Accessions Report 2017-2018
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This report presents the highlights of the 253 accessions received by East Sussex Record Office at The Keep over a twelve-month period. Many of them – almost 15% – have been funded by grants from the Friends of The Keep Archives, amounting to nearly £11,000.
Perhaps the highlight of the year was the purchase of 72 lantern slides showing the construction of the Beachy Head lighthouse between 1901 and 1902, but the sheer variety of The Keep’s acquisitions is remarkable, as is the energy and enthusiasm with which they have been pursued. In 1924, the Keeper of the National Archives of Canada summed up the essential value of keeping and maintaining accurate and comprehensive records in an organised archive when he said: Of all national assets, archives are the most precious, they are the gifts of one generation to another, and the extent of our care of them marks the extent of our civilisation. As a rule the papers of a given generation are seldom required after their primary use; but when all personal touch with that period has ceased, then these records assume a startling importance, for they replace hands that have vanished and lips that are sealed. As we face an uncertain future, such words must be borne in mind and taken to heart by anyone in whose hands the future of County Record Offices lies. Lady Teviot, Chairman of FOTKA |
