Public Records (Jersey) Law 2002: 2019 Annual Report on the work of Jersey Heritage and the Archivist

Conserving our Island story

2019 ANNUAL REPORT ON THE WORK OF JERSEY HERITAGE AND THE ARCHIVIST UNDER THE PUBLIC RECORDS (JERSEY) LAW, 2002

jerseyheritage.org R.71/2020

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION  3  CLOSED RECORDS  17, 18 & 19 RECORDS ADVISORY PANEL  4 RECORDS OPENED 2020  20 BELONGING-CONNECTION-ISLAND  MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT  21

CASE STUDY, WHAT S HER STREET S STORY  5

APPENDIX A

PUBLIC RECORDS TRANSFERRED IN 2018 23 27 ENRICHMENT OPENNESS COMMUNITY

CASE STUDY, ARCHIVE VOLUNTEERS  6  APPENDIX B

CASE STUDY, FAMILY HISTORY FESTIVAL FRENCH CONNECTIONS 7  KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 28 & 29 IMPACT ONLINE INTERNATIONAL  APPENDIX C

CASE STUDY, FAMILY TREE LIVE AND ANCESTRAL TOURISM  8  ARCHIVE FUNDING 30

TRUST ACCOUNTABILITY CUSTODIAN

CASE STUDY, ARCHIVING OF AND ACCESS TO THE RECORDS OF THE INDEPENDENT JERSEY CARE INQUIRY 9

PUBLIC RECORDS LAW COMPLIANCE

IDENTIFICATION OF ARCHIVES 10 PUBLIC INSTITUTION ENQUIRIES  10 TRANSFER OF ARCHIVES  11 PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION 12 CATALOGUING 14 ACCESS 16

INTRODUCTION

Archives form the unique records of our lives and communities, from official Government documents and States of Jersey minutes to business collections, personal papers and family stories. In 2019 Jersey Archive continued to fulfil its role as the Island s repository for our recorded heritage whether digital, paper, film, oral or parchment.

In 2019 the archive received 149 new collections including thousands of individual documents, over 8,000 of which were in a digital format. The archive team worked with our group of volunteers to add 38,501 new records to our online catalogue, allowing information about Jersey s history to be shared with a global audience. During 2019 over 50 different volunteers worked with staff at the archive donating over 3,400 hours of their time to help us preserve and promote the unique material that the archive holds.

We continued to promote the work of Jersey Archive

to the local community and to a global audience with nearly 90,000 people engaging with our online catalogue and over 2,000 people visiting Jersey Archive to listen to our What s Her Street s Story programme of talks and to attend our French themed Family History Festival.

We also continued to work with Public Institutions to ensure that records are managed appropriately and those with archival value are transferred to the Jersey Archive. In 2019 we reviewed 35 retention schedules to ensure that they reflected the records that are currently produced by each institution.

in the areas of digital preservation and records  management. At the end of 2019 in the Government  Plan Jersey Heritage received additional funding for  2020, part of which was specified for additional staffing  at Jersey Archive to help us begin to resolve these long  standing issues. We need to ensure that there is a long- term commitment to additional funding as the archive  continues to receive more physical and digital records  on an annual basis.  

In 2020 the extension to Jersey Archive is due to be completed. This £3.5 million project will double the  storage space at Jersey Archive giving the capacity  

for us to continue to collect and store Jersey s written  heritage for at least the next 25 years. The extension  also includes a server room for digital archives and  this, combined with our digital preservation system will  allow us to continue to accept not only physical but  also digital material.  

During 2018 and 2019, whilst the purpose built  stongroom was being constructed, the archive team  identified over 5,000 boxes of public records that are  due to be transferred to Jersey Archive in 2020-2021 and placed in the new extension.

In 2018 my report highlighted the need for more staff

to work at Jersey Archive, specifically to allow us reduce  Linda Romeril

our cataloguing backlog, reduce our conservation and  Archives and Collections Director, preservation backlog and to provide more support  Jersey Heritage - 19 April 2020

RECORDS ADVISORY PANEL

FOREWORD

The Archivist and Jersey Heritage Trust are to be congratulated once  again on a successful year in running Jersey s Archive service. The  

year 2019 has seen an extraordinary and diverse range of activities  taking place at the Jersey Archive: cataloguing, conservation, research,  advisory work, education, training, publications the list goes on.  Special highlights in 2019 included the Family History Festival in March  and the popular series of What s Her Street Story talks which took  

place throughout the year.

