The British Records Association, widely known as the B.R.A., is a British learned society founded in 1932 concerned with historic records and archives. It issues a journal, Archives, and other publications; hosts conferences and seminars; and undertakes other activities to promote the care and preservation of archives and the interests of archive users at a national level. Membership is open to all, and the Association (in contrast to exclusively scholarly bodies, and exclusively professional bodies) therefore plays a particular role as a forum which brings together owners of archives, documentary scholars, archivists and librarians, and institutions and societies concerned with archives.
By custom, the President of the Association is the Master of the Rolls of the day: the post is therefore currently held by Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury.
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The Association was formally founded in 1932, but it took over the Records Preservation Section established three years earlier in 1929 by the British Record Society (see below). The similarity of name between the two bodies was a deliberate choice, made in order to emphasise continuity.[1]
The formation of the new Association - and its not entirely amicable split from the BRS - was largely the initiative of (Sir) Hilary Jenkinson.[2][3] He remained the BRA's guiding force for nearly 30 years. From 1930-32 he had served as Secretary of the Drafting Committee which established the Association; and he subsequently served as its Joint Honorary Secretary 1932-47; Chairman of the Records Preservation Section 1947-61; Vice-President of the Association 1954-61; and as a member of most of its committees.[4] Other active members in the early years included Joan Wake, Irene Churchill, Kathleen Major, William Le Hardy, and H.M. Cashmore.
Prior to the establishment of the Society of Local Archivists in 1947, the BRA was the closest that Britain had to a professional association for archivists, and it played a central role in laying down professional standards and principles, and in promoting the establishment of professionally-staffed local archive services in the post-War years.[5][6]
During the Second World War, when the British government salvage campaign to encourage the recycling of waste paper, the BRA ran a vigorous counter-campaign to safeguard against the over-enthusiastic destruction of records of historical value.[7][8] In 1943, it produced a report on "British Records after the War", which proposed legislation to control local and private archives. Although most of these proposals proved to be too draconian for general acceptance, they did lead to the establishment of the National Register of Archives in 1944.[9][10]
From 1976 to 1992, the BRA's administrative secretary was the former Soviet spy John Vassall, who, following his release from prison, had begun a new life under the name John Phillips.
The Association has published a journal, Archives, twice-yearly since 1949. It is peer-reviewed, and contains a range of articles relating to the history, preservation, accessibility and use of archives, and historical case-studies drawing heavily on archival research. It also carries reviews of recent publications, web sites and archival exhibits.
The journal's editors have been: Roger Ellis, 1949-57; Joan Lancaster, 1957-63; Arthur Owen, 1964-76; Andrew Cook, 1977-84; John Warner-Davies/Davies, 1985-89; Jeremy Black, 1990-2005; Ruth Paley, 2006-date.
Since 1970, the Association has published a series of handbooks providing introductory guides to historical documentary sources for researchers and editors, under the series title "Archives and the User". Titles published to date are:
The Association publishes a twice-yearly newsletter (from 2011, in electronic form). It has from time to time issued other occasional publications, including memoranda on good practice; and conference proceedings.
The BRA holds an annual conference, normally in late November or early December, focusing on a particular thematic area of historical records. The conference is generally held in association with the annual Maurice Bond Lecture, delivered by a speaker prominent in the world of scholarship, record-keeping or politics.
The Association also holds other occasional conferences, seminars and training sessions.
The Records Preservation Section (originally Records Preservation Committee, and Records Preservation Branch) was established under the auspices of the British Record Society in 1929, in the aftermath of the Law of Property Act 1922 and the Land Registration Act 1925, both of which rendered certain classes of historical property record redundant for legal purposes, and so at risk of destruction. It was partly inspired by (though not directly modelled on) the example of the National Art Collections Fund. As the Records Preservation Section (RPS), its responsibilities and assets were formally transferred to the newly-formed British Records Association in March 1933.[11][12]
The role of the RPS is to act as a rescue organisation and clearing-house for records deemed to be at risk, passing them on to appropriate institutional custodians. In practice, most of the records it has received have always come from the offices of London solicitors, and have been transferred to county record offices and other local archive repositories around the United Kingdom.
The work of the RPS was carried out largely by volunteers from its foundation until 1948, when a paid executive officer was appointed. From 1950 to 2009 the Association was able to employ a qualified archivist (and at times other staff), principally to undertake Records Preservation work. The work is now again carried out on an entirely voluntary basis.