Keeper of the Archives

The position of Keeper of the Archives at the University of Oxford in England dates from 1634, when it was established by new statutes for the university brought in by William Laud (Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the University). The first holder of the post was Brian Twyne, who prepared an index of the archives in 1631 as part of the preparatory work for the statutes: he was appointed Keeper of the Archives as a reward for his work. The archives were moved from the University Church of St Mary the Virgin into the Tower of the Five Orders in the Bodleian Library under Twyne and his successor, and some of the storage cupboards built at that time are still in use. The archives include charters, title deeds, university registers and records, and other official documentation from the university (but not from the colleges of the university, which keep their own archives). Most of the material dates from the 19th and 20th centuries, with few photographs and no sound or video recordings.

In total, 21 people have held the position. Of Philip Bliss, who was Keeper of the Archives for 31 years in the 19th century, it was said that "his penchant for accumulation seems to have impeded administrative efficiency".Reginald Lane Poole, who was in office from 1909 to 1927, took a much narrower view on what should be kept, and criticised his predecessors for their "fatal inability ... to destroy things when they are done with". The third to hold the position, John Wallis (who was also Savilian Professor of Geometry), prepared an index of the collection that was still used into the 20th century. The present holder, Simon Bailey, is the first full-time Keeper of the Archives: he was previously the Archivist under his predecessor, David Vaisey, but a decision was taken to combine the two posts in 2000. The archives became part of the Bodleian Library in August 2010, and the Keeper of the Archives now reports to the library's Keeper of Special Collections and Associate Director.

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