Borthwick Institute for Archives

Photograph of daffodils growing on campus.

March is here at last so it's time for a brand new Borthwick Newsletter. This month we've got four new finding aids for your perusal, some Borthwick historical lore, and an insight into the 'rocky' beginnings of the Rowntree confectionery company...

www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/ne...

If you are struggling with Charlotte's handwriting you can find a transcript in the alt text. The full letter can be read here on our website: tinyurl.com/349kyac

Photograph of a handwritten page from a letter. The text reads: 'she did a year ago. She defended her own opinions quite as obstinately as any Wife I ever heard, and seems no longer afraid of him which is a great relief to the sitters-by ― They were talking of Shirley and it’s Author― Mr Foster of the Examiner told Thackeray yesterday that there was no doubt it is written by a Miss Brodie or some name like that (Mrs Brookfield stupidly forgot it) a Scotchwoman ― there were originally three Sisters, each of whom wrote; and two died, the third still goes on. The other two I should think must be but just dead for Wuthering Heights was after Jane Eyer, I think ― '

Photograph of a handwritten page from a letter, the text states: 'Whether this is one more of the numerous lies about these mysterious Bells remains doubtful but Mr Foster spoke as if he knew.'

With the Brontës back in the news, it seems an excellent time to share this 1849 letter by the diarist Charlotte Williams Wynn to her friend Annabel Crewe, speculating on the identity of the 'mysterious Bells', or is that the 'Brodie' sisters of Scotland?? Taken from our Milnes Coates Archive.

**CORRECTION** Society members hard at work onsite today would like it known they will give ANY family history enquiries a go, not just York and district. You heard it here, folks 😍

www.yorkfamilyhistory.org.uk/contact-us/

This is an amazing resource for anyone working on their York family history, and we're pleased to say the Society is running a second weekly drop in session here at the Borthwick on the main university campus, every Friday from 10am-4pm for all your local history needs 😊 @balhnews.bsky.social

Mock up of an advertisement from 1938-1939 showing an attractive woman smiling and holding out a box of Terry's chocolates. Above her head is a poem in which the first letter of every line spells out the word TERRYS To you, my dear, this gift I send Expressing love that knows no end. Read in each one a Cupid's dart; Remember that each treasured part Yields up from this fond heart of mine Sweet thoughts of you, my Valentine

Chocolates AND a poem? This 1930s Terry's advert sets a high standard for #ValentinesDay

To you, my dear, this gift I send
Expressing love that knows no end.
Read in each one a Cupid's dart;
Remember that each treasured part
Yields up from this fond heart of mine
Sweet thoughts of you, my Valentine

Thank you for the user review! @gbrannanarchive.bsky.social also pointed out that the caddy for shampoo was actually very small, which was disappointing :(

Advertisement for Redring Shower Caddy showing an electric shower fixed to a shower wall with controls and 2 small shelves for shampoos and soap. At the bottom of the advert is the slogan 'A Shower Powerfully good idea'

Another day, another slightly baffling vintage advert from the archives ('a showerfully good idea' was right there!)

Photograph showing front cover of Care Bears magazine and Muppet Babies magazine, both dated 1987. The Muppet Babies are on a Viking longboat with the caption 'Wowee We're on a Viking voyage!'

And last, but certainly not least, we were excited to discover a pair of vintage magazines from 1987 in a completely unrelated archive. Presumably the Muppet Babies were on their way to Jorvik, aka York, for some very mild (and possibly cute) pillaging.

We also experienced the jump-scare of a faded Tellytubby preserved via haunted fax from 1999.

Keeper of Archives Gary Brannan holding up a pair of paper underpants.

Now we've shared the official highlights of our Collections Development Week, it's time for the unofficial ones, starting with the moment Keeper of Archives Gary Brannan found a (pristine) pair of paper underpants in one of our recent additions.

Photograph showing four upright exhibition cases, all are empty.

Photograph showing only one upright exhibition case and marks on the floor showing the other three have been removed.

If you visit us in the coming weeks you may also notice that our exhibition space looks a little emptier - that's because a move is afoot. We are currently making a few changes to our public spaces - all will be revealed soon!

Photograph of records belonging to John R.T. Davies neatly arranged on archive shelving.

It's the end of our Collections Development Week and we've got through more than expected! We've reboxed and listed 2 archives & made progress on 2 more, all of our book pillows and weights are sparkling clean, & we've reshelved the vinyl collection of audio engineer and musician John R.T. Davies

Page from the Doctor Who Terror of the Zygons script by Robert Banks Stewart.

Various photographs of Terrance Dicks.

Collections Development Week, Day 4: As the searchroom team finish off our Robin Murray Archive, Keeper of Archives Gary Brannan has found time and space in his calendar to continue reboxing the Terrance Dicks Archive. Sadly jelly babies are prohibited in the strongroom.

