Stolen archives? Re-evaluating the British 'migrated' archives and decolonisation
Lead Research Organisation:
NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Fac of Arts, Design and Social Sciences
Abstract
In 2009, five Kenyans - Ndiku Mutwiwa Mutua, Paulo Nzili, Wambugu wa Nyingi, Jane Muthoni Mara, and Susan Ngondi - brought a case against the British government regarding horrific abuse they had suffered from British forces during the 1950s. Pressed by the Kenyans' legal team, British authorities in 2011 admitted holding a large collection of documents that had been covertly removed from Kenya, and other former colonies. What the British government called the 'migrated' archives included around 20,000 files from a total of 37 territories. The revelations shocked many researchers and archivists. When most of the documents were made available to researchers at the National Archives in London from 2012 to 2013, it became clear that transfers of power to newly independent countries from the 1940s to the 1980s were routinely accompanied by large-scale processes of sorting, removing, and destroying documents.
Given the renewed focus on histories of empire and their legacies for the contemporary world, interest in the British 'migrated' archives is now greater than ever. They have been referenced in Natasha Brown's 2021 novel about black British experience 'Assembly', Richard Ovenden's 2020 popular history of the suppression of knowledge 'Burning the Books', and in several documentaries available online. Yet there has been relatively little academic research about the 'migrated' archives relative to their importance for histories of decolonisation.
This project will offer a major reassessment of this collection ten years after it was first made accessible in London. It will produce the first book-length study of the 'migrated' archives affair. A scholarly work aimed at a popular audience, the book will re-evaluate what the 'migrated' archives show about decolonisation. Arguing that many of the 'migrated' files would be better thought of as 'stolen', it will explore why and how British authorities removed and destroyed colonial documents from the 1940s to the 1980s. The book will consider how white British officials sought to keep this secret from colonised people, even those who would soon become the new leaders of independent countries. It will also analyse how British authorities attempted to keep the archives secret after their removal to the UK, often trying to conceal them from people of colour from formerly colonised countries, but sometimes granting access to white British researchers.
The project will diversify debates about the 'migrated' archives. The removal of these documents to Britain, and British authorities' efforts to keep them secret from people of colour, have made it difficult for researchers based in the Global South to access the 'migrated' files. This project will deliver an innovative programme of mentorship to early career researchers based in Nigeria, making available digital images of the 'migrated' files to support their own research, and bringing important new perspectives to bear on debates about these archives.
The 'migrated' archives story is also rarely taught in British secondary schools, despite its importance in understanding decolonisation and its legacies for contemporary Britain. The project will facilitate the co-creation of new teaching resources for schools about the 'migrated' archives. A-level students will work as 'interns' on the project, collaborating with Northumbria University student mentors and school teachers to analyse 'migrated' documents. The project will co-create teaching resources that will generate new conversations among young people about decolonisation.
Overall, this project offers a timely, wide-ranging reassessment of the 'migrated' archives that will stimulate both public debate and academic research about these important documents.
Given the renewed focus on histories of empire and their legacies for the contemporary world, interest in the British 'migrated' archives is now greater than ever. They have been referenced in Natasha Brown's 2021 novel about black British experience 'Assembly', Richard Ovenden's 2020 popular history of the suppression of knowledge 'Burning the Books', and in several documentaries available online. Yet there has been relatively little academic research about the 'migrated' archives relative to their importance for histories of decolonisation.
This project will offer a major reassessment of this collection ten years after it was first made accessible in London. It will produce the first book-length study of the 'migrated' archives affair. A scholarly work aimed at a popular audience, the book will re-evaluate what the 'migrated' archives show about decolonisation. Arguing that many of the 'migrated' files would be better thought of as 'stolen', it will explore why and how British authorities removed and destroyed colonial documents from the 1940s to the 1980s. The book will consider how white British officials sought to keep this secret from colonised people, even those who would soon become the new leaders of independent countries. It will also analyse how British authorities attempted to keep the archives secret after their removal to the UK, often trying to conceal them from people of colour from formerly colonised countries, but sometimes granting access to white British researchers.
The project will diversify debates about the 'migrated' archives. The removal of these documents to Britain, and British authorities' efforts to keep them secret from people of colour, have made it difficult for researchers based in the Global South to access the 'migrated' files. This project will deliver an innovative programme of mentorship to early career researchers based in Nigeria, making available digital images of the 'migrated' files to support their own research, and bringing important new perspectives to bear on debates about these archives.
