Jersey Archive Annual Report 2025

Contents

Introduction

Records Advisory Panel

Public Records (Jersey) Law 2002

Identification Of Archives

Case Study - Retention Schedule Review

Transfer Of Archives

Case Study - Public Health Records

Conservation, Preservation and Security

Case Study - Conservation of St Luke's School Plans Environmental Conditions

Cataloguing and Indexing

Case Study - de Gruchy-Pallot Family Archive Access to Archives  

Case Study - Enquiries

Case Study - Change Minds

3 Records Opened, January 2025  18 4 Management And Oversight  19 5 Appendix A  20

Retention Schedules by Department

6

Appendix B  27 7 Public Records transferred in 2025

8 Appendix C  35

Key Performance Indicators

9

Appendix D  37 10 Archive Funding

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

2 | 2024 Archive Annual Report

Introduction

Archives allow us to trace the collective history of our Island, our communities and our people. They provide evidence of key events in our lives, both at a personal level through records such as school registers and through national and international events that impact us such as the Second World War and Occupation or more recently the Covid pandemic. Archives chart the stories of our social, cultural, political and economic development. They act as a lesson from the past to take into the future.

Archives are also a key part of Government of Jersey accountability. The Archive team is independent from Government but works closely with each Government department to identify relevant records to be transferred to Jersey Archive. These records reflect the decisions, functions and policies of Government. In 2025, we worked with departments across Government to review 38 retention schedules and transfer 24.5 cubic metres – over 1,700 boxes – of records to the Archive building.

In 2025, over 260,000 digital files were transferred to the custody of Jersey Archive and placed in our secure digital preservation system. This was a 1,900% increase on the 13,000 digital files transferred in 2024 and reflects the change from physical archives to born digital files. Part of our role is to continue to preserve the information in these files for future researchers and as this change continues, we will ensure that our digital preservation system has the capacity to preserve these unique documents.

The significant success in transfer of physical and digital records puts pressure on our ability to fully catalogue these collections as staff are dealing with the transfer and ingest of thousands of boxes of records and digital files each year. We ensure that both physical and digital records are safe in storage and basic descriptions of collections are placed online to facilitate access as an initial step. However, it should be noted that with current staff levels, cataloguing backlogs are increasing. Working with Arm's Length Bodies under the amended Public Records Law (approved by the States Assembly in February 2026) will increase the transfer of material and put further pressure on cataloguing.

In 2025, we continued to promote the work of the Archive and the records we hold by running talks, tours, education and reminiscence sessions, reaching over 2,700 individuals and answering nearly 3,500 written queries into the records we hold.

We continued to develop our staff, supporting training programmes in conservation, archive administration and records management. This training is key to developing the next generation of heritage professionals for the Island. The Archive team work alongside a group of over 40 volunteers who help with preservation, indexing and scanning projects and contribute over 3,370 hours a year to the work of the service.

In early 2026, the Public Records Law amendments mentioned above were debated and passed by the States of Jersey. This will lead to a clear list of Arm's Length Bodies who will come under the Law. A major goal for 2026/7 will be for the team to support these bodies in complying with the Law by developing retention schedules and transferring records to Jersey Archive.

Li nda Romeril

Deputy Chief Executive and Archives and Collections Director, Jersey Heritage, April 2026

Records Advisory Panel

I would like to begin by paying tribute to my predecessor, Mrs Anne Harris , who served eight years on the Records Advisory Panel, of which the last three years were as Chairman. She achieved much in her time and we are grateful to her.

The volume of physical records transferred to Jersey Archive in 2025 fell back from 2024's peak but still represented over 24.5 cubic metres or 1,700 boxes. On the other hand, the transfer of digital records amounted to 260,000 electronic files, a massive increase in the number of electronic files transferred in the previous year. This trend - towards a greater percentage of digital records - can only be expected to increase over time. That said, the cleaning repackaging and accessioning of physical material takes time and, to quote my predecessor: With the current quantities of material being transferred, there is an impact on the cataloguing backlog which it is important to ameliorate through a sustained level of funding for the professional staff at the Archive.'

