Introducing Archives: 1917 – A Letter from the Front
Student Pre-Visit Notes
Read these notes before the workshop.
Part 1: The Workshop
What’s the workshop about?
The aim of the workshop is to introduce you to archives and to the
process of using archives for research by studying a letter written
by a soldier in the First World War.
What will I be doing in the workshop?
You will be looking at letters from one of the library’s archives called Papers of Thomas Frederick
Tout (see below). We will ask you to focus on one letter in written in 1917 by Herbert Eckersley (see
below). This letter is the last in a sequence of twelve, written between August 1915 and October
1917, in the archive from Herbert to Professor Tout. Professor Tout’s side of the correspondence
has not survived.
Herbert’s final letter is seven pages long and dated 29 October 1917. The catalogue entry describes
its contents as “War: Labour Corps. France”. We will ask you to undertake a careful analytical
reading of this letter. This will involve analysing and interpreting its contents.
You will need to use your knowledge of the period to make sense of what Herbert tells Tout so you
it you may find it helpful to prepare for the workshop by reading a short overview of warfare on the
Western Front, if you are not familiar with this period of history.
What is the archive of the Papers of Thomas Frederic Tout?
Thomas Frederick Tout (1855-1929) was Professor of Medieval and Modern History at the
University of Manchester from 1890 to 1925. At this time history was still a young academic
discipline and Tout was influential in introducing a more innovative approach to history education,
making greater use of original sources and integrating teaching and research. This came to be seen
as a distinctive ‘Manchester school of history’.
Tout’s collections of personal and professional papers are held in the archive of The John Rylands
Library. They include correspondence from several students who, like Herbert Eckersley, undertook
military service or war-related work during the First World War.
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You can find out more about the Tout archive on the ELGAR, the library’s archive database, here:
http://archives.li.man.ac.uk/ead/ (and search ‘Tout’).
Who was Herbert Eckersley?
Herbert Eckersley was born in Bolton in 1895. He attended Bolton Municipal School up to the age
of eighteen. He was awarded ‘exhibitions’ (scholarships) that provided the finance to enable him to
study history at the University of Manchester. Poor eyesight prevented him from enrolling for
military service at the beginning of the First World War so he volunteered to serve with the Friends
Ambulance Unit on the Western Front. By 1917, as the criteria for military service were being
relaxed, he successfully applied to join the army. Following officer training he was assigned to the
Labour Corps. He was killed by shellfire on 15 November 1917.
Part 2 Archives
What’s an archive?
Here’s a definition from our website: “An archive is a body of documents (in any form or medium)
which were created or received, accumulated and used by an individual or institution during the
course of their daily activities and functions, and which have been preserved for their continuing
value.” Some points to highlight about this definition are:
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Archives have generally been accumulated naturally through the activity of their creator (for
instance an individual’s or organisation’s documents that have been amassed over a period
of time).
The component parts of an archive are usually inter-related, so individual documents give
meaning from their context in the archive.
The documents (and the overall archive) are often unique.
Items in an archive are considered to be worth preserving because they’re considered to
have seen some historical or evidential value.
Archives might not contain just paper documents: they can contain all sorts of media.
Additionally specialist archives (such as photographic, film, audio) also exist.
Archives aren’t necessarily old – modern materials including, increasingly, digital files are
being accumulated.
Archives aren’t just held in heritage institutions like libraries, museums and galleries. Lots of
organisations and individuals accumulate archives. These include government agencies, local
authorities, universities, hospitals, businesses, charities, professional organisations, families and
individuals.
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What does an archivist do?
The main responsibilities of an archivist are to:
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Collect and appraise archives to establish their historical value.
Arrange and document (e.g. catalogue) archives.
Manage and preserve the archive for the future.
Make archives accessible to researchers and assist with enquiries made by researchers on
the material held in archive collections.
Promote archives (e.g. publicity, exhibitions)
How do you get to be an archivist?
After completing a first degree you need to do a post-graduate course. See the website of The
Archives and Records Association for more information: http://www.archives.org.uk/.
What other archives does the library have?
The Library holds several hundred archives of companies, business associations, trade unions,
charities, social organizations and religious institutions, as well as landed families and individuals.
Material in the archives dates from medieval times to the present and covers a wide range of fields.
Some especially important areas contained in the library’s archives are:
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Literature in English from the Eighteenth Century to the present, including an internationally
significant body of modern literary archives.
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Protestant nonconformist history, notably of Methodism.
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The University of Manchester as an institution, its predecessor bodies and numerous
academics who have been associated with the University.
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The history of science, technology and medicine.
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The social, political, economic and industrial history of Britain.
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Landed estates in the North West of England, notably family muniment collections from
Cheshire. (A muniment is a legal document proving ownership of property.)
If you want to find out more start with the Special Collections section on the Library’s website:
http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/
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How do people find out what’s in an archive?
The Archives Hub is the gateway to many of the UK’s archives: http://archiveshub.ac.uk/
You can also go directly to the Library’s catalogue of its archive which is called ELGAR (Electronic
Gateway to Archives at the Rylands) - http://archives.li.man.ac.uk/ead/
How is an archives catalogue organised?
Archives catalogues are organised in a hierarchal structure. The diagram below shows a basic
catalogue structure. An archivist may choose to use as many series and sub series levels as are
required. Levels can be removed if they’re not necessary. Fonds is another name for an archive
collection. It’s the highest level of the catalogue description.
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