26 January 2018
Exploring 90 years of Registry: from Great Pagoda to Great Storm
Kew’s Registry will have been in existence for 90 years this year. Established in 1928, much has happened at RBG Kew since this time and it has been well recorded thanks to the Registry system.
History of Registry
RBG Kew’s Registry deals with the organisation’s current records, providing a central filing and storage facility where papers such as minutes, correspondence and contracts are registered onto numbered and titled files. Its founding in 1928 replaced the Director’s Correspondence and the Miscellaneous Reports collections. Registered files range from one of the very earliest, recording the various uses and maintenance of the Great Pagoda through to files documenting the Great Storm of 1987.
Over the years more and more file series were added reflecting the various departments at Kew, with each department having its own file series. When created a file is given a file reference, in which the second letter of the reference indicates the department. For instance, the reference QA 3054 indicates the Administration department and it is then followed by a number.
Nowadays we have a simpler file series called the RF series (Registered File series) which is based on the year of registration and runs in numerical order making sure each file has a unique reference number. For example, the first file to be created this year was RF2018/0001. It is very exciting to work in Modern Records as the file you are processing may become part of Kew’s Archives in the future!
It is also worth mentioning the various acts implemented over the years such as the Public Records Act 1958 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which have both impacted on the way RBG Kew deals with records.
Great Pagoda
I was fortunate last year to get the opportunity to visit the Pagoda with the LAA team to see up close the amazing restoration work currently being carried out on the building, due to be completed this year.
It ignited my interest into its history, so I found one of the earliest registered files titled ‘Maintenance. Pagoda’ created in 1934 but containing papers dating back to 1915. It proved to be a very interesting file which provides an insight into how the Pagoda was used in a practical way in the past, including bombs being dropped through small holes made in each floor of the Pagoda in experiments and at another time, a request for nesting boxes to be placed there for swifts.
The file also includes a copy of a memo from the Office of Works file dated in 1915 which provides a description of the appearance of the pagoda.
Great Storm
There are several registered files concerning the Great Storm of 1987 including details of the damage to Kew Gardens and Wakehurst, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food visit, donation letters and photos taken at the time, all of which build up a picture of the significance of the event.
In the aftermath of the storm various projects were created. Registered files created at the time convey information on how the damaged trees at Kew and Wakehurst made it possible to carry out Scientific research on the roots of a wide range of trees. Samples of material for study were collected including root material and trunk wood samples.
Looking forward
Ninety years since the first registered file was created we are currently in the process of developing an electronic records management system to suit the requirements of the way people work now at Kew with correspondence and transactions increasingly being dealt with electronically. The system will run alongside the registered file system as certain types of records will always need to be kept in physical form and may eventually transfer to Archives after going through the review process. We rely on all staff at Kew to identify records which should be kept for administrative, legal and historical reasons and which contribute to the richness of Kew’s Library, Art and Archives collections for future researchers.
The Modern Records Team will be holding a Records Management Awareness Week in the coming months aiming to raise awareness to staff of the importance of registering their files and promoting the Registry system.
