The Hull History Centre is an archive and local studies library in Hull,

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 ...

, that houses the combined collections of both the Hull City Council and

Hull University , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

archives and local studies resources. This collaboration between Hull City Council,

, and 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 ...

made Hull the first city in the UK to unite local council and university collections under one roof.

Background

Before the creation of the Hull History Centre, Hull's archives were kept at three separate repositories: the

University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

, the Local Studies Library, and the Hull City Archives. The partnership that led to the purpose-built history centre in Hull began nearly ten years ago, springing out of a desire to provide greater accessibility to, and better preservation facilities for, the archives. Plans began to develop between Hull City Council and the

, and ultimately the

made the dream a reality by providing the Hull History Centre with a £7.7 million grant, the largest ever lottery grant for a UK archive project. Building for the centre began in late 2007 and on 25 January 2010, the Hull History Centre was finally opened to the public. The building itself was designed by architectural firm Pringle Richards Sharratt with the goals of providing a highly accessible and visible structure, as well as a focus of local pride. The design of the upper floor features an environmentally controlled repository while the ground level features public spaces adjoined by a linear arcade overlooking a new park.

Collections

The Hull History Centre houses the combined archives of Hull City Council and the

, along with other various local studies resources. The collections include the standard books, volumes, and documents, as well as maps, paintings, pamphlets, photos, and film. If lined up end to end, the History Centre's collections would cross the local 2,220-metre long Humber Bridge four times.

Main Collections

University Collections

The University Collections are made up of about 750,000 documents consisting of around 200 organisations, individuals, and families. The range includes: *''Pressure group records'': including

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

(formerly The National Council for Civil Liberties),

Union of Democratic Control The Union of Democratic Control was a British advocacy group, pressure group formed in 1914 to press for a more responsive foreign policy. While not a pacifism, pacifist organisation, it was opposed to military influence in government. World War ...

, and Justice *''Modern political papers'': including

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...

, Kevin McNamara,

Austin Mitchell Austin Vernon Mitchell (19 September 1934 – 18 August 2021) was a British academic, journalist and Labour Party politician who was the member of Parliament (MP) for Great Grimsby from a 1977 by-election to 2015. He was also the chair of t ...

Chris Mullin Christopher Paul Mullin (born July 30, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player, executive and coach. He is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2010 as a memb ...

, Sir Patrick Wall, and

Jock Haston James "Jock" Ritchie Haston (1913–1986) was a Trotskyist politician and General Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Great Britain. Early years Haston was born in Edinburgh and went to sea in the merchant navy where he became a m ...

*''Modern English literary manuscripts'': including

Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, ''The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, ''Jill'' (1946) and ''A Girl in Winter'' (1947 ...

Douglas Dunn Douglas Eaglesham Dunn, OBE (born 23 October 1942) is a Scottish poet, academic, and critic. He is Professor of English and Director of St Andrew's Scottish Studies Institute at St Andrew's University. Background Dunn was born in Inchinnan, Re ...

Archie Markham Edward Archibald "Archie" Markham FRSL (1 October 1939 – 23 March 2008) was a Montserratian poet, playwright, novelist and academic. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1956, where he remained for most of his life, writing as well as teaching ...

, and

Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. Career Plater was born in Jarrow, County Durham, although his family ...

*''Landed family and estate archives'': including Hotham of South Dalton, Sykes of Sledmere, and Constable Maxwell of Everingham *''Trades Union and labour archives'': including numerous local trades unions and national figures such as W.E. Jones, Lord Ammon, and

Julia Varley Julia Varley, OBE (16 March 1871, Bradford, Yorkshire – 24 November 1952, Yorkshire) was an English trade unionist and suffragette. Early life Born at 4, Monk Street in Horton in Bradford, she was one of seven surviving children out of nine ...

*''Business Records'': including Ellerman's Wilson Line, Earle's Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, and The Hull & East Riding Co-operative Society *''Religious archives'': including local Quaker records, some papers of Selby Abbey and Marrick Priory, and of Conrad Noel and Stanley Evans *''South-East Asian manuscripts'': including research collections of Mervyn Jaspan, David Bassett and Harry Parkin *''W.B Yeadon collection'', the photographic and documentary collection of LNER railway historian W.B. Yeadon, including much local and north-east of England railway historical material.

