The National Archives is a prestigious national institution with an international reputation for excellence. Jeff has overall responsibility for the future direction and current performance, and provides visible and inspirational strategic leadership to more than 500 staff. Jeff spent six years as Director of Operations of The National Archives, and successfully led the institution’s strategic development and operational delivery.

The National Archives leads the UK archive sector, and provides inspiration, advocacy and support for archive services in England. In March 2017, Jeff oversaw the development and co-creation of an ambitious vision and action plan for the sector Archives Unlocked.

The ICA is a neutral, non-governmental organisation, funded by 1,900 members from 199 countries and territories. Its aims include advocating for good archival management and the physical protection of recorded heritage, producing reputable standards and best practices, and encouraging dialogue, exchange, and transmission of this knowledge and expertise across national borders.

On hearing of his appointment, Jeff said: ‘I believe that this reflects the international reputation that UK archives have through their wealth of collections and soundness of practice. I will dedicate myself to driving forward FAN’s strategic programme of work, and in realising its wider potential, in greater collaboration with the ICA and key peers in other institutions across the globe.’

The post Jeff James appointed International Forum President appeared first on The National Archives.

PRO 30/25/205: Shakespeare portrait

Documents created during the lifetime of William Shakespeare and relating to the playwright’s life events, business dealings and legal actions now form part of the register of culturally and historically significant items, artefacts and buildings from across the world, which includes the Egyptian pyramids, the Gutenberg Bible, and the Bayeux Tapestry.

The Shakespeare documents held by The National Archives form the largest collection of its kind and feature nearly half of all known contemporary references to his life – including four of his six known signatures.

Dr Katy Mair, Head of Early Modern Records at The National Archives, said: ‘We are delighted that The National Archives’ documents have been included in the UNESCO International Memory of the World register. Our collection provides a priceless perspective on Shakespeare’s life in London.

‘By inscribing our documents along with those held by institutions both in the UK and abroad we can see the global reach that Shakespeare and his works still has today.’

PROB 1/4: Will of William Shakespeare, 25 March 1616

The successful nomination was led by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in partnership with The National Archives, Worcestershire Archives and Archaeology Service, the College of Arms, the British Library and London Metropolitan Archives in the UK, and the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, USA.

• Watch videos about our conservation of Shakespeare’s will or read more about our latest research into the playwright’s life and death.
• Read more about Shakespeare in our blog.

The post Shakespeare documents recognised at UNESCO ceremony appeared first on The National Archives.

We are delighted to announce that Wellcome Collection will be the headline sponsor for

Delivered jointly by The National Archives and Research Libraries UK, the Discovering Collections Discovering Communities (DCDC) conference brings together speakers from across the heritage, cultural, and academic sectors to share their experiences and thoughts on topics ranging from commemoration, digital transformation and how we can all engage with new and diverse audiences.

Simon Chaplin, Director of Culture and Society at Wellcome Trust, and Director of Wellcome Collection said: ‘As a museum and library that aims to challenge how we all think and feel about health Wellcome Collection is pleased to be able to support DCDC18. Breaking down boundaries and bringing new voices to shape our approach are things we care about deeply and DCDC will be a fantastic opportunity to share with and learn from others.’

This year, DCDC will be held at the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre from 19-21 November. There will be a Wellcome Collection session on the afternoon of Tuesday 20 November where artist, activist, academic and Wellcome Engagement Fellow, Lois Weaver, will host a long table discussion on the topic ‘Whose Memories?’ The session will explore questions of absence and exclusion in memory institutions.

For the full conference programme and how to register for your place at the conference, please see the DCDC website.

Join the conversation on #DCDC18

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A team of workers pulls together (catalogue reference: INF 3/125b)

The National Archives has today launched a workforce development strategy for the archive sector. Independent research consultancy Pye Tait was commissioned to create the strategy, which was further developed with the support of Archives Unlocked.

The strategy draws upon extensive dialogue with people from across the archive sector, as well as with a range of funders and partners from the wider culture, heritage and information worlds.

Five strategic objectives to foster a skilled and flexible workforce emerged as a result of roundtable discussions, in-depth interviews and a national workforce survey. The strategy highlights in particular the importance of the archive workforce embracing new digital skills, developing new leaders from within the sector and also tackling the challenging lack of diversity within archives.

