What are archives?

“a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.”

“place or store (something) in an archive.”

Société Jersiaise is a Jersey organisation who look to preserve and protect local archaeology, history, natural history, the ancient language and the conservation of the environment.

The organisation is purely funded by memberships and donations which enables the building to function and still provide the people of the public domain as well as keen artists the opportunity to discover a rural and much forgotten Jersey. From photographers to parishes,  Société Jersiaise enables you to search the archives whether it be for work or recreational purposes.

The Photographic Archive of the Société Jersiaise contains over 80,000 images dating from the mid-1840s to the present day and is the principal Jersey collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century photography – http://societe-jersiaise.org/photographic-archivehttp://societe-jersiaise.org/photographic-archive.

Before we had the opportunity to visit the unique site, I was unaware the organisation existed so we’re very lucky to have rare images so accessible to us. Especially for my upcoming search into the property I live in in Saint Brelades.

There are also other sites with similar functions in Jersey, for example the Jersey Archive on Clarence Road withhold over 300,000 forms of archive, however, they’re not all photography based. The most popular reason to as why the public visit the site is to learn more about their family.

https://www.jerseyheritage.org/places-to-visit/jersey-archive

Local archives preserve the history of the island, whether its family based or for research. Admission is free which gives everybody the opportunity to gain information on local matters.