2019 marked a period of consolidation and development for the Jersey Archive. The  Archive Extension progressed steadily and is scheduled for completion in mid 2020,  when it will double the Archive s storage capacity. Nearly 40,000 records were added  to the online catalogue, helping to cater for the ever-increasing demand for online  access to historical records. Work continued with public institutions on the reviewing  of retention schedules a critical function under the Public Records Law and further  collections of records were deposited with the Archive. These and other activities are  covered in more detail in the Archivist s report.

The Records Advisory Panel is pleased to note the improvement in the percentage  of closed records made available to the public at the beginning of 2020. The training  session run by the Jersey Archive in November 2019 for public institutions has  undoubtedly helped to raise the level of understanding of this issue. As noted by the  Archivist in her report, there is still a significant backlog of closed records awaiting  review from 2018 and 2019, and the Panel looks forward to this being given due  priority by the relevant public institutions.  

Jeremy Harris Chairperson,

Records Advisory Panel

BELONGING CONNECTION ISLAND

Archives help people feel a sense of connection with and belonging to their Island, community, home, organisation, school and family. Jersey Archive runs a full programme of talks, tours and events with over 2,000 individuals attending an event in person in 2019. Several thousand more read our articles in local, national and international magazines and newspapers. The archive staff regularly give interviews in local media to promote our collections and tell people the stories of our Island.

CASE STUDY

WHAT S HER STREET S STORY

In 2019 Jersey celebrated 100  These included Florence Boot  over the age of 30, she wrote the  

years of women s suffrage with  who revolutionised Boots the  following;  

exhibitions, events, talks and  Chemist and made several  

tours taking place throughout the  charitable donations to the Island  Not-withstanding the fact that we  

year. The anniversary enabled us  including Coronation Park at  are supposed to be advancing and  

to open up the documents telling  Millbrook, Louisa Gould who died  enlarging our views and leaving  

the story of the vote to the local  in Ravensbruck Concentration  the old cramped fads behind, there  

community through exhibitions  Camp after sheltering a Russian  are men yet in the States who  

in various locations such as the  prisoner and her sister Ivy Forster  will persist in treating women as  Ivy Forster Royal Court, Highlands College  who became the first female  inferior. Many girls of twenty are

and the Old Magistrates Court. States Deputy at Millais and  flighty and frivolous I grant but  

the story of the woman who  so are boys at that age and even  

As a tribute to those who fought  campaigned for female suffrage  amongst old men and women age  

for female suffrage we rebranded  and was blocked from standing  has nothing to do with fools and  

our 2019 What s Your Street s  for election, Caroline Trachy at  frivolous people. These types are  

Story campaign. WYSS became a  Mont Cochon. to be found amongst all ages. No,  

year of talks entitled What s Her  the problem re. the votes lies in  

Street s Story, focusing on some  Caroline was a regular writer  character and the poor man can  

of the iconic Jersey women whose  to the Evening Post and on 24  be just as fine a character as the  

lives have impacted our Island.  May 1919, just after the States of  better placed man. The vote should  

The campaign told the stories of  Jersey had passed The Franchise  be given to all people over the age  

an individual woman or group of  Bill extending the vote to men  of twenty-one  

individuals from a particular area.  over the age of 20 and women  Caroline Trachy

ENRICHMENT - OPENNESS COMMUNITY

Archives help people feel a part of and get involved with their local community through partnerships with other organisations, volunteering opportunities, group visits and workshops. They promote opportunities for lifelong learning. Volunteers are a key part of the team at Jersey Archive and our monthly talks have helped to create an archive community of people who want to learn more about their history. We work in partnership with a number of local organisations, offering talks and reminiscence session to the local community.