The 'migrated' archives story is also rarely taught in British secondary schools, despite its importance in understanding decolonisation and its legacies for contemporary Britain. The project will facilitate the co-creation of new teaching resources for schools about the 'migrated' archives. A-level students will work as 'interns' on the project, collaborating with Northumbria University student mentors and school teachers to analyse 'migrated' documents. The project will co-create teaching resources that will generate new conversations among young people about decolonisation.
Overall, this project offers a timely, wide-ranging reassessment of the 'migrated' archives that will stimulate both public debate and academic research about these important documents.
Organisations
- NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY (Lead Research Organisation)
- French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA) - Nigeria (Collaboration)
- Gosforth Academy (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Teesdale School & Sixth Form (Project Partner)
- IFRA-Nigeria (Project Partner)
- Lagos Studies Association (Project Partner)
- Longbenton High School (Project Partner)
Publications
Jerónimo M
(2025)
Rethinking 'Late Colonialisms' in Africa: An Introduction.
in Itinerario
Misbahu I
(2025)
Nasser's Islamic Propaganda and British Decolonisation Policy in Northern Nigeria
in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
| Description | This research, development, and engagement fellowship produced new knowledge about the end of the British empire, through a focus on British colonial authorities' removal and destruction of archives. The fellowship met its objectives; its major findings fall into three main categories. First, the research generated new knowledge about how and why British authorities removed and destroyed colonial records, and what this tells us about British efforts to re-make hierarchical, racialised relations with newly independent nations in an ostensibly postcolonial world. The project explored how the removal and destruction of documents formed distinct phases. It got underway during the 1940s and 1950s as an ad hoc, improvised process, as countries including Sri Lanka and Ghana achieved independence. From 1961, the Colonial Office in London attempted to systematise the removal and destruction of documents, issuing written instructions to colonial governments in territories such as Uganda and Kenya. During the later 1960s and 1970s, British authorities sought to refine the removal and destruction of documents as smaller territories including Mauritius and Fiji achieved independence. The research also considered how the British government managed and debated the ownership of the removed files from the 1940s to the present day. The award enabled work towards an unprecedently full account of how British authorities removed and destroyed colonial documents, and the wider significance of this activity. Second, the award facilitated work to revise interpretations of the destruction and removal of colonial archives as a closely guarded secret. The research explored how a surprisingly wide range of people had some knowledge about the removal and destruction of records, including journalists, scholars, archivists, and anticolonial nationalists. Actors in colonised and newly independent territories sometimes sought to investigate and challenge the removal and destruction of documents. After independence, politicians and archivists in some formerly colonised countries attempted to pursue removed colonial archives through international organisations including UNESCO, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the International Council on Archives. The research showed how efforts to keep the removal and destruction of documents secret were never complete, highlighting little-known projects in colonised and recently independent territories to contest and reshape the version of decolonisation offered by British officials. This research is contributing to work on the first book-length study of the British removal and destruction of colonial archives covering the period from the 1940s to the present day. Finally, the fellowship funded work to stimulate more inclusive and wide-ranging research and debate about displaced colonial archives, and their broader significance. One engagement strand focused on early career researchers based in Nigeria, facilitating their research using the removed archives and generating new perspectives on this material. A further engagement strand involved collaborating with students and teachers at three partner secondary schools in the UK. This team worked to produce teaching resources about the removal of colonial archives that are being used in secondary school teaching about British decolonisation. |
| Exploitation Route | The outcomes of this award can be taken forward in several ways. Within academia, this research will make significant empirical and methodological contributions to ongoing debates about displaced colonial archives, by producing an unprecedentedly full account of how and why British authorities removed and destroyed archives, and by highlighting the ambiguous secrecy around these processes. These approaches could productively be applied to studies of the removal and destruction of archives in other colonial empires, and inform further study of western efforts to manage the endings of colonial empires to preserve colonial-era racialised hierarchies. The engagement work with early career researchers in Nigeria is being taken forward by the researchers themselves, as they mobilise digitised material from the removed colonial archives made available by this project in their dissertations, theses, and publications. By empowering the early career researchers to bring their own interests and perspectives to bear on this material, the work facilitated knowledge production using the removed archives by scholars working outside of the western academy. Their research has the potential to make an important contribution to diversifying debates about displaced colonial archives. Beyond academia, resources about British authorities' removal and destruction of archives have been made available online, for secondary school teachers to use and adapt in their teaching. This will contribute towards increased awareness and debate about the removal of colonial archives in the UK. Altogether, the fellowship has made a significant contribution to ongoing research and debate about displaced colonial archives. |