A Fair Trade promotional image written in a yellow handwriting-style font, reading 'bringing the producers and consumers of the world together so that everyone gets a better deal'

A blue trolley with a mixture of archive boxes and bankers boxes

Collections Development Week, Day 3: we've been looking at the papers of economist Robin Murray, who was known for his pioneering work in cooperative economics and social innovation. The papers cover his work with Twin Trading, and involvement with the ethical brands Divine Chocolate and CafeDirect

Photograph of stamp with Hellvetia written on it and troll like creatures.

Photograph of 2 Australian stamps showing the Western Magpie and the Golden Shouldered Parrot.

As you might expect, there were also a lot of excellent stamps :)

Photograph of pen sketch in a Miles Kington letter, showing a person asleep and a person carrying a tray with wine bottles and glasses.

Kington was a prolific correspondent, and his archive contains thousands of letters from friends, colleagues and admirers - we spotted this fun doodle in one of them!

Photograph of large plastic box with a stack of letters and papers beside it, at least 6 inches high.

Day 2 of our Collections Development Week and we've been re-boxing letters from the archive of journalist, musician and broadcaster Miles Kington. He began his career at Punch magazine and later became famous for his 'Franglais' columns and books.

Photograph of page from a journal with drawings in orange, green, yellow and pink highlighter.

Handwritten page from a journal with a sketch of a cat, coloured with green highlighter pen.

As well as scripts for a whole host of radio, television, film and theatre projects, the archive includes a long run of private journals detailing Antrobus' personal and professional life - and containing some very colourful doodles!

Photograph of the searchroom with boxes on tables, ready for work.

It's day 1 of our Collections Development Week and we've begun by re-boxing of the archive of playwright and screenwriter John Antrobus. The archive came to us in 47 cardboard and plastic crates and is now in 87 acid-free archive boxes.

Photograph of a orange-red winter sunrise over Heslington and the University of York campus.

The 57 days of January are finally behind us, which means it's time for the first Borthwick Newsletter of 2026! This month we're bringing you not one, but TWO new entertainment archives, along with new podcasts and an exciting Steptoe & Son discovery...

www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/ne...

Close up of a highly decorative letter I, taken from a 16th century will.

From Monday 2nd - Friday 6th February, we will be closed for our annual Collections Development Week so we can catch up on some important behind-the-scenes tasks. Watch this space to find out what we get up to :)

This beautiful capital 'I' is taken from one of our 16th century probate registers.

It's a good job he's got that entire loaf of bread to fill the gaps XD

Advertisement showing a man seated at a table putting some cheese on a piece of bread, with an enormous wedge of cheese in front of him. Behind him his wife watches him and smiles. The caption reads: ‘The day’s catch landed - now… Home to a real man’s meal. Any meal becomes a real man’s meal when there’s a good hearty wedge of cheese on the table. Men love the taste of cheese - so clean, so savoury on the palate.’

When you find an incredible advertisement while cataloguing a mid-20th century archive but have no-one to show it to - and then #NationalCheeseLoversDay comes along...

Screencapture of the front page of the Yorkshire Historical Dictionary website, with the heading 'The Yorkshire Historical Dictionary is a collection of over 4000 words, tracking the development of regional language in Yorkshire'.

If you're tuned in to BBC Radio York you might catch some discussion of the Yorkshire Historical Dictionary project by former Project Archivist Alexandra Medcalf. Alex will be discussing Yorkshire place names at 12.15pm today!

You can find the dictionary here: yorkshiredictionary.york.ac.uk

Black and white image of an aisle in the strongroom showing boxes stacked on shelves on either side.

You can keep up with our latest news online: www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/ne...

Or why not have a listen to our podcasts...

Out of the Archive Box: open.spotify.com/show/1AErB13...

The Borthwick Papers: open.spotify.com/show/5fJ9KAS...

Photograph of the Borthwick Institute searchroom set up ready for researchers.

A hearty Yorkshire welcome to all of our new followers! If you've never had the joy of shivering in our searchroom before, we're a public archive based at the University of York and we look after records dating from the 12th century to the present day. www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/vi...

Early 19th century child's painting of a man skating on ice with the caption 'rather cold this morning. Frosty Weather'

None of us had to skate to work this morning, but otherwise this is an accurate description of York today!

The picture is taken from the scrapbook of young Laura Hannam, begun in 1819 and now part of the university's Rare Books collection.

A small card with a winter scene of a snow covered cabin, evergreen trees, mistletoe and a robin embroidered in coloured thread. A Happy Christmas is embroidered below the scene in blue.

A very Happy Christmas to those who celebrate from all of us at the Borthwick!

This festive card was sent by First World War soldier Herbert Williams to his sweetheart Eva Hill back home in Manchester and is taken from the recently catalogued Alfred Peacock Archive: borthcat.york.ac.uk/pea-1-23-23

And that's us done for the year! Thank you for all your enquiries and your visits over the past 12 months, we'll be back on the 5th January for all your archive needs 😊 In the meantime you can always drop us an email at the usual address: borthwick-institute@york.ac.uk