[This document can be acquired from a sub-directory coombspapers via anonymous FTP or COOMBSQUEST gopher at the Australian National University, Canberra on the node COOMBS.ANU.EDU.AU or from the ANU Soc.Sci.WWW Server at http://coombs.anu.edu.au/CoombsHome.html] The document's ftp filename and the full directory path are given in the coombspapers top level INDEX files] [This version: 3 June 1994] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- UK NATIONAL REGISTER OF ARCHIVES - information leaflets ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL REGISTER OF ARCHIVES information sheet no 5 sources for business history ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This information sheet describes briefly the unpublished sources noted in the National Register of Archives (NRA), the principal specialist repositories that may be contacted and the most useful general works of reference. Among the other subjects to be covered in this series are women's history, social reform and maritime history. 1. NRA INDEXES All three indexes contain information of interest to business historians. The numerical NRA references are to lists received by the NRA from libraries, record offices and other sources which may be consulted in the NRA's public search room. Business index Contains references to the records of businesses and commercial enterprises of all sorts. A search can be conducted for a particular firm by its name. Alternatively, business records from a particular sector of the economy can be selected by means of codes based on the Standard Industrial Classification. (A list of business codes and a vocabulary list are available on line.) Searches can be refined further to take account of the geographical location of a business or the historical period in which it was active. Personal index Indexes the papers of individuals who can be traced in standard works of reference like the Dictionary of National Biography, Who's Who, Frederic Boase, Modern English Biography and specialist works of reference such as the Dictionary of Business Biography and the Dictionary of Scottish Business Biography. The index is designed to notice only groups of ten or more items of correspondence; to trace smaller quantities will normally require personal search of likely NRA reports. A database of papers of individuals not easily traced in reference works is in preparation. Subject index This index is arranged archivally rather than thematically, comprising references to the institutions which generate records rather than the places and events to which the records relate. It may be trawled by any word in an institution's title, type, by its location, period of operation or any combination of these. As with the Business Index, all entries are assigned a code (a list of which may be consulted on line). For example, code 32 covers trade and employers associations, code 33 professional bodies, and code 34 guilds. The historian of management and industrial relations should search under code 28.22 for the records of ship stewards and works committees. The Subject Index also contains references to state-sponsored bodies that will be of interest to business historians (such as Joint Industrial Councils) and to public records that are locally held (such as many of the records of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen). 2. SPECIALIST REPOSITORIES The following repositories hold major collections relating to business history. Each repository has its own numerical location code. This can be used on the register screen to identify lists received from the repository by the NRA and on the repositories file to check opening times and other essential information. This list does not include record repositories that collect material relating mainly to businesses in their locality. The city record offices in the historic industrial areas of Britain can usually boast rich holdings relating to local trades. Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, London EC2P 2EJ (location code 76) Holds collections relating to the commerce of the City of London and London-based companies. Glasgow University Archives and Business Record Centre, The University, Glasgow G12 8QQ (location code 248) The principal centre for business records in Scotland, with particularly strong holdings for industry in the West of Scotland. Greater Manchester Museum of Science and Industry, Library and Record Centre, Liverpool Road, Castlefield, Manchester N3 4JP (location code 422) A centre for the records of business in the North West. The engineering trades are particularly well covered. National Maritime Museum, Manuscripts Section, Greenwich, London SE10 9NF (location code 64) Holds the records of numerous shipping and shipbuilding companies. See RJB Knight, Guide to the manuscripts of the National Maritime Museum, Volume 2: Public Records, Business Records and Artificial Collections (1980). National Railway Museum, Library and Archive, Leeman Road, York YO2 4XJ (location code 756) Specialises in the technical records of locomotive manufacturers and railway companies. Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London WC PLR and Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond TW9 4DU (location codes 65 and 66) The PRO also holds business records from several sectors of the economy which were nationalised in the mid twentieth century. The predecessor companies of British Rail and other parts of the transport network are particularly strongly represented. Canal, dock, harbour, navigation and steamship company records are described in British Transport Commission Historical Records (List & Index Society, volume 142, 1977). The records of many businesses in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were submitted as exhibits in cases heard in the courts of equity and never reclaimed. Certain of these records, classes C103-C114, are listed in Chancery Masters' Exhibits, Part One and Part Two (List & Index Society, volumes 13 and 14, 1966). Further such records are to be found in class J90, for which there is a full catalogue. Companies Registration Office files of dissolved companies are held in classes BT31 and BT41, though these have been weeded more extensively than their Scottish counterparts. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY (location 255) PRONI holds extensive business collections. It also holds details of dissolved companies which were registered in Northern Ireland in class COM 40. See also The Ulster textile industry: a catalogue of business records in PRONI relating principally to the linen industry in Ulster (Belfast, 1978). Rural History Centre, University of Reading, PO Box 229, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 2AG (location code 7) The Centre collects the records of farms, agricultural engineers and ancillary industries on a national basis. See the Guide to the Institute of Agricultural History and Museum of English Rural Life (University of Reading, 1982). Scottish Record Office, HM Register Office, Edinburgh EH1 3YY (location 234) Like PRONI in Northern Ireland, the Scottish Record Office holds a wide range of business records. Also, like the Public Record Office, it holds a variety of business records that were produced in evidence in civil actions and not reclaimed. For the latter see Scottish Record Office Court of Session Productions c1760-1840 (List & Index Society, special series volume 23, 1987). In addition, the SRO holds the records of dissolved companies which were registered in Scotland in its class BT2. University College London, Manuscripts Room, The Library, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT (location code 103) Specialises in the records of companies that traded in or with Latin America. See Peter Walne, A Guide to Manuscript Sources for the History of Latin America and the Caribbean in the British Isles (1973). Victoria & Albert Museum, Archive of Art and Design, 23 Blythe Road, London W14 0QF (location code 73) Holds the archives of many firms engaged in the manufacture and sale of furniture, textiles, precious metal wares and other areas in which design plays a prominent role. Warwick University Modern Records Centre, University Library, Coventry CV4 7AL (location code 152) Specialises in collections relating to the history of industrial relations. Accordingly, the MRC holds the records of numerous employers' and trade associations, including the Confederation of British Industry. Motor manufacture and related industries form another primary collecting area. See Richard Storey and Alistair Tough, Consolidated Guide to the Modern Records Centre (1986) and Richard Storey, Alistair Tough and Christine Woodland, Supplement to the Consolidated Guide ... (1992). 3. OTHER USEFUL ADDRESSES The addresses of businesses that maintain their own archives are given in Lesley Richmond & Alison Turton (eds.), Directory of corporate archives (Business Archives Council, 3rd ed., 1992). The British Library Business Information Service, 25 Southampton Buildings, London WC2A 1AW offers a charged service for business information researched by its own staff. Its facilities are otherwise available without charge and include a comprehensive range of directories. Microfiche indexes to statutory information submitted to Companies House, giving details including date of incorporation, registered number and the address of companies, are available here. McCarthy cards, current press cuttings relating to particular companies, are also a useful source. Earlier McCarthy information from c1970 onwards was held on microfiche and is now available on CD-ROM. This is a particularly good source for recent company history. The Business Archives Council, The Clove Building, 4 Maguire Street, Butlers Wharf, London SE1 2NQ promotes the preservation of business records, conducts surveys of records and issues guidance to businesses on the management of their records. Its counterpart in Scotland, the Business Archives Council of Scotland is based at Glasgow University Archives and Business Records Centre, 13 Thurso Street, Glasgow G11 6PE. Companies House, Crown Way, Cardiff CF4 3UZ holds information concerning live companies registered in England and Wales and brief details concerning dissolved ones. Enquiries can be made either by post or by personal visit to the search room there. Archive searches conducted in response to written requests currently cost 15 per company. References to assist in tracing statutory documents deposited in the Public Record Office are also available from Companies House. It is important to know the exact legal name of the company concerned. Indexes are arranged so that JG Kincaid & Co Ltd is alphabetised under J rather than K. There is also a London Search Room, 55-71 City Road, London EC1Y 1BB where information can be obtained and microfiched copies of statutory documents can be ordered. The same information for companies registered in Scotland is held by Companies House (Scotland), 100-102 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 3DJ. For information concerning companies registered in Northern Ireland you should contact the Companies Registration Office, IDB House, Chichester St, Belfast BT1 4JX. Files relating to dissolved companies have been transferred to respectively the Public Record Office, Scottish Record Office and Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (see above). The National Sound Archive, 29 Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AS holds a growing collection of oral history records of participants in a variety of industries, most recently steel and financial services. See Lali Weershinge (ed), The directory of recorded sound resources in the United Kingdom (British Library Board, 1989). 