Over the course of his professional life, Vic, as he was always known, was involved in many different roles for the benefit of the archives sector. So much so, that it is difficult to know quite where to begin and what to leave out.
Vic was born in London in 1946, the only child of a working-class family (his father was employed on the London buses). Vic demonstrated his impressive love of learning from a young age. He won a place at King’s College Cambridge and graduated with a First in English in 1968, followed by the Archive postgraduate qualification at UCL in 1968/69. He never lost his love of books and literature, was always interested in new authors from across the globe, and maintained his high standards in his own writing throughout his working life and into retirement.
From his first professional post, in Devon County Record Office, Vic demonstrated his unlimited capacity to get things done, not only to the highest standards, but also in a consensual and supportive way. Everyone who contributed to this obituary spoke of how Vic had encouraged them and provided practical support to help them to develop and improve as professionals and managers. He was a great manager himself, achieving results and giving credit to others, although he did not hesitate to also point out where improvement was needed or possible. He had a remarkable instinct for identifying when and where change was required and then, after due consideration, mapping out the way forward. In his second post, as Deputy at Suffolk Record Office from 1972 and in his first appointment as a head of service at Essex from 1978, he offered measured, unflappable leadership far in advance of his years. He never lost this capacity, even when inwardly he was disappointed or annoyed. Diplomacy and sensitivity were required in his early years at Essex, leading a service which regarded itself as the best in England, but which Vic could see was capable of improvement and modernization. By the time he moved on to a new challenge with the Rothschild Archive in 1993, he entrusted to his successor in Essex a flagship service which had a clearly mapped out future, both in terms of new buildings but also working methods which would become widespread across the sector over the next few years. His impact in Essex was significant, with strengthened branch arrangements, computerization, records management, the establishment of the Essex Sound Archive (conducting some of the early interviews himself) and the fledgling London Borough services covering areas formerly in Essex. It was only appropriate that he was awarded an Honorary degree by the University of Essex for ‘Study and publication of Essex History.’
But Vic did not just focus on the issues of the day job. He was very active in professional organizations. As Chairman of the young Association of County Archivists, he led the development of what was the first attempt at a national vision for archives provision in England — a foretaste of the strategic outlook which Vic would champion over the next 25 years. He also served on the Council of the Society of Archivists from 1980, serving as Chairman from 1989 to 1991, leaving an organization reshaped for the future with the appointment of its first Executive Secretary, Pat Cleary. Although not directly involved in the abolition of the Greater London Council and the Metropolitan County Councils, he threw himself fully into the fight to protect archive provision and demonstrated the political skills which would serve him well in the years ahead. The National Council on Archives originated in this campaign and Vic, as Chairman of NCA from 1995 to 2001, was able to use it as a springboard to influence the post-1997 Labour Government in its development of cultural and heritage policies. This culminated in the establishment of Re:source, later MLA, which did so much to create the present archive landscape. Originally, the government had proposed the formation of a Museums and Libraries Council, uniting the existing Museums and Galleries Commission and the Libraries and Information Council. However, Vic realized that it was vital for the future of national archive sector policy and securing future funding for Archives to also be under this umbrella. In conversation at the time, I recall us agreeing that this was ‘the last lifeboat leaving the Titanic, and that archives had to be in it,’ a view which was not initially welcomed across the archives community. Under Vic’s leadership, the sector mounted a highly effective lobbying campaign which won the day, and archives were in the big tent! As one of the four initial directors of the new body, and the only archivist, Vic did not underestimate the task faced nor the weight of existing vested interests, held by others who were intent on protecting what they saw as ‘their’ funding. When the stark reality of state support for the heritage sector was revealed in a Parliamentary answer showing that Archives received 0.1% (not a misprint!) of funds awarded to the museum sector, Vic saw that the emphasis had to be on mutual capacity building. This cross-domain approach gradually yielded results and in time archive-specific funding streams emerged, including for Regional Archive Councils, and the emergence of the first UK archive policy in 1999. MLA’s first archive strategy was published in 2001, ‘Developing the 21st Century Archive.’ Justin Cavernelis-Frost who worked closely with Vic at MLA says: ‘Between 2003–2004, Vic was the driving force behind MLAC’s Archives Task Force. This wide-ranging investigation into how archives could be better understood and better used was an important step in the development of the sector, although it was to find itself mired in seemingly intractable internal politics. Vic was a master at these negotiations and skilfully managed to steer a path through the many territorial interests. Whilst many saw the resulting report as a missed opportunity, the seeds of practices and thinking now common across archives can be found in its conclusions and recommendations, such as comprehensive digital access, collaborative centres of expertise, new skills opportunities, and new routes into the profession.’
