The Public Record Office as a Source for Labour History

Abstract

The Public Record Office contains the records of the central government from Domesday to the present day. Most records are now open after 30 years, though some, such as evidence to Royal Commissions, are open as soon as they are transferred. The quantity of records created by the government has increased dramatically in recent years and now a shelf-mile of records reaches the PRO each year. The PRO is the most important and comprehensive collection of archives in the world, not only because it spans nearly a thousand years, but because, on account of Britain's trading and colonial past, it contains numerous documents dealing with the history of other countries. In I974, the last year for which figures are as yet available, 90,600 searchers visited the PRO and 339,400 documents were produced for them. The Foreign Office was the most popular group with the production of 65,200 pieces, and then the Colonial Office with 32,300. Leaving aside the Census groups, the Armed Services came next. The Cabinet papers are frequently consulted, but as photocopies of Cabinet conclusions and of some wartime memoranda are available on the open shelves their production figures of io,6oo do not show their full popularity. When it comes to departments dealing with home affairs, production figures are of a different order: 5,800 for the Treasury, 5,200 for the Board of Trade, 2,200 for the Ministry of Labour and fewer for the other ministries such as Health, Agriculture, and Transport. Recent books on the inter-war period seldom have references to more than the Cabinet papers and an occasional Treasury file. For the study of policy the Cabinet and Treasury papers are of the utmost importance, but to understand why certain policies were put forward, the information on which they were based, and the pressures being exercised, it is necessary to look at the departmental papers. The departmental papers are more difficult to use, but time spent in the search is usually worthwhile. Two examples may give some idea of the kind of material available to social historians. The first file, LAB 2/I548/ED 315I/3, deals with an attempt to establish conditions of service for girls under i8 years entering resident domestic service. The Central Juvenile Advisory Committee set out model conditions, suggesting that the girls should be allowed two hours off each day (during which time they should be allowed to leave the house), that they should be allowed to eat their meals in peace, and that they should have a weekly half-day from 2.30 p.m. and the whole of alternate Sundays. The Women's Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Reconstruction had suggested similar conditions for all domestic workers, and some members of the Committee had put forward a wage scale, starting at 7/6 per week for a scullery maid and rising to ?I.2.6. for a housekeeper, and had even made the 'revolutionary proposal' that overtime should be paid after 8 hours. A deputation of 'ladies representing British Housewives' met Dr. Macnamara, Minister of Labour, on 25 July I92I; they complained that women who had at one time worked as servants were being