Houses of Parliament Parliamentary Archives

Houses of Parliament Answering Enquiries George. Documents relating to the Olympic and Reaching out beyond Westminster We were pleased to be able to loan An Act to Parliamentary Archives from around the World Paralympic Games, the European Communities Two projects which formed part of Parliament’s prevent the Removal of Poor Persons, until they We received 5863 (last year 5946) enquiries Act 1972 and the MP and journalist William Arts in Parliament programme enabled us to shall come actually chargeable which was passed during the year. Of the 3775 enquiries requiring Cobbett were also on display. All of these were work again with two of our regional partners, by Parliament in 1795 to Tate Britain for their research of up to 45 minutes, 51% were answered accompanied by web resources which can be Norfolk Record Office and Glamorgan Archives. Patrick Keiller exhibition. found at www.parliament.uk/livingheritage. In within one working day and 99% within our Both reflected outreach work undertaken as part We had 19 visits from media crews from the target of 10 working days. addition we collaborated with the Curator’s Office of our recent People and Parliament: Connecting on a new display entitled Women and the Vote UK and overseas, filming our documents for with Communities project and consisted of digital programmes ranging from news broadcasts to During the year we received a total of 28 (21) which is in the Admissions Order Office corridor artworks. The first, Sea of Words, commissioned enquiries under the Freedom of Information Act and with English Heritage on a new display in history documentaries. Celebrity visitors included from artist Trevor Woolery, is an animated Margaret Mountford, Lucy Worsley and Celia for archival information. Depositing offices and the which explores the use of that film which explores the connections between departments were asked to review the relevant building for the creation and storage of records of Imrie who traced her family history in some of Cardiff communities and Parliament through the our records for Who Do You Think You Are? papers and as a result the papers were in 11 cases the prior to 1860. development of Cardiff Docks in the nineteenth fully opened, in 12 cases partially released and We were delighted to support a project run by century. The film draws on archival material in no cases fully exempted from disclosure. The held by us and Glamorgan Archives and features remaining requests were not pursued, or related the Parliamentary Education Service called Democracy by Design during which art and design contributions from Grangetown Local History to material either not held by the Archives or Society. The second,Administrative Processes + already in the public domain. students created artwork inspired by some of our records, including petitions, a suffragette banner Events = Documents is a video artwork produced Celebrating and Commemorating by artist Nicola Naismith which investigates the Parliamentary History and the Death Warrant of Charles I. The artwork was displayed in Portcullis House during October lives of five commissioners named in the Land We continued to use our display cases in the 2012. Tax Act of 1821, the longest Act of Parliament Royal Gallery to mark significant parliamentary we hold. The film features documents held by us anniversaries. Displays focused on the The : Official Guide was and the Norfolk Record Office and incorporates assassination of Prime Minister published in July 2012 and included images of contributions from a community group. in 1812, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and many of our documents as well as information Visit us onsite or online about our services. Both films can be viewed by visiting the 150th anniversary of the birth of David Lloyd www.parliament.uk/communities.

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Dearsley window design by Shona McInnes Democracy by Design artwork by Nahum Flynn Parliamentary Archives Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2014 2012-2013 Managing Parliament’s some records from the descendants of Sir William Caring for Parliament’s Collections Providing Information George and Hitler, MI9 escape evasion maps business information Haines, who was Chief Clerk in the House of to the Public at Westminster 1939-45, children of refugees from Nazism, Collection Care has been involved in a range of Welcome to Parliament succeeded this year in completing Lords between 1886 and 1891, including an assisted dying, and acid rain. annotated volume of Orders and Proceedings and conservation and preservation projects during During the year we had 928 visits to the Search the roll out of an Electronic Document and the year. These have included the conservation of Room, an encouraging increase on last year People: Lord Lovat, Eleftherios Venizelos (Greek Records Management System (EDRMS) to all a copy of the New Testament which was used to our review of swear in new Peers. some of our earliest House of Lords manuscript (864). The total number of items produced for statesman), Arnold Toynbee, Lord Mansfield, departments in both Houses. Much of our focus Journals, the making of supports for items on the Search Room also jumped to 6012 (4947), Sylvia Pankhurst and Emily Wilding Davison, has been on preparing departments to receive display and the preparation of some of our most representing an average of 6.5 items per searcher. Lord Moulton, Thomas Hutchinson (colonial the past year. the system and supporting them throughout treasured items for digitisation. We have also There were 420 new users, of whom 79% were governor), Sir Basil Thomson and Sir Gilbert the deployment. The EDRMS has been well continued to provide collection care support pursuing research for academic or personal Clayton (intelligence officers), the Marquis of received and we have been working closely with across the Parliamentary Estate in support of the reasons, whilst 19% came for official or business Merry del Val, and Michael Collins. staff to embed the system into business practices. aims of the newly formed Parliamentary Heritage purposes. 