History, Research and a Sense of Place

York is known for being an historic city and, for those studying the past, the historic environment can be truly inspiring. Second year student Leah Marshall shows just how captivating those surroundings can be, describing here the history all around her while on placement at York Explore.

Recently I had the privilege to partake in a volunteering experience at the city archive, where I had the chance to work in an amazing historical building – York Explore Library – and surround myself with beautiful and iconic historical features of the city of York.

The structure was built in 1927 and is in the heart of York, surrounded by numerous historical sites of the city. The library was dedicated on 23 September, 1927, by the Right Hon the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine C.M.G, Chairman of the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, which contributed £13,200 to the building’s construction. Prior to the construction the library had been housed in what is now known as the York Dungeon on Clifford Street.

The building is surrounded by the very popular Museum Gardens and overlooks the ruins of St Leonard’s Hospital. These remains are amongst York’s oldest architectural ruins, with it being almost 500 years since the Reformation, which saw the hospital destroyed. The ruins of St Leonard’s initially resemble the remnants of an old church, and to some extent, this is accurate. The St Leonard’s hospital was formerly King Athelstan’s St Peter’s Hospital, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1069. King Stephen then reconstructed it in stone and some of these remnants can be found on the library grounds. During excavations, numerous Roman and medieval artefacts and items were discovered, including a Roman oven.

The historical beauty that surrounds the building immerses you into the history of York, making you want to explore it in the detail that the archives can provide. It certainly made me want to study more about York! Volunteering at the archive has allowed me to understand and appreciate some of the amazing historical features of this beautiful city. It has given me the opportunity to be able to research and analyse some of the work that has been produced over time to make the city of York the popular tourist destination it is today.

The building is also on the site of the Multangular Tower. York’s history may be traced back to at least AD 71, when the Roman 9th legion arrived at the strategic meeting point of the rivers Ouse and Foss and erected a fort to defend themselves against hostile inhabitants. The Multangular Tower, which can be seen from the windows of the library, was an important feature of the fortress defence. So, if you come to visit this outstanding historical landmark, make sure to have a look within the archives and research this amazing feature.

Inside the building, as you can see in the photograph above, there is a beautifully depicted story of some crucial historical events that took place in York, named York Panorama. I found this artwork fascinating, especially when looking at the detail it goes into and the magnificent yet emotional story it takes you on when looking at the history of York. This is just one out of many amazing things this building has to offer.

Scrutinising Layers of History at Explore Archive

The History/American Studies/War Studies YSJ blog is back! To start our new series of student work, we have second year student Layla Kershaw, who has been examining the city’s development in the finest detail during her placement at York Explore and learning much about how York has changed. Here, she highlights some of the exciting work she has been doing in the archive.

Volunteering with the York Explore Library and Archives provided a valuable perspective into the history of York and surrounding areas. This enabled me to understand and appreciate the city in multiple ways after being exposed to a range of materials detailing York’s developments and appeal throughout the years. The placement provided an insight into the role of an archivist while teaching plenty about York’s cultural, civic and communal past. I was fortunate to work with a variety of plans and records, each presenting an additional view of the streets and layers to the city of York.

One type of plan that stood out to me the most were the Goad shopping maps that were handled slightly differently to the rest of the archives we had worked on. These were incredibly detailed maps of York from the 1960s and 70s that were essentially a bird’s eye view of York’s retail and businesses. It was fascinating to see how the city had developed to such extent by the surprising amount of both independent and chain business that are no longer around, as well as the emerging of more modern businesses leading to a commercialised York. The maps perfectly detailed the layers of York and how it has developed economically and technologically. It is clear that the city and surrounding areas have advanced in its industry while modernising the retail and tourist aspects to York

We were provided magnifying glasses to aid us in this activity and gain the most out of the intricate plans and maps, making it an enjoyable experience throughout the voluntary hours. This task, though lengthy, was beneficial to gaining a great knowledge of the city of York, by listing each street, road and avenue from left to right. Each feature of the Goad shopping maps describes the fast change and development to York’s businesses and how it gradually became a popular city for tourists. It is evident in the plans how the city prepared and planned for the attractions and sights that are flourishing today.

