Deborah Lister
Although not Plymouth born, I have lived here for most of my life. I am a professionally qualified archivist and experienced researcher with over 25 years standing, working for 22 years at the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office (now The Box, Plymouth Archives). I have been a self-employed researcher and archivist for 4 years, regularly travelling to the Devon Heritage centre at Exeter and Kresen Kernow in Redruth.
Uncovering facts and stories for clients is extremely rewarding. Research requests have been wide-ranging:
Research for several published authors
'Brick wall' and general family histories
In-depth histories of business properties and houses in Plymouth and Devon, including Hatchwell Hall (a Devon longhouse at Widecombe-on-the-Moor), 2 The Barbican, Clare Buildings in Coxside, several private but interesting houses in the Plymouth area
Tin mining on Dartmoor
Quarries in Plymstock
Second World War and reconstruction in Plymouth
One particularly rewarding commission, was discovering the story of the mystery ladies who gave a Shakespeare First Folio to the Plymouth Free Library in the 1820s. This volume is now in the United States.
Business research/archive services clients have included the Cattewater Harbour Commissioners, Eat Work Art, a local estate agent, The Met (New York), The National Trust, Marine Biological Association and Plymouth City Council.
Sharing information contained within the collections at the archives relating to Devon is a passion. Since being self-employed, I have also hunted down information in other archives and museums beyond the county to tell the wider story and share this through the @debdelving social media posts. There have also been client research trips to The National Archives in Kew, which holds a wealth of information relating to Plymouth and Devon.
With some archives and other ‘raw materials’ for historical research not surviving, it is not always possible to reach an absolute conclusion. Trust and honesty are at the heart of the service I provide and I will always be open about what is available for your research and how far I think we can take it.
Experience and Qualifications
Experience
I began working at the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office in 1997 as a Record’s Clerk, helping researchers in the public reading room and aiding their research. 3 years later, I gained promotion to Senior Archives Assistant as a para-professional, then completed my post-graduate training an an archivist in 2015.
Guiding users of the record office with research ranging from family history, to building problems, finding coroner’s inquests, to the Plymouth ‘blitz’ during World War 2 and much more, was incredibly rewarding. The enquiries were extremely varied and you needed to know your sources (ie. what information was in your records and archives). Researching the archives for exhibitions for public events was fascinating.
Being in the record office provided the ideal opportunity to discover what information was hidden away in the archive boxes. My lunch hours (when I had those) I was delving into all sorts of archives, needing to know what information was contained within them. What was in a Town Clerk’s letter book? Did the diaries of Catherine Bulteel have some juicy Georgian gossip? Did these deeds have information about the Plymouth Castle in them? As a result of my ‘delvings’ my knowledge of the archive as a whole is extensive.
In 2015 I qualified as an archivist through the University of Dundee. As part of a small team, I was still involved with public service and enquiries plus a multitude of professional duties, but also started undertaking in-depth research for exhibitions including the Active Archives gallery in The Box. In 2019 I made the leap into self-employment as a history researcher and archivist, something I had always hoped I would have the courage to do. I’m having a great time!
Professional qualifications
Post-graduate diploma in Archives and Records Management
Post-graduate certificate in Local and Family History
Membership of Groups and Societies
Archives and Records Association
Devon and Cornwall Record Society
Devon History Society (Council Member)
Devon Family History Society
Old Plymouth Society
Elburton History Exchange Facebook page founder
Plym Valley Heritage Group (committee member)
Friends of Devon's Archives (committee member)
Full pro subscriptions to FindMyPast and Ancestry
Thank you to Stacey Anderson for kindly taking photographs of me.
