Norah Gurney, 1957 |
Norah Gurney later became the second Director of the Institute, taking over after the retirement of Canon Purvis in 1963. Tragically she died of cancer aged only 52, in 1974. There have been in total four Borthwick Directors (although the title is now Keeper of Archives). It is notable how much continuity we have had between 1953 and today – all our ‘bosses’ served first under their predecessors – this is true of our conservators too.
The
exhibition reflects on development and change. Although the past couple of
decades – and particularly after our move in 2005 – have seen great changes,
there is an obvious continuity in our remit and in what we still think is
important.
Searchroom Office 1953 |
Canon Purvis with summer school students |
The
exhibition traces how distinguished academics quickly arrived in the early days
(the first visitors’ book is on display), and yet the first name recorded in
the visitors book – and very regularly thereafter - is that of “Mrs T” (as we
called her), a professional genealogist and a good friend to the Borthwick, regarded
with much affection by staff. The exhibition has some photos of her 80th
birthday party at the Borthwick.
We
have had quite a low key 60th birthday (though we had cake to celebrate the
anniversary of our opening day!) and this is partly because we had big
celebrations when we were 50, ten years ago, but also because this year there has
been a bigger celebration to mark the 50th birthday of the
University, and of course the Borthwick is part of that.
We
have been here on campus for eight years now, and only a few of the staff now
remember St Anthony’s Hall.
Moving from St Anthony's Hall, 2004 |
Current Borthwick building half-built |
And here is the new Borthwick half built.
You can see here the massive concrete shell of the strongroom block, on the right. We had 10 strongrooms in the old building, but these came in all shapes (usually small) and all sizes (usually inconvenient). The other day, three of us who remembered St Anthony’s Hall found ourselves perplexed in trying to remember where they all were – they were scattered all over the St Anthony’s Hall complex (as were the offices). We found there was even one strongroom (one of the less frequented ones) that we had quite forgotten!
Two
of us have memories of the Borthwick going back to 1980, and so in effect
remember nearly half of its lifespan. On the one hand it has been a bit
nostalgic to remember the past, but on the other it serves to show how
important it is to try and record, and carefully consider, our history. The
Borthwick really does have origins unique among archive offices.
I
hope as many as possible will come and see the exhibition. Find out why we are
called “Borthwick” (it has to do with William Borthwick of Bridlington, but in
fact he wasn’t personally involved at all!), why we changed our name in 2005 (have
people noticed?) and why our logo is a pig (clue – it is the connection with St
Anthony’s Hall). There are individual exhibition cases about the Borthwick’s
founding, about Canon Purvis our first Director, about St Anthony’s Hall and
why we had to move from there, about the Borthwick in the early days, about
conservation past and present, and about our activities over the years.
And
if you are interested in learning more about the Borthwick’s origins in
relation to the founding of the University of York, come along to the 50th
Anniversary Public Lecture at 6pm, Bowland Auditorium, Berrick Saul Building,
on 18 November. The lecture is: “In York the opportunity waits, and all historybeckons”: the story behind the founding of the University, 1946-1963.
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