Dr Valerie Johnson, Director of Research and Collections at The National Archives, said: “This strategy clearly shows the drive of the sector to embrace change and develop new skills for the challenges of today. We look forward to working with our partners and the Archives Unlocked Board to implement the initiatives highlighted in this strategy and welcome comment and participation from the sector to take forward the strategy together.”

Geoff Pick, former chair of the Archives and Records Association, Director of London Metropolitan Archives and part of the Archives Unlocked board, said: “This strategy is built on the views of the whole sector and I am pleased to see that it addresses the critical issues that all archives are facing, such as diversity and social mobility. The collaborative work in this document opens up new creative pathways for the sector to both recruit new talent and support the professional development of its current workforce.”

• Read the Workforce Development Strategy (PDF, 1.3MB)

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Explore Your Archive aims to excite members of the public and engage them with their local public and private archive services. The campaign, with its iconic branding, was created in 2013 and has been overseen jointly since then by the ARA and The National Archives. In that time, it has engaged tens of thousands of people across the UK and Ireland and has supported the development of engagement work by the archives and records sector.

The campaign will continue to run all year round. The 2018 campaign launch week will be 17-25 November. For more information and to register an event, please visit www.archives.org.uk – the campaign website, which is currently being upgraded. You can also contact Jon Elliott at the ARA +44 7587 635402.

The post Explore Your Archive, 2018 and beyond appeared first on The National Archives.

1920s Britain is an option taught as part of the A level history syllabus for key stage 5. The National Archives as the UK government’s archive has a huge range of documents and original source material which bring to life the amount of post-war change which happened in this decade.

The 1920s saw a rapid transformation in British society, almost to the point of fundamentally changing the basis of its political, economic and social organisation even though there was a certain amount of resistance to these changes. They were partly the result of the First World War but also the consequent of social and technical changes in British society which often pre-dated the War but which were amplified in the 1920s by the impact of war.

Clare Horrie, Education Web Manager at The National Archives who curated the resource said: ‘This group of documents will encourage teachers and students to identify questions around key social, economic and political changes in this decade of Britain’s domestic history through exciting new original material not readily found available in standard history text books’.

The resource covers such topics as political parties, the Geddes Axe, the Gold Standard, the General Strike, hunger marches and unemployment, the changing role of women, advances in transport and education policy and so on. All subjects are supported by digital downloadable documents. Learners can read short extracts from Ramsay MacDonald’s diary about the Liberal Party when studying the formation of the first Labour Government in 1924 or see the notes taken by a policeman at the Miners’ Hunger March rally in London in November, 1927. For those interested in the jazz age, there is a Home Office record concerning musician Sidney Bechet’s deportation order in September, 1922.

We hope that the resource will provide teachers and students with the opportunity to expand their understanding of the decade through an exploration of these primary sources supported by an introduction to the period by Professor Keith Laybourn, Huddersfield University.

Visit the 1920s Britain resource

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The rules for handling information about living people in archives and records intended for transfer to archive services changed on 25 May 2018. The Data Protection Act 1998 was replaced by The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). This is as a result of new legislation in the EU: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPA 2018 makes additional provisions around areas not covered by GDPR. In general, ‘archiving’ which complied with the 1998 Data Protection Act will continue to be permitted under the new law and no major changes are required.

Malcolm Todd, Head of Information Policy at The National Archives said:

“History and all sorts of research cannot be done without information about people. Archivists have been trusted to manage personal data carefully for generations. The new Guide focuses on how this works in the age of the cloud and social media.”

Archives services sit in many different types of organisations – galleries, libraries, schools and museums as well as voluntary and community organisations. They are the homes for our collective memory. They help us to understand the past, make sense of the present and guide us for the future.

Reflecting this unique role, there is now greater visibility for archiving in the new data protection law than before. The Guide focuses on the key concepts and their implications in the reformed data protection legal environment around the new concept of archiving in the public interest. Under this, provided the specified safeguards are met, certain of the other requirements of GDPR and the new DP Act apply in adapted form such as data rectification, storage limitation and initial notification of processing to data subjects.

