Brian Smith, former County Archivist of Gloucestershire, Secretary of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, and Chairman of the Society of Archivists, died on 3 November 2018, aged 86. He contributed significantly to the archives profession and will be much missed.Footnote1
Brian was born on 15 May 1932 in Leeds. At the outbreak of war he was sent to boarding school in Malvern, which led to a lifetime’s connection with ‘the Three Counties’. When just eleven, his father died in an accident, on 3 November 1943. Brian died exactly 75 years later in 2018.
He gained scholarships to Bloxham School and Keble College, Oxford, where he studied history. Like many other influential archivists of his generation, he trained as an archivist at the Bodleian Library.
His first professional post was at Worcestershire Record Office in 1956, followed by a two- year stint in Essex Record Office from 1958 to 1960. He moved to Gloucestershire in 1960 as deputy to Irvine Gray and was appointed County Archivist in 1968, a post he held until 1979.
Meticulous annual reports told of continuous improvement in Gloucester. He navigated the turbulent cross-currents of local government reorganisation with great skill, reporting in 1974: ‘for the first time the historic records of the city, county and diocese are in the same custody, administered, catalogued and available to the public according to a common code of archival practice.’ When an opportunity arose, he acquired a disused school and oversaw its conversion to the new county archives building, a central site which the service still occupies today. In 1979 the newspapers reported Gloucester’s biggest ever removal, with 80 tonnes of records moved to Alvin Street. In the same year he set up the records management service in Shire Hall.
Former colleagues commented on his urbanity. He seemed equally at ease with record office staff or when dealing with his fellow Chief Officers in the County Council or with depositors like Lord Bathurst. For record collection jobs he used his rather elderly VW camper van and surprised colleagues by how often new depositors were people he knew socially or had met through other channels.
In 1980 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (HMC) in London, under the rather formidable Dr Godfrey Davis. Two years later he achieved his ambition of being appointed the Commission’s Secretary when Davis retired. He regarded his ten years as Secretary as the climax to his career. ‘Secretary’ he certainly was, serving three successive Chairmen: Lord Denning (to 1982), Lord Blake (1982–89) and Dr Gerald Aylmer (from 1989). But the job title concealed essential day-to-day roles as Chief Executive and Accounting Officer, to which he gave rigorous and scrupulous attention, crowning an already impressive record as a public servant.
Brian’s wide knowledge and experience of archives, including notably those outside the public sector, fitted him perfectly for his work at HMC, whose role as an adviser to government and to many grant-awarding bodies had greatly expanded and often demanded expert knowledge of the wider pattern of archive holdings throughout the country. Amid the continuing upheavals in local government services during the 1980s and 1990s he also frequently found himself being an advocate and spokesman for archives throughout England and Wales, in detailed discussions and meetings with government officials and ministers, where he was generally given a sympathetic hearing, even if issues of finance and local politics often threw up problems on the ground. In particular he was instrumental in the provision of funding for conservation work through the setting up of the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust as a joint initiative of the Historical Manuscripts Commissioners and The British Library Board.
HMC itself was kept on a shoe-string budget by its successive parent government departments and its publication of edited texts and calendars was slowly coming to a close. Nevertheless, good progress was made on other fronts, in particular with the Guides to Sources for British History based on the National Register of Archives (NRA), over which Brian unfailingly cast critical final scrutiny. His carefully crafted annual reports give a fuller account of his and the Commission’s work at the time. It is strange to look back now to a period when everything depended on handwritten or at best typewritten documentation, but that was indeed the case when Brian arrived at the Commission. He would preside over the transition first to word processing and then to computer applications. Of these the most important by far was the computerisation of the indexes to the NRA itself, which paid enormous dividends, and quickly established the NRA as a world-leader.
Throughout his career, Brian played an active role in the Society of Archivists, becoming Chairman in 1979–1980. He was Vice-President of the British Records Association, 1993–2005.
He retired to Herefordshire in 2005, taking an immediate interest in the record office and serving as chairman of the Friends from 2005 to 2010. He wore his eminence in the world of archives very lightly and was always ready with sage advice, but only when this was sought. Brian will be remembered for his integrity and generosity of spirit, playing an active part in the social activities of the Friends, most memorably as quiz-master in the many happy evenings at Harold Street. His most significant impact was in the influence he brought to bear on the campaign to build a new archive building. The compelling letter he wrote to the Council following his retirement as Chairman was perhaps the first step in a process that culminated in an innovative and fitting home for the county’s archives.
Brian combined an eminent career as an archivist with significant contributions to the Victoria County History (VCH). In January 1969, he took over as County Editor in Gloucestershire for 18 months when Christopher Elrington left to become the General Editor at the Institute of Historical Research. He also researched and wrote a couple of chapters in Volume X: Westbury and Whitstone Hundreds (1972). How he combined these VCH roles with the County Archivist post is hard to conceive.
He spent twelve years on the VCH central committee at the University of London, and then joined the local steering group after retiring to Herefordshire. Under his direction as chair from 1997–2008, Herefordshire’s VCH Trust was launched and the profile was consequently greatly elevated. Brian’s experience and energy enabled the VCH, both on a national and local level, to develop a relationship with the Heritage Lottery Fund, which paved the way for the England’s Past for Everyone project. This ultimately led to the publication of a two-volume history of Ledbury, embodying the twin priorities of the new VCH of rigour and accessibility.
A distinguished local historian, Brian had many publications to his name including: History of Malvern (1964), History of Bristol and Gloucestershire (1972, with Elizabeth Ralph), The Cotswolds (1976) and Herefordshire Maps 1577–1800 (2004). With Martin Kibblewhite, he co-founded the Golden Valley Study Group which led to the publication of two group-written books on Turnastone (2010) and Rowland Vaughan’s water meadows (2016).
In addition, he made several deposits of personal and research papers, talks and related correspondence in the county record offices of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, so researchers will be able to draw on his expertise for generations to come.
Many other local organisations benefitted from Brian’s knowledge and expertise including the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society (editor, 1973–79, president 1986–87, and honorary member in 1998–2018), Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club (president, 2001–02), Gloucester Diocesan Synod (lay member, 1972–76) and Hereford Cathedral Library and Fabric Advisory Committee. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries.
In his last five years he bore a debilitating illness with characteristic patience, supported by Alison, his wife of over 50 years. He also leaves two daughters and one grandchild.
Notes
1. I have drawn on the address at the funeral by his daughter Jenny and friend Simon for this obituary, supplementing it with contributions from friends and former colleagues, in particular Rhys Griffiths, Nick Kingsley, Christopher Kitching, and David Smith.