Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust is a Registered Charity which was created to help raise funds to support the work of Barnsley Museums, including Barnsley Archives and Local Studies.
I’m Gillian Thorpe, fundraiser and administrator at Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust. The wonderful thing about working for the Trust is that there are so many interesting aspects of the job, and being able to add new things to the collection is one of the most exciting – especially if it involves bidding at an auction!
Plans of Barnsley by Francis Kendray, 1800s
The first purchase the Trust made for Archives was made in conjunction with the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society, the Friends of Barnsley Archives and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and consisted of a volume of fifteen rare, hand drawn maps of Barnsley dating back to 1800.
The maps are based on the Barnsley Enclosure map of 1779 and include details of changes to the town in the years following. Recognisable street names like Westgate, Market Hill and Cheapside are featured, as well as a few which have long since disappeared such as Jumble Lane and Back Lane Road. The maps also feature individual buildings, landmarks and footpaths.
Each map was originally drawn by local linen manufacturer and landowner Francis Kendray (1774-1840), after whom Kendray Hospital and subsequently the Kendray estate were named. His grand residence was situated between May Day Green and Eldon Street, not far from where the Lightbox and Barnsley Market are situated today. The Kendray family donated vast sums to the town back in the 19th century.
See more of these maps on the Barnsley Archives online catalogue
Barnsley British Co-operative Society Commemorative Trowel
The purchase of a commemorative trowel, presented to Mr G Kay, Secretary of the Barnsley Co-Operative Society on the occasion of his laying the foundation stone of their Hoyland Common branch on 14th July 1884 came with the added bonus of 2 photographs. These previously unseen photographs were added to the archive and one features a group portrait of employees and the other depicting the interior of the new central offices in 1941. The Co-operative movement is at the centre of Barnsley’s socio-economic history and the commemorative trowel, and the photographs are a great addition to Barnsley’s collections.
In 2015 there was a project and exhibition called ‘Service Please’ which you can now re-visit online.
Barnsley Pupil Teachers’ Centre Object Lessons Book
Another fascinating record of social history is the Pupil-Teacher book which was spotted for sale by an Archives volunteer.
The Pupil Teachers’ Centre was situated on Beckett Street in Barnsley and trained teachers from school boards in Barnsley, Wombwell, Ardsley, Worsbrough, Darton and Mapplewell, Monk Bretton, Shafton and Thurlstone.
The book was meticulously compiled by Mary Ellen (Nellie) Spencer of Barnsley whilst she was a pupil at the centre and, was accompanied by an Edwardian photograph of her. She went on to become a teacher and married George Jackson of Elsecar. She died in 1941.
The book and photograph are fabulous additions to our education collections and will undoubtedly be popular with researchers
Colourised Drawing Depicting The 1866 Oaks Disaster
A more recent purchase was a colourised drawing depicting England’s worst ever mining disaster, which was offered for sale at a very discounted rate by a local historian who wanted to ensure its future was in the Barnsley Archives. The hand-drawn illustration was completed in 1866 and features the Barnsley Oaks Colliery disaster and this is the original engraving which was then reproduced in the London Illustrated News.
The Oaks disaster happened between the 12th and 13th December 1866. A series of explosions caused by firedamp ripped through the underground workings of the Oaks Colliery at Hoyle Mill near Stairfoot in Barnsley killing at least 361 miners and rescuers.
It was the worst mining disaster in the whole of the United Kingdom until the 1913 Senghenydd explosion in Wales.
Barnsley Archives hold the original 1866 register of deaths, as well as numerous other original documents relating to the disaster and this unique drawing complements these existing records perfectly. It will hopefully be displayed in the museum gallery in the future once any necessary research and conservation has been carried out.
Saxon, 1980s Tour Poster
The latest exciting purchase has only just arrived in the building last month and is representative of a much more recent period of social history. Spotted for sale at auction by the community collections team, it is an original 1980’s tour poster for the Barnsley based band, Saxon. Formed in 1975, they had 8 UK top 40 albums, establishing themselves amongst Europe’s most successful heavy metal bands. Those of us who are able to remember Saxon from our youth were somewhat startled to find that the band were formed 50 years ago, making us suddenly feel very old!
Helping Preserve The Collection
As well as these wonderfully interesting documents, the Trust has also been very happy to help with the more mundane necessities of preserving the fabulous collection in Barnsley Archives. A plan chest and a hard drive have been purchased to ensure the safe storage of paper and digital records, so they are available to interested Barnsley folk for many years to come.
Barnsley Archives and Local Studies is open Tuesday-Thursday, spotted something from our online catalogue you would like to see? Please get in touch ahead of your visit.
None of this would have been possible without donations from our generous supporters and visitors to the museum sites. If you would like to donate, please visit www.bmht.org or pop into one of the museums.
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