This guide has been produced in partnership with National Records of Scotland, The Welsh Government, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Archives and Records Association (ARA) and National Archives, Ireland under independent chairmanship.

To see the guide, please visit Guide to archiving personal data

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Statements of Public Task are a key part of the transparency requirement on public bodies under the law governing the re-use of public sector information. It is good practice for organisations to regularly review their Statement of Public Task. It is also important to publish the Statement of Public Task, for public scrutiny as well as comment and challenge.

John Sheridan, Digital Director at The National Archives, said:

‘In this update, we have taken the opportunity to clarify in more detail the basis on which we make digital surrogates available for re-use. A digital surrogate of a public record is a representation of that record, usually a photographic image, stored in digital form. Our revised Statement of Public Task makes it clear that digital surrogates are outside our public task where the digitisation has been funded by a third party, and the purpose of the digitisation was to widen access to the collection or to achieve a commercial return for The National Archives.’

If you have any comments about our revised Statement of Public Task, please contact us.

The post Updating our Statement of Public Task appeared first on The National Archives.

The scheme, which is supported by The National Archives, The Pilgrim Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and the Foyle Foundation, has awarded grants of up to £3,000 to five archives across the UK.

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

“The Scoping Grants scheme is designed to provide support for archives to improve the understanding and accessibility of their collections. We are delighted to announce the first five recipients from our new Scoping Grant programme, which will result in archives producing better plans for the development of collections, conducting robust preparation for further work on archive material, and opening up new research possibilities for the wider public.”

The first scoping grants have been awarded to Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust, Society of Antiquaries of London, Morrab Library, Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, and Leonard Cheshire. Further information about each scoping grant project.

The Scoping Grants scheme is a rolling programme with assessments taking place four times per year. Further details about the scheme.

The post Archives Revealed awards first Scoping Grants appeared first on The National Archives.

We expect the work to be completed by 12:00, when all our online services are scheduled to be available once more.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

The post Maintenance work on our website, Sunday 5 August 08:00-12:00 appeared first on The National Archives.

• Bolton Archives and Local Studies Service
• Bromley Archives
• Bury Archives and Local History Service
• Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies
• Dudley Archives and Local History Service
• Durham County Record Office
• Essex Record Office
• Kent Archive Service
• North East Lincolnshire Archives
• Northumberland Archives
• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
• Stockport Local Heritage Library
• Tameside Local Studies and Archives
• Teesside Archives
• University of Liverpool Library Special Collections and Archives
• Wallace Collection
• West Sussex Record Office

The archive services demonstrated that they have achieved UK national standards relating to management and resourcing; the care of unique collections and the service offer to their entire range of users.

See the full list of accredited archive services.

Find out more about Archive Service Accreditation.

The post Newly accredited archive services appeared first on The National Archives.

A photograph of workers planning the reconstruction of Windsor Castle after the fire in November 1992 (catalogue reference: PREM 19/4170)

We have released files from the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office predominantly covering the year of 1993.

The newly released Cabinet Office files (CAB and PREM) shed light on a range of subjects both at home and abroad under John Major’s leadership.

The files are available to view in the public reading rooms at The National Archives, Kew.

A selection of files have been digitised and can be viewed and downloaded using our catalogue, Discovery.

You can also find out more about our previous file releases.

The post Prime Minister’s papers from 1993 released appeared first on The National Archives.

This year’s annual report marks the third year of challenges and achievements for Archives Inspire, our ambitious, audience-focused strategy.

Read more in the full report.

The post Read our annual report and accounts 2017-18 appeared first on The National Archives.

With over 11 million records in our collection and an increasing number of digital records accessioned each year, The National Archives’ research priorities place the shift to digital at the centre of our research interests and challenges as we seek to innovate our practice and unlock our collections to reach new audiences.

The research priorities aim to uncover new methodologies, theories and technologies in five core areas:

• Rethinking the record
• People, place and rule
• Risk, uncertainty and trust
• Openness, access and use
• Impact, value and affect

Dr Anna Sexton, Head of Research at The National Archives, said:

‘We would like to work collaboratively across disciplines and sectors to respond to these research challenges. Bringing together the skills of the historian, archivist, conservator, digital humanist and computer scientist (to name but a few), we hope to innovate around the archive and transform practice and public understanding.’

