Our Archives, Your Archives

David Moore (Archivist):
As an archivist, my favourite archive is often the one I’m going to catalogue next. At the moment, that could be an addition to the papers of the artist R.L. Gapper, who was prominent in eisteddfodau and the field of public art in twentieth-century Wales, or the papers of John Carnac, who led armies for the East India Company as it exercised increasing commercial, political and military power in India in the 1760s.

Rob Phillips (Archivist, The Welsh Political Archive):
My favourite archive in our political collections is our archive of political campaign ephemera. The 200 boxes contain material from 1837, although the holdings since the 1980s are much more comprehensive than the early period. It includes posters, rosettes and election leaflets of some of the giants of Welsh politics; people like David Lloyd George, Jim Griffiths, Aneurin Bevan, Beata Brookes, Ann Clwyd and Gwynfor Evans.
It is a colourful, lively collection and is created by dozens of volunteers across Wales who collect the election material they receive and post it to us after every election. It includes stories of iconic campaigns such as the 1966 Carmarthen By-election, the 1997 General Election and the first elections to the National Assembly in 1999, devolution referenda, the European Union and even votes on closing pubs on Sundays! Appropriately, it is a very democratic collection - including the voices of groups that are not as prominent in our other political gatherings and those who lost elections as well as those who won. We are still adding to the collection and although most of the material in the 200 boxes is only available in the building, we have digitised most leaflets before 1979 and they are available through the links on the catalogue to browse from the comfort of home.

Lucie Hobson, (Assistant Archivist):
There are so many amazing items in our archives that it is difficult to have a favourite, but something that always brings a smile to my face is the zoomorphic letter decoration in this 12th-century copy of the scientific treatise De natura rerum by famed medieval writer Bede. Only a few leaves of this Welsh-produced copy of the text survive, but they preserve a rare example of this type of decoration from Wales. It is always a joy to find this tiny dragon-like creature peeping out from the parchment, as it has done for the last 800 years.

Robert Evans (Assistant Archivist, Born-digital Acquisition):
The collection that I enjoyed working on the most must be the Harry Secombe Archive. It includes personal papers and professional memorabilia documenting the career of one of Wales’s best-known all-round entertainers.
He kept scrap books recording his most productive years in showbusiness (1946-1969). There’s an extensive collection of scripts from T.V. shows, radio and theatre work including The Goon Show, Pickwick, and The Harry Secombe Show, together with hundreds of programmes from stage productions in which he performed. One of the features of the collection are his cartoons and sketches which are seen throughout the papers.
For me, Sir Harry Secombe can be summed up in a single letter, sent to him by the African American entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., in which he thanks Harry for the kindness shown towards him during his 1961 UK tour.

Rhys Jones (Assistant Curator of Manuscripts):
My favourite archive is that of the poet, antiquary and literary forger Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg', 1747-1826). It’s a varied but exceptionally disordered collection (‘Carnedd ofnadwy o fân beprynnau’ – ‘a terrible mound of trifling scraps’ was his own description). Following the attempts of his descendants to organise the contents the archive was catalogued by several archivists at the Library over the course of several decades. I had the honour of cataloguing the last few boxes, which included music manuscripts, travel journals, agricultural notes, poetry and notes on bardism, history, religion and literature.

Rhys Davies (Assistant Archivist):
When I think of my favourite collection, the one that comes to mind during Explore Your Archive Week is Noyadd Trefawr Estate Records, and that is because when I was a student, I came across a deed that referred to my home which dated to 1583 among the collection. My curiosity about archives has continued ever since. Ask me next week and it will be a different collection!

Miidong P. Daloeng (Archives Decolonisation Project Officer):
One in many of the amazing things that I have found in the archive is a wood and leather-bound manuscript in authentic Ge’ez (Ethiopian text) of the Weddase Marjan (Praise of Mary); an Ethiopic psalter. I stumbled upon it whilst reviewing some archival descriptions in our catalogue under the listing of “oriental manuscript”. This is one item I would have never imagined coming across in the National Library of Wales and this discovery was significant because of my interest in scripts and love of languages. It further cemented my belief that archives are limitless, and their possibilities are endless.

Sian Bowyer (Assistant Archivist, Accessions):
There are so many things I could choose for different reasons. One of the most unexpected items I came across was a lock of hair belonging to Sarah Jacob (1857-1869), the Welsh fasting girl, included with a volume of newspaper cuttings about the case amongst the D. Roy Evans Collection. A brief for the defence in the case against her parents is also held at NLW.

Emma Towner (Archives Assistant, BBC Scripts Collection):
Before I began my Archives Masters, I required hands on experience with archives themselves. A dear colleague Dr Michael Pearson supported me and arranged for me to have this experience. I worked on the Brith Gof collection and my task was to help identify what was in the collection. A few years later I was on a secondment in the Archives department and I assisted with the cataloguing of the collection. I’m attached to this collection on a personal level as it opened a door for me into the world of archives. It is also an extremely interesting collection as it is a multimedia archive containing audiovisual and written material and banners made of fabric. It even sparked a performance from students at Aberystwyth University under the guidance of Dr Louise Ritchie who performed their own version of PAX, and staff at the library were invited to contribute to a time capsule where we wrote letters to our future selves.

Meriel Ralphs (Archives Assistant):
An interesting archive that I delve into time and time again is the David Thomas (Aberystwyth) Papers, a former inspector of schools and folklorist in Wales. This is a hidden gem in terms of folklore knowledge, including traditions and customs, legends, proverbs and old sayings, omens and superstitions, stories and memories, history of local characters to name but a few in this priceless treasure trove of a collection. And why the interest I hear you ask? Because some of its content is handwritten by children. It reminds me of a similar school project that I was involved in as a child.