CASE STUDY

ARCHIVE VOLUNTEERS

In 2019 50 different volunteers worked with the  Jersey Heritage, we can support both of these

team at Jersey Archive to provide added value  priorities, offering opportunities for people to feel cataloguing, repackaging, scanning and indexing.  part of the local community and also for individuals This work allowed us to add 21,000 new entries to  to work with the team at Jersey Archive, developing the online catalogue and to index 40,000 names of  their skills before moving into the workforce.

those individuals whose names appear in Jersey s

19th century court records. Volunteers also worked  Research undertaken by Volunteer Scotland1 in

on scanning images from the Jersey Evening Post  2018 highlights that volunteering improves mental photographic archive and assisted the Archive  health and reduces social isolation and loneliness. Conservator with repackaging and preservation  The Volunteering for Wellbeing2 programme in the projects.  UK looks specifically at volunteering in the heritage

sector and delivered a programme of volunteering, Our long-term partnership with the Channel  training and placements across 10 heritage venues Island s Family History Society continued  in Greater Manchester. The programme found that; throughout 2019 with the Society supporting

access to their records at Jersey Archive by  The evaluation has demonstrated significant providing volunteers to assist researchers in the  improvements in participants mental and

public areas of the building. CIFHS volunteers  emotional health. It has led to improvements in

are on duty during the week whilst the archive  their creativity, aspirations, life satisfaction, social is open and provide specialist support for those  connections and reductions in stress.

researching their family history.

Volunteers contribute a significant amount to Government of Jersey strategic priorities include  the services provided by Jersey Archive, without a commitment to improving Islanders wellbeing  their support our online catalogue, digitisation and creating a skilled local workforce for the future.  programme, preservation programme and service Through the volunteering programme at Jersey  at help desk would not continue to develop at the Archive, as part of the wider programme across  current rate.

1 https://www.volunteerscotland.net/media/1530540/the_effect_of_volunteering_on_health_and_wellbeing_a_university_of_stirling_ student_project.pdf

2 http://volunteeringforwellbeing.org.uk/

ENRICHMENT - OPENNESS COMMUNITY

CASE STUDY

FAMILY HISTORY FESTIVAL FRENCH CONNECTIONS

In 2019 Jersey Archive hosted its second Family History Festival focusing on French connections. The archive was open from Friday 15 Sunday 17 March with a whole series of free talks, tours and workshops. The highlight of the festival was an appearance by French professional genealogist Sophie Boudarel who gave tips on tracing French ancestors and talked about the reasons behind migrations from France to Jersey.

The festival highlighted the links that many people living in Jersey have with the French communities that have moved to the Island over the centuries, from the Huguenot refugees of the 16th and 17th centuries to the proscrits, such as Victor Hugo in the 19th century and the Breton farmworkers who came to the Island for seasonal work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Over the three days of the festival we welcomed over 450 people to the various talks and tours and hope to have inspired those with French connections to understand more about the reasons that their ancestors moved to Jersey and became part of our local community.

Thank you for sending me this presentation by Sophie, it s invaluable! All the presenters were interesting and the whole weekend has rekindled my interest .

 I came to 8 talks over the 3 days  and enjoyed it very much.  

IMPACT ONLINE INTERNATIONAL

Archives help Jersey to promote our unique  

cultural heritage to a worldwide audience.  CASE STUDY

They inspire people to discover more about

our Island and its people. The Jersey Heritage  CASE STUDY - FAMILY TREE LIVE AND

online catalogue allows us to reach an  ANCESTRAL TOURISM

international audience. The catalogue has

descriptions of over 600,000 archive and  In 2019 Archive staff attended the Family Tree

museum items and the content reaches over  Live genealogy event which was held at Alexandra

85,000 people each year.  Palace. The event took place over 2 days and was a

showcase to promote family history resources from

family history societies, national institutions such

as the British Library and internet providers such  to tell. In 2019 over 34% of online catalogue users as FamilySearch and FamilyTree DNA. The Family  were from the UK with 7.5% from the US, 6.6% Tree Brand has a reach of over 70,000 and the  from Australia and 5% from Canada.

marketing campaign for the Family Tree Live show

allowed Jersey Heritage s resources to be promoted  47% of readers who registered when they visited

to family historians and enthusiasts throughout  Jersey Archive in person in 2019 were not from

the UK and beyond.  Jersey. Registered readers during the year included

Australians, Canadians, Americans and a significant The Family Tree Live event was a fantastic way to  number of people who came to the Island from the

promote the online services provided by Jersey  UK in search of their ancestors.

