Hilary Jenkinson

Hilary Jenkinson
Name	Hilary Jenkinson
Birth date	22 September 1882
Birth place	Bedford
Death date	18 September 1961
Death place	London
Occupation	Archivist, conservative
Employer	Public Record Office
Notable works	A Manual of Archive Administration, Readings in Archive Administration

Hilary Jenkinson

Hilary Jenkinson (22 September 1882 – 18 September 1961) was a British archivist and historian associated with the development of twentieth-century archival theory in the United Kingdom. He served at the Public Record Office and influenced archival practice across institutions such as the Royal Historical Society, the British Museum, and the Vatican Archives through writing, teaching, and international engagement. Jenkinson's work intersected with figures and institutions including Sir Hilary Herbert, Sir Frederic Kenyon, Sir William Stubbs, Lord Halifax, and organizations like the International Council on Archives and the Society of Archivists (UK).

Early life and education

Born in Bedford to a family with clerical and scholarly connections, Jenkinson attended Bedford School and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford where he read classics and history under tutors linked to the traditions of Oxford University scholarship. His university years coincided with debates involving scholars such as A. L. Smith, Sir William Ridgeway, E. A. Freeman, and contemporaries in the Oxford Historical Society. After Oxford he pursued study and early employment that brought him into contact with curators and bibliographers at institutions including the Bodleian Library, the British Museum, and the Public Record Office.

Career at the Public Record Office

Jenkinson joined the Public Record Office where he rose through positions alongside senior officials such as Sir Henry Maxwell-Lyte and Sir John Fortescue. His tenure spanned crucial events involving the First World War, the interwar period, and the aftermath of the Second World War, forcing engagement with records created by actors linked to the Foreign Office, the Admiralty, and the War Office. At the PRO he worked with collections connected to figures like Thomas Cromwell, Oliver Cromwell, William Pitt the Younger, and administrative series related to the Domesday Book, the Pipe Rolls, and medieval chancery records. His responsibilities included custody, description, and access policies that had to coordinate with legal frameworks such as the Public Records Act 1958 and with external bodies like the Historical Manuscripts Commission.

Archivist philosophy and contributions

Jenkinson championed an archival philosophy grounded in impartial custodianship and the primacy of records as evidence: a stance developed in dialogue with antecedents including Sir Hilary Jenkinson's predecessors at the Public Record Office and contrasting with proponents in the U.S. archival movement. He argued for strict principles of provenance and original order when arranging and describing collections connected to creators like the Church of England, the City of London Corporation, and aristocratic families such as the Duke of Norfolk and the Earls of Salisbury. His approach influenced practices at institutions including the Bodleian Library, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and archives serving universities such as Cambridge University Library and University College London. Jenkinson engaged with international archival debates at gatherings of the International Congress of Historical Sciences and early meetings that led to the formation of the International Council on Archives.

Major publications and writings

Jenkinson authored foundational texts read by archival practitioners and historians, most notably A Manual of Archive Administration, and edited volumes such as Readings in Archive Administration. These works discussed recordkeeping practices exemplified by repositories like the Public Record Office and case studies involving collections from the Tudor and Stuart periods, with references to documents in the National Archives (UK), episcopal registers of the Diocese of Canterbury, and registers of the Court of Common Pleas. He also contributed articles to periodicals and proceedings of bodies such as the Royal Historical Society, the English Historical Review, and the Archivum, discussing the role of the archivist in relation to historians like G. M. Trevelyan, Sir John Neale, and A. J. P. Taylor.

Awards, honours and professional roles

Jenkinson held leadership and advisory roles within institutions such as the Royal Historical Society, the Historical Manuscripts Commission, and the early Society of Archivists (UK). He received recognition in the form of appointments and honorary associations from bodies including the University of Oxford, the British Academy, and archival organizations in France, Belgium, and Germany. He participated in committees advising the Ministry of Health and the Home Office on records policy during the wartime and postwar periods, liaising with figures such as Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee on matters of state records and public access.

Legacy and influence on archival practice

Jenkinson's insistence on the archivist as an impartial guardian of records shaped Anglo-American and Commonwealth archival traditions, influencing institutional policies at the National Archives (UK), the Public Record Office (Ireland), the State Archives of New South Wales, and university archives across the British Empire. Debates between his positions and those advanced by proponents of administrative theory in the United States—notably at the National Archives and Records Administration and in the work of archivists linked to Herbert Putnam and T. R. Schellenberg—continued to define archival curricula at schools like the University of London and the School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois. His writings remain cited in discussions involving the International Council on Archives and contemporary archival standards overseen by bodies such as the Society of American Archivists and the Digital Preservation Coalition.

Category:British archivists Category:1882 births Category:1961 deaths