The Borthwick Institute for Archives is the specialist

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

service of the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is one of the biggest archive repositories outside

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The Borthwick was founded in 1953 as The Borthwick Institute of Historical Research. It was originally based at

St Anthony's Hall St Anthony's Hall in York, England, is a former medieval guildhall and Grade I listed building. It currently houses Trinity Church York and the Quilt Museum and Gallery. The Hall, located on Peasholme Green, was built between 1446 and 1453 on ...

, a fifteenth-century

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

hall on

Peasholme Green Peasholme Green is a street on the eastern edge of the city centre of York, in England. History The street was established by 1000, as part of an important route leading east out of the city. It was first recorded in 1269, the name "Peasholme" ...

, in central York. Since 2005 it has been based in a purpose-built building, situated adjacent to the JB Morrell Library on the University of York's Heslington West campus. This new building was made possible due to a grant of £4.4 million by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

and designed by Leach Rhodes Walker and

Buro Happold Buro Happold (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment ...

Archivists and directors

Five archivists have headed the Borthwick Institute, all of them serving under their predecessors. In 2005, the title was changed from "Director" to "Keeper of Archives", and was further expanded to "Keeper of Archives & Special Collections" in 2019. *Canon

John Stanley Purvis John Stanley Purvis (9 May 1890 – 1968) was a British clergyman, archivist, poet, and artist. Biography Early life Purvis was born in Bridlington. As a youth Purvis was introduced to archaeology by Thomas Boynton (antiquarian), Thomas Boynton ...

- 1953-1963 *

Norah Gurney Norah Kathleen May Gurney ( Dewar) (1921 – 5 February 1974) was a British archivist and Director of the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research. Biography Norah Dewar was born in London in 1921 and studied modern history at St Hugh's College, ...

- Archivist-in-Charge 1963-1971; Director, 1971-1974 *David Smith - 1974-2000 *Chris Webb - Acting Director, 2000-2005; Keeper of Archives, 2005-2019 *Gary Brannan - 2019-present

Archives and rare books

Archives

*Records of the

Diocese of York The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The diocese is headed by the A ...

, including

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

records and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

records for York and the surrounding area *Non-conformist records, including

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

, Unitarian and

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

archives. *Hospital records, with a specialism in mental healthcare. Hospital archives include

The Retreat The Retreat, commonly known as the York Retreat, is a place in England for the treatment of people with mental health needs. Located in Lamel Hill in York, it operates as a not for profit charitable organisation. Opened in 1796, it is famous f ...

Clifton Hospital Clifton Hospital was a mental health facility in Clifton, York, England. History The hospital, which was designed by George Gilbert Scott and William Bonython Moffatt using a Corridor Plan layout, opened as the North and East Ridings Pauper Luna ...

Bootham Park Hospital Bootham Park Hospital was a psychiatric hospital, located in the Bootham district of York, England. It was managed by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust. The main building is a Grade I listed building. History Construction and ...

, and

Naburn Hospital Naburn Hospital was a mental health facility in Naburn, North Yorkshire, England. History Acres House, a property dating back to 1774, and its associated farmland were acquired in 1899 for the purposes of building an asylum. The facility, which w ...

. *Business records, including the archives of the Rowntree and

Terry's Terry's is a British chocolate and confectionery maker, formerly based in York, England, until 2005, and re-established in 2019 as Terry's Chocolate Co and based in London. The company was founded in 1767. The company's headquarters and fact ...

confectionery companies,

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

scientific instrument makers, and Sessions of York publishers. *Environmental records, including the archives of

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is a charitable non-governmental organisation, one of the UK's 46 county-based Wildlife Trusts. It's focus is nature conservation and it works to achieve a nature-rich Yorkshire with healthy and resilient ecosystems ...

and the York and District Field Naturalists' Society *Records of prominent Yorkshire families, including York

families such as Rowntree and Tuke, and local gentry and aristocratic families such as the

Earls of Halifax Earl of Halifax is a title that has been created four times in British history—once in the Peerage of England, twice in the Peerage of Great Britain, and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The name of the peerage refers to Halifax, We ...

