013

Red Devils’ delight in Manchester

Posted by Keith Mitchell in Records and research

With the end of another football season, I have to grudgingly admit the Red Devils from Manchester are the best team again. To win 20 top tier titles, compared to my team’s record, is certainly worth a mention. Football has also lost a great character and manager with the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.

So after watching another dreary performance from my team, I thought: What can the Archives tell you about football? A fair amount, judging by a search of our catalogue, Discovery. It is a wonder what a quick random search of a catalogue can find.

Photograph of the Manchester United Football Team, leaving the Central Station, Manchester, with the English Cup (catalogue ref: COPY 1/532/135)

Continue reading »

Tue May

2013

Sweet, sweet music

Posted by Emma Jay in Behind the scenes

I’m in Gateshead and I can hear music. No, I haven’t gone doolally, though you might well wonder. The second work placement I’ve chosen to do for the Clore leadership programme is at Sage Gateshead (which was previously known as ‘The Sage Gateshead’, but is currently undergoing a brand refresh).

All kinds of music are happening here: classical, jazz, folk, rock, world, big band, soul and blues, to name a few. A highlight for me was Fiddlers Two By Two, one of the concerts in the recent Fiddles on Fire festival. A brilliant and spontaneous medley of music led by Kathryn Tickell, it featured surprising combinations of artists from different countries and traditions.

The best workplace perk I’ve ever come across is the ability to pop into the public viewing gallery in Hall One (the bigger of the two concert halls) and listen to rehearsals. And it’s been a delight to catch Northern Sinfonia as often as I have, whether in rehearsal or in performance.

It seems apt that I’m at a musical venue, because in many ways the Clore programme is about listening. I’ve had the privilege of sitting in on a huge variety of meetings and conversations, both here and on my previous placement at Battersea Arts Centre, and that has given me a sense of what the two organisations are doing, and how and why they are doing it.

I’m learning about things I knew little or nothing about before, from artistic programming to ticket sales, and from London’s fringe theatre scene to the cultural infrastructure of the north east of England. In both places I’ve encountered the excitement and the risks of putting on a live show – something I’ve not been exposed to at all in my job at The National Archives, of course.

Listening plays a large part in a course I’m taking (along with several other Clore fellows) called Relational Dynamics. The course covers elements of leadership and personal awareness, but is mainly focused on coaching, and provides the opportunity of gaining a coaching accreditation. The concept of ‘active listening’ is key to the coaching experience: it’s a way of enabling the coachee (horrible word!) to explore his or her thoughts, articulate positive goals and make decisions.

Mon May

2013

Who needs to read fiction?

Posted by Audrey Collins in Records and research

I don’t read a lot of fiction. I don’t need to, because some of the real stories I have come across in documents held in The National Archives are just as exciting and dramatic as any novel.

The first page of Mr Prickett's petition to the Home Secretary

HO 45/7900 Registration of births, etc: Fraudulent abstraction of a leaf from the registers for St Pancras Parish: baptism of Elizabeth Laura Keeling

A catalogue search for ‘fraud’ turned up an item of Home Office correspondence entitled ‘Registration of births, etc: Fraudulent abstraction of a leaf from the registers for St Pancras Parish: baptism of Elizabeth Laura Keeling’ dated 1866-1867 HO 45/7900. I thought there must be an interesting story behind this incident, so I ordered the file, which turned out to be a long letter of complaint to the Home Secretary from Mr Prickett of Bridlington. He gave a lengthy account of how Captain George Boynton had come to marry Mr Prickett’s daughter, Elizabeth Ann, very much against her parents’ wishes.

George Hebblethwaite Lutton Boynton was one of the youngest of the 13 children of Sir Henry, the 9th Baronet Boynton, and his wife Mary. This was a wealthy family, but since George had three older brothers he was not going to inherit the title, the money or the family home, Burton Agnes Hall. He must have decided at an early age that his best chance of making money would be to marry it. This is exactly what he did, having found himself a young heiress, Elizabeth Laura Keeling. Her father died in 1832 when she was a baby, leaving his substantial fortune to her, his only child. Not only that, he left it to her outright; under the law at that time a married woman had no separate legal existence from her husband, so that if she Elizabeth Laura married, all of her property would now belong to her husband. She was only 17 when she and George were married by licence at St George Hanover Square.

Fri May

2013

Tagging our past

Posted by Vikki Corker in Records and research, Technology and innovation

A little over a year ago, we developed a new feature in Discovery (our catalogue) that allows our users to add their own tags to our records. Tags are a way for you to add more descriptive metadata to our records to make them more findable.

Will of William Snelgrave, Gentleman of Stepney, Middlesex (catalogue ref: PROB 11/732/98)

When we launched the feature we weren’t really sure how our users would engage with it, or what types of tags they would attach to our records. There are now over 5,000 tags attached to more than 7,500 documents, and that number is growing daily. People tag for all sorts of reasons – to bookmark records they are interested in, to help improve the findability of poorly described records, for research purposes and for fun.

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