BT Archives
Encyclopedia
BT Archives is an archive preserving the documentary heritage of BT and its public sector
predecessors. It is designated an official place of deposit for Public Records, for those records created prior to BT's privatisation in 1984.
The records include minutes, subject files, photographs, film and advertising material that tell the story of telecommunications in the UK and from the UK to overseas, from the formation of the private telegraph and telephone
companies in the nineteenth century to the present day.
from 1846. Other private telegraph companies whose records are held are the British Electric Telegraph Company, International Telegraph Company, Submarine Telegraph Company, Electric and International Telegraph Company, British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company, London District Telegraph Company, United Kingdom Electric Telegraph Company, Universal Private Telegraph Company
, Eastern Telegraph Company, British Telegraph Company, Irish Submarine Telegraph Company, English and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company and the Anglo-American Telegraph Company. BT Archives also holds documents relating to the UK telegraph service of the British Post Office
; the private companies being brought under the control of the Post Office in 1870.
BT Archives also holds records of the private telephone companies and of the Post Office telephone services. The private telephone companies represented are the Telephone Company Limited (Bell's Patents), Edison Telephone Company of London Limited, United Telephone Company, Lancashire and Cheshire Telephonic Exchange Company Limited, Northern District Telephone Company, National Telephone Company
, Western Counties and South Wales Telephone Company, Corporation of Glasgow Telephone Department and London and Globe Telephone Maintenance Company.
Post Office Telecommunications
activities continue concurrently and subsequently to the private telegraph and telephone companies. These are documented in the records of the Post Office telegraph and telephone service 1864-1969 and the Post Office Corporation (Telecommunications division) 1969-1981.
From 1 October 1981, British Telecommunications, trading as British Telecom, severed its links with the Post Office and became a totally separate public corporation. Records of British Telecommunications (public corporation) are held from 1981 until privatisation in 1984. Records after privatisation, of British Telecommunications plc 1984-2001, and of BT Group plc from 2001, continue to be preserved and made available for researchers in line with BT's heritage policy.
The British Phone Book collection is a major resource for genealogy
and family history
, containing a near-complete set of United Kingdom
telephone directories
from the first one issued in 1880. For preservation reasons the phone books are generally accessed on microfilm, and the phone books 1880-1984 are digitised and have been made available online.
BT Archives cares for more than 500,000 images and 1,000 film titles. Selected images can be found on BT Archives online image gallery.
area of central London
and is open to public researchers on Tuesday and Thursdays 10:00am - 4:00pm (no access charge).
Descriptions of the historic collections are available on the BT Archives online catalogue.
Full access, acquisition and preservation policies can be found on BT Archives official site.
network, the heritage initiative founded by BT in 2001 to safeguard telecommunications artefacts.
BT Archives and Connected Earth together form BT Heritage, part of BT's corporate responsibility programme.
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
predecessors. It is designated an official place of deposit for Public Records, for those records created prior to BT's privatisation in 1984.
The records include minutes, subject files, photographs, film and advertising material that tell the story of telecommunications in the UK and from the UK to overseas, from the formation of the private telegraph and telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
companies in the nineteenth century to the present day.
Major historical collections
The earliest records held by BT Archives are those of the Electric Telegraph CompanyElectric Telegraph Company
The Electric Telegraph Company was the world's first public telegraph company founded in the United Kingdom in 1846 by Sir William Fothergill Cooke and John Lewis Ricardo, MP for Stoke-on-Trent....
from 1846. Other private telegraph companies whose records are held are the British Electric Telegraph Company, International Telegraph Company, Submarine Telegraph Company, Electric and International Telegraph Company, British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company, London District Telegraph Company, United Kingdom Electric Telegraph Company, Universal Private Telegraph Company
Universal Private Telegraph Company
The Universal Private Telegraph Company, Limited was formed in 1861 to exploit Professor Charles Wheatstone’s 1858 Universal Telegraph. The company was to "...carry out a system by which banks, merchants, public bodies and other parties may have the means of establishing a telegraph for their own...
, Eastern Telegraph Company, British Telegraph Company, Irish Submarine Telegraph Company, English and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company and the Anglo-American Telegraph Company. BT Archives also holds documents relating to the UK telegraph service of the British Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
; the private companies being brought under the control of the Post Office in 1870.
BT Archives also holds records of the private telephone companies and of the Post Office telephone services. The private telephone companies represented are the Telephone Company Limited (Bell's Patents), Edison Telephone Company of London Limited, United Telephone Company, Lancashire and Cheshire Telephonic Exchange Company Limited, Northern District Telephone Company, National Telephone Company
National Telephone Company
The National Telephone Company was a British telephone company from 1881 until 1911 which brought together smaller local companies in the early years of the telephone...
, Western Counties and South Wales Telephone Company, Corporation of Glasgow Telephone Department and London and Globe Telephone Maintenance Company.
Post Office Telecommunications
Post Office Telecommunications
Post Office Telecommunications was set up as a separate department of the UK Post Office, in October 1969. The Post Office Act of that year was passed to provide for greater efficiency in post and telephone services; rather than run a range of services, each organisation would be able to focus on...
activities continue concurrently and subsequently to the private telegraph and telephone companies. These are documented in the records of the Post Office telegraph and telephone service 1864-1969 and the Post Office Corporation (Telecommunications division) 1969-1981.
From 1 October 1981, British Telecommunications, trading as British Telecom, severed its links with the Post Office and became a totally separate public corporation. Records of British Telecommunications (public corporation) are held from 1981 until privatisation in 1984. Records after privatisation, of British Telecommunications plc 1984-2001, and of BT Group plc from 2001, continue to be preserved and made available for researchers in line with BT's heritage policy.
The British Phone Book collection is a major resource for genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
and family history
Family history
Family history is the systematic narrative and research of past events relating to a specific family, or specific families.- Introduction :...
, containing a near-complete set of United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
telephone directories
Telephone directory
A telephone directory is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that publishes the directory...
from the first one issued in 1880. For preservation reasons the phone books are generally accessed on microfilm, and the phone books 1880-1984 are digitised and have been made available online.
BT Archives cares for more than 500,000 images and 1,000 film titles. Selected images can be found on BT Archives online image gallery.
Location and access
BT Archives is based on the third floor of Holborn Telephone Exchange in the HolbornHolborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
area of central London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and is open to public researchers on Tuesday and Thursdays 10:00am - 4:00pm (no access charge).
Descriptions of the historic collections are available on the BT Archives online catalogue.
Full access, acquisition and preservation policies can be found on BT Archives official site.
Partnerships and governance
It is a partner in the Connected EarthConnected Earth
Connected Earth is a UK network of organisations, primarily museums, that preserve the history of telecommunications in the UK. Heritage artefacts are physically dispersed to Connected Earth partners and other institutions as appropriate, and are brought together again online through virtual...
network, the heritage initiative founded by BT in 2001 to safeguard telecommunications artefacts.
BT Archives and Connected Earth together form BT Heritage, part of BT's corporate responsibility programme.
External links
- BT Archives official site
- BT Archives online catalogue
- BT Archives online image gallery
- BT's heritage policy
- Connected Earth website
- Searchable records from BT Archives phone books
- Distant Writing - The History of the Telegraph Companies in Britain between 1838 and 1868