The abolition of MLA by the Cameron/Clegg coalition was a sad moment and it brought many potential developments to a halt, but the sector as it exists now still evidences the benefits derived from the work of MLA inspired by Vic.
While fighting these strategic battles for the sector, Vic continued to develop his career at the Rothschild Archive, which he led from 1993 until his retirement in 2004. Although a service had existed from 1977, Vic’s appointment as Head of Corporate Records and Archives signalled a sea change for the organization, in terms of its professionalism, profile, and the re-union of elements of the family and business archive long dispersed overseas. Vic thoroughly enjoyed the work, especially the high-profile international exhibitions celebrating the Bicentenary of the Bank which he staged in London, Vienna, and New York. He had a sumptuous level of resources at his disposal which as head of one of the largest local authority archives services in the country he could only have dreamed about. But he also loved the thrill of the records themselves and promoting them for access and research use. His calm, thoughtful, consensual leadership style never deserted him, but he did find himself in previously unfamiliar territory, for example in bringing back the records of the Viennese family branch which had been seized by the Russians after the Second World War. Being Vic, he quickly adapted to a situation which was in many ways more akin to the world of espionage. I hope that one day the full story will be told.
By the middle of the decade, Vic started to wind down some of his main commitments, retiring as Director of the Rothschild Archives Trust and as an MLA board member in 2004, the year in which he was elected President of the Society of Archivists. Long recognized as a leading light of the profession, he was awarded the Ellis Prize by the Society in 2002 and elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (London) in 2008. In 2010 his award of an MBE was long overdue and much deserved. But he did not rest on his laurels in his retirement, if it can be called that. His work as Chair of the Community Archive Development Group (later CAHG) was critical in establishing community archives as a recognized and invaluable element of the broader archive community and in overcoming the hostility and misunderstanding of a large part of the professional sector. Other more local historical and archive interests took up his time, including the role of Chairman of the Suffolk Record Society, Honorary Archivist at Helmingham Hall, and a trustee of Halesworth and District Museum, among several others. He also found time to write and publish, reflecting his love of antiquarian books and his faith in optimism in his study of a failed Utopian Community in Essex.
It would be wrong to simply list what Vic achieved as an archivist, massive though his impact was. He was a gracious and generous man, hugely attached to his wife Jennie, whose death in 2016 saddened him enormously, and to his two children, Jonathan and Kate. It was striking that when the news of his death was first mentioned on the UK Archives JISC Listserv, the dominant sense among the respondents was of the loss of a friend, who would be enormously missed. All who have generously contributed information for this notice speak of his personal dignity and supportive nature. From a non-archivist: ‘I was struck by the courtesy, charm, passion, efficiency and humility he brought to the role — let alone the gift of his time and commitment when he was just commencing retirement.’ From our own ranks: ‘He made you better than you thought you could be. You wouldn’t want to let him down because he trusted you’; ‘As a manager he was always ready to listen; he welcomed ideas and encouraged innovation. As a friend he was thoughtful, considerate and kind. I feel greatly privileged to have known him and to have learned from him’; ‘He was a key mentor for me, the embodiment of a true professional, passionately interested in archives, but totally open to ideas and a huge supporter of innovation. He was also a lovely man, and I am deeply saddened by his loss, and miss his presence in my life.’
I think we would all hope to be remembered as fondly as Vic is and will continue to be.
Author’s note
I could not have prepared this appreciation without the guidance and assistance of the many people who willingly supplied their knowledge of Vic. In particular, Kate Thompson and Elizabeth Shepherd, who corrected my several errors and Rosemary Dunhill, who had known Vic for so long. Without the recollections of Melanie Aspey, Justin Cavernelis-Frost, Helen Forde, Jonathan Rhys-Lewis, David Mander (and through him Jack Latimer), Jan Smith, Martin Astell of Essex Record Office (and through him Richard Harris and Jennie Butler). I was also able to draw on the obituary by Harvey Osborne published by Suffolk Record Society. All omissions are mine, and I apologize to the many people who I know would have wished to contribute if I had contacted them.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Bruce Jackson
Bruce Jackson retired as County Heritage Manager of Lancashire in 2014 after almost 40 years as an Archivist and Records Manager in England and Scotland He was chairman of the Association of Chief Archivists from 2002 to 2012