Borthwick Newsletter - November 2022

Posted on 1 November 2022

Welcome to the Borthwick's November newsletter

November in the Archives - delve into our catalogues with this month’s featured description 1 November 1912 - News from school, including visiting Leidy family, subject choices, planning visit, sporting injuries, glasses, illness, news from Margaret, Cousin Claude's romance, new mayor, Constance's car, postal issues, qualities of a husband, Dr. Hodgkin, Halloween, motors, weight loss, election results forthcoming, European situation, and weather [Lawrence Rowntree Archive, LROW/6/10]

Professor David M Smith

We were devastated to hear of the death of Professor David Smith, Director of the Borthwick Institute from 1974 to 2000.

David was an incredible scholar, archivist, supervisor and friend. His work cemented the Borthwick’s reputation as a place of study for medieval ecclesiastical history; and was also instrumental in developing our collections, securing the archives of the Halifax family, Rowntree and Co and the Retreat, amongst many others.

David will be sorely missed by all who had the privilege of working and spending time with him. His legacy surrounds us at the Borthwick, and his work will continue to inspire and drive us in the future.

What’s new?

This month we’ve said goodbye to our colleague James Neill. Over the last few years, James has worked as a project archivist here and has been instrumental in cataloguing both the Alcoholics Anonymous GB archive and the archive of the British Orthopaedic Association. He's also been key in helping us develop long-term relationships and outreach activities with both organisations. We wish him all the best as he moves on to pastures new!

We’ve also said hello to two new members of staff over the past few weeks; Lucia Blackmore has joined us as a conservator and Elizabeth Wilson has joined our searchroom team as an archives assistant. Welcome to you both!

We were delighted to find out that Fedor Topolev-Soldunov, who worked with us earlier this year as part of a paid summer internship, has been awarded the University of York On Campus Intern of the Year prize. Our LGBTQ+ guide, updated and augmented by Fedor, will be featured in a number of places across the University over the coming months. Congratulations, Fedor!

New Accessions

Over the past month we have added new material to several of our existing collections including the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, University of York, British Orthopaedic Association and the Covid-19 archives, and our parish records collections.

We were really pleased to take on deposit the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Trust Archive, as part of a transfer planned prior to the pandemic. A pen-and-ink sketch outline of a theatre stage layout

The archive provides important insights into the development of the theatre and includes scripts, programmes, lighting plans and stage directions for its earliest productions in 1935, through to the present day. The collection connects with our existing Rowntree family and company archives, as well as our wider performance and theatre collections. The archive is currently being listed as part of an ongoing volunteer partnership with York St John University, and we can’t wait to delve deeper into the boxes and find out more about this fascinating collection!

We have also recently added the papers of the soprano Jane Manning and composer Anthony Payne to our holdings. Jane was a key figure in British and international contemporary music, perhaps best known for her seminal performances and recordings of Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire, Op. 2. In 1987/88, she was Visiting Professor at the University of York and, together with her husband, the composer Anthony Payne, established the chamber music ensemble, Jane’s Minstrels, which included many of the young performers she had worked with in York.

Anthony Payne is most widely celebrated for his chamber music, and wrote major works for the BBC Proms, as well as pieces for the BBC Philharmonic and London Sinfonietta. Jane and Anthony were married for over 50 years, and sadly died just a few months apart in 2021.

As well as appointment diaries, performance contracts, photograph albums and rehearsal recordings, the archive includes a huge collection of contemporary music scores, all of which are annotated for performance by Jane and provide a unique insight into her practice. One of the most notable aspects of this collection is the volume of works by women composers, including Elizabeth Luytens, Thea Musgrave, Judith Weir, Nicola LeFanu and Alison Bauld. It also includes inscribed copies of works written for or performed by Jane from György Ligeti, Luigi Dallapiccola, Harrison Birtwistle, Elliott Carter and many, many others.

A concert celebration of the lives of Jane and Anthony is taking place in London at the Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank on Sunday 27th November, more information about which is available here.

New Catalogues

We have added several new catalogues over the past month, all part of our ongoing project to retroconvert the finding aids to our parish records collection. These include the records of the parish of Wilberfoss and Appleton-le-Street, as well as the parish of Dalby. The records of the parish of Dalby date back to 1656 with the first surviving parish register, although there are also extant Bishops Transcripts going back to 1632. St Peter’s church itself dates from the early twelfth century and was restored in 1886 by James Demaine and Walter Brierley of York. Demaine and Brierley worked on a number of York buildings including The Retreat and various ecclesiastical properties across the city. Records relating to more of their work can be found in the Atkinson Brierley collection and the archive of the University of York.

Number of archival descriptions on Borthcat on 1st November 2022: 117, 752

News from Rare Books

Petyt Library inventories now available! For the first time it's possible to access digital images that exactly chart the development of an 18th century library.

One of the most extensive and interesting collections in Rare Books is the Petyt Library which is on long term loan from Skipton Town Council. The Petyt brothers were rich and successful London lawyers who had grown up in Skipton. Wanting to give something back to the town where they were raised they provided books for the church and for the grammar school. The books were brought to Skipton at the beginning of the 18th century and after 300 years in the town moved to the University of York in 2018. Along with nearly 5000 books reflecting political and religious issues of the day were the original notes of carriage showing which books arrived when. Having these manuscript inventories makes the research potential of the library even greater.

The metadata team in the Library have been working hard uploading digitised images with metadata, and creating a catalogue record on Yorsearch from which you can access the digital images. The original inventories and other material from the Petyt Library are available for research in the Borthwick.

Borthwick Collections Out and About

Last week, some of our collections featured as part of an exciting Digital Creativity session. A group of students used items from the Rowntree & Co and Terry’s archives to test various basic 3D scanning techniques, with great results! The official launch of the Digital Creativity and YorCreate Labs is happening today (1st November) in the Harry Fairhust building (LFA/103 and LFA/132), and is open to all members of the University.

This week also marks the start of a collaboration between the digital creativity team and the University Art Collection, with the first of five sessions focusing on fun and creative new ways to interact and engage with our varied collection. This is part of the wider Digital Wednesdays series and is open to staff and students of the University of York. Find out more and book your place.

Archive of the Month: Records of The Mount School, York

What is it? The archive of The Mount School, an independent Quaker-run girls secondary school in York, including minute books from the earliest days of its establishment in the 1780s, teaching records, school magazines and papers of former scholars.

Where can I find it? The catalogue to the Mount School archive is available through Borthcat

Why is it Archive of the Month? The Mount School has been on its present site on Dalton Terrace since 1857, but can trace its earliest beginnings back to 1785 and the establishment of a Quaker girls school in Bishophill, by Esther Tuke, wife of William Tuke, the founder of The Retreat. The extensive archive is a rich source of material on the development of the school, teaching practices and education, as well as containing correspondence with prominent Quakers including Lindley Murray and Sarah Grubb. The archive also contains records relating to alumnae including Helen and Margaret Harvey and Noni Jabavu, for whom we also hold separate collections of personal papers. One of the most interesting and varied series in the archive is that of the Mount Magazine. The magazine was produced annually by pupils at the school, and we hold editions covering 1887-1948. The magazines contain stories, reports, reviews, illustrations and photographs covering the school year all written and created by the girls, by passing the issue systematically around each form for new material to be added. In a similar way, once the issue was made available, it would be passed around for comment and (often constructive!) feedback. The articles cover a wide range of topics from international trips and holidays, to history, archaeology and reviews of contemporary exhibitions, and provide a small window into the world of the pupils of the time.

We’ll be back with more news next month!