Heritage and also to encourage those with Jersey

ancestors to come and visit the Island and walk

in their shoes. Scotland and Ireland have both

harnessed the growing trend for ancestral tourism  Wonderful, helpful people, with with research suggesting that 23% of long-haul  grateful thanks from Aubin

visitors to Scotland travel there to track down their

Scott ish Ancestry.3 and Ahier descendants (New

There is evidence from both virtual and in house  Zealand)

visitors to Jersey Archive that attendance at events

such as Family Tree Live and the promotion of our

online catalogue are encouraging ancestral tourism

3 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/dna- and raising awareness of the stories that Jersey has

heritage-ancestral-tourism/

TRUST ACCOUNTABILITY CUSTODIAN

Archives help people to make informed decisions and act as evidence of political, community and personal actions. Jersey Archive has a key role as the impartial custodian of public and private records. We work to ensure that the decisions and policies of government, businesses, communities and individuals are recorded and preserved to act as evidence for current and future researchers.

CASE STUDY

ARCHIVING OF AND ACCESS TO THE RECORDS OF THE INDEPENDENT JERSEY CARE INQUIRY

On 3 July 2017 the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry  accounts of daily struggles of Jersey families, to the  the process of cataloguing the public domain published their report into the abuse of children  background to Operation Rectangle, a vast collection  material, with evidence appearing upon the Jersey

in the Island s care system. The report included 8  of data held by the Inquiry chronicles the response of  Heritage Online Catalogue from January 2018. The recommendations concerning the future of child  Jersey to the needs of its most vulnerable children and  cataloguing process was completed in December care in Jersey, the Inquiry s findings and legacy.  sets out how they were affected by state policies and  2019 with 11,188 documents having been catalogued, As part of those recommendations, the Inquiry  intervention. This material is an important source of  indexed, checked for redactions and placed online. intended to make arrangements for the archiving  social and political history for the people of Jersey and  The documents have been placed on the Jersey

and storage of material provided to and produced as  for scholars in those fields.  Archive digital preservation system to ensure that, as a result of the Inquiry. the Inquiry recommended, the file formats are future

The Inquiry recommended that;  proofed and preserved for the future.

In their recommendations the Inquiry highlighted the

importance of archives as a source of government  13.48 We recommend that all public-domain material  Evidence deposited by the Inquiry at Jersey Archive accountability as well as a source of social and  from the Inquiry should remain in the public domain in  is now freely available to read either online or at political history;  perpetuity, and that the archive of its documentation  the Jersey Archive. It is not necessary to hold a

should be preserved for Jersey... The Panel also  Jersey Archive Reader s card or have purchased a

13.46 The Inquiry received millions of pages of  recognises that provision must be made to future- subscription to the Jersey Heritage Online Catalogue documents and evidence. Those that were considered  proof the Inquiry archive so that documents can be  in order to view material transferred to the Jersey most relevant and that have been used during public  accessed and read as technologies develop and the  Archive by the Inquiry. Since the publication of the hearings and in coming to the findings in this report  software of the present day becomes redundant (for  material online the main IJCI page has been viewed have been redacted and put into the public domain.  example, in the way that punchcards, tape and floppy  over 650 times.

The evidence includes detailed accounts and personal  disks create problems for current systems).

experiences of child care in Jersey, which are an

important contribution to the record of the island s  Public domain material from the Inquiry was

history. From stories of interaction between occupying  transferred to Jersey Archive in November 2017.

troops and residents of children s homes through to  In January 2018, staff at Jersey Archive began

PUBLIC RECORDS LAW  | TRANSFER | CARE AND ACCESS COMPLIANCE - IDENTIFICATION

IDENTIFICATION OF ARCHIVES

The Public Records (Jersey) Law defines a record as information that is created or received in the conduct of a corporate, institutional or individual activity and has such content, context and structure as to provide evidence of the activity. The Law is format neutral and therefore covers both physical and digital records. The Law goes on to define public records as any record that has been created or received by a public institution in the performance of its functions.

These broad descriptions of both records and public records mean that every

year millions of records produced by public institutions, from emails to minutes of meetings and application forms to acts of Court, are covered by the Public Records Law.

One of the key roles of the team at Jersey Archive is to identify which records have long-term archival value and to ensure that public institutions are aware that these records need to be transferred to Jersey Archive.

The key tool that is used to identify archival material is the departmental retention schedule which lists the records produced by the institution, the length of time they should be kept and then whether they are confidentially disposed of or transferred to Jersey Archive for permanent retention.

