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When and why is a collection “hidden”? Awakening interest in the Hornung Papers at West Sussex Record Office

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2022

Nichola Court
Nichola Court*
Affiliation:
West Sussex Record Office
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Extract

SCOLMA's 2013 conference was based on the Research Library UK (RLUK)'s 2012 report, Hidden Collections, which SCOLMA defined as “material for which there is no online presence” in its pre-conference publicity. Many researchers are made aware of collections and documents in the custody of West Sussex Record Office via online sources such as the National Register of Archives (NRA), Access to Archives (A2A) - still an extremely useful resource, even though new catalogues and additions to existing catalogues can no longer be entered - and our own website, using our Search Online facility. The purpose of this paper is not to dispute the importance of an online presence in our increasingly digital world.

Type
Articles
Information
African Research and Documentation , Volume 121 , 2013 , pp. 21 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2013

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Footnotes

1

This article is based on a paper delivered at the 2013 SCOLMA Conference, Hidden Collections in African Studies. A full transcript of the original talk, with accompanying slides, can be obtained from West Sussex Record Office.

References

Notes

2 The Archives Hub provides access to complete archive catalogues and collection (fonds)-level descriptions of archive collections held predominantly by the UK“s further and higher education institutions. Since late 2012, it has encouraged local authority repositories - such as West Sussex Record Office - to add catalogues or collection-level descriptions of their “academic” collections to the site. Further information can be found on the About Us page on the Archives Hub“s website (http://archiveshub.ac.uk/introduction/).

3 Accessible via the Archives Hub“s website (http://archiveshub.ac.uk/features/hornungpapers/).

4 Since its deposit in 2009, only two enquiries about the collection have been received; one relating to a former employee, and another from a former employee, Professor Paul Lapperre, who is writing a book about the estates under the working title Bitter sweetness: Rise and demise of the Homung sugar empire in the Zambezi Delta, 1888-1988, and who is in contact with the Hornung family. In 2013, as a result of the Archives Hub feature page, a distant family descendant contacted West Sussex Record Office and has since deposited digital copies of a number of postcards featuring the sugar plantations, dating from the early 20th century.

5 Biographical information about Pitt Hornung can be gleaned from his daughter's biography (Collins, B.M. J.P. Hornung. A family portrait. Orpington Press, 1970Google Scholar: copy available at West Sussex Record Office). The African World's obituary, “The late Mr John P. Hornung, Pioneer of the sugar industry in Mozambique” (10 Feb 1940: p.105) also provides some biographical details. Further information has been obtained from an incomplete draft of Professor Paul Lapperre“s Bitter Sweetness, sent to West Susssex Record Office in Spring 2013.

6 Vail, Leroy, and White, Landeg. Capitalism and colonialism in Mozambique: A study of Quelimane district. Heinemann Educational Books, 1980. Now out of print, a brief synopsis of the book and a number of reviews are available on Landeg White“s website (http://landegwhite.com/capitalism-colonialism-inmozambique/).Google Scholar

7 White, Landeg (LAN@landegwhite.com). “Records of Hornung & Co Ltd”. E-mail to Nichola Court (), 12 Jun 2012.

8 The collection comprises 64 boxes of records (11.5m3) and 12 loose volumes.

9 Currently, staff at West Sussex Record Office manage around 60 people as part of its volunteer programme. Staff are also directly involved with three external volunteer projects, providing advice, support and work space, amongst other things, and are assisting with a grant application for a fourth external volunteer project.

10 Statistical returns can be obtained upon request from West Sussex Record Office.

11 Since this paper was delivered at the SCOLMA Conference in July 2013, the BAC has awarded its 2013 Cataloguing Grant for Business Archives to West Sussex Record Office, to enable work towards the cataloguing of the Hornung Papers. Further information about the BAC and its annual grant, along with information relating to this year's award, can be found on the BAC's website (http://www.businessarchivescouncil.org.uk/). In September 2013, a qualified archivist was recruited by West Sussex Record Office in order to carry out the objectives outlined in the grant application, over a period of 20 days.