Archive catalogues fascinating history of Harris Tweed industry
A project led by Western Isles Council’s archive service, Tasglann nan Eilean, has brought together and catalogued the entire archive of the Harris Tweed Authority.
The Harris Tweed Authority Archive Project, funded by the National Cataloguing Grants Programme for Archives and the Harris Tweed Association Educational Trust, enabled the recruitment of a cataloguing archivist and the transfer of the portion of the Harris Tweed Authority (HTA) archive held by the Highland Archive Centre to Tasglann nan Eilean in Stornoway.
The HTA archive contains a wealth of material covering more than 100 years of the history of the unique Harris Tweed industry. From photographs to limericks, and advertising to stamping books, the full collection has been opened up to the public for the first time via a new online catalogue.
Meticulous cataloguing and preservation work was carried out by project cataloguing archivist Victoria Woodcock, with contributions from a number of volunteers. The collection contains intriguing historical records such as notebooks listing weavers in the 1930s and 1950s, the founding document of the Harris Tweed Association from 1909 (predecessor to the current HTA), court records from a case defending Harris Tweed in the 1960s, and adverts from the 1970s onwards.
Some of the more unusual items include limericks written for a competition in 1982, school and college projects on the Harris Tweed industry, colourful imitation labels from the 1950s and 1960s, and a piece of the Harris Tweed made for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The HTA collection has huge research potential for historians, with the newly-catalogued records already being used in local and national media. Researchers in the fields of advertising, trademark law, and Western Isles history will particularly find the archive of interest.
The full catalogue is available on the UK Archives Hub and can be viewed at https://archiveshub.jisc.ac. uk/data/gb3002-gd014, with the physical records being available to view in the reading room at Tasglann nan Eilean, Lews Castle.
Victoria said: ‘It has been an honour to work with an archive relating to an industry that is integral to the lives of so many people in the Western Isles. It is my hope that the catalogue produced by this project will be utilised by a wide range of local and national researchers, educators and creatives to discover sources relevant to their interests.’
Lorna MacAulay, chief executive of the Harris Tweed Authority, added: ‘The Harris Tweed Authority is delighted to have had this collection of important documents and archive material professionally catalogued, archived and now in the care of Tasglann nan Eilean.
‘It has been a pleasure to work with the archivists on this projects and we have no doubt there will be interest in viewing its contents. Our industry’s history and heritage is key to our success and often the focus of our promotion of the industry.’