Many public institution s retention schedules were put in place as part of preparation for Freedom of Information legislation in 2014-2015 and therefore in 2019 a number of schedules were due for their 5 year review. In 2019 the archive team reviewed 35 retention schedules, ensuring that the records identified in those schedules were still being produced and that the relevant function still existed within the public institution.

The One Government Restructure has meant that a number of functions have moved and this has led to a delay in the review of some schedules. In these cases the archive has been asked to delay the 5 year review until the structural moves have been completed. As a result some 5 year reviews from what was the Chief Minister s Office and the Economic Development Department have been moved to 2020.

PUBLIC INSTITUTION ENQUIRIES

In 2019 archive staff answered 286 enquiries directly from public institutions covering loans of documents, records management advice and transfer advice. The majority of enquiries, 37%, concerned the loan of documents back to the public institutions to allow them to answer data subject access requests and FOI enquiries. Advice on records management and the transfer of records to the Jersey Archive were the next most popular enquiries.

TRANSFER OF ARCHIVES

Once public records have been identified as having archival value in the public institution s  retention schedule they should be transferred to Jersey Archive for permanent preservation,  either as digital or physical archives. During 2018 2019 whilst the new strongroom block was  being built, Jersey Archive was unable to accept large deposits of physical records. Public  institutions have been asked to store archival material in the short term whilst the building was  completed. With completion due in April 2020 this will mean that a large number of collections  will be transferred to the archive in the second half of the year.  

In 2019 we did continue to accept transfers of digital material and smaller collections of physical  archives. In total 149 collections of public and private records were transferred to Jersey Archive  and accessioned into the collections as worthy of permanent preservation. This included  63 collections from public institutions such as the Department for Children, Young People,  Education and Skills, the Department of the Environment, External Relations, a number of  Parishes, Property Holdings, Treasury and Exchequer and the States Greffe.  

Significant items that were transferred during the course of 2019 include records relating to  Queen s Valley from the Parish of Grouville , original drawings for Ladies College from Property  Holdings, correspondence concerning the ownership of  property during the Occupation from the States Greffe and  a number of records from the Parish of St Mary including  Honorary Police Incident Books from 1869 1968 detailing  arrests within the Parish.  

A full list of collections can be viewed at Appendix A

PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION

Preservation and conservation of archive material is a key part of the work undertaken by staff at Jersey Archive and ensures that the unique material we hold is preserved for future generations to learn from and enjoy. When material is transferred to the archive our Conservator makes an initial assessment of the condition of the collection. Collections are then cleaned, reboxed, checked for insect infestation and frozen to eradicate any live larvae if appropriate.

Whilst preservation of records covers the basic cleaning and appropriate packaging of material so that it is secure in storage, conservation defines the active intervention to repair material so that it can be used by the public in our reading rooms. Some items arrive at Jersey Archive in such poor condition that they cannot be made available to the public until conservation treatment has taken place and restricting access to documents for conservation reasons is consistent with our duties under the law.

In 2019 we worked to conserve documents in house

and also with an external firm of book binders.

As a result of this work 29 items have undergone conservation treatment and are now in a stable condition and can be viewed by members of the public. There are still 2,645 catalogued items that are rated as unusable and in need of conservation. Items conserved in 2019 include the Register of Services for the Chapel at the General Hospital and the minute book of the Women s Jersey Political Union which covers the period 1923 1928.

During this period the WJPU was campaigning for women to have full and equal civil and political rights with men and also putting forward the first female candidates for election to the States of Jersey. We were delighted that, in the year we celebrated the 100th anniversary of female suffrage, we had the support of a Jersey Heritage Patron in paying for the repair of this volume.

ENVIRONMENT

Ensuring a stable, clean environment for storage of records at Jersey Archive is essential for the long- term preservation of the material. The archive team aims to meet British and European Standards for the storage of archival records and this forms part of our accreditation review.

The Jersey Archive strongrooms are designed to control the environment within the strongroom passively, air-conditioning is not used and the storage areas are continually monitored using a building management system. In 2019, to coincide with the building of the new archive strongroom block we upgraded our building management system, which controls and records the environment within the strongroom, to ensure that

both new and old strongrooms could be monitored

from the same central point.

The brief for the new strongroom included a review of the existing block to assess the performance of the passive system. This review included recommendations to improve the conditions in the original strongrooms. In 2019 Jersey Heritage was able to carry out some

of these recommendations such as the replacement

of all lights with LEDs. We also started the process of  replacing vents to allow for better control of the internal  conditions by the buildings management system.  

