Cumbria Archives
Preserving and providing the written heritage of Cumbria

Cumbria Archives: our history

County councils have provided record offices for public use since the 1910s. Before the county councils were first created in 1888, the quarter sessions were responsible for county administration including the care of county records.

1800The Parliamentary Select Committee upon the Public Records reports that the county records for Cumberland were held at Penrith in the premises of the deputy clerk. The county records for Westmorland were held at Lowther Hall, courtesy of Lord Lonsdale.
1810sThe county records for Cumberland are moved from Penrith to the newly reconstructed Nisi Prius court building at the Citadel, Carlisle.
1837The report of the Records Commissioners notes responses from the count of Cumberland and city of Carlisle on their records held. No report was received from Westmorland.
1862Carlisle Corporation approves the use of a police cell as a muniments room although it was not declared ready until 1872.
1878-1879Disagreement between Carlisle Corporation and its town clerk over the storage and location of its documents. The corporation eventually approve new premises, complete with record strongrooms, for the town clerk in Fisher Street.
1879-1880Work undertaken to create a new strongroom in the Nisi Prius court building in Carlisle for Cumberland Quarter Sessions.
1889Establishment of Cumberland and Westmorland County Councils.
1891Library and collection of the antiquarian William Jackson of St Bees granted to Tullie House Library and Museum, Carlisle.
1895Westmorland County Council's records committee agrees terms with Kendal Corporation for the rent of a muniment room at Kendal town hall.
1913First county record office in England established at Bedford.
1914-1916Further works to create new additional strongrooms in the Nisi Prius court building in Carlisle for Cumberland County Council.
1926Tullie House library approved by the Master of the Rolls to receive manorial records.
1939Carlisle City Council transfers its charters to Tullie House for wartime safekeeping. New Westmorland County Council premises in Kendal open, with a purpose made strongroom. The council moves its documents from Kendal town hall to county offices in January 1940.
1941After approval by the 5th earl of Lonsdale, Cumberland County Council makes the first evacuation of historic records to Lowther Castle for wartime keeping.
1942Cumberland County Council appoints its first records clerk/county archivist, Madeleine Elsas, a German Jew who had moved to England in 1932. She undertakes further evacuations of records from the Courts, Carlisle, to Garlands Hospital and Netherby Hall in 1943.
1946Madeleine Elsas undertakes return of evacuated records back to Carlise in improved premises at the Courts and Portland Square. She leaves Carlisle for a new post as county archivist of Glamorgan.
1947Cumberland Record Office approved to receive manorial records. John Lavan Kirby is appointed the new Cumberland county archivist but leaves later in the year.
1949Tom Gray, retired director of Tullie House, appointed consultant archivist to Cumberland County Council.
1951The county muniment room at Kendal is approved to receive manorial records.
1958Tom Gray appointed Cumberland county archivist.
1959-1960The 'Lowther Crisis': Lord Lonsdale urges the local authorities to form a joint service to receive the large collection of family and estate records potentially in peril in storage at Lowther Castle or he would need to transfer them to Durham University Library.
1960-1962The Joint Archives Service between the county councils of Cumberland and Westmorland, and Carlisle City Council is established under Tom Gray, its first archivist. Gray dies in December 1961, Bruce Jones appointed archivist to the joint service. Work begins on moving records from the Nisi Prius court building to a new record office at Carlisle Castle. The Kendal Record Office opens to the public at county offices, Kendal, under Sheila Macpherson, assistant archivist. 
1963First deposit of Lowther estate records made.
1973Appointment of first manager of modern records, with a store acquired at Ashley Street, Carlisle.
1974Cumbria County Council begins operation, replacing Cumberland and Westmorland County Councils. The Joint Archives Service is re-named Cumbria Archive Service. Appointment of an archivist-in-charge for the Furness district which had been part of Lancashire prior to 1974.
1976An record office opens in Dalton-in-Furness to care for records of the Furness district.
1979New record office at Duke Street, Barrow opens and records transferred to it from Dalton, Carlisle and Lancashire Record Office.
1985First computer installed at Carlisle Record Office. Bruce Jones retires and is replaced by Sheila Macpherson as county archivist.
1987The service celebrates the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Carlisle and Kendal offices in 1962.
1990Increasing public demand leads to establishment of historical research service and appointment of additional searchroom staff at the three offices.
1991Friends of Cumbria Archives established.
1992Completion of a new outstore at Houghton and a new conservation workshop at Ashley Street. Work begins on converting the former police station at Whitehaven into a new record office. The service celebrates its 30th anniversary, growing from 3 archivists and an assistant in 1962 to a staff of 24 in 1992. Sheila Macpherson retires and is replaced by Jim Grisenthwaite as county archivist.
1996Opening of Whitehaven Record Office and Local Studies Library.
1998The service acquires its first electronic management software to catalogue, record accessions, depositors and conservation jobs.
2000Launch of the Cumbria Archive Service website.
2001The service participates in the Access to Archives (A2A) programme launched by The National Archives to convert thousands of pages of paper catalogues into searchable electronic records.
2002The National Archives deems the Carlisle office should be replaced with new premises. The service celebrates its 40th anniversary. Anne Rowe appointed county archivist.
2003The service purchases the third set of Lady Anne Clifford's Great Books of Record, one of the service's most historically important acquisitions.
2006-2007Bids to Heritage Lottery Fund are approved for the new Carlisle Archive Centre.
2008The service launches its online catalogue (CASCAT) and begins importing catalogue data from the A2A project.
2009Construction work begins on the new Carlisle Archive Centre at Lady Gillford's House, Petteril Bank. A digitisation service is introduced for the first time and produces work for clients in Australia, Canada, Norway and New Zealand in its first year. 
2010The record office at Carlisle Castle closes in preparation for the move to the new Archive Centre. The modern records management service is split from the Archive Service and is moved to another directorate within the county council.
2011After the movement of over 900 cubic metres of records, the new Carlisle Archive Centre opens to the public. The service is successful in its application to the Heritage Lottery Fund to purchase the archive of fell-walking author Alfred Wainwright (1907-1991).
2012The new Carlisle Archive Centre is officially opened by Sir Chris Bonington. The service celebrates its 50th anniversary.
2013Cumbria Archive Service becomes the first service to receive Archives Accreditation, a new national standard introduced by The National Archives.
2015-2016Budget restrictions leads to a major restructure of the archive service, with reductions in staffing and opening hours, and reorganisation with libraries into six areas.  Anne Rowe retires as county archivist.
2020-2021The service is closed for most of 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, public service is restored on an appointments basis.
2022The service is again restructured into a unified county wide archive service again, under Peter Eyre as archives professional lead. The service celebrates its 60th anniversary with a major public event at Carlisle Archive Centre. The Government announces the biggest local authority reorganisation in Cumbria in 50 years.
2023Local authorities in Cumbria reorganised into two new unitary authorities, Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council. Cumbria Archive Service becomes Cumbria Archives, jointly funded by both authorities and hosted by Cumberland Council.
2024Westmorland and Furness Council announces that all public access to county offices, Kendal, will cease, with most council staff moving to South Lakeland House. Archives will remain at county offices and provide a public service from Kendal Library.

Banner image: County Archivists - Madeleine Elsas, Tom Gray, Bruce Jones, Sheila Macpherson.