The journey taken by car-related archives

This is a short tale about the Frederick Lanchester collection held by Coventry University Archives, to show how documents survive (or not), and how archivists and others care for them and make them available for research, to tell stories, and to help make sense of the past.

In the beginning – Frederick Lanchester’s lifetime

The life and work of Frederick Lanchester was an extraordinary one and more details can be found on the Lanchester Interactive Archive website, and our online catalogue. We know about his achievements because he was recognised during and after his lifetime, but the real insights into the way he thought and how he tackled problems can come from his correspondence with colleagues, friends and family, and his sketchbooks and notes.

His papers also describe how material was lost or destroyed during his lifetime (including some of the early Lanchester cars from the 1900s), especially because of bombing during the Second World War.

Into the almost swinging ’60s

The first batch of Lanchester material that was associated with the university was donated by Fred’s widow Dorothea to the Lanchester College of Technology a few months after she and Fred’s brother George attended its official opening in May 1961.

The official opening of Lanchester College of Technology on 12 May 1961
Fred Lanchester’s widow Dorothea and his brother George with guests at the official opening of Lanchester College of Technology in 1961.

The material had already been looked at before this date by Patrick Kingsford for research into his book on Fred called FW Lanchester – the life of an engineer and published in 1960.

A list of the items was created so that a typed finding aid and index cards were available to those interested in looking at the collection.

Next steps – the 1980s and 1990s

Twenty years later more Lanchester material was purchased at auction in December 1982 by the former Lanchester Polytechnic College Librarian. It was thought to be the property of George Lanchester. This included further correspondence and papers, plus sketchbooks. Additional items including pocket notebooks were then bequeathed by George’s second wife ‘Stevie’ (Mary Stevenson) and came via George’s daughter-in-law Elaine (from his first marriage) and Lanchester enthusiast and historian Chris Clark (more on him later).

Sketchbook drawing of a bicycle or tricycle for hot air engine study - 'moped', 'scheme seems possible but depends upon stationary experiments' (ref. no. LAN/4/13/152).
Sketchbook drawing of a bicycle or tricycle for hot air engine study (ref. no. LAN/4/13/152).

Other material came in from Lanchester family members and Chris Clark over the years, and although the university was ensuring that the Lanchester material was safe, it was only able to actively work on the collection using external funding.

The 21st century – a brave new world of digitisation and augmented reality

Chris Clark and the librarians who looked after the Lanchester material continued to do their best to store and promote the collection, but a major opportunity came in 2015 when the university was successful in getting National Lottery funding to digitise the collection. A space was also created in the university library (the Frederick Lanchester building) that used a model of a Lanchester car specially built by Chris Clark, plus information panels, display items, and augmented reality tablets, to bring the collection alive.

An augmented reality tablet in a car steering wheel shaped frame being used in the Lanchester Interactive Archive space at Coventry University library, 2017
An augmented reality tablet in a car steering wheel shaped frame being used in the Lanchester Interactive Archive space at Coventry University library, 2017.

2020 and the future

So we’ve come from the Lanchester collection being kept in Fred’s house, then in an office in the university library, to being housed in proper archive storage. There has been a move from handwritten to typed lists, then to online catalogues that conform to archives standards and allow digitised material to be downloaded. The collection has also expanded from material relating just to Fred to items about other members of the Lanchester family. So the archives now include a collection of walking sticks made by George Lanchester, and some marionettes used by Fred and George’s nephew, the puppeteer Waldo Lanchester.

We’re also keeping up with new technology – the latest innovation is the use of virtual reality for visitors to the Lanchester space in the library, or for when Lanchester Interactive Archive (LIA) staff go out to visit schools, community groups, and others who are interested in the Lanchester story.

To help with this outreach, the LIA staff can literally hit the road, as the university has recently bought a 1932 Lanchester car that has had only two previous owners. It will be used for promotional activities, and hopefully feature heavily in Coventry 2021 City of Culture events.

The 1932 Lanchester 15/18 car to be used by Coventry University for promotional activities
The 1932 Lanchester 15/18 car to be used by Coventry University for promotional activities.

New donations to Coventry University archives in 2019

It’s time for the annual round-up of material donated to the archives this year, and it’s been the usual mix of old favourites and welcome surprises.

Publications

Copies of Phoenix, the student newspaper for Lanchester College of Technology & Coventry College of Art (covering dates 1967-1970), were donated in December. You could read about the new art college being built in 1968 (now the Graham Sutherland building), and there were also complaints about the library – not enough spaces, not enough books, too noisy, poor ventilation and heating. For students who liked music (and a bar) there was plenty of entertainment from bands that performed at ‘The Lanch’ and also took part in the Lanchester Arts Festival.