The changes carried out in 2019 have had an extremely  positive impact on the environmental conditions  

in the existing block. The criteria set out in BS4971  for temperature between 13-22"C with an annual  average of less than 18"C was met on all floors of  

the strongroom block. This is the first time that the  standard has been achieved 100% of the time.  

The criteria for humidity in BS4971 is between 35-

60% RH. Whilst our passive control is generally able to  maintain RH within the appropriate range each floor of  the strongroom block has a dehumidifier which is turned  on manually when RH reaches 58%. In 2019 the 1st,  2nd and 3rd Floors were compliant with the standard  100% of the time. The RH on the ground floor of the  strongroom block exceeded 60% on 7 days in 2019.  

CATALOGUING

The cataloguing, indexing and locating of documents is key to ensuring appropriate levels of access to the archival records in the custody of Jersey Heritage.

One of the principal duties of the Archivist under the Public Records Law is to ensure that public records

are appropriately managed and made available for public access. The detailed cataloguing of records to our online database allows people to search across

the records held at Jersey Archive for names of family members, places and subjects of interest. Through the cataloguing process we can identify key themes and stories across collections to build a picture of a person s life or the history of a property.

In 2019 staff and volunteers added 38,501 new enhanced descriptions to the online database. These can be divided into the added value work of the volunteers through which they add detailed individual descriptions and records for each marriage and baptism to the system and new document catalogue entries from staff which include descriptions of records that have not previously been available for people to view at the archive.

In 2019 the volunteers added over 20,000 added value records indexing individual marriage and baptism entries from Jersey s Church of England, Methodist and Catholic registers and page entries from the Parish Honorary Police Incident Books. At the same time staff completed the cataloguing of over 5,000 records from the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry over 2,000 images from the Jersey Evening Post photographic collection, nearly 2,000 private records from family collections and over 700 States Projets.

The cataloguing backlog at Jersey Archive currently stands at 225 cubic metres of  physical material and several thousand digital files. This will increase by at least another  40 cubic metres in 2020 once the new strongroom is ready to store more records.  

PUBLIC RECORDS LAW COMPLIANCE - IDENTIFICATION | TRANSFER | CARE AND ACCESS

ACCESS

The way in which people access archives has changed considerably in the 20 years since the Jersey Archive opened. In 2015 we published images of the German Occupation Registration Cards as part of the relaunch of our online catalogue and we now have a million images of documents online, available to be downloaded by subscribers to our catalogue.

Each image is digitised, either in house or by a third party and then attached to the catalogue record. This programme of digitisation has allowed individuals around the world to access Jersey s unique records at a time and place that suits them. In 2019 Jersey Archive participated in the CIPFA survey of archive s distance enquiry services. 94% of individuals judged the service that we provide as good or very good with 100% of individuals describing our website and the quality of the content provided as good or very good.

Individuals who completed the survey and/or use our online catalogue made the following comments;

  the website is good, the response, very quick

& congratulations on the hard work that has been carried out, compiling the information

& in creating a service & library which is an important resource for all people who are interested in tracing their ancestors.

published before the end of this year. I am very grateful to Jersey Heritage for all the excellent records you have put online. My work would be much more difficult without them.

Whilst online access to records has become increasingly popular and offers those who find it hard to visit the archive an alternative way of accessing

the records we hold, in person access to records at Jersey Archive will always be a key part of the service we provide. The staff at Jersey Archive provide in depth knowledge and assistance and can help interpret

Jersey s records allowing family historians, house historians and researchers to delve deeper into their subject areas and find out even more detail about the stories they are following.

 Thank you so much for all your wonderful help and advice, you have brought the past to life.

 Lovely Archive facility for the Island a credit to Jersey History.

 I am beavering away on my Huguenot refugee project, and hope to have my work finished and

CLOSED RECORDS

Every year public records held at Jersey Archive that are closed to  

the public on transfer are reviewed after periods of 30, 50, 75 and  

100 years. The 2018 Archivist s report to the States of Jersey raised a  concern in the marked decrease in the percentage of records opened  to the public each year over the past 10 years. Whilst this decrease  can be explained through the rise in data privacy and implementation  of new data protection legislation in Jersey as a result of GDPR, the  2018 report pointed out that it is important that we continue to  balance an individual s right to privacy against the rights of the citizen  to information from public institutions enshrined in Freedom of  Information legislation.

