Today Carole and I went to Truro to visit the Cornwall Record Office. It was a gloriously sunny day and felt like a bit of a treat not being shut up in the office for the morning! The Office is a very short walk from Truro station, on the site of the rather splendid Old County Hall. From the outside, it looks like your average '60s prefab - brown and boxy and rather small. It's got nice big windows, though, where you can see all the readers at work, poring over their records. However this initial impression doesn't do the service any justice at all, as we soon discovered when we were shown around.
We were met by Alison, one of the Senior archivists, who gave us a tour of their stores. It was quite a shock to discover just how tardis-like the building is! We certainly could not have guessed the size of the place, with seven store rooms containing 4 miles of shelving. All the rooms are temperature and humidity controlled as well, which is crucial to the preservation of archives. All their records relate to the history of Cornwall: from Parish Registers and Tithe Maps to architectural drawings and business records - and so much more! Some of the highlights we got to see included a document registering the Cornish artist Alfred Wallis on board a ship when he was 19 years old in 1876. Not much is known about Wallis' early life and there is some debate as to whether he went to sea at all, but this seems to make the case that he did. It wasn't until after the death of his wife that he began to paint seriously, and he is now accepted as one of Cornwall's most important artists. We also saw some very old and quite tiny manuscripts from the late twelfth century, which were largely deeds and documents relating to a property. One thing I do miss working in an archive of relatively modern records is looking at the really old stuff! These manuscripts were preserved beautifully. They had been written on parchment in beautiful Latin script in iron gall ink, which adheres firmly to the parchment and can't be erased by rubbing or even washing. We also saw a lovely glass negative by sir George Airy, Astronomer Royal from the 1830s-80s, of Neptune, from the 1840s. One other item that we were quite amused by we found in the business archives section, though we didn't dare try to get it out - it was an enormous leather bound ledger dating to the early 19th century that was at least half a metre thick. Luckily those records are not often requested by the readers!
Finding out more about the Cornwall Record Office was really valuable, as it is really important to know what other services in your local area are providing. Very often if we have a family history enquiry, for example, that we cannot answer here, we would pass them on to the Record Office, and I now feel much more confident in doing so as I have I good idea of what they hold. It was also valuable experience in that, although I have experience now in Specialist, Museum, and HE archives, I had not had experience of a County Records Office. Although they are a relatively large service (compared to our team of 3!), it seemed as though all the members of the team had quite varied duties, which really appeals to me as often working in a large team means you have a focus on only one or two particular duties. I really like the idea of working with records that relate to the history of a place, particularly when they go back hundreds of years! Also, being that bit more public facing must be really rewarding. I really enjoy the human contact you can have in archive work - being able to pass on a bit of knowledge and providing people with the tools to carry out their work. Working within a Record Office is definitely something I'd like to aim for when I have completed my course.
So, all in all, a very eye-opening and interesting morning spent in Truro!
We were met by Alison, one of the Senior archivists, who gave us a tour of their stores. It was quite a shock to discover just how tardis-like the building is! We certainly could not have guessed the size of the place, with seven store rooms containing 4 miles of shelving. All the rooms are temperature and humidity controlled as well, which is crucial to the preservation of archives. All their records relate to the history of Cornwall: from Parish Registers and Tithe Maps to architectural drawings and business records - and so much more! Some of the highlights we got to see included a document registering the Cornish artist Alfred Wallis on board a ship when he was 19 years old in 1876. Not much is known about Wallis' early life and there is some debate as to whether he went to sea at all, but this seems to make the case that he did. It wasn't until after the death of his wife that he began to paint seriously, and he is now accepted as one of Cornwall's most important artists. We also saw some very old and quite tiny manuscripts from the late twelfth century, which were largely deeds and documents relating to a property. One thing I do miss working in an archive of relatively modern records is looking at the really old stuff! These manuscripts were preserved beautifully. They had been written on parchment in beautiful Latin script in iron gall ink, which adheres firmly to the parchment and can't be erased by rubbing or even washing. We also saw a lovely glass negative by sir George Airy, Astronomer Royal from the 1830s-80s, of Neptune, from the 1840s. One other item that we were quite amused by we found in the business archives section, though we didn't dare try to get it out - it was an enormous leather bound ledger dating to the early 19th century that was at least half a metre thick. Luckily those records are not often requested by the readers!
Finding out more about the Cornwall Record Office was really valuable, as it is really important to know what other services in your local area are providing. Very often if we have a family history enquiry, for example, that we cannot answer here, we would pass them on to the Record Office, and I now feel much more confident in doing so as I have I good idea of what they hold. It was also valuable experience in that, although I have experience now in Specialist, Museum, and HE archives, I had not had experience of a County Records Office. Although they are a relatively large service (compared to our team of 3!), it seemed as though all the members of the team had quite varied duties, which really appeals to me as often working in a large team means you have a focus on only one or two particular duties. I really like the idea of working with records that relate to the history of a place, particularly when they go back hundreds of years! Also, being that bit more public facing must be really rewarding. I really enjoy the human contact you can have in archive work - being able to pass on a bit of knowledge and providing people with the tools to carry out their work. Working within a Record Office is definitely something I'd like to aim for when I have completed my course.
So, all in all, a very eye-opening and interesting morning spent in Truro!
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