Tyne and Wear Archives (formerly known as Tyne and Wear Archives Service) is the record office for the metropolitan county of

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcas ...

, in

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary author ...

. Tyne and Wear Archives preserve documents relating to the area from the 12th to the 21st century. It is based in the former headquarters of the

Co-operative Wholesale Society A co-operative wholesale society, or CWS, is a form of co-operative federation (that is, a co-operative in which all the members are co-operatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. According to co-operative economi ...

, which it shares with

Discovery Museum The Discovery Museum is a science museum and local history museum situated in Blandford Square in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It displays many exhibits of local history, including the ship, '' Turbinia''. It is managed by Tyne & Wear Archives ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

History

The

Archives 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 o ...

Service was established in 1974 by

County Council, drawing in the collections of the former Newcastle Archives Office, which closed. On the abolition of the county council in the local government reorganisation of 1986 Tyne and Wear Archives Service became a joint service of the five metropolitan districts, managed by

Gateshead Council The Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It includes Gateshead, Rowlands Gill, Whickham, Blaydon, Ryton, Felling, Pelaw, Dunston and Low Fell. The bor ...

. Since 1976 Tyne and Wear Archives Service has been located at Blandford House, Newcastle upon Tyne, the former headquarters of the

, which it shares with

. In April 2009 Tyne and Wear Archives Service merged with Tyne and Wear Museums to form

Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) is a regional group of United Kingdom national museums and the county archives service located across the Tyne and Wear area of north-east England. They have been administered by a joint board of local author ...

(TWAM). In July 2013 it was announced that the Archives' Shipyards collections were included on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

Memory of the World Register. UNESCO stated: 'The shipbuilding collections deposited at Tyne & Wear Archives are the major source of information on the many shipyards in the North-East of England that helped to shape the unique identity of the region and made shipbuilding one of the key economic activities on Tyneside and Wearside.... The records are strong in both breadth and depth, and no other archive in England and Wales appears to hold such a wide and comprehensive range of material.' In December 2013

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

announced that Tyne and Wear Archives was amongst the first group of UK record offices to achieve Accredited Archive status.

County / Chief Archivists

*Dr. W. A. L. (Allan) Seaman, County Archivist 1974–1986 930-2015 *Bruce Jackson, Chief Archivist 1986–1993 *Liz Rees, Chief Archivist 1993–2016. he title of ''Chief Archivist'' was abolished in 2012 and Liz Rees became 'Head of Archives and Collections', 2012-2016.*Lizzy Baker, Archives Lead 2018-

Services

Tyne and Wear Archives have a public searchroom with space for visitors to consult original documents along with a microfilm area and PC cluster. A records management service for business and organisations has also been run by the Archives since the 1980s.

Records (not an exhaustive list)

William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, (26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was an English engineer and industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside. He was also an eminent scientist, inventor ...

(26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) Tyneside industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing empire. * SS Baikal, an ice-breaking train ferry that linked the eastern and western portions of the Trans-Siberian Railroad across Lake Baikal, constructed in Newcastle by

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...

. *

Thomas Bewick Thomas Bewick (c. 11 August 17538 November 1828) was an English wood-engraver and natural history author. Early in his career he took on all kinds of work such as engraving cutlery, making the wood blocks for advertisements, and illustrating ch ...

,(11 August 1753 – 8 November 1828) English engraver and natural history author. *

Clarke Chapman Clarke Chapman is a British engineering firm based in Gateshead, which was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded in 1864 in Gateshead by William Clarke (1831–1890). In 1865 Clarke took in a partne ...

, a British engineering firm based in Gateshead. *

Ruth Dodds Ruth Dodds (1890 – 1 April 1976) lived in Gateshead, England and was a writer, playwright and councillor of Gateshead. Dodds was born on 8 May 1890. She was one of three daughters of bookbinder and historian Edwin Dodds and his wife Emily Do ...

,(8 May 1890 - 1 April 1976) author, playwright, councillor and first woman Freeman of Gateshead. *

Jimmy Forsyth (photographer) Jimmy Forsyth (15 August 1913 – 11 July 2009) was a British amateur photographer, who in his later life became celebrated for his portrayal of the working class communities of Tyneside and received wide recognition for this achievement prior ...

(15 August 1913 – 11 July 2009) British amateur photographer, who in his later life became celebrated for his portrayal of the working class communities of Tyneside *

Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co. Ltd. was a telescope manufacturer, more commonly known as Grubb Parsons. It was based in Newcastle upon Tyne, in England. They were a noted telescope maker throughout the 19th and 20th century, making telescope th ...

, telescope manufacturer, more commonly known as Grubb Parsons based in Newcastle upon Tyne. * RMS Mauretania (1906), an ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend, Tyne and Wear for the British Cunard Line, and launched on 20 September 1906. *

John Readhead & Sons John Readhead & Sons was a shipyard on the River Tyne in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England. History John Readhead and John Softley founded the business in 1865 in South Shields as Readhead and Softley. The first ship they built was a small ...

, a shipyard on the River Tyne in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England. * Githa Sowerby (October 6, 1876 – June 30, 1970), English playwright and author of Rutherford & Son, children's writer, and member of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

. *

Swan Hunter Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powe ...

and Wigham Richardson Ltd, one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. *

, a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century.

References

External links

Tyne and Wear Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyne And Wear Archives Service Archives in Tyne and Wear Organizations established in 1974 County record offices in England 1974 establishments in England