Public access to the Archive and engagement with the public are important aspects of Jersey Archive's work. There were 450,000 visits to the online catalogue in 2025 and 3,450 written enquiries. Over 2,700 people attended Archive tours and talks in 2025 and there were over 2,500 in-person visits to the Archive.

2026 will present new challenges. The amendments to the Public Records (Jersey) Law will come into effect and approximately 48 Arm's Length Bodies will come into scope. In addition, the Archivist's duties have been extended.

Finally, I would like to draw attention to the Change Minds' case study in the Archivist's report. Apart from being a fine example of knowledge transfer between locations (in this case, the Norfolk Record Office and Jersey Archive), it is an excellent demonstration of how an archive can assist people suffering from mental illness.

I thank my fellow Panel members for their support and advice in 2025 and on their behalf, I offer my thanks to the Archivist and her staff for their dedication and professionalism.

Clive Jones

Records Advisory Panel Chair, April 2026

Public Records (Jersey) Law, 2002

The Public Records (Jersey) Law, 2002 places certain duties on Jersey Heritage Trust, the Archivist employed by the Trust, the Records Advisory Panel and public institutions who fall under the Law.

In 2025, the Archivist and Chair of the Records Advisory Panel worked with representatives from the Government's Economy Department, the Law Officers' Department and Legislative Drafting Office on amendments to the Law proposed by the Records Advisory Panel. This included a review of the public institutions covered by the Law and the introduction of a Code of Practice for institutions to better define their duty of records management. The amendments also update the principal mandatory duties of the Archivist and include a mechanism for breach reporting from the Records Advisory Panel to the Minister. The amended Law was lodged in 2025 and was debated and approved in February 2026.

The Law sets out the Archivist's duty to review, select and identify which records should be retained as part of the permanent story of the Island. It is the public institution's duty to arrange for these records to be transferred to the custody of Jersey Heritage and

the Trust's duty to maintain a public records office for the safe keeping of the records. The Archivist is then responsible for managing the records and making them available to the public. This report looks at the key areas of identification, transfer, preservation, cataloguing and access to archives.

Identification of material of historic value

Research and  Transfer of understanding digital and

physical records

Conservation Cataloguing and  and

access preservation

Public Records Law Compliance - Identification of Archives

The identification of public records of historic value is one of the

key roles of the Archivist and the team at Jersey Archive. It is vitally important that we work with public institutions and subject specialists to select which records we should retain to continue to tell Jersey's unique story.

The tool used to identify archival material is the departmental retention schedule, which lists the records produced by the institution, the length of time they should be kept and then whether they should be confidentially disposed of or transferred to Jersey Archive for permanent retention. Retention schedules are agreed and signed off by the public institution and the Archivist.

The Law is format neutral and therefore covers both physical and digital records. It defines public records as any record(s) that have been created or received by a public institution in the performance of its functions. Every year, millions of records produced by public institutions, from emails to minutes of meetings and application forms to acts of Court, are covered by the Public Records Law.

Case Study - Retention Schedule Review

Each year, the team at Jersey Archive carry out a  compliance audit which looks at each Government  department, the functions and sections of that  department, the retention schedules in place and  

their last review date. The audit also highlights  

the last time that records were transferred to the  Archive. Generic retention schedules and schedules  for Arm's Length Bodies are currently not included in  the main audit.  

In 2025, 38 retention schedules were reviewed by the team at  

the Archive and the public institution involved and signed off by  the Archivist and Departmental Public Records Officer. A further  11 schedules are currently undergoing review. Changes in the  structure of Government, transfer of responsibilities between  departments and the way in which we work mean that regular  reviews of the retention schedules are essential to ensure that all  records series are included. We recommend that schedules are  reviewed at least every five years or sooner if new systems are  put in place or responsibilities change.  

Across the main Government departments there are now 122  retention schedules in place and 80% of these have been  reviewed or created within the last five years.  

Appendix A shows a full list of retention schedules in place for  each department and the date that they were last reviewed.

Public Records Law Compliance - Transfer of Archives

Once public records have been identified as having archival value in the institution's retention schedule, it is a requirement of the Public Records Law that those records are transferred to Jersey Archive after 20 years. The Law allows for records to be transferred sooner if this is agreed by the institution and Archive. In the majority of cases, an earlier transfer is preferable to physical records being retained in unsuitable storage conditions or digital records being allowed to become obsolete.

