Since 2010 Bishopsgate Institute’s Special Collections and Archives have digitised some of the most frequently researched and significant material from its collections.

Our Archives Online pages provide access to this content and allow researchers from all over the world to consult our renowned collections.

The following items are now available online:

Note: Digitised material is for research purposes only. For permission to use the material for commercial or non-commercial use, please contact library@bishopsgate.org.uk or ring us on 020 7392 9270.

#FROMTHE ARCHIVES

Married in 1950, Chris and Betty Birch have been involved in political, trade union, and LGBTQ+ activism for over 60 years. Sharing similar interests, they were both Communist Party Members and involved with organisations such as the Aid to Spanish Youth Committee. After the death of his friend, Mark Ashton, Chris became involved in forming the Mark Ashton Memorial Trust, which was created to raise money for individuals living with HIV. The archive includes the truncheon taken from the police by Mark Ashton, correspondence, personal scrapbooks, press cuttings, and various other papers relating to the couples activism.