City Council Collections

The City Council Collections are made up of various records and documents of the city. The range includes documents relating to: *''Boroughs'': including the royal charter of 1299, issued by

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...

which established the city of Kingston upon Hull, title deeds of property purchased and sold by the corporation, financial records, and miscellaneous documents relating to the Corporation (later Hull City Council) *''Civil Parishes'': including documents relating to the Parish of Drypool, the Parish of Garrison Side, The United Parishes of Holy Trinity and St. Mary, The Parish of Sculcoates, the Parish of Southcoates, and the Parish of Sutton and Stoneferry *''Watching, Lighting, Cleansing and Paving Authorities'': including documents from Assessors for lighting and cleansing the streets of Hull, The Hull and Myton Improvement Commissioners, and The Sculcoates Improvement Commissioners *''Boards of Health'': including documents from Beverly Rural District, Cottingham Urban District, Holderness Rural District, Hessle Urban District, The Kingston upon Hull Board of Health, Skirlaugh Rural District, The Newington Board of Health, and Sculcoates Rural District *''School Boards'': including documents from The Hull School Board, The Newington School Board, and The Sutton and Stoneferry School Board *''Poor Law Authorities'': including documents from Kingston upon Hull Incorporation for the poor and The Sculcoates Board of Guardians *''Institutions and Companies'': including documents from The Hull Borough Asylum, The Hull Gas and Light Company, and the Newington Water Company

Local Studies Collections

The Local Studies Collections are made up of approximately 150,000 items including books, printed items, large amounts of pamphlets and other material on various topics relating to Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. The range includes: *''Periodicals'': including local school and parish magazines, newsletters from local societies, and business journals of local companies *''Directories'': including the directories of Hull (1791–1939, with local sections of national directories from 1781),

North Riding The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

and

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

(main file 1872–1937, but some East Riding Village entries from 1823), and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

(1856–1972) *''Electoral Registers'': including electoral registers of Hull (1835–present) and

(1949–present) *''Newspapers'': including 40 local titles including the general ''York Courant'', as well as the following main titles, available to view on microfilm- ''Hull Packet'' (1787–1886), ''Hull Advertiser'' (1794–1867), ''Eastern Counties Herald'' (1838–1884), '' Eastern Morning News'' (1864–1929), ''Hull News'' (1852–1929), ''Hull Times'' (City and County Editions, 1857–1984), ''Hull Daily News/Evening News'' (1884–1929), and the '' Hull Daily Mail'' (1885 to present) *''Local Government Records'': including Hull Corporation (now Hull City Council) Minutes (1887 to present) and Humberside County Council Minutes (1973–1996) *''Census Returns'': full returns available to view on microfilms include Hull and Sculcoates Poor Law Union areas (i.e. town of Hull and immediate surrounding villages, 1841–1901) and Complete East Riding of Yorkshire (1851), with additional returns available to view electronically *''Maps'': including Hull town maps (16th century to present), Ordnance Survey maps for Hull and East Riding at various scales (1852 to present), East Riding Enclosure maps, Geological Survey maps, Agricultural Land Classification Survey maps, Soil Survey maps, and Goad Plans *''Illustrations'': a collection of over 9,000 loose illustrations including drawings, prints, photographs, postcards, and framed paintings; in addition, a separate collection of 2,000 photographs in the Health Department Collection taken by the Hull Corporation Health Department around the early 1900s *''Ephemera'': including theatre bills and programmes, posters, football programmes, postcards, timetables, tradesmen's publicity, etc. *''Special Collections'': collections organised by subject of particular interest to the area, including

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

and Slavery,

Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...

(1621–1678), Whales and Whaling,

Winifred Holtby Winifred Holtby (23 June 1898 – 29 September 1935) was an English novelist and journalist, now best known for her novel '' South Riding'', which was posthumously published in 1936. Biography Holtby was born to a prosperous farming family in ...

(1898–1935), Fosters & Andrews (organ builders), and

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records du ...

Access to the Archives

The Hull History Centre offers various ways to access the archives. Th
online catalogue
provides information on over 225,000 documents. The Centre also has a collection of newspapers, census records, and burial records available for viewing on microfilms. The History Centre also allows customers to view documents directly in the climate controlled searchroom. To view documents, customers must provide a County Archive Research Network (CARN) ticket. Customers can also borrow select items from the loan stock using a Hull Libraries library card.

Other services

Hull History Centre also regularly offers a range of learning activities such as family events, adult learning courses, and school sessions. The Hull History Centre regularly updates their website with the upcoming events and activities offered. Family events include storytelling, drama, arts and crafts, or other activities inspired by the archives of the History Centre. The adult learning courses offered vary from one day classes to five week courses, and explore family and local history. Additionally, the Hull History Centre offers venue hire, photocopying services, and help and advice from a specialist staff. The Centre is also equipped with full conservation and preservation facilities and services for the collections in its care.

Location

The Hull History Centre is located on Worship Street, just off of Freetown Way.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Kingston upon Hull Archives in the East Riding of Yorkshire City archives History of Kingston upon Hull