By Elizabeth Shepherd. London: Routledge, 2025. 228 pp. $61.99 (eBook); $200.00 (Hardback). eBook ISBN 9781003640479; Hardback ISBN 9781041073741.

Reviewed by Katy Sternberger, CA, DAS; Archivist, Portsmouth Athenaeum [PDF Full Text]

Discussions of archival labor have become increasingly important as archivists draw attention to the formerly obscured physical, intellectual, and emotional work involved in managing archives. In Pioneering Women Archivists in Early 20th Century England, Elizabeth Shepherd investigates how four English women archivists not only influenced a profession but also laid a foundation for all working women.

Shepherd, professor emerita of archives and records management at University College London, introduces readers to four women—Ethel Stokes, Lilian Redstone, Catherine Jamison, and Joan Wake—who made a substantial impact on the development of the archives profession in England. She sends us directly into their world, noting her aim: “Four individual life stories are woven together in a collective biography which reconstructs the different communities, government and educational institutions, the network of lives, social relationships and individual interests which together bring about the emergence of the archival profession in early 20th century England” (p. xv). The book is not overly academic in tone and includes family trees and photographs that help highlight its biographical aspect.

Shepherd’s research draws on archival records, although she mentions the challenges of researching these four women archivists whose own lives were not necessarily documented. In the case of Redstone, there are no extant personal papers, and in the case of Stokes, her extensive correspondence with Wake remains inaccessible because it is uncatalogued. But Shepherd incorporated the women’s voices as much as possible; since Stokes, Jamison, Wake, and Redstone lived contemporaneously, they knew one another as colleagues and friends. As part of her preface, Shepherd eagerly shares the process of archival research.

To show how these four women, who came from very different backgrounds, and all remained unmarried, built their careers as archivists at a time when “they were not expected to earn a living” (p. xvi), Shepherd first traces the history of women’s education in England before 1920. She argues that it was access to “libraries and learning” that enabled the women to pursue employment in a budding profession (p. 15). Next, Shepherd describes how each woman was able to get her start as a “record agent,” which was based on piecework or an hourly rate and was thus seen as a socially acceptable way for a scholarly woman to employ herself (p. 37). While Stokes, Jamison, Wake, and Redstone are the main characters, there is actually a fifth woman, Mary Cox, who contributed significantly to the story of Ethel Stokes; they established a business and lived together for many years.

Shepherd additionally explains how the necessities of World War I presented new opportunities for women to work as well as how women scholars were able to participate in historical projects such as the Victoria County History of England[1] and the University of Chicago’s Chaucer Life-Records.[2] Furthermore, Shepherd not only covers the working lives of Stokes, Jamison, Wake, and Redstone but also their personal relationships in an effort to understand their “rich lives beyond their work” (p. 99). Finally, Shepherd provides context regarding the rise of national organizations to support the preservation of historical records and the role of archivists, along with the specific contributions of women archivists.

While on the costly side, especially the hardcover format, this book is well worth the investment for those studying archival history, women’s history, and labor history. This is also an excellent read for anyone interested in international archives or biography. Shepherd’s book is a fascinating look into the lives of these women who made an independent living and whose expertise helped to establish the archives profession in England.

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[1] This project began in 1899 and is still active as of 2026. It seeks to create a serialized, encyclopedic history of England by county. Women scholars recruited to participate were instrumental in researching, calendaring, and transcribing vast numbers of records. As Shepherd explains, the publication would not have been possible without these women, whose labor was often contingent and uncredited (p. 69). Stokes, Wake, Jamison, and Redstone all contributed at some point in their careers.

[2] This international collaboration, began in 1924 and published in 1966, aimed to collate Chaucer’s manuscripts for the Canterbury Tales and to update Chaucer’s biography using the latest archival research. Sorting through all the records required many researchers, who were women. In particular, Shepherd says, “Redstone’s experience as a record agent and skilled historical researcher was critical to the success of the project” (p. 104).