Just chatting to a friend and we got talking about Kew in relation to the archives which are kept there; I’ve never been but being interested in family history I would love to visit, armed with a whole list of things I need to find out!
Kew holds the official National Archives, some of which go back more than a thousand years! These ancient records would be written on vellum and parchment I guess, these days records are stored electronically and ordinary people are able to access some of them. There are an incredible 11 million historical government and public records held there! Just imagine that! The records and documents come from four former offices:
- Her Majesty’s Stationery Office was founded in 1786; it holds the Crown copyright and since 1889 has been the official printer of all Acts of Parliament
- the Public Record Office, which was created in 1838 and is the national archive of England, Wales and the United Kingdom government; its purpose and mission is to preserve key public records and allow access to them for people who are conducting various research projects
- the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts was appointed in 1869 under Royal Warrant, and its purpose is to find and identify all sorts of different records including manuscripts and private papers of historical interest, and then to report on their contents
- and finally the Office of Public Sector Information which was created ten years ago in 2005 following an EU directive
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Kew is also famous for its gardens; I have been to Kew Gardens once, many, many years ago. Three of us, two lads and me, went down to London to visit two friends and we stayed in their flat with them for the weekend. On the Saturday we visited Kew Gardens and had a lovely time wandering about… I actually have quite vivid memories of the lovely gardens and parkland. After a pleasant afternoon,we went back to the flat, got changed and poshed up and went out for a meal to an Italian restaurant where we had a wonderful meal. I think I had steak Rossini! After the meal we went along to a disco (that was back in the days of discos, flared trousers, shorts skirts and soul music!)
We were all dancing away having a great time, when one of our friends began to have breathing difficulties… serious breathing difficulties. One of the lads took out two friends to the local hospital, the other lad and I went back to the flat, which was up at the top of an old Victorian villa, and waited… and waited… and waited…. This was years before mobile phones, and there wasn’t a land-line in the flat, so all we could do was to wait and worry. Eventually, at about three in the morning they all returned. Our friend had had a massive allergic asthma reaction to some of the pollens from the trees and plants at Kew Gardens!
Much relieved, we all went to bed, except for our friend who had been given a shot of adrenalin and who was wide awake and buzzing, completely over her breathing difficulties! So as we all slept, there was she, hoovering and cleaning the flat form top to bottom!
Lois Elsden 