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Archive collectionsGeneral summaryThe Archives may be divided for convenience into the "official" records of the Royal Botanic Gardens and its work, and "private" papers, which are not related specifically to Kew. The three largest sections of the official Archives are:
From 1928, a system of registered files was in use, which continues to this day. There are also many other collections of papers that are official in nature, ranging from correspondence on the day-to-day running of the gardens to the personal scientific papers and plant collecting notebooks of former staff members. The Archives also contain many collections of private papers of botanists, gardeners, and others, including Sir Joseph Banks, Richard Spruce, William Burchell, George Bentham, and Frank Kingdon-Ward. We also have a large collection of private papers of both Sir William and Sir Joseph Hooker. The most complete published summary of the Archives holdings at Kew may be found in Natural history manuscript resources in the British Isles, ed. G.D.R. Bridson et al. London : Mansell ; New York : R. R. Bowker Co., 1980. Please note that the online
library catalogue does not contain records for material in the Archives.
Family History ResearchThe Archives hold records of past employees and apprentices at Kew. Unfortunately, the records for the Royal period (pre-1841) have not survived. Our staff records therefore start in 1841 and apprenticeship/ student records in 1902. If you think your ancestor worked or trained at Kew, please supply us with his/her full name and also the approximate date he or she would have been at Kew and a brief search can be made on your behalf. Please note that as our records are arranged in date order, dates of employment are vital even if only a rough estimate. Finding aidsThe Archives have been catalogued in many different ways over the years. The chief finding aid is the card index kept in the Archives Room, which covers the main collections up to about 1928. This is supplemented by a number of typewritten and word-processed handlists to certain collections, and also smaller card indexes. Please contact us if you would like us to check our finding aids on your behalf. Our most important collections are being gradually catalogued following an internationally recognised standard of archival description. These records are available via the National Archives online catalogue PROCAT. Lists are available for the papers of plant collector Frank Kingdon-Ward and the artist Marianne North, to be followed by Sir Joseph Banks, Richard Spruce and Sir Joseph Hooker, amongst others. Research GuidesTo help with your research, we are creating some Research Guides based on certain popular topics in the Archives. These include background information on collections or specific documents grouped by subject.
Other topics to follow include a Guide to Illustrations held in the Archives and a Guide to Sources on the History of Gardeners and the History of Women at Kew, amongst others. New accessionsWe often receive new material for the Archives. In 2000 we were given the travel diaries of the plant collector Frank Kingdon-Ward. In 2005, we were given the records of the Tree Register, consisting of notebooks and index cards recording ancient and rare trees in gardens throughout the country, from the 1900s to the 1990s. In April 2007, we received from a private donor a botanical notebook and a sketchbook taken during lectures, press cuttings, a plan of the vegetables and fruits grown in the Gardens during the Second World War and photographs; these are from Rosalie Periam who was a Lady Gardener here at Kew from 1947 to 1951. We are always glad to receive donations of archival items relating to the Royal Botanic Gardens, its staff and students, or the history of botany. If you would like to make a donation, please contact the archivist at archives@kew.org. Please note that we are only able to accept items that fall within our acquisition policy. | ||