Summary
In 2019 West Sussex Record Office (WSRO) acquired the personal and business papers of Sir Freddie Laker. Needing extra professional archivist capacity to review, sort, and catalogue the papers, the service successfully applied to the Business Archives Council for their cataloguing grant. The work of this professional member of staff enabled the archive service to make the collection available to researchers.
“My father stored these photos, records, and memorabilia for many years and upon his passing my step-mother and I continued to preserve them….we hope that many more people will get to learn about his impact on the world.”
Freddie Allen Laker, Sir Freddie Laker’s son
Challenges and opportunities
Laker Airways Winter Schedule 1981/82 (Laker 2/6/32). Image courtesy of West Sussex Record Office
Following an initial approach by a colleague from The National Archives’ Sector Leadership Team in 2019, the archive was gifted to WSRO by Sir Freddie Laker’s son and his widow, Lady Jaqueline Laker. Gatwick airport, where Laker Airways was based, lies in West Sussex, so WSRO was a good fit for the collection.
The material, which occupied the equivalent of about 25 bankers boxes, arrived at Chichester, where WSRO is based, in late 2019. It had made a circuitous route from the Bahamas with some of the papers having been used by two researchers, Ania Grzesik and Gregory Dix, whose book on Sir Freddie Laker was published in 2019.
The Business Archives Council awarded their annual cataloguing grant to WSRO in July 2020, enabling them to make the papers of Sir Freddie Laker accessible to the public. However, delays due to the pandemic meant that it was not until January 2023 that the Project Archivist could begin work on the collection. During this period the service had managed to secure a second grant from another funder to catalogue a further collection, allowing one project archivist to undertake the two projects consecutively.
The mix of content and subjects in the boxes suggested the Laker collection was an accumulation of documents reflecting key parts of Sir Freddie’s personal and business life. With this in mind, the material was arranged into a number of key sections – with the personal material being kept distinct from the Laker Airways and other business papers.
The material presented several challenges due to the variety of data subjects, the relative modernity of most of the records, and sensitivities surrounding legal, financial and business information contained within them. Having a well thought out and documented rationale for restricting access to certain records helps with managing access to the archive. External sector resources and current legislation guided these decisions.
Alongside the cataloguing of the material was the need to re-pack the items, placing them into archive friendly acid-free folders and boxes. With the Sir Freddie Laker material there was the need to remove the press cuttings from the 130 lever-arch files to better preserve the papers and reduce their physical bulk. This was achieved thanks to the invaluable support from a WSRO volunteer, whose work was supervised by the cataloguing archivist.
The archive now contains over 700 items including correspondence, financial records, legal papers, reports, publicity, photographs and 135 files of press cuttings covering the period 1975-1983. The collection will be of interest to those interested in the growth and demise of Laker Airways and Skytrain Holidays – widely credited with establishing a demand for cheap transatlantic air travel. As well as recording his business activities and providing an insight into the aviation industry, the archive also includes personal papers and items relating to the Woodcote Stud which Sir Freddie owned.
Outcomes
The collection was made available to the public in March 2023. The catalogue is available on the West Sussex Record Office website and has been added to the service’s collections on the Archives Hub portal, making the collection more easily discoverable. In addition, a feature piece was written on the Archives Hub website – Come Fly With Me: The Archives of Sir Freddie Laker – to increase awareness of the collection and its research potential.
The material provides an insight into the aviation industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The project archivist, Alice Millard, spoke at the Aviation and Aerospace Archives Initiative (AAAI) conference in February 2024 to further promote the collection and the work involved in making it accessible.
“It was a pleasure to have Alice tell the Conference about her experiences of cataloguing Sir Freddie’s collection. Not only did it give the mixture of volunteers and professionals a flavour of how to go about exploring and recording such a large and valuable collection, but it inspired others to find out more about the fascinating history of civil aviation and the charismatic pioneer of low-cost air travel.”
Tony Pilmer, National Aerospace Library and member of AAAI
What was learned from the process?
As with many short-term cataloguing projects time was limited in which to carry out key steps – research, arrange, describe and repack the collection. In this case, the support provided by a WSRO volunteer was a significant contribution.
With this particular collection there was a considerable amount of legal terminology, especially relating to the legal cases and liquidation of Laker Airways, that needed to be understood to describe the records correctly.
Key advice
Cataloguing a mix of personal and business material can be tricky especially where there may be industry and business specific jargon. In planning the work (the entire project was only six weeks in duration), allowing time to review the material whilst conducting background research made an important difference.
How will this work be developed in the future?
With a high degree of public recognition of Sir Freddie and Laker Airlines, the collection has already featured in a physical display case on-site at WSRO and across social media. It is hoped that the collection will feature in a future edition of West Sussex Unwrapped – a collaborative multimedia project with Screen Archive South East.
“Many of the items shared with the West Sussex Record Office represent fascinating moments in the history of aviation. We’re thrilled they have a home that will care for them as we did.”
Lady Jacqueline Laker, Sir Freddie Laker’s widow
Find out more
Email record.office@westsussex.gov.uk
Relevant resources
The National Archives’ guidance on cataloguing archive collections
The Peel Archives blog, How do archivists describe collections?