In response to the decreased numbers of files being opened and the fact that some  records were not reviewed the Archive team held a closed records training session  at Jersey Archive on Friday 8 November. All public institutions with records to be  reviewed were invited to send representatives and 20 people attended.  

During the training session we discussed the trend for fewer records to be opened,  the responsibilities placed on public institutions by FOI regulations and the process  for review. We then talked to public institutions about specific issues to consider  when dealing with reviews of records that were 30 100 years old. We found that  many institutions were dealing with historic files in the same way that they dealt with  current FOI requests and an important part of the training was to point out that the  files should be dealt with differently.  

Public institutions were asked to consider the following issues when conducting the  closed records reviews:  

   Some exemptions, e.g. Commercial Privilege cannot be used after 30 years.  

   Records series should be treated in the same way, e.g. if previous property  

condition schedules are open after 30 years this should continue unless the  records are significantly different.  

   Are there similar records open elsewhere, e.g. in correspondence files at the  

National Archive.  

   What other information is available and open to the  We then looked at specific exemptions and how they might be applied to historic records. The session ended with a

public in Jersey, e.g. Occupation Registration Cards  training exercise in which the attendees were split into groups and asked to review a number of records that were 30, have all names, addresses and dates of birth from  75 and 100 years old and decided whether they should be open or closed. Trainee feedback indicated that this was a the Occupation period.  useful session and gave those reviewing the files increased confidence in undertaking the reviews.

   How old are the people in records and do you need

to apply a full 100 year closure for personal data.  The percentage of records opened at 2020 shows a 16% increase on those opened at the start of 2019.

The table below shows the number of records due to be open, number remaining closed and number waiting for review.

The table below shows the percentage of records due to be opened to the public that  are actually opened each year.

RECORDS OPENED 2020

Records opened to the public in 2020

include the Political Prisoners Register which was kept by the prison from August 1940

  December 1944 and contains the names

of 506 individuals whose crimes during the period were defined as political and therefore, by inference, can be interpreted as crimes against the German authorities. The register contains the name of the individual and date

of their entrance to the prison. It also includes their offence, often just listed as political, their sentence, age, height and colour of their hair, occupation, religion, birthplace, weight on entry and discharge, the date of their discharge from the prison and any relevant remarks.

Analysis of the register shows that of the 506 individuals listed 85 or 17% were female with the remaining 421 male. Sentences ranged from those who were liberated with no charge after 1 day to the maximum sentence of five years which was handed out to John Henry Ingrouille for insults, Emma Constance Marshall for theft and Philip George Ozard for political offences. All 3 were sent to the continent to serve their sentences.

In total 111 individuals or 22% of those listed in the register were taken from the Island to serve their sentences in French or German prisons, forced labour camps and concentration camps. Those who were

sent to France generally had longer sentences to serve indicating that their crimes were seen as more serious. The age of the political prisoners ranged from 14 to 76. The two youngest were Beryl Wickings, a 14 year old school girl who entered the prison charged with political

offences on 29 June 1942 and was liberated the next day and Ronald Harris , a 14 year old mechanic who entered the prison on 29 September 1942 and was liberated on probation 13 days later.

The oldest individual to be sentenced was Robert Le Feuvre, who appears in the register twice. The first

time was for assault in December 1941 when he was sentenced to 3 months at the age of 76. The second time he entered the prison was on 14 February 1942. Again he was charged with assault and this time was sentenced to 2 years and sent to France in March.

Other records that have been opened from the Occupation period include the Salaried Police Committee minute book. In July 1940 the Committee records the impact of the Occupation and recent evacuation on

the Police Force. This includes mention of Officer Ozard who had left with his family during the evacuation, intending to return once they were settled but, under the circumstances, was unable to get back to the Island.

During the Occupation the Committee monitored the financial accounts of the force and also were informed of incidents occurring to members of the Police. This included an accident that happened on 6 September 1941. Police Sergeant Herbert Griffin was hit by a lorry driven by a member of the Occupying Forces when turning from Gloucester Street onto the Esplanade. Griffin was actually fined by the German Troop Courts as a result of the accident and ordered to pay 15 Reichsmarks.