In 2025, 24.5 cubic metres of physical  Each new collection that arrives at records were transferred to Jersey  Jersey Archive is accessioned on our Archive, a return to a more standard  collections management database.

rate of physical transfers after 2024,  The accession record includes a basic which saw over 60 cubic metres  description of the contents of the transferred. This represents over 1,700  collection, the transferring department boxes of archival records and includes  and section, the number of records records from the States Greffe and  transferred and the location of the Children, Young People, Education and  collection in Jersey Archive's strongroom Skills, Health and Infrastructure and  or on our digital preservation system, Environment Departments.  Preservica. Transfer lists recording the

basic contents of the collection are

There were 41 transfers of digital  also received from the department. collections in 2025 consisting of over  Recording this key information allows us 260,000 electronic files. This is a  to manage the collection and respond to significant increase compared to the  any enquiries from the department. 13,000 electronic files transferred in

2024. Digital transfers included public  A full list of collections of public records consultations from Strategic Policy,  transferred in 2025 can be viewed at Planning and Performance, digital  Appendix B.

Acts of Court from the Judicial Greffe

and Public Health records, including

promotional campaigns and Senior

Management Team minutes.

Case Study - Public Health Records

In 2025, Public Health carried out a significant  review of their digital files, using their retention  schedule to identify material of historic  significance that was due to be transferred to the  Archive. As a result of the review, nearly 10,000  files were transferred to the Archive showing the  key strategies, campaigns, policies and challenges  of the department from the late 1990s to the  present day. Files that were transferred included  campaigns such as cervical screening, vaccination  impact projections and records relating to Ebola  and Swine Flu.  

Nearly 7,000 files were transferred relating to the Covid-19  pandemic, including records from the Medical Officer of  Health, briefing documents, presentations, research and  statistics. Whilst many of these documents are currently  closed to the public due to the personal nature of the  information they contain, they are a vital part of the story  of the Island's response to the pandemic and will be an  incredibly valuable source for researchers in the future.  

The digital files transferred by Public Health have all been  placed into our digital preservation system, Preservica. It acts  as a digital strongroom, securely preserving the digital records  and monitoring for file format obsolescence so that we can  ensure that the files can still be read by future researchers.  When digital records are transferred, we also create hash  values – unique numeric values which identify data, ensure  the evidential nature of the documents and can identify any  alterations to the original record.  

Public Records Law Compliance - Care of Archives - Conservation, Preservation and Security

The preservation of the unique records that we care for at Jersey Archive is one of the key functions of the service and following amendments to the Public Records Law is now a statutory function. Our preservation programme includes the cleaning and repackaging of documents that can arrive at the Archive with live mould, insect infestations and surface and ingrained dirt. With over 1,700 boxes of material arriving at the Archive in 2025, the preservation process has a significant impact on staff time.

In 2025, the Conservation team continued their detailed treatment and repair of documents with the aim of bringing unusable documents back into public access and ensuring their long-term preservation. We also continued our conservation programme of external book binding, working with Sycamore Bookbinding. Over the course of the year, 54 documents were treated, either in-house or by Sycamore.

The items conserved included plans of St Luke's School, school minute books, planning registers, hospital registers and Almorah Cemetery burial registers.

Case Study - Conservation of St Luke's School Plans

In 2025, four plans of St Luke's School dating from 1885 were  conserved. One of the plans (plan 4) had been torn in multiple  places in the past and was covered with parcel tape, which  produced a dense dark brown staining. The left-hand side of the  bottom edge of the plan had many small sections missing and  minor vertical tears. The paper was splitting in places along the iron  gall ink border. Extensive surface dirt was present on both recto and  verso of the plan.  