Readers could see what money was spent by the Arts Festival committee, such as for booking bands to play. In 1969 it cost £200 to get the group Family, £150 for Fairport Convention, £350 for the Small Faces, and £400 for Pentangle.

Roger Chapman of Family, playing at the 1968 Lanchester Arts Festival.
Roger Chapman of Family, playing at the 1969 Lanchester Arts Festival (trashed tambourine not pictured).

Other publications included graduation award ceremonies programmes and prospectuses for the university and its predecessors (covering dates 1960s to the present day). Some particularly early ones related to Rugby College of Technology & Arts and its predecessors and dated back to 1905. The Rugby link came about because its college became part of Lanchester Polytechnic in 1970.

Photographs

A few interesting photographs came with the Phoenix donation, including a series featuring former Lanchester Polytechnic director Geoffrey Holroyde – often welcoming visitors to the campus, such as Secretary of State Kenneth Baker in April 1987 (on the same afternoon that Baker announced that Polytechnics would exit from local authority control).

There are also images showing demolition and construction on the site that became the Techno Park.

Objects

Some of the most unusual items donated related to the career of Waldo Lanchester, who in his time was a famous puppeteer. Waldo was a nephew of Frederick Lanchester, and some of the puppets made by his company were included in the items. There were also drawings and notes on making puppets and story ideas for performances.

One of the Waldo Lanchester puppets donated in 2019
One of the Waldo Lanchester puppets donated in 2019

If you have anything you would like to donate to the archives, please get in touch via our contacts page.

New donations to Coventry University archives in 2018

Here is a brief summary of some of the new donations the university has received this year to add to its archives. This gives an indication of the types of material we receive and the formats they come in.

Publications

Examples include leaflets, flyers, bookmarks and other promotional items for events being held at the Lanchester Library; a brochure highlighting the university’s conference facilities; Faculty of Health & Life Sciences brochures (collected during a tour of the new School of Health & Life Sciences building in Whitefriars); and material from the School of the Built Environment (e.g. proceedings of conferences).

Photographs

New donations of photographs (physical and digital) include images from the university’s Estates department showing various university sites and locations. These are particularly useful for seeing buildings being built or refurbished. There are also 2012 images taken in the library for student induction literature, and aerial photos shot from a helicopter showing student building TheHub being built in 2009 and 2010.

We also received large framed panoramic views of the Coventry skyline and buildings which were displayed on the walls of the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences James Starley building in Cox Street, Coventry – which is being demolished soon.

Film & video

Film and video footage includes the commemorative film of the official opening of the new library in September 2001 by Princess Anne; induction videos showing students how to use the library; copies of television broadcasts such as an Open University programme on military strategy (formulated by Frederick Lanchester); and a BBC ‘Local Heroes’ programme from 1996 on Frederick Lanchester and his car design. There is also 1904 footage of a Lanchester car being driven up steps (thought to be one of the first car marketing films to be made in the UK).

New donations 2018 Image of Princess Anne admiring a Lanchester car during her visit to open the university's new library in 2001
Princess Anne admiring a Lanchester car during her visit to open the university’s new library in 2001

New donations 2018 photo of a Lanchester car that appeared in one of the first UK motoring promotional films 1903)
A Lanchester car that appeared in one of the first UK motoring promotional films (1904)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Objects

We have a few Lanchester lapel badges made by the Lanchester & Daimler Owners’ Club for wearing at ‘Lanchester Day’ on 29 April 1984 when Lanchester Polytechnic’s library was named the Lanchester library. The day also included an exhibition, and Lanchester cars on show. Other new donations include a video camera, which means we can play small video camera cassettes used to record lectures and events); and Investors In People award plaques and certificates that used to be on the library walls.

New donations 2018 photo of lapel badge made for 'Lanchester Day' on 29 April 1984 when Lanchester Polytechnic's library was named the Lanchester library
Lapel badge made for ‘Lanchester Day’ on 29 April 1984 when Lanchester Polytechnic’s library was named the Lanchester library

If you have anything you would like to donate to the archives, please get in touch via our contacts page.

175th anniversary of Coventry University

A display about the 175th anniversary of Coventry University and some of the archive collections it holds is currently available on the 3rd floor of the Library.

It celebrates the fact that 175 years ago on 22 May 1843 the Coventry School of Design opened and explains through timelines the link between that organisation and the university of today.

175th anniversary display
Some of the items in the 175th anniversary display

If you have any material that you would like to donate to the university’s archives e.g. photographs, publications (prospectuses, annual reports, staff and student magazines), objects, film and video, please get in touch with the university archivist Gary Collins (024  7765 7882, archives.lib@coventry.ac.uk).

More information on the archives held by the university, including its most important collection (the Frederick Lanchester papers) is available on our home page.