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The Windsor, Slough and Eton Express newspaper files have been an important source material for me since I started researching the history of Windsor back in the 1970s. The files were then in a room at the back of the newspaper offices in Windsor High Street.
Since then, they have been on an Odyssey, first, they followed the Windsor and Eton Express to their new offices in Slough. When office space had to be reduced, the old Slough library gave them house room. Researchers were urged to look at the microfilm files, and staff only reluctantly fetched a copy from their cellar when the microfilm was not available or too difficult to read. When the old library could no longer house them as they moved into the Curve, space was found in the Old Robe room in the basement of the Windsor Guildhall.
It was here that members of the Windsor Local History Group catalogued them and found funding to restore the most damaged earlier volumes. The Louis Bailey Charitable Trust and the WLHG sponsored the first volumes, 1812 – 1814, which were bound in red and provided with red boxes. Individual members of the WLHG, the Rotary Club Windsor& Eton, the Rotary Club St George and the Albert Institute sponsored one volume each, bound in grey with grey boxes, with the sponsor’s name inside the box. The ‘Royal Purse’ sponsored the year 1819 which carried the announcement of Queen Victoria’s birth. The WLHG got larger sums of money from the Louis Bailey Trust to restore later damaged volumes bound in grey, without boxes. Richard Day carried out the restorations over several years.
Members of the WLHG spend hours in the Guildhall cellar to read the early newspaper files for our book, Windsor and Eton Express 1812 – 1930 The Charles Knight Years, gaining a fascinating insight into life in early 19th century Windsor.
When the Maidenhead Advertiser purchased the Windsor newspaper, they also took charge of the newspaper files, as they had to be cleared out of the Guildhall to make room for the new museum; they moved to Maidenhead. Initially, they were placed in a lock-up in Furze Platt where researchers had to bring a table and chair and wrap up warm to work in this inhospitable place, which was even chilly in hot weather. The lock-up proved to be rather expensive, so finally, a room at the offices of the Maidenhead Advertiser was made available for them, and researching the volumes became a bit more comfortable.
In 2020, the Maidenhead Advertiser had to reduce their office space. There was no longer room to house this huge collection of not only the Windsor newspapers but also the Maidenhead Advertiser. After the early issues up to 1917 had been digitalized, the whole archive had to be got rid of. We became aware of the fact that they were on the move again when they were offered for sale on eBay. A few urgent phone calls later, three members and one husband of the WHLG hired a van to take possession of over 400 volumes of the Windsor, Slough and Eton Express from 1814 to 2020 and stored them temporally at various members’ homes. The Maidenhead Advertiser kept the precious first volumes in their specially designed red boxes and has so far refused to give them up.
Now we had to look for a permanent new home! Negotiations with the Berkshire College of Agriculture proved positive. They were willing to take the whole Archive and promised to store it in their vaulted cellar. Here, the Archive was said to be available to the general public for a fee, but members of the WLHG have free access. Brigitte has kept the volumes 1939 to 1945 at her home to research a book on Windsor during WWII. They will soon join the rest of the archive.
Windsor Local History Group 