2% were from the media. Research Local History: 17th century Cornwall, Kent Following deployment we have transitioned back Strategy Group. This has enabled us to further being undertaken included: Protestation Returns, Manchester canals, We reached a milestone this year in to business as usual and have begun to implement develop the team’s research and reviewing skills London’s public squares, municipal governance a new business model based on relationship and will improve our understanding of the science Parliament and the Palace of Westminster: the development of our digital services, in 19th century Belfast, the Oswestry and management. This focus on stakeholder of materials and the long-term preservation needs Ventilation of the Houses of Parliament, House with the successful completion of Llangynog railway, the Kennet and Avon Canal, engagement and the proactive identification of the collections in our care. of Commons’ Christmas cards, the Association our digital repository. This provides of support required by staff will enable us to of Secretaries General of Parliaments, banqueting the parish of St Clement Danes, London, us with the ability to preserve and strengthen further our reputation as the centre NADFAS again have provided a great deal of in Parliament, Westminster Hall renovation Newcastle-upon-Tyne railway history, and of expertise on the management of business preservation support in terms of re-packaging projects, design of the Great Clock, and stained navigations in Gloucestershire. provide access to digital records for the information. In addition, we have been working some of our vulnerable collections. glass in the House of Lords. In October and November 2012, we again first time, to the same high standards to professionalise our internal communications General: the role of Thomas Cromwell in the participated in the National Survey of Visitors to and to expand our training provision, all of which as records in traditional formats. English Reformation, the cloth industry in UK Archives, run by the PSQG (Public Services have proved popular with staff and received We have also continued to develop the 16th and 17th centuries, Charles II’s art Quality Group). The results again demonstrated consistently positive feedback. collection, bankers’ annuities in 1680, separation that our users rate very highly the service our role as the centre of expertise in Additions to our Collections the management of digital business and divorce in early modern England, 17th provided by our staff in the Search Room. We received 110 new accessions from offices century seagoers, the East India Company, information for both Houses. We also welcomed 990 people (last year 983) and departments of the House of Commons and Scottish mercantilism, the French invasion on group visits. These included students, House of Lords, as well as from external sources of Ireland in 1798, name changes in the 18th Our innovative outreach activities schoolchildren, archive professionals, by gift or purchase. Amongst these were three century, Black Country chain makers, the this year have in particular explored parliamentary staff from the UK and overseas, significant deposits by the Parliamentary Estates criminal corpse in 18th and 19th century constituency visitors, family historians and artistic responses to archival documents, Directorate. The first was our first digital deposit, Britain, representations of burglary and burglars groups with a wide range of specialist interests including working with art school which comprised 14 CAD drawings of the Palace in London 1860-1939, lunacy in the 19th (the Art Fund, the National Trust, London of Westminster. These will be catalogued and century, Irish education and the Gaelic league, students and local communities, Addressing the Digital Challenge Historians, Friends of the Museum of London transferred into our digital repository. The second the British Empire after the First World War, commissioning digital artworks, and and many more). was a transfer of four design drawings of the During the past financial year we have made humanitarian organisations 1918-40, Lloyd exhibition loans. The results have stained glass history of the franchise windows in great progress with the Digital Preservation brought fresh, thought-provoking and St Stephen’s Hall. These windows were the result Project. We now have an operational digital exciting perspectives on our collections. of a competition held in 1997 after Parliament repository system, ready to begin preserving received a bequest from Mrs. Dearsley, a great Parliament’s digital records. In addition, we Finally, it is with great sadness that we admirer of the Palace. The third was made up have implemented a range of storage solutions record the death on 10 July 2012 of our of two 19th century furniture inventories, for our archival data, each of which provides colleague Steve Chamberlain, digital including one from the House of Commons, security and resilience, allowing us to guarantee dated 1828. The 1828 inventory is one of the few the survival of our digital archives in perpetuity. imaging technician. Commons’ records to have survived the 1834 fire We have also developed our existing catalogue and provides an interesting snapshot of building interface, Portcullis, so that it provides a direct contents which were subsequently destroyed. The link to enable users to view digital records in our external acquisitions included a letter from the collections and this will include ‘turn the page’ Duke of Somerset to Sir Edward North regarding technology for viewing our most iconic records. the return of Parliamentary records in 1548 and