Find out more about the research priorities.

Get in touch with the research team to explore research collaboration opportunities.

The post Research priorities at The National Archives appeared first on The National Archives.

Archives Unlocked was launched in March 2017 and is our strategic vision for the archives sector. It sets out our ambitions to ‘unlock’ the potential of archives, ensuring that they inspire trust, enrich lives and are open to all. The vision was accompanied by an action plan based around the key areas for delivery: digital capacity, resilience and impact.

Delivering the Vision 2018-19 reports on progress to the end of financial year 2017-18 and reveals the priorities for the year ahead. At the heart of this first year has been building strong foundations for delivery through strategy development on specific areas and partnership formation. In the year ahead we will launch those strategies and, with our partners, begin working to implement them.

This document also highlights other work completed in 2017-18 and information out how we are delivering this body of work.

Read more about Archives Unlocked.

The post Archives Unlocked: Delivering the Vision 2018-19 appeared first on The National Archives.

We are seeking new voluntary representatives to join our User Advisory Group (UAG).

The User Advisory Group aims to give people who use our services the opportunity to participate in The National Archives’ planning and decision-making processes. Delegates represent ‘the voice’ of different sections of our user community, not only their own interests. As well as attending meetings each delegate has a responsibility to engage with members of their user communities, to share information and gather feedback.

We would particularly like to hear from users who feel they could effectively represent one or more of the following user groups:

• County/external archives – staff or users of archives outside The National Archives
• Independent researchers – researchers listed on The National Archives’ independent researcher listings
• Onsite personal interest users/Map Room users – users who conduct personal research at The National Archives
• Schools/student users – representatives of schools/educational trusts and current under- or post-graduate students in subjects that make use of archives
• Online users – users who rely on online resources and tools to undertake their archive research and to interact with other researchers
• Diversity and Inclusion representatives – those who represent lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) people, Black and minority ethnic people (BAME) or other diverse groups who use archives

Representatives will need to demonstrate they have the qualities to actively participate in the group, including:

• Willingness to express the views of their communities in the setting of a large meeting
• Time to prepare for meetings, including reading papers and networking
• Ability to see the ‘bigger picture’

Meetings are held at The National Archives in Kew four times a year, usually on Tuesdays during working hours. Dates and times are published well in advance and delegates are expected to make every effort to attend.

We ask prospective delegates to commit to a minimum term of one year’s service.

Find out more about the groups already represented and current delegates on the UAG pages.

How to submit an expression of interest

If you would like to express interest in representing one of the groups listed above, please email us at the address below with the following information:

• Indicate in the subject line of your email that it is an expression of interest
• Indicate which sections(s) of the user community you would like to represent; if you list more than one, please rank them in order of preference
• Check the list of the sections of the user community which are already represented; if you feel that there is a group that we have not listed, and that you would like to represent, please specify this
• Tell us about your experience as an archive user and why you feel that you would be suitable as a delegate (please write no more than 150 words)
• Give examples to show that you have the personal qualities required as a delegate of UAG (please write no more than 150 words)
• Indicate your ideas and suggestions for how you would disseminate details of the group to the user community or communities that you would be representing, and how you would gather feedback (please write no more than 150 words)

Delegates will be selected based upon the information provided.

Please email your expression of interest to UAGrecruitment@nationalarchives.gov.uk

The closing date for expressions of interest is Friday 27 July 2018 at 17:00.

The post Seeking new delegates for The National Archives User Advisory Group appeared first on The National Archives.

Delivered jointly by The National Archives and Research Libraries UK, this year’s conference will explore the theme of ‘Memory and Transformation’.

Speakers from across the heritage, cultural, and academic sectors will share their experiences and thoughts on topics ranging from commemoration, digital transformation and how we can all engage with new and diverse audiences.

Now in its sixth year, the DCDC conference brings together an unparalleled variety of experiences drawn from across the UK, Europe, and further afield. It includes contributions from individuals of all career stages, from established academics and practitioners, to those just starting out and has become a well-established event in the cultural, heritage and academic calendars.