| Sectors | Education |
| URL | https://ifra-nigeria.org/research-programs/migrated-archives |
| Description | Research findings have been impacting the public in the UK through engagement work with schools undertaken during the fellowship. A series of workshops brought together secondary school students, teachers, Northumbria University students, and academics. They studied primary historical sources, developed a deeper understanding of the role of information management in British decolonisation, and co-created secondary school teaching resources about the removal of colonial archives. The impact on those directly involved in this work has been further widened through the publication of these resources. Printed copies have been distributed to over one hundred schools, and the resources have been made available online, on TES and Northumbria University Knowledge Bank websites. This is enabling research findings from the fellowship to be mobilised in secondary school teaching. The research findings are also having a significant impact within academia. The engagement work with Nigeria-based early career researchers, which included workshops at the universities of Ibadan and Lagos (delivered in collaboration with the Lagos Studies Association and the French Institute for Research in Africa), and the selection of six early career researchers for a more intensive programme that made available digital images of documents removed from Nigeria alongside a programme of research guidance from established scholars, has significantly increased awareness of removed colonial archives amongst Nigeria-based and Nigerian diaspora researchers. The early career researchers presented their work-in-progress from the project across two panels at the 2024 Lagos Studies Association conference, and this impact will continue to widen as they complete publications drawing on the removed colonial archives, bringing new perspectives to bear on these debates. This fellowship has also enabled conference and seminar presentations by the principal investigator in Africa, North America, and Europe, as well as the organisation of an online workshop about 'New perspectives on displaced colonial archives' that included presentations from speakers based in thirteen countries. This work has contributed to increasing awareness of removed colonial archives, and to debates about their past, present, and future. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Education |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Schools engagement activity |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Engagement work has contributed towards increased knowledge and understanding about the the end of the British empire amongst secondary school students and teachers engaged in the project. This impact was extended through the distribution of teaching resources about British authorities' removal and destruction of colonial archives to over 100 schools, and the publication of the resources on the TES and Northumbria University Knowledge Bank websites. One of the partner schools involved in the project has already declared their intention to use these resources in their sixth form teaching. |
| URL | http://northumbria.ac.uk/removedarchives |
| Description | Research Incentive Funding |
| Amount | £15,147 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 515843 |
| Organisation | Northumbria University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2022 |
| End | 02/2026 |
| Description | Visiting Fellowship |
| Amount | $90,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | Princeton University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 08/2024 |
| End | 01/2025 |
| Description | Nigeria Early Career Researcher Mentorship partnership 2 |
| Organisation | French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA) - Nigeria |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Organised in collaboration with IFRA-Nigeria a day-long workshop at University of Ibadan, Nigeria aimed at early career researchers interested in the British colonial 'migrated' archives. Included an address by the PI drawing on project research, and by Prof Abiola Abioye of the University of Ibadan. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Assistance with the practicalities and organisation of the workshop, drawing on the experience of IFRA-Nigeria in organising similar events, and using teaching space available to IFRA-Nigeria. Assistance with publicising the workshop, drawing on IFRA-Nigeria's extensive network of Nigeria-based researchers. |
| Impact | Delivery of workshop at University of Ibadan. This in turn helped to publicise and generate applications for the engagement activity 'Mentorship scheme for Nigeria-based early career researchers'. Not multi-disciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Schools partnership 2 |
| Organisation | Gosforth Academy |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Ran enrichment workshops with three groups of sixth formers at the school drawing on project research. Delivered four online mentorship sessions to fifteen sixth formers, plus a follow up session at the school, also drawing on project research. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributed to creating teaching resources for secondary schools students about the 'migrated' colonial archives, and Gosforth Academy provided venues for school-based engagement activities. |
