Audio-Visual Collections
1. About this guide
This research guide will highlight some of our audio-visual records and explain how to access them. Our records include musical performances, radio broadcasts, video footage, films and oral history recordings from as early as 1911, that bring the history, culture, and everyday stories of London to life. This includes over 125 audio-visual collections composed of more than 5000 recordings including 900 films, 1600 sound recordings, and 2550 video recordings. The records are across various formats including cassettes, CDs, VHS, DVDs, reel to reel tapes, u-matics, betacam, floppy disks, vinyl and much more.
2. Oral histories
Oral histories provide first-hand accounts from Londoners from across generations, and allow us to hear their voices narrate tales of war, migration, social movements, and more.
The oral histories in our collections provide first-hand accounts of life during the Blitz, families of Chinese settlers in 19th century London, the migration of Caribbean nationals to the capital during the 1960s, and the experiences of those affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic of the 1980s and 1990s.
A film about the Positive History project to preserve the oral histories of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Below are some of the oral histories in our collection that are available to listen to on our Mediatheque. Please browse the catalogue for further details on each collection:
| Title | Description | Catalogue reference |
|---|---|---|
| Beat Ahoy | The Black Experience Archive Trust (BEAT) organised a series of interviews with six ex-mariners to find out what life was like working at sea. | LMA/4536/02/004 |
| Eric and Jessica Huntley | Oral history interviews with Eric and Jessica Huntley, radical book publishers and pioneering Black political activists, and speeches by Eric Huntley. | LMA/4463/F/07 |
| Hampstead Garden Suburb | Memories of suburb residents from the founding of the suburb, and throughout its history. | ACC/3816/09 |
| Memories of the Genuine Children of Limehouse | Oral history interviews with Limehouse inhabitants born in the area and from Hong Kong and Shanghai, about life in the East End. | LMA/4534/01/01 |
| Peabody Trust | Interviews with staff working on Peabody estates, and a radio programme about a Peabody tenant. | ACC/3445/PT/12