Rachel Bellinger, Assistant Archivist
I am an Assistant Archivist and work within a team of six people at the Royal Archives based at Windsor Castle.
How did you get your job with the Royal Household?
I saw the job advertised in the Society of Archivists Journal in early 2005 and was successful in my application.
What did you do before joining the Royal Household?
Before I joined the Royal Household, I worked in the Information and Archives section of the BBC as an Archives Researcher, principally with written archives. Prior to this, I studied History and Women’s History at university.
What experience and qualifications do you need to work within the Royal Archives?
A qualification in Archives Administration and some experience of working with an archival collection are essential, as is a good knowledge of general British history and the history of the Royal Family. In my particular case, some knowledge of German is also necessary as the Royal Archives holds many letters in this language.
If someone is interested in becoming an archivist, I would recommend doing some volunteer work in a local archive to get a feel for the different tasks the job entails, and then perhaps a year-long graduate trainee position (which are now offered by many archives) before embarking on a qualification, either full-time or by distance learning. Archives Assistant posts are also often available and sometimes these do not require a formal qualification.
What training and support is available to you?
The Royal Household is very supportive of members of staff who wish to undertake qualifications and training which relate specifically to their role, but are offered outside of the Household. For example, I have been given study leave to enable me to complete my degree in Archives Administration and have also been supported in the courses and projects I need to undertake as part of the Registration Scheme run by the Society of Archivists. The Royal Household also offers an excellent training programme, which includes a wide variety of courses ranging from IT skills to presentation workshops.
What’s it like working for the Royal Household?
Working for such a special organisation as the Royal Household is extremely rewarding and although you are aware that you are part of an historic establishment, there is also a real sense of looking to the future. There is a genuine community feel to the Royal Household and it is a real privilege to be part of an organisation that employs so many talented people from such a wide range of professions.
Describe a typical day.
My day is usually extremely varied, but generally includes answering enquiries from both members of the public and other Royal Household Departments, using papers held in the Royal Archives. The subject of enquiries can range from genealogical research to requests for speech material from the offices of Members of the Royal Family.
I also spend some of each day cataloguing part of our collection, either on our computer database or adding to our manual indexes. We also admit research academics to the Royal Archives which entails supervision, providing assistance with enquiries and checking texts.
Quite frequently I will need to spend time on preparation for exhibitions and there is also a manual aspect to this job, as we have to deal with new accessions of material and undertake projects to re-box and re-organise parts of our collection within the archive stores.
What is the best thing about your job?
The best thing about working in the Royal Archives is the privilege of being able to handle unique items such as King George III’s essays or Queen Victoria’s Journals and making use of them as part of my daily work.
The sense of satisfaction I feel when I find the answer to an obscure query through researching papers held in the archives, some of which are well over two hundred years old, is also a really great part of this job.
What opportunities do you get that you would not get elsewhere?
Helping to care for such a unique archival collection in a setting such as Windsor Castle’s Round Tower is an opportunity in itself, but working for the Royal Household offers many other benefits. The Household also offers an excellent pension scheme, opportunities to stay on the Balmoral and Sandringham estates and a range of discounts from a variety of suppliers.