| Impact | Engagement activities 'Schools introductory workshops', 'Series of online workshops for sixth formers in the UK', 'Full-day workshop for sixth formers and teachers', and 'Follow up meetings at schools'. Teaching resources for secondary schools students about the 'migrated' colonial archives, due for publication soon. Not multi-disciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Follow up meetings at schools |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Follow up workshops at two partner schools garnered feedback from students and teachers on draft teaching resources and enabled the collection of further feedback on the impact of the project. Sixth formers reported an increased knowledge and understanding of the issues raised by the project, and one partner school expressed the intention to use the teaching resources produced by the project in their own A-level teaching. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Full-day workshop for sixth formers and teachers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 26 students (15 online), 3 teachers (1 online), 4 Northumbria undergraduate students, the project Research Assistant, and PI attended a full-day workshop planned and delivered by the PI drawing on project research. It focused on co-creating teaching resources about the British colonial 'migrated' archives. Attendees reported that the event, and preceding events, had increased their knowledge and awareness of the ways in which the ending of the British empire shaped the contemporary world. One teacher reported that the event would 'add to our current teaching on the British Empire', while another reported that their sixth formers benefitted from the 'chance to work with university staff and students'. Sixth formers noted benefits including 'improved analytical skills', 'practising public speaking and articulating ideas in groups', 'working with students from different colleges and sixth forms in order to understand different perspectives', and producing resources that 'will educate others and remove ignorance surrounding empire'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Mentorship scheme for Nigeria-based early career researchers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Six Nigeria-based early career researchers were selected for the mentorship scheme. They were able to select and receive digital images of 'migrated' archives documents removed from Nigeria. A payment was made to cover the cost of their data usage. They were paired with an experienced researcher, and met monthly to discuss the 'migrated' archives source material and how it would be useful to their research. The established researchers were the PI, Prof Saheed Aderinto, Dr Mandy Banton, Prof Abosede George, Dr Vincent Hiribarren, and Dr Jimoh Oluwasegun. All six early career researchers benefited from paid for attendance at the 2024 Lagos Studies Association Conference, where they presented their research, offering new Nigerian perspectives on the 'migrated' archives. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024 |
| Description | Online workshop for sixth formers in Kenya and the UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Online workshop on the British colonial 'migrated' archives planned and delivered by the PI and attended by eight sixth formers and two teachers from Teesdale School and Sixth Form, UK, and St Christopher's Girls' High School, Kenya . The workshop generated debate and discussion, and generated interest in the engagement scheme for sixth formers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Panel at 2023 Lagos Studies Association Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This workshop, attended by around 40 Nigeria-based early career researchers, introduced participants to the history and issues surrounding the British colonial migrated archives. It featured presentations by Dr Jimoh Oluwasegun, Dr Mandy Banton, Dr Vincent Hiribarren, and the PI (drawing on project research). It informed the participants about this history and helped to generate applications for the mentorship scheme for Nigeria-based early career researchers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Schools introductory workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Introductory workshops planned and delivered by the PI and informed by project research were organised at three partner schools to introduce sixth formers and teachers to the history and debates surround the British colonial 'migrated' archives. One workshop each was delivered at Teesdale School and Longbenton High School, and three at Gosforth Academy, to cover all sixth form history groups at the school. Around 85 sixth formers attended the workshops. They generated interest in the engagement scheme, leading to 26 expressions of interest from sixth formers to participate further in the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Series of online workshops for sixth formers in the UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Five undergraduate Northumbria students, specially trained by the PI using project research, delivered a series of four online sessions to groups of sixth formers (26 in total) to analyse and evaluate historical sources relating to the British colonial 'migrated' archives. Each group planned presentations about how to prepare teaching resources that could be used by teachers in other schools, that were presented at the whole-day workshop. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop at University of Ibadan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 13 Nigeria based early career researchers plus staff from IFRA-Nigeria attended a workshop designed to introduce participants to the history and issues surrounding the British colonial 'migrated' archives. It was planned by the PI, and featured a presentation by the PI drawing on project research, and by Prof Abiola Abioye of the University of Ibadan. The workshop also included opportunities to study examples of the historical documents removed from Nigeria, and to analyse the type of material that British colonial officials removed. The workshop generated applications for the mentorship scheme and increased the knowledge of participants regarding the the colonial-era removal of archives |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |