An archive is a vast collection consisting of either historical data, Images or objects that are set up by either individuals or organisations to preserve and use for many years to come.

In Jersey, there are two main archives, The Jersey archive and the societe Jersaie archive. The Jersey archive is a private archive where records and data are available to the general public upon request and appointment. The societe Jersaie is a public archive that is open to members of the general public.

The purpose of an archive is to preserve and store historical images and documents for future reference and viewing. Many people are able to discover unknown facts and stories of their own families histories through archival visits and many are able to trace their family origins back hundreds if not thousands of years due to the resources provided by archives. If it weren’t for archives then many people would have little to no idea about their own heritage and family history as archives arent just confined to an official, professional set up, but archives can also be classed as an individuals private collection of documents and images and artifacts relevant to them and their heritage. In my family for example, My grandfather was a keen photographer and created hundreds of photographs of periods of his history, such as his deployment to Iraq when he was in the RAF as a munitions officer, of family life and of his plane spotting hobby.

My family continued the tradition of shooting on film into the early 2000’s and all photos of me from birth to around 5 years old were all mainly shot on film, mostly due to film photography being much cheaper than the newly discovered format of digital photography, but also more due to the sentimental value of having a physical image.

A private archive doesn’t have to only consist of images though. It can also feature historical documents with context to the family such as marital documents, Newspaper cuttings featuring the family or even simpler items such as receipts and plane tickets. If anything is seen to have historical context to a family, It can be classed by them as archival material. In essence any personal belonging/ item with historical context involving an individual can be classed as archival content