Following a world-leading cataloguing and digitising project, Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s Heritage and Education Centre (HEC) is calling on businesses and members of the public to come forward and donate any relevant archival material and artefacts in a bid to make maritime history more accessible.
In 2023, the HEC completed work on an extensive digitisation project to conserve, catalogue, and digitise its historic Ship Plan and Survey Report Collection. The collection holds over 1.15 million records, dating from the 1830s to the 1970s, which detail the design, construction and maintenance of ships classed by leading provider of compliance and classification services to the marine and offshore industries, Lloyd’s Register.
The collection features a selection of well-known vessels and groundbreaking new designs. This includes the Carpathia – the Cunard passenger liner that rescued survivors of the Titanic; and the Cutty Sark – one of the fastest tea clippers ever built, now on display at Greenwich, London.
The collection also highlights important milestones for the shipping industry, such as the transition from steam to motor vessels or the introduction of new shipbuilding technologies – see the Vulcanus, one of the first ships equipped with a Diesel engine, and the Fullagar, the first ship with a welded hull. Other materials, such as wreck data, correspondence, photographs, and certificates, have also been digitised.
Following the completion of the main digitisation project, HEC is encouraging businesses and members of the public to come forward with any archival material they believe to be relevant to maritime history. The collection is focused on anything related to maritime technology, engineering and wider safety, as well as any Lloyd’s Register-related materials.
Any donations or material must meet the collecting criteria, as per the acquisition and disposals policy which is as follows:
– Records and/or objects related to prominent, influential, or noteworthy individuals employed by or otherwise related to the work or social life of Lloyd’s Register.
– Material related to ship and yacht building from the 18th century onwards.
– Records and/or objects relating to items featured as a part of the First and Famous collection.
– Milestone events in the history, people, and business streams (marine, offshore, food etc…) of Lloyd’s Register.
– Material related to the development of safety at sea.
– Depiction of marine technology/safety equipment in art.
Senior Archivist for the centre, Max Wilson, said: “We find that private or business collections are typically most at risk as archives are often thrown away to make room for other documentation. But this material is vital for learning from the past and improving maritime safety for the future.
“If there are any businesses, organisations or individuals personally that have maritime archives, of any kind, we would be more than happy to take a look. Archiving this kind of material preserves it for future generations and makes maritime history accessible to everybody.”
It is hoped that the HEC maritime archives will continue to grow with collection donations from the public and private businesses to build a clearer picture of maritime safety history.
Later this year, HEC will unveil its new online Collection Management System, which houses Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s expansive archive, library, and heritage asset collections, to the public. The System will provide access to structured catalogue data and imagery from across Lloyd’s Register’s history, those of its amalgamated company records, and a number of donated private collections. Dating from the early 19th century, much of this material has never been made systematically available to the public.
Furthermore, as of spring next year, HEC is set to officially open the archive and library collections to the general public for consultation in its newly created reading rooms. This will be one of the largest archive and library moves back to the City of London in twenty years and will see the collections back once again at Lloyd’s Register’s historic offices at 71 Fenchurch Street.
If you have an archive collection or you would like to speak to the HEC team, please email hec.info@lrfoundation.org, or visit hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/about-us/contact-us
The HEC is a public-facing archive and library holding material concerning over 260 years of maritime history and technical expertise, supporting researchers and practitioners from a variety of disciplines. As part of LRF, HEC is focused on increasing the understanding of maritime safety and disseminating maritime knowledge to promote ocean stewardship.
The online collection is freely available via the Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre’s website.