All four plans were dry cleaned to  all the edges. All infills and tears were  remove the surface dirt and allow for  supported on the recto with seven  digitisation. The brown parcel tape  gsm Tengu tissue. All repair papers  was then removed from plan 4 and  were adhered with 10% wheat starch  the tacky residue removed with a  paste.  

crepe eraser and cotton buds dipped

in acetone. The plan was humidified  All conservation treatments are  

for 50 minutes, in ten-minute blocks  carried out following the British  using a Gore-Tex wet pack. It was dried  Standards approved by the Records  between blotters and under weights.  Advisory Panel.  

Repairs were carried on the verso to  the extensive tears and prominent  folds, which were first supported with  seven gsm Tengu tissue to anchor the  paper and provide additional support.  Large pieces of K37 paper were then  shaped and used as support lining  pieces for the verso of the plan,  avoiding areas with manuscript. K33  paper was shaped and used for infill  pieces at the missing sections along  

Public Records Law Compliance - Environmental Conditions

Storage of records in the correct environmental conditions ensures

that the unique archival material we care for can be preserved for future generations of researchers. Records stored in buildings with high humidity and temperatures are subject to mould growth, with significant fluctuations in temperature in a short period of time also putting the records at risk.

The Records Advisory Panel, as one of their functions under the Public Records (Jersey) Law, have approved BS 4971:2017 Conservation and care of archive and library collections as the standard that we aim to meet. Adherence to this standard is also required as part

of Jersey Archive's application to The National Archives Accreditation scheme.

BS 4971:2017 sets out the following criteria for the storage of standard archival collections:

• Humidity of between 35-60%

• Temperature of between 13°C-23°C

• Annual average temperature of less than 18°C

The strongrooms at Jersey Archive were built to provide a passive, sustainable way of meeting BS 4971. In 2025, both strongroom blocks met the conditions specified by the British Standard.

Cataloguing and Indexing

Once records have been accessioned and the basic contents of  the collection recorded, they join a list of cataloguing priorities for  detailed cataloguing, listing and indexing of each individual file on  our online database.

Each collection is rated with a high,  Public records catalogued in 2025  medium or low priority in line with  included the Jersey Post collection,  our cataloguing priorities policy.  States Greffe legislative and policy  When we set the priority level, we  files, Government press releases,  consider the potential use of the  Jersey Shipping Registers, criminal  collection, public interest in the  depositions and Aliens Registration  collection, any preservation benefits  cards. Private collections that were  of cataloguing and whether the  catalogued during the course of the  collection is available to the public or  year included the Morley Archive,  closed for a period of time.  John and Delphina Coutanche  

Collection and the de Gruchy-Pallot  The detailed cataloguing and indexing  Family Archive.  

of archival material requires our  

staff to have an in-depth knowledge  

of both the documents they are  

cataloguing and the history of the

department or institution that they

came from.

Case Study - Cataloguing and Indexing - de Gruchy-Pallot Family Archive

The de Gruchy-Pallot Family Archive shares the story of Charles and  Annie Pallot (née Giffard) and their six children and was transferred  to Jersey Archive in 2025 from the University of Alberta, Canada,  

at the family's request. The earliest document in the collection, an  inheritance contract, dates to 1397 and is now among the earliest  records held at Jersey Archive.  

The records run from the 14th century  cousins agreed that the Jersey  

to the post- Li beration years in Jersey  collection would be better appreciated  and include the story of military nurse  at Jersey Archive and started  

and midwife Adèle Haarseth (née  conversations with the University  Pallot), who was awarded medals for  of Alberta Archive to transfer the  

her work during the Anglo-Boer War  collection back to its native soil.

and the First World War.  

After speaking to Herb, the team at  The de Gruchy-Pallot collection,  the Archive contacted Alberta and  which shows the family's changing  arranged for the transfer of this unique  fortunes over the years, first came  and important family collection to  

to the attention of Jersey Heritage  Jersey Archive, where it has been  when Herb Reynolds, a Canadian  catalogued and is publicly available  descendant of the Pallots, contacted  to view. The family have also donated  Jersey Archive in 2025. His family were  early contracts that they retained,  

also descended from the de Gruchy  some of which date back to the 14th  family and had emigrated to Canada  century and are a wonderful addition  with a number of documents relating  to the Archive.

to the Pallot, de Gruchy and Giffard  

families in Jersey.  

In the 1970s, the documents were  donated to the University of Alberta  alongside more recent family material  relating to Canada. Herb and his  

In 2025, over 2,500 members of the public visited the Jersey Archive  building to carry out in-person research into the records we hold. In  September 2025, we reviewed our opening hours and now provide access  to the archives throughout the day, having previously closed during the  lunch hour. Research topics varied from house and family history to  Occupation and Li beration research.  

The Archive is also used by construction  I would like to thank you and your team  firms, legal firms and the local media. The  for all the help and hard work that you've  staff at Jersey Archive continue to provide  given in helping us to discover as much as  a high-quality service and some of the  has been possible of the fate(s) of this little  comments received through the year are  family.'  

listed below:  

The Jersey Heritage Online Catalogue  On our first visit to Jersey recently we  continues to be a key tool for members  visited the archive centre where all the  of the public to use to access information  staff we met were very friendly and helpful.  about and digital copies of our  

Before we started our research we needed  collections. The catalogue holds over  

a little guidance to find the documents  a million images of the records held at  required and [staff member] was  Jersey Archive and allows people to  exceptionally helpful and knowledgeable  access the collections at any time of day  and nothing was too much trouble.  and from wherever they are in the world.  She made the task effortless and very  

enjoyable and it was a pleasure to meet  Our subscriber base for the catalogue  

her. She is definitely an asset to the centre.  continues to be steady at about 900  

Thank you for all your help. We would  individuals, with a number of people using  highly recommend anyone wanting to  the pay-per-view options. This provides  research family or history on Jersey to visit  an annual income which supports two  

the centre.'  part-time digitisation posts and allows us  

to digitise and develop access to more of  Your customer service is exceptional and  the collections.  

much appreciated.'

Case Study Access - Enquiries

In 2025, the team at Jersey Archive responded to 3,479 enquiries from members of the public, academic researchers, local and national media, legal and construction firms and public institutions.

We regularly work with local and  Enquiries from public institutions, national media, discussing historic  included Freedom of Information events such as Li beration and  requests, queries into departmental providing access to records at the  records and requests for records Archive to illustrate visual media. In  management and conservation 2025, we worked with the media on  advice. We work closely with the 43 separate occasions and provided  States of Jersey Police on historic over 150 publication reproduction  cases and last year provided

copies of the material in our care. This  access to photographs, plans and included assisting with a Channel 4  documents, such as school records, two-part documentary on Jersey's  which were then used as evidence in Occupation with in-house filming  court cases.

and use of images from the Archive

collections.

Case Study Access - Change Minds

The Archive's outreach programme is a significant part of our work. Over 2,700  individuals attended Archive talks, tours, education and reminiscence sessions and  workshops during 2025. This part of our works allows us to go out into the community  and reach groups who might not normally interact with archive material. It is an  important part of telling Jersey's stories to a wider audience.  

In 2025, Archive staff ran a Change Minds' project  The first six weeks of Change Minds' involved  for the first time. Change Minds' originated at the  participants learning about the work and records  Norfolk Record Office and celebrates the power  of Jersey Archive as well as choosing a person who  of history, creativity and community to support  was admitted to St Saviour's Hospital in the 19th  people living with mental illness.  century to research. The second half of the project  

saw the group react creatively to what they had  

In September, a group of Islanders living with  discovered.  

mental illness started meeting at the Archive to  

take part in the local project, which was organised  Change Minds' finished with a celebration and  

by Focus On Mental Illness and Jersey Heritage,  exhibition, which showcased participants' work at  supported by the Jersey Community Foundation.  Jersey Archive.  

Records Opened - January 2025

Every year, public records held at Jersey Archive that are closed to the public are reviewed after periods of 30, 50, 75 and 100 years. In 2025, 744 files were due to be reviewed and in January 2025, 79% of these records were opened to public access.

Records opened to the public after 100 years  It would appear that the horses belonging to included the St Helier arrest register from  the party did not arrive and so they had to 1923-1925. The register includes details of  hire animals in the Island that were not used those arrested in the parish, their place of birth  to stunt riding. This led to a disappointing

and age, the crime they were alleged to have  performance and a runaway horse that committed, who arrested them, witnesses and  jumped over the crowd, kicking the Evening the outcome of the case. Many of the arrests  Post reporter, Mr Troy , on the leg. Montana Bob were for theft, assault, intemperance or driving  himself was charged with spurring a horse out offences but there are some more unusual  of all reason' and was eventually fined £1. crimes mentioned in the register.

The Public Instruction Committee minutes

On 30 August 1924, Joseph Roberts or  from 1923-1925 are also now open to the Montana Bob' from America was charged  public and include details of payments for with cruelty to a horse. Roberts was in the  apprenticeship schemes. On 14 January

Island as part of the evening fete of the Grand  1925, the Committee decided to give Mary Summer Exhibition held on 29 August at the  Ellen Picot, mother of John Raymond Picot, Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural  five shillings per week to support John's Society's Showground.  apprenticeship as a carpenter with J V de

Gruchy. The payment was to be made for a His show was advertised as a unique  period of three years whilst John completed attraction' and the sole appearance in the  his apprenticeship.

Island of the famous cowboy Montana Bob

and a troupe of cowboys in a rodeo display'.  The scheme did not only cater for boys. On The display was to include pony express, trick  12 June 1925, Irene Maud Le Clercq's mother riding and trick roping. Unfortunately, the day  was given five shillings per week to support after the evening fete the papers report that  her daughter's apprenticeship in dressmaking Jersey's first rodeo was a fiasco', with a horse  with Mademoiselle Hubert. In the same month, bolting, spectators injured, alleged cruelty to a  Herbert Stanley Amy was apprenticed as a horse and Montana Bob arrested.  carpenter and his marriage entry from 1937

shows that 12 years later, he was still working The newspaper reported: The cowboys came,  in the same profession.

they saw, but they certainly did not conquer.'

Management and Oversight

The Records Advisory Panel was established under the Public  Records (Jersey) Law, 2002. The Panel is required to meet  

at least twice each year and part of its role is to review the  performance under the Law of Jersey Heritage, the Archivist  

and public institutions. In 2025, three new Panel Members were  appointed by the Minister and sworn in under the Public Records  Law. Clive Jones was appointed as Chair of the Panel by the  Minister in December 2025.  

The Panel met four times in 2025 and agenda items included the recruitment  of new members, the amendments to the Public Records (Jersey) Law, the  annual compliance audit and the Archivist's Annual Report for 2024. The panel  also approved the following standards under which Jersey Heritage and the  Archivist should operate, as part of their duties under article 12 (2) of the Law:  

• BS 4971:2017 - Conservation and care of archive and library collections  

• EN 16893:2018 - Conservation of Cultural Heritage - specifications for  location, construction and modification of buildings or rooms intended for the  storage or use of heritage collections  

• The National Archives Accreditation scheme  

The Government's Head of Information and Data Security attended the  September meeting of the Panel to give an update on records management  within the Government and plans for future developments.  

Children. Young People, Education and Skills

Policy and Planning (CYPES) Aug-19 2024 Children and Early Years Service Aug-19 2024 Directorate Aug-19 2024 Inclusion and Early Intervention Aug-19 2024 Standards and Achievement  Aug-19 2024 Jersey Youth Service Dec-18 2023 Primary and Secondary Schools Nov-23 2028

Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators

Archive Funding

Jersey Heritage receives an annual grant from the Government to run a wide of range  collections management, finance and human resources. As a result of these shared of services including the provision of an archive. Jersey Archive is an integral part of  central costs, it is difficult to give a definitive stand-alone figure which reflects the Jersey Heritage and the public of Jersey benefit from the overall synergies between  exact cost of running the Jersey Archive service. However, the table below gives an the provision of archive, historic environment and museum services. Synergies include  indication of spend in different areas of the archive services operations. central support services across the organisation, such as buildings maintenance,

This table does not include IT, telephones, insurance, rates and training costs which are all held centrally.

Archives sit at the heart of our
collective understanding: who we are, where we came from, and, indeed, where we are going.

Archives Unlocked, The National Archive

Jersey Archive, Clarence Road,

St Helier, Jersey JE2 4JY

Telephone: +44 (0) 1534 833300 Email: [email protected]