The Forsythe Collection

Robert Forsythe and his wife Fiona curate elements of The Forsythe Collection. The collections are huge and include materials in three public repositories. A summary outline of the collections is here. Of the material now in public ownership or curation the largest element is The Forsythe Collection in the National Railway Museum at York's Search Engine Archive. The central theme of their collecting is the ephemera of travel and transport. A thought that is especially driven by the recognised concept of "grey literature" (printed materials with no bibliographical trace).

Origins

The Forsythe Collection (in a conscious manner) may well date back to the early 20th century. James Forsythe (1916-2004)^[1] the father of Robert Forsythe (1959-)^[2] had a cousin Colin McFarlane. Colin avidly took up the Edwardian craze of collecting postcards (in his case of railways). James Forsythe as he grew up travelling the British Empire was introduced to stamp collecting. Both those historic collections remain part of the Forsythe Collection. When Robert Forsythe gew up in the Norfolk of the 1960s, his father was deeply involved in maritime heritage notably as Chairman of the Norfolk Wherry Trust caring for the Wherry Albion. James Forsythe had boated on the Norfolk Broads since his childhood. Maps and transport literature surrounded Robert. At school Robert Forsythe started to collect railway timetables in 1971 and the earliest letters establishing this collection survive at the Norfolk Record Office.

In time Robert Forsythe became a museum curator, and met and married a librarian Fiona Forsythe. They built up a network of contributors and established what the railway world realised was a very special collection. Meanwhile as house moves forced decisions other elements of the family collections found public repositories. These embrace the Papers of Major James A. Forsythe, MBE (1916-2004) in the Norfolk Record Office and the Cambridge University Centre of South Asian Studies .

Transfer to National Railway Museum

The transfer to the National Railway Museum at York took place in January 2009 and again in January 2012. Some 100 metres of shelved material were transferred. The essence of the transfer was the grey literature elements of the Forsythe Collection of Transport and Travel ephemera as it is described^[3] at York. This means the publicity materials: timetables, leaflets, handbills and brochures but in general not ISBN covered items nor "books" including guidebooks. Posters, tickets and postcards were also not transferred and these collections remain with the Forsythes. Nor were extensive model railway interests. Subsequently materials were used in the first APP generated at the museum.^[4] Another selective mention is of the material used in The Track Stars Exhibition in 2012.^[5]

Further reading

• The complete bibliography detailing as well as possible public usage of Forsythe Collection items.
• The background of Major J A Forsythe's involvement in maritime heritage.
• Norfolk Record Office catalogue entry to Papers of Major James A. Forsythe, MBE (1916-2004) .
• National Railway Museum press release on the occasion of purchase in 2009.
• Hexham Courant feature written at the time of the National Railway Museum purchase.
• Reverend John Davies reviews a visit to The Forsythe Collection at York.

References