Read the full programme and register for your place.

Please note that there is a new pricing structure for DCDC18. Find out more.

Join the conversation on social media #DCDC18

The post Register for DCDC18 appeared first on The National Archives.

Jeff James, Chief Executive and Keeper of The National Archives, said:

‘Cataloguing archives is the key to revealing the hidden riches of our documentary heritage. For that reason we are delighted to announce funding for the cataloguing of nine highly significant collections from across the country, transforming access to those archives, allowing new discoveries to be made and new stories to be told.’

Georgina Naylor, Chief Executive of the Pilgrim Trust, said:

‘The Pilgrim Trust is delighted to support the cataloguing of nine fascinating and important archive collections through the Archives Revealed programme. These previously hidden collections will now be made available to the public and to researchers, and we are looking forward to seeing the successful archive services demonstrate the value of the archive collections by enabling more people to research, view and learn from the material.’

The successful projects are:

Berwick Records Office (Northumberland Archives) for ‘Twixt Thistle and Rose: Unlocking Berwick Borough’s Archives’

British Motor Heritage Industry Trust for ‘The British Leyland Collection: The Art of Selling’

Media Archive for Central England Midland for ‘Community Video Collection: Rewind – Playback’

University of St Andrews for ‘Hidden Burgh: Restoring Cupar’s place at the heart of Fife’

Staffordshire Record Office for ‘The ‘Bawdy Courts’ of Lichfield: scandal laid bare, strife uncovered and beautiful buildings revealed’

Derbyshire Record Office for ‘The Franklin Papers: Discovering Franklin’

Aerospace Bristol for ‘Out of the Aircraft Hold’: The History of Aerospace Companies’

Explore York Libraries and Archives for ‘City of York Engineers and Architects Drawings: On The Drawing Board’

Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books for ‘Notes in the margins’: opening up the papers of children’s literary editors and agents.

Full details of the successful projects can be found on our Archives Revealed web pages.

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Taking place from Thursday 27 to Friday 28 June 2019, the first day of the conference will be held at The National Archives and includes a keynote lecture by Professor David Stevenson. The second day of the conference will be hosted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Historians at Lancaster House, and will see a range of experts speak on aspects of the peace making process followed by a round table discussion.

Dr Juliette Desplat, Head of Modern Overseas, Intelligence and Security, at The National Archives said:

‘The conference aims to focus not only on the Treaty of Versailles, but also on the other treaties that marked the formal end of hostilities: Saint-Germain (Austria), Neuilly (Bulgaria), Trianon (Hungary), Sèvres (Ottoman Empire) and Lausanne (Turkey).

‘We are delighted that, as part of this, the conference will include an exhibition of The National Archives’ unique collection of certified copies of all the treaties, alongside a selection of other materials.’

Submissions are invited for 20-minute papers, or panels of three papers, to be presented on the first day of the conference, on any aspect of the peace making process. Abstracts should be submitted by Saturday 1 December. See full details of the call for papers.

Join the conversation on social media #PeaceConf

The post Call for papers: Peace making after the First World War appeared first on The National Archives.

Jeff James, Chief Executive and Keeper of The National Archives said:

‘We are pleased that these records have now been brought back to Lincoln. Archives enhance and enrich our society intellectually and culturally. These records will provide local historians and students with an enormous amount of information about Lincolnshire in the 18th and 19th centuries.’

The records have been in Germany for a number of years. The current owner has looked after the documents carefully having assumed that they were of historical value. He was happy to return them to England where they have been reunited with other county records in Lincolnshire Archives.

The task of bringing them back required months of careful planning and team working and relied upon the goodwill of international archive colleagues. The National Archives established contact with Dr Andrea Hohmeyer, archivist of Evonik Industries in nearby Hanau, who agreed to inspect the records and subsequently collected and stored them in proper conditions prior to their repatriation to England.

This is a timely return to Lincolnshire Archives with the start of a county project to update the Manorial Documents Register – the official index to English and Welsh manorial records which details their location in public and private hands.

The National Archives has provided £70K of funding for the project which will be a collaboration led by the University of Lincoln.

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