Borthwick Newsletter - February 2023

Posted on 31 January 2023

Welcome to the Borthwick's February newsletter.

February in the Archives - delve into our catalogues with this month’s featured description (and see an image below!)

'The Yorkshire Memorandum Book or Daily Journal for the year 1817' belonging to Mr Francis Dey of Knapton. Entries made consistently for January and February 1817 and 1825 and then sporadically thereafter. Subjects include weather, farming and prices of crops and livestock.
Letter concealed in front binding to John Raines Dey and Elizabeth Dey concerning a legacy from John Blanshard, 18 March 1880

[Miscellaneous Documents, Diary of Francis Dey, MD/162/1]

A page of Francis Dey's dairy from 1817, describing weather conditions and crops and their quantities

What’s new?

Over the past month our JRRT Project Archivist has begun work transforming a box list of 2,600 files into a usable (and useful!) catalogue capturing the long history, and extremely varied work, of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. As a small archival catalogue already exists, much of this work involves identifying where new files can be fitted into the present structure - and where some rearrangement might be needed to better reflect the way the trust changed over time. ‘Future proofing’ archival catalogues can often be quite a challenge, particularly when the organisation or individual is still very much active. It requires us to look ahead, as well as back, as we try to capture how the person or organisation worked - while also leaving a little flexibility for future additions. No doubt there will be a few surprises yet as the final JRRT catalogue starts to come together over the next month or so. We look forward to sharing it with you when it’s complete!

We were excited to be invited to assess some newly-discovered material at The Retreat recently. The papers and plans were found during work to clear the main hospital building, and include a number of interesting items that will add to our knowledge of this fascinating institution. We were also excited to take in some volumes on natural history from The Retreat library. These complement some of our existing holdings, in particular the archives of two naturalists, Michael Thompson and Derek Ungley, who both spent some time working and volunteering for The Retreat. The records - particularly the architectural plans and schematics - are currently undergoing conservation assessment and we look forward to updating you all once they are ready to access.

New Accessions

In January we took in additions to our York Covid-19 archive, the archive of the University of York, and the faculties series of the York Diocesan Registry archive. We also received a lovely medieval grant, of the Manor of Kirby under Knowle from Thomas de Saltmarsh to John Constable of Halsham, dated 1370/71. The Saltmarsh family appear in numerous places across our collections, including in the papers of Lady Violet Deramore (nee Saltmarsh), and in our Yorkshire Wildlife Trust archive with the gift of land as a nature reserve now called Saltmarshe Delph.

New Catalogues

Over the last month, we’ve added three new catalogues covering the parish records of Wass, Wharram Percy and St Maurice, York.

We’ve also created a new series of records, the Rowntree Private Deposits series, which brings together a number of small but fascinating collections that have come to us from various sources. Covering personal employment records, photographs as well as the Kitching banknote we mentioned in our October newsletter, the series creates a space where archives concerning the experiences of individual employees of Rowntree & Co, and later Nestle, can be recorded. These are records that were created or collected by private individuals rather than being deposited by the companies themselves, and they provide the opportunity for researchers to access records that come from the perspective of the employee rather than the employer.Number of archival descriptions on Borthcat on 1st February 2023: 117,031

Archive of the Month: The records of M. A. Craven & Son, Ltd

What is it? The archive of the York confectionery company, M. A. Craven & Son, Ltd

Where can I find it? The catalogue to the archive is available on Borthcat

A stained glass window with three panes, showing Hannah and Samuel, St Mary and St Elizabeth. Image Wikimedia Commons

Why is it Archive of the Month?
Synonymous with the name and formidable character of Mary Ann Craven, Craven’s of York was renowned for its sweets, including boiled sweets, French Almonds, toffees, butterscotch and humbugs. After the death of her husband in 1861, Mary Ann Craven - a widow with three young children - found herself the owner of both Craven’s, based in Pavement and Coppergate, and her father Joseph Hick’s confectionery business in Coney Street. After initially attempting to sell the businesses, she took on management herself and traded under her own name for almost 20 years until her son came of age and was able to join her as a partner. In 1881, the business became M. A. Craven and Son and by this time was employing 110 workers. Mary Ann remained directly involved in the management and running of the business until her own death in 1900. After this, Mary Ann’s son, Joseph William Craven, continued the business and introduced one of the company’s most famous lines - the Original French Almonds - in 1904. Following Joseph's death, the company passed to his widow and subsequently to his two sisters and then the grandchildren of Joseph Hick’s sister Sarah Horsley. Craven’s was sold in 1987. The development of the business can be examined through its archives which include title deeds, directors reports, promotional material and photographs covering 1809-1988.

But that’s not the end of the Craven’s story! As the fascinating biography written by York Civic Trust explains, the demolition of the Craven’s factory in the 1970s led to the excavation of the Coppergate area which now houses another York icon, the Jorvik Viking Centre. Mary Ann herself is commemorated in a stained glass window in All Saints church, Pavement, dedicated to her by her three children (image source: Wikimedia Commons).

We’ll be back with more news next month!