The Society’s archive
(Text adapted from an article by Peter Topley in Mollusc World 41, July 2016)
Two histories of our Society have been previously published in the Journal of Conchology (Jackson, 1927 and Crowley, 1975). It is hoped that at some stage in the future an updated history might be produced.
Both of these published histories relied in no small part on access to the Society’s archives. These are held at the West Yorkshire Joint Services Archive (WYJS), Nepshaw Lane South, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7JQ; in the city of our foundation.
The archives hold complete runs of the printed Journal of Conchology and other publications including the Conchologists’ Newsletter and Mollusc World. But equally importantly, the archive holds the minute books of the Society, beginning from the very first meeting held at the home of William Nelson in 1876.
These items are only a very small part of the archive which also includes many letters and photographs by and of conchologists of the past as well as secretarial correspondence and specific items (e.g. from working papers of J. W. Taylor for his Monograph of the Land and Freshwater Molluscs of the British Isles (1894–1914) to late 20th century marine census records and archives from A. E. Ellis and B. Verdcourt).
Access to the Archive
A full summary list of what is in the archive can be accessed by going to the WYJS website, clicking on ‘Catalogue’ and searching under the catalogue finding number WYL824. A pdf of the almost complete (apart from recent additions) catalogue can also be downloaded from this site.
Requests on how to go about viewing any items in the archive at the modern facility in Morley (which includes registering in order to obtain a reader’s ticket and complying with their Searchroom Guidelines) may be made by contacting the archivist on 0113 393 9788 or by email at leeds@wyjs.org.uk. Please let the Society know if you are interested in doing this.
Parts of the archive are in need of more detailed cataloguing and possibly some sifting of material in the future. Some work was carried out in this area by members including Nora McMillan in the late 1990s, and Adrian Norris in the 2000s.
All items in the archive are the property of the Society, which should be duly acknowledged where an image of any item is reproduced elsewhere.
From the archive: a rare photograph from 1870 of the Australian conchologist of French birth, Sophia Rossiter (c.1844−1882). Her brother, Richard Rossiter (1841−1903) and husband John Brazier (1842−1930), photos of whom are also to be found in the archive, were also important conchologists of the period and John named several species in his wife’s honour, including Semicassis sophia (Brazier, 1872). A note on the back of the photograph says that Sophia’s dress was blue.
From the archive: part of the minutes from the first meeting.
From the archive: An original watercolour of a carrier shell (Xenophora) by Guy Wilkins (1905−1957). Wilkins trained and worked as a commercial artist before joining the Natural History Museum in London in 1949, where he curated the shell collection. He was the Society’s President in 1950−51.
Peter Topley visiting the archive in 2015. Photo by Brian Goodwin.