4. SURVEYS AND WORKS OF REFERENCE HAL Cockerell & Edwin Green, The British insurance business 1547-1970 (1976). CRH Cooper, 'The archives of the City of London Livery Companies and related organisations', Archives, 72 (1984). JA Edwards, Historical farm records: a summary guide to manuscripts and other material in the University Library (Reading, 1973). Francis Goodall, Bibliography of British business histories (Aldershot, 1987) Jennifer Green, Philip Ollerenshaw & Peter Wardley, Business in Avon and Somerset: a survey of archives (Bristol, 1991). Historical Manuscripts Commission, Records of British business and industry 1760-1914: textiles and leather (HMSO, 1990). Patricia Hudson, The West Riding wool textile industry: a catalogue of business records from the sixteenth to the twentieth century (Edington, 1975). DJ Jeremy (ed.), Dictionary of business biography (5 vols., 1984-86). Charles A Jones, Britain and the Dominions: a guide to business and related records in the United Kingdom concerning Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa (Boston, Mass., 1978). RJB Knight, Guide to the manuscripts of the National Maritime Museum, Volume 2: public records, business records and artificial collections (1980). Angela Mace, The Royal Institute of British Architects: a guide to its archive and history (1986). Peter Mathias and AWH Pearsall, Shipping: a survey of historical records (Newton Abbot, 1971). Peter JT Morris, Colin A Russell & John Graham Smith, Archives of the British chemical industry 1750-1914: a handlist (Faringdon, 1988). John Orbell, A Guide to Tracing the History of a Business (Aldershot, 1987). LS Pressnell & John Orbell, Guide to the historical records of British banking (Aldershot, 1985). Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, The Ulster textile industry: a catalogue of business records in PRONI relating principally to the linen industry in Ulster (Belfast, 1978). Lesley Richmond & Alison Turton, The brewing industry: a guide to historical records (Manchester, 1990). Lesley Richmond & Bridget Stockford, Company archives: a survey of the records of 1000 of the first registered companies in England and Wales (Aldershot, 1986). LA Ritchie, The shipbuilding industry: a guide to historical records (Manchester, 1992). Anthony Slaven & Sydney Checkland (eds.), Dictionary of Scottish business biography 1860-1960 (2 vols., Aberdeen, 1986-90). 5. PUBLISHED INFORMATION ABOUT COMPANIES There are a number of publications, mainly produced annually, giving details of UK companies of which the following have been selected as being the most useful. The large number of yearbooks relating to single industries have been omitted: The Stock Exchange Official Year-Book. Published annually since 1876 this deals with publicly quoted companies and gives an outline of their history and functions, though the details tend to be concise and formal. Register of Defunct and Other Companies. Published annually this was a cumulative publication dealing with those companies removed from The Stock Exchange Official Year-Book. It gives only the barest details such as dates of registration and liquidation. The last year in which the company was listed is given. No separate issue of this publication has appeared since 1980 and the Register is now published as a supplement to The Stock Exchange Official Year-Book. Macmillan's Unquoted Companies. Provides basic details and financial profiles of Britain's top 20,000 unquoted companies. Kelly's Business Directory. The best single volume business directory with coverage of over 82,000 businesses. Published annually. The Commission holds 1993's edition. Key British Enterprises. This gives details of Britain's top 50,000 companies. Published annually. Who Owns Whom. United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. This is useful for linking subsidiaries to their parent companies, it includes many dormant companies. The Red Book of Commerce or Who's Who in Business. No longer published, the Red Book appeared between 1906 and 1939. It differed considerably from all other such reference works in that the entries were not standardised and descriptions were often more vivid and informative than in other directories. Coverage of companies changed between issues and it is worth looking at different editions for a particular company. Please note: the NRA is very much dependent on the archivists and researchers who voluntarily contribute to it lists and other forms of information. If you know of any library or archive, group of papers, survey or finding aid of which we appear to be unaware, please do let us know in writing so that this information can be made available to others. Enquiries about any matter relating to manuscript sources can be directed to the Historical Manuscripts Commission, Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP. The public search room is open 9-30 to 5-00, Monday to Friday, and no appointment is necessary. Limited enquiries can be dealt with by post or e-mail (sargent@uk.ac.ulcc.clus1). February 1994 (2nd revision) (c) The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts 1994. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- end of file