SAVE YOUR ARCHIVES BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!
Clubs urged to self-audit before priceless documents are lost forever
The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) has said that preserved paperwork crucial to the continued existence of classics – factory build records, registration data and engineering drawings – will continue to disappear unless clubs make a conscious effort to save them.
Its newly-appointed director of archiving, Andy Bye – who also serves as Trustee of the Rootes Archive Centre Trust – made the call to associated clubs during Club Expo 2020, held at the British Motor Museum on 25 January: ‘Many clubs don’t know what they have. Club archives and club archivists are an undervalued resource by members; it’s better this year to do something rather than nothing.’
A total of 70 clubs and 149 delegates heard strategies on how best to preserve important documents – including leaving precious libraries to clubs in your will. Andy said: ‘Proving ownership to an executor of the estate of a deceased archivist and securing club material is often fraught.
‘Sometimes vital artefacts have been lost – or smaller clubs can’t afford to buy the material back from the archivist’s estate when they pass. Discerning between personal and club documents can often be a sticking point.’
In response to Andy’s plea for clubs to perform a self-audit of their material, Hugh Barnes of the Austin 7 Clubs Association confirmed that the club was four years into appraising its stock of material. Last year, at the Classic Motor Show, the Reliant Owners’ Club also announced that it had saved engineering documents from the ex-factory parts service provider, Reliant Parts World.
The FBHVC promised to provide future assistance in digitising documents for future use, as well as providing support for specific archiving for artefacts like nitrate film stock, requested by the Armstrong Siddeley Club.
An FBHVC spokesman said: ‘Andy’s first priorities will include the creation of a handbook of documents outlining best practice for managing archives, including cataloguing options, finding suitable spaces, funding, storage options and how-to guides.’
❚ fbhvc.org.uk