Home of Swansea University’s Archive Collections
Our Archives Assistant Steph Basford-Morris follows the trail of the Explore Your Archive theme this month – #ArchiveMystery – leading her to discover links with pioneering ITV mystery drama! The starting point for this mystery trail was the papers of Elaine Morgan, part of the Richard Burton Archives’ Welsh Writers in English collection. It includes…Continue Reading It’s A Mystery!
Lifelogging and bloggers who record their daily events are not just a twenty-first century phenomena. Archives Assistant Sarah Thompson explores examples from our Archive collections to look at ways in which people have been recording their daily life throughout the centuries. One of the earliest examples of daily life in the local area was discovered…Continue Reading Daily Life Records in the Archives
Music played an important part of cultural and community life in the South Wales Coalfield. Brass bands, choirs, jazz bands and operatic societies were formed to raise money and spirits. Talents were showcased at local or National Eisteddfodau and miners’ galas. Choirs and Operatic Societies Jazz bands Brass and silver bands Eisteddfodau and Galas…Continue Reading The land of song- music in the South Wales Coalfield
We hold a number of letters patent and patent specifications in our collections, but knew very little about them, or the innovations they might reveal. Do they hold much research potential? Surely they would only contain minimal details, to protect from imitations? We did some digging to find out more… Very basically, a patent gives…Continue Reading Investigating innovation
Since 2018, the historic Mumbles Pier has been undergoing a £3.2 million refurbishment including an upgraded pavilion, boardwalk extending out into the water, and plans to convert the former lifeboat house into a restaurant and visitor centre. Archives in the South Wales Transport Collection show that it’s not the first time the Victorian Pier has…Continue Reading Disputes & Dancing – Mumbles Railway & Pier
Guest post by Aleksandra Ferek, a first-year student at Swansea University, studying English Literature with Creative Writing. She joined us on a Swansea Employability Academy placement, and was tasked with looking through the private journals of Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn (1814-1892). When I was younger, I used to write diaries. I needed…Continue Reading Diaries and Daily Life
For this month’s #ExploreYourArchive theme, ‘Business & Manufacturing’, we’re looking at advertisements in the student newspaper collection, and take a journey back in time to explore local businesses in Swansea. In the earliest student newspapers from the 1920s there are adverts for R.E. Jones Ltd. This catering company had been set up by Richard Edwin…Continue Reading Back in Time For Business
…the future is rather uncertain. Directors of Old Castle Tinplate Company, 1915 The Old Castle Iron and Tinplate Company Limited (later to be known as the Old Castle Tinplate Company) was formed in 1866. The company records (Ref. LAC/87) tell the story of the business, one of a number of tinplate works in the Llanelli…Continue Reading World War One in the archives of Old Castle Tinplate Company
Emerging in the 1960s, the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) brought together women, who were living during a time of rapid social and cultural change. These changes made them question the conditions of their lives, their roles at work and their relationships. To mark International Women’s Day on the 8th March, this blog explores the impact…Continue Reading Pushing Boundaries- women at Swansea University who chose to challenge
We hold the records of many local businesses, which often had national or international impact. These collections are often over-looked and under-used as research sources. Here are our top five reasons to look past that indecipherable double entry book-keeping and give business archives a chance- 1. They’re not just for economic or business historians. It’s…Continue Reading A wealth of information! Using business archives as primary sources