Archives

DEPOSITING YORKSHIRE QUAKER ARCHIVES WITH LEEDS UNIVERSITY LIBRARY (November 2024)

Introduction: The Special Collections department of Leeds University Library is the main repository for Yorkshire Quaker archives and by far the largest. In two collections, informally referred to as ‘Carlton Hill’ and ‘Clifford Street’ (from the meeting houses in Leeds and York in which they were originally stored), the archives contain documents relating to Yorkshire Quakerism from the 1650s to the 21st century.

Geographically the archives held in Leeds cover the areas broadly represented by the present-day Brighouse, Craven and Keighley, Leeds, and York Area Meetings, and also present are the complete archives of Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting (the former overall administrative body for Yorkshire Quakers), of which Quakers in Yorkshire is the present-day descendant. For further information, see

https://library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections/collection/718/quaker_collections.

This website page provides summary guidelines for clerks with custody of archival material no longer in current use. Please note

(a) that legal ownership of any material deposited with Leeds University Library remains with the Meeting that created it, and

(b) that the library knows not to allow the consultation or copying of any material less than fifty years old without written permission from one of the appointed custodians, for reasons of data protection. Meeting clerks needing to consult such material will of course be granted permission on request.

Management of the archives: While Library staff are responsible for answering routine enquiries, for fetching material for visitors, and for conservation work, three custodians appointed by Quakers in Yorkshire oversee the archives, advise on policy, and take decisions regarding additions. The names and contact details of the current custodians will be found at the front of the current Book of Members and Attenders published triennially by Quakers in Yorkshire, but may be obtained also from the clerks of Quakers in Yorkshire.

How to deposit: please contact one of the custodians. If you subsequently need to contact the library directly (e.g. to arrange the practicalities of deposit, once the principle has been agreed), please telephone the general Special Collections number, 0113 3435518.

What to deposit: the main purpose of depositing archives in Leeds University Library is to provide a secure and permanent home for documents likely to be of interest to future historians and researchers, or that present-day clerks or other office-holders may need to consult. The main categories of material held are formal minutes, whether of area meetings, local meetings, or committees; financial, property, and membership-related documents; consultation papers, reports, and formal agreements; papers relating to large-scale projects, e.g. building refurbishment; testimonies and state of the meeting reports; significant correspondence; and papers relating to particular noteworthy events.

What not to deposit: categories of material unlikely to be of future interest include lower-level financial papers (e.g. bank statements, old cheque books, rough calculations, individuals’ responses to fund-raising); insurance documents, and routine correspondence with tradesmen or other suppliers; documents likely to be held elsewhere (e.g. there is normally no need for a local meeting to deposit area meeting material); and publications or documents sent out by Friends House, unless followed up by a meeting.

When to deposit: broadly, when material is no longer regularly referred to by clerks, convenors of committees, or other members of the meeting. For many meetings, five years may be a reasonable cut-off point.

What to do before deposit: it would naturally help the custodians and library staff if material to be deposited has some kind of internal arrangement (e.g. chronological or alphabetical) and if duplicated or irrelevant material has been removed. Please also consider providing a list of the items being deposited. Now that bound minute books have been superseded by word-processed records, please do what you can to ensure that pages are numbered. Material still held in ring binders, lever-arch files, etc. may be submitted, but after accession their contents, like all deposited material, will be held instead in conservation-standard folders and boxes.

Documents in electronic format: Leeds University Library is now able to accept, store, and catalogue documents in electronic format (Word or PDF), and the custodians’ expectation, agreed with the Library, is that any material created later than 2020 will normally be accepted only if in electronic form. As with paper documents, such documents will be subject to the fifty-year rule regarding consultation noted above, again with exceptions for Meeting Clerks. As also with paper documents, please contact one of the custodians regarding the deposit of digital files. Following agreement, the method of transfer (to a custodian, not the library) would normally be either via email attachment or on a USB memory stick.

APPENDIX: SAFEGUARDING ARCHIVAL MATERIAL BEFORE DEPOSIT

For detailed guidance on the creation and care of documents while they remain in the custody of a Meeting, see the Friends House Library web pages devoted to the work of records custodians (Records custodians and librarians | Quakers in Britain).This guidance recommends that minutes, in particular, should be printed on acid-free paper, but it is understood that meetings may find this difficult to achieve in practice. The most important thing is that documents are kept safely and in good order, and are deposited in timely fashion, especally if there is any danger to their well-being. Some major points:

  • The place of storage should obviously be watertight, and free from damp and dust

  • Ideally it should also be cool, with low relative humidity

  • Light levels should be as low as possible, to reduce the risk of fading

  • Avoid storing documents against an outside wall or on the floor, in case of damp

  • If possible, store all material within archive-quality, i.e. acid-free, boxes

  • If possible, store large documents flat and unfolded

  • Label boxes clearly, but not with post-it notes, which can easily get detached

  • If actual documents need to be marked, use a soft pencil

  • Avoid the use of metal staples or of paper clips other than those made of brass

  • Do not use sellotape or similar, which can quickly discolour documents.

APPENDIX 2:  Other Quaker Archives in Yorkshire

The archives of the present-day Central Yorkshire, Pickering and Hull, and Sheffield and Balby Area Meetings,  are stored on a long-term basis as follows:

  • Central Yorkshire Area Meeting by the West Yorkshire Archive Service in
    Wakefield
  • Pickering and Hull Area Meeting in the Hull History Centre
  • Sheffield and Balby Area Meeting in Sheffield City Archives (Sheffield) and Doncaster Archives (Balby)