The Committee also notes the suspension of Albert Alfred Chardine who appears in the Political Prisoners Register sentenced to 2 months imprisonment for obtaining petrol from the Organisation Todt and giving

it to Peter Hassall to assist in his escape attempt. Chardine was temporarily suspended from duty. After he had served his sentence the Committee decide not to impose any additional penalties on Chardine and he was re-established as a member of the Salaried Police Force on 15 August.

Records that have been closed to public access for 100 years have also been opened to the public this year and include the annual admission register for the Jersey General Hospital, which also served as the Island s poor house, offering assistance to those in need.

The register shows that often, with no other option immediately available, entire families would be admitted if their mother or father was medically ill. On 4 June 1919 Isabella Shiner, the widow of Ernest Gosselin, was admitted to hospital with rheumatism at the age of 36. At the same time her four children, Mary, Ernest, Jane and Alice were also admitted as, with their father having passed away, there was nowhere else for them to go. The register records that the children stayed at the hospital for nearly 3 months before being placed in the Home for Girls and Home for Boys.

The Honorary Police Register for the Parish of St Saviour has also been opened after 100 years and gives details

of those arrested including the date, name, age, place of birth, reason for arrest, who the arresting officer was, any witnesses and also the date of any Court appearance

and decision. The register shows that even before the use of cars was widespread drink driving could be an issue. In April 1909 Thomas Bailey, age 44, was arrested for driving his cart at a dangerous speed whilst under the influence

of alcohol and then grossly insulting and menacing the

St Saviour Vingtenier, Philippe Ozouf . Bailey was given 8 days in prison as his sentence.

MANAGEMENT AND OVERSIGHT

The work of both Jersey Heritage and the Archivist under the Public Records Law is reviewed by the Records Advisory Panel. The Panel have an advisory role and under the law may provide advice to the Archivist, Jersey Heritage, the Minister and public institutions. The Archivist would like to thank the members of the Panel for their continued support and advice in 2019.

In 2019 the Panel met on 4 occasions and supported the Jersey Archive funding bid to the Government of Jersey. The Panel also discussed issues around closed records, reviewed retention schedules, received the Archive Conservator s environmental report, reviewed digital preservation and cyber security issues and received a presentation on the archives outreach and engagement programme for 2020.

ARCHIVE ACCREDITATION

The Archive has full Archive Accreditation at the highest level after applying to The National Archive scheme in 2014. The assessors noted:

 The [Archive Accreditation] Panel felt that this was overall a very strong application, which meets all requirements of the Accreditation Standard one of only a few to do so in the scheme s history. They considered that the assessment demonstrated a very well run service, with a clear policy direction and an important role in the public accountability of the government of Jersey.

In November 2017 the Archive completed an interim assessment return to ensure that the service still met the Archive Accreditation Standard. In March 2018 the Panel confirmed that Jersey Archive continued to meet the requirements of the standard and noted that they were:

 ..pleased to see a review which demonstrated so much progress and success in implementing major changes such as Freedom of Information. They also welcomed the update on investment in expanding the service s physical capacity, and look forward to seeing this implemented when the service is next reviewed.

The Archive is due to apply for full reaccreditation in November 2020 with the Panel decision expected in March 2021.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

ARCHIVE FUNDING

Jersey Heritage receives an annual grant from the States of Jersey to run a wide of range of services including the provision of an archive. The organisation also self-generates around 50% of its income through a range of activities including admissions, membership and heritage lets and venues.

Jersey Archive is an integral part of Jersey Heritage and the public of Jersey benefit from the overall synergies between the provision of archive, historic environment and museum services. Synergies include central support services across the organisation

such as buildings maintenance, collections management, finance and human resources.

As a result of these shared central costs it is difficult to give a definitive stand-alone figure which reflects the exact cost of running the Jersey Archive service. However the table below gives an indication of spend in different areas of the Archive services operations.

This table does not include IT, telephones and computer support costs, insurance and rates and training costs which are all held centrally.

Archives sit at the heart of our collective understanding: who we are, where we came from, and, indeed, where we are going.

Archives Unlocked, The National Archive

Jersey Archive,

Clarence Road,

St Helier, Jersey JE2 4JY

Telephone: +44 (0) 1534 833300 Email: archives@jerseyheritage.org

jerseyheritage.org