, the Yarburgh family of

Heslington Hall Heslington Hall is a Grade II* listed manor house near the village of Heslington, North Yorkshire, England, within the city of York. The hall is part of the campus of the University of York. The original house dated from 1565–8, but it was ...

, and the Milnes Coates family of Helperby Hall. *Educational records, including the archive of the

, the records of the Quaker Mount School for girls, the York Blue Coat and Grey Coat charity schools,

Ripon Grammar School Ripon Grammar School is a co-educational, boarding and day, selective grammar school in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. It has been named top-performing state school in the north for nine years running by ''The Sunday Times''. It is one of the ...

, and the Yorkshire School for the Blind. *Records relating to social welfare and reform, including the personal and professional papers of pioneering social scientist

Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, CH (7 July 1871 – 7 October 1954) was an English sociological researcher, social reformer and industrialist. He is known in particular for his three York studies of poverty conducted in 1899, 1935, and 1951. The fi ...

, and the archives of the

Joseph Rowntree Foundation The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is a charity that conducts and funds research aimed at solving poverty in the UK. JRF's stated aim is to "inspire action and change that will create a prosperous UK without poverty." Originally called the ...

, the

Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust {{Use British English, date=January 2018 The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Religious Society of Friends, Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree (Philanthropist), Joseph Rowntree and Benjamin ...

, the

Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is a philanthropic grant making trust that supports work undertaken in the UK and Ireland, and previously South Africa. It is one of three original trusts set up by Joseph Rowntree in 1904. The Trust ...

and the

Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust {{Use British English, date=January 2018 The four Rowntree Trusts are funded from the legacies of the Quaker chocolate entrepreneurs and social reformers Joseph Rowntree and Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree. The trusts are based in the Rowntrees' home c ...

. *Records relating to Southern Africa, based on the collections of the university's former Centre for Southern African Studies. *Music and performance records, including the archives of playwright

Sir Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of ...

, screenwriters Laurence Marks and

Maurice Gran Maurice Bernard Gran (born 26 October 1949, in London, England) is an English writer and one half of scriptwriting duo Marks and Gran. He co-wrote the British sitcom, sitcoms ''The New Statesman (1987 TV series), The New Statesman'', ''Birds of ...

, writer and stage director

Julia Pascal Julia Pascal is a British playwright and theatre director. Biography A Jewish atheist, Pascal's stage plays include three grouped together as ''The Holocaust Trilogy''. The first of these is ''Theresa'', based on historical accounts of a Jewish w ...

, and actress

Yvonne Mitchell Yvonne Mitchell (born Yvonne Frances Joseph; 7 July 1915 – 24 March 1979) was an English actress and author. After beginning her acting career in theatre, Mitchell progressed to films in the late 1940s. Her roles include Julia in the 1954 BBC ...

Rare books

The University of York Library holds a range of collections of valuable books which can be viewed at the Borthwick Institute.

References

External links

Official websiteRepository details at the National Archives website

Borthcat
– the Borthwick Institute's online catalogue
The Borthwick Blog
– news and research from the archives
The Cause Papers
– a searchable catalogue of more than 14,000 cause papers relating to cases heard between 1300 and 1858 in the Church Courts of the diocese of York.
York's Archbishops Registers Revealed
– over 20,000 images of Registers produced by the Archbishops of York, 1225–1650, with index
The Retreat Archive
– a pioneering mental health archive digitised by the Wellcome Library
Lascelles Slavery Archive
– selected images and descriptions of the West Indian plantation records of the Earls of Harewood {{Authority control Archives in North Yorkshire University of York History of Yorkshire

Archivists and directors

Archives and rare books

Archives

Rare books

See also

References

External links