The collection of plans aided my experience and knowledge of a career as an archivist further, analysing drawings and photographs as well as the maps. The archives offered a great insight into every aspect of York, such as its rivers, bar walls, bridges and churches, presenting their change and developments over time. Identifying York as a symbol of religion, community, history and industry is clearly indicated throughout the archives I worked on throughout the placement. These documents support York’s position and role as a city involved in trade and tourism, indicating how York has become popular as a tourist spot as it is so rich in history. Working on the architect’s and engineer’s plans with the archives at York Explore made it clear that York has plenty to offer to visitors and its community.

The Anglian Tower and its Excavation: Research at York Explore

Eva Barker, one of our second-year HCC students, writes here with Dr Julie-Ann Vickers about their research at York Explore.

The site around York Library has a dense history, many of the buildings previously on this site still have visible remnants today, including the Mint Yard, St Leonard’s Hospital’s crypt and chapel, the Multangular Tower, the Church of St Maurice, and the Anglian Tower. 

The latter being the subject of my interest when I came across its excavation documents in York Explore Archive inside the library. While its construction date is under debate, likely around the mid-7th Century to the mid-9th Century, its historical significance is not under debate, it is the only remaining Anglo-Saxon structure in the country that does not have ecclesiastical ties. 

Although only the ground floor remains, it gives a very impressive representation of contemporary construction skills, with some of its walls being as thin as two inches, and the height reaching 3 metres. The two entrances on the ground floor suggest that it was designed for a sentry to walk along the base of the City Walls. 

The site was left undiscovered after the 866AD Viking invasion, only found in 1839 by workmen tunnelling from St Leonard’s Place to the Mint Yard. The excavation of the Tower 

only began in 1970 by digging into the banks behind the City Walls, the archaeologists discovered several layers of defensive banks from the Medieval, Norman, Dark Age, and Roman periods. For many years the location had a plaque commemorating the lead archaeologist on the excavation, Jeffery Radley, who unfortunately died in an accident on site. The team managed an incredible accomplishment and dug a total of 30 feet from the original bank level to 15 feet below the modern-day street level of King’s Manor Lane. The different bank levels are now labelled for the public, but as anyone who has tried to visit the site will know, what is physically observable from the lower and upper paths is severely limited. 

The council currently has plans underway to make the pathways more accessible, this is a very important feat as consequently it will make York’s history more accessible. The current City Archaeologist, Claire MacRae, helpfully explained that while the main goal of the City of York Council is to improve accessibility around the Anglian Tower, they will also be making efforts to conserve the Tower and surrounding walls. 

This should also improve the ease of admittance to the many guided tours that go through this area of the City Walls, helping the public actually observe York’s deep history first-hand. 

Accessibility is an objective every historian should have, and the archives are a great place to begin any research on the Tower as they hold a myriad of documents about the initial excavation. A majority of the excavation documents were drawn out by P.D. Little, and D.R. Henderson and the photographs shown here should provide you with a glimpse into the archives. Though I should point out that nothing compares to seeing these documents in-person, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of the library’s resources. 

My Introduction to the Archives at York Explore.

Our ongoing student blog series about experiences on the History, Community and Culture module continue with Erin Maxwell‘s reflections on her introduction to the archives with York Explore.

As part of my History, Community and Culture module I decided to make use of the placement to gain new opportunities through learning new skills in Archives as well as being relevant to my degree. Hence, I applied for the university offered placement at York Explore. Initially I was excited and looking forward to developing new experiences and skills helpful for the future as well as being slightly apprehensive at the thought of the large task ahead. However, this was swiftly solved once I got started and worked at a quick and efficient pace.

As part of this placement, I attended Thursdays over 10 weeks inputting data onto an Excel spreadsheet to be catalogued; often relating to Architects’ and Engineers plans concerning York’s built environment from 1800 – 2000. The plans detailed a wide range of documents such as: housing, bridges, city walls and street improvements which allowed the city’s past and development to be displayed piece by piece. 

Nevertheless, one aspect I found particularly challenging was reading the old style of handwriting as it was difficult to understand. This was overcame through asking the mentor who suggested we left a question mark next to the name inputted onto the spreadsheet I thought it most looked like on the document for her to check. Additionally, the placement also allowed me to develop self – discipline with arriving at a set time each week as well as communication and I.T skills, which are of high value in my degree and beyond. 

Overall, my experience at the York Explore Archives were a highly positive and enjoyable one which allowed me to develop the basics of Archival work. In the future I would delight in the chance to develop my skill set in Archiving further through more volunteering, possibly even allowing for a future career in the sector. Thus, this project allowed me to explore my interest into working in an archive and established my desire to be a part of connecting people to history and historical documents of various aspects of the city of York. 

Experiencing the Archives

For second-year History, Community and Culture module student Millie Martin, her experience in the York archives was one that introduced her not only to new areas of history, but to a new avenue of work, too. 

Taking the career-focused History, Community and Culture module has made me think a lot about the future and what I would actually want to use my degree for. So, I decided to use my placement opportunity to gain archival skills; something that was new to me. I applied for a placement that the university offered where I would be working at York Explore. The placement required me to reorganise York Poor Law records on to an Edexcel sheet so that it can be catalogued onto an online database, making it more accessible for historians.

One of the many things I have loved about my placement is how flexible and relaxing it has been, especially as I’ve had to balance my other modules, work and many socials. I feel as if I have immersed myself fully in volume PLU-3-1-1-92 from September 1875 and learned about different people’s lives. I have enjoyed the reading of different applications and learning the different types of relief which was given to different applicants. I found it particularly interesting when a name was repeated as it shows the hardships many people went through. I noticed there was a higher mortality rate at a younger age, which resulted in many widows applying for relief. I also observed the different types of relief that was distributed to applicants and sadly in many of the cases it was provisions for child funeral costs. I have always enjoyed learning social history, specifically studying the York poor law records because it shows the government did help those in need.

At times my placement was a challenge, because I was not familiar with handwriting from 1875 and sometimes it was difficult to understand. Shocking as it is to say I still don’t know if a name was ‘Jhoe’ or ‘Thoe’ because of the perpetuated spirals. However, my mentor was very helpful and suggested if we do not understand a word just to leave it blank which was reassuring for me as I was worried about making a mistake. Also, it was difficult to continue going to the archives as it was my own responsibility to organise what time and date I would go. From this I have definitely learned some self-discipline which is why was able to complete my 75-hour placement.

I have to be honest; my initial feeling about having to complete a 75-hour placement at the archives did not excite me. Perhaps I thought it was too many hours. However, now I am thrilled that I have had the privilege of working in an archive as it has given me some experience in a new field.

For the near future, I would love to continue volunteering at York Explore archives so that I can gain more valuable experience which can only be gained from working in an archive. At least I want to finish my spreadsheet of volume PLU-3-1-1-92 and hopefully move on to the next.

A window into social history at York Explore

History, Community and Culture second-year student Ellie Wadsworth‘s interest in social history was piqued through her investigation of the poor records at York Explore. 

I completed my placement for History, Community and Culture at the York Explore Library and Archives. At York Explore I was indexing documents from the Poor Law Union archives. I completed three documents across the period that I spent there which dated up until; September 1873, December 1873, and March 1880.

I found this placement particularly interesting as it allowed me to connect with the history of York through the people who lived there and required poor relief. There is something intriguing in how people had lived their lives, and these archives are a clear window into exploring how and where people lived and what situation they were in.

Application and Report book PLU/3/1/1/85 from the York Explore archive collection.

The most harrowing entries were simply bodies that had been found, often of children, with no name and no known family (unknown at the time of the entry, it never became clear whether the families of these children had been found) and the relief they had been given was often funeral expenses or an investigation into their death. The body of a child was present in both the 1873 documents (PLU/3/1/1/85 and 86). As a social historian this inflicts a plethora of questions such as; who are these children, were their families found, were the investigations successful, and what was their situation previously?

My indexing work at the archives will be used by York Explore to promote these documents to the public and allow for easy access to the records’ information and hopefully allow people to research into their families, the places they lived and who lived in the area previously.

The entire placement project was intriguing, especially getting to know each scribes’ abbreviations, which was sometimes more difficult than others but common names such as Elizabeth (shortened to Elzth), Thomas (Thos), and George (Geo) became like second nature to understand and these abbreviations were present in all three of my volumes. It actually became strange to read the whole name. Unfortunately, all three of the scribes in my book had another similar quality, they were all ‘Lazy Scribes’, meaning that they never gave exact dates and sometimes didn’t write wives or children’s names.

Application and Report Book PLU/3/1/1/86 from the York Explore archive collection.

The support that I received from the Archives, especially the Head Archivist, Laura Yeoman, is what really made my placement project exceptional, no matter what support I needed help with Laura was always accommodating and happy to look over my excel file in order  to help me with any discrepancies I had encountered. This project allowed me to explore my interest into working in an archive and confirmed my desire to be a part of connecting people to history and historical documents.

Strange Sentencing and Social History in York’s Criminal Past

For Mitchell Coles, his project placement as part of the History, Community and Culture second-year module of indexing crime records at York Explore allowed a crucial insight into the changes in crime and punishment over the last two centuries. 

For my placement at York Explore, I was indexing records from the Calendar of Felons. These are documents, dating back to the 18^th and 19^th century, containing information about crimes that were committed in and around the York area as well as the court records and the sentences. I looked at documents from 1819-1941, and was to record information such as the names of the felons, where and when the felonies were committed and on when they were received by the court, I was also to write a brief description of the crimes. Then I looked at the Gaol (Jail) Delivery record for the same date to find what had happened to each person; from this I was to record the verdict of each crime and the sentences they received. The reason for doing this was to computerise, so that they will be accessible for longer and to more people.

Looking at these records was hugely interesting to me as I have been brought up with a father in the police. So, looking at these crime records reminded me of my childhood and crime stories. However, these were interesting for more than just that reason. It is hard to imagine what things were like two centuries ago, but these allow you to do that very easily. This allows you to get a better understanding of the judicial system and the community back then, which I personally really liked.

Furthermore, it is hard to imagine why certain decisions were made. For example, the sentences given for some crimes seem unreasonable whereas others are simply laughable: a woman murdered her new-born illegitimate child and was imprisoned for six weeks, another murderer could be fined just one shilling, whereas committing forgery could get you hanged. There seemed to be no one answer to a crime as a murderer could be given the sentence of a fine whereas another could be hanged or ‘transported beyond the seas for the rest of their natural life’. These made indexing these records interesting and entertaining at some points.

This placement also allowed me not just to get a glimpse into the work of an archivist or library worker but also work in general, as this was my first ever work experience. This has allowed me to learn valuable lessons about time management and motivation which, I will hopefully have learned from and will not make the same mistakes again. Overall, I enjoyed the placement and the experience of work.

Asking questions, gaining connections.

For Ash Everitt, a second-year History student on the History, Community and Culture module, exploring archival primary sources first-hand with York Explore was an unforgettable experience. 

For the placement portion of the module History, Community and Culture, I have been volunteering at York Explore Library and Archive, situated in the centre of York City Centre. While there are several projects going on at the Archive for our year, I am personally taking part in the indexing of individual records taken from the Poor Law Union application and report books.  Overall, it has been an enjoyable placement and I have very much appreciated the opportunity.

When I first started the placement, the person running it told us that when reading through the pages, you might find some fun stories and interesting things along the way. She was right; when I was indexing page after page, I found that was asking more and more questions as I was going. This was of course a good thing due to the fact that I felt myself gaining a better and better connection to the past while I was going.

Looking back now at that placement is over I can say that the whole experience was absolutely amazing and that I could not have asked for a more insightful experience into a sector. Even though it was only one aspect of what an Archivist does in their career, the experience, while it was quiet and helped me improve my focus, also helped me gain more skills that will be transferable to any career. Having the opportunity to actively help with indexing records that will be one day available to the general public gave me a sense of purpose that I do not believe would have appeared if I was at another place for placement. I feel that coming to York Explore Library and Archive was one of the best decisions I made for doing my Work Placement as I have learned not only about the social history of York, but I have been able to develop a greater connection to the past through all the stories, that really I do not believe I would have gained anywhere else.

I believe that I have learned a lot about myself, whether it be through the fact that I now know the proper procedures for looking at and studying key sources, but I also have gained and developed a lot of key skills that will help me with future placements, future careers and will help me in my day to day life during this degree. I am very grateful for the opportunity to take part in this placement and would happily recommend placements here to anyone who was doing the module or for more general volunteer work.

Stories of crime and transportation

As part of the History, Community and Culture module placement with York Explore, Jack Hallows found an interest in the penal transportation stories of Victorian York.

For my project placement, I worked with Explore York to index The Calendar of Felons Volume 1842-1851.  This role involved indexing records, so that they could be made more accessible to the public, through the library or even online. The most interesting part about the Calendar I think is the amount of those convicted that were transported to Australia and the story behind them. Although knowing about penal transportation I didn’t think of the quantity of those who went and how people ended up in this situation.

Penal Transportation during the period 1842-1852 was usually to Australia, specifically New South Wales, Tasmania or Western Australia. Being transported for seven, ten or even twenty years can provide reason enough to stay away from crime, although this might not be always possible. Those who are unlucky enough to get transported remained there even after their sentence was complete, unwilling or unable to get back to Britain. In 1837, this was causing concern, with some suggesting that the colony will inevitably be reduced to unbridled crime and law-less anarchy, resulting in its violent separation from the empire. 

This hostility from the colony looks possible when you look at some of the crimes people were transported for. John Brown, guilty of stealing one cow, was transported for ten years. Even a similar case could receive varying sentences, Thomas Gledhall, who stole one ewe (sheep), and killed another ewe with intent to steal the carcass. Unlike John Brown, Thomas was imprisoned and kept on hard labour in the House of Correction, for four months. This variety in the punishments of convicts happens throughout the Calendar, no wonder people felt they had been cast aside and unfairly treated.

Transportation, although potentially devastating to someone’s life, was also, arguably, a great opportunity for those in poverty, to get a clean start. People desired transportation, to lift them from the poverty that they found themselves in England, and to be sent to a land of promise. Ironically places like New South Wales could be seen as places of equality, especially in the eyes of the law. After the convicts had completed their sentence, they walked free as equals in a land that they had helped to build during their incarceration. Compared with the stigma attached to criminals when they were released in Britain, the opportunities would have been greater in Australia. Those who were first sent to New South Wales found better job opportunities as the Australian state grew. The rich diversity of people being sent as convicts and free settler migration meant that places like New South Wales had a perfect mix of people to make the colony thrive.

 

Past Caring: The Poorest of York’s Past

In the latest of our History, Community and Culture module student blog posts, Niamh Quinn discusses the emotional social history research she’s been conducting as part of the York Explore Past Caring project. 

For my placement project, I worked in the archives of York Explore, documenting poor relief volumes from the 19^th century. Their aim is to digitalise these volumes, making the more accessible to the public and hopefully allowing for people to be able to find family members.

There were many reasons for people to have to apply for poor relief in the nineteenth century including disability, destitution and disease. The Poor Law Union was the main source of welfare for families and individuals who were in poverty. Welfare was distributed in many ways, through money, clothes, and medical assistance in the nineteenth century before the introduction of the NHS. However, in some cases, the workhouse was all the Union could offer as relief from poverty.

These records cover a great span of time, providing us with economic, social and public health history of the people living in York at the time. This gives us greater insight than ever into the lives of the citizens of York. Understanding the situations some of these people were in while applying for relief was extremely fascinating to me. Several of the people applying for relief were women in labour, which was shocking to me that they would have to come and apply for relief, however, as there was no NHS in place at the time my volume was written in 1875, some of these women could not afford to pay for a midwife and had no other option.

Another area that shocked me was the high quantity of recordings of children being deserted by parents at ages as young as four, and being sent to the workhouse by welfare officers. However, this was a time of great poverty in York, with overcrowding, unemployment and disease rife throughout the city. Considering these factors makes it easier to understand why there were so many orphans and deserted children.

In my volume there were a number of interesting cases, the most prominent one being the first entry I encountered, which recorded a man’s body being discovered in the river near Lendall Bridge, and as relief the Union paid for his funeral, as they never discovered who he was or his family. Most cases however were just families going through a rough patch financially, often down to illness or lack of work.

It is easy to often feel disconnected from the past, but these volumes remind us that those from the past were similar to us, going through struggles such as poverty just like us, and can help us reconnect with the city’s past.