Welsh Journals

ON ENTERING INTO THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOUR: GEORGE GRANT FRANCIS AND THE ROYAL INSTITUTION'S ARCHIVE COLLECTIONS ANDREW DULLEY AND KATIE MILLIEN During the past year a new project has been under way at the West Glamorgan Archive Service. Following a successful Heritage Lottery Fund bid, the archive collections of the Royal Institution of South Wales were moved to County Hall, Swansea, and a project archivist was appointed to catalogue them. Part of the collection had previously been available to the public at the archives of the Univer- sity of Wales, Swansea, while the remainder had been stored in various locations within Swansea Museum. When the project is complete, the catalogues will be made available online, and the archive will be made fully accessible to the public in its entirety for the first time. The Royal Institution was founded in 1835: its pur- pose, as declared at the beginning of its first minute book, was 'The Cultivation and Advancement of the various branches of Natural History, as well as the Local History of the Town and Neighbourhood, the Extension and Encouragement of Literature and the Fine Arts, and the General Diffusion of Knowledge'. A hundred and eighty years later, a glance at the calendar of events for this year shows that these aims are still being pursued as keenly as ever. But how did the Royal Institution amass an archive? The administrative records of the organisation form only a small part of the total holdings; the remainder' consists of a wealth of per- sonal papers, business and estate records, and collected manuscripts dating back to medieval times. The reason for this can be traced to one of the many activities of one of Swansea's most versatile sons, George Grant Francis. The Victorian age produced some remarkable people. It was a time of rapid change, of industrialisation and rapid population growth, when the old institutions of post- medieval Britain were becoming increasingly outmoded and inadequate. Swansea was a vibrant, forward-looking town, with a variety of smelting and chemical indus- tries, a burgeoning population and a thriving social life. Many men have left their mark on the town as benefactors, and most of them made their fortunes from the exploitation of trade, industry or minerals. George Grant Francis was a more culti- vated figure, remarkable for his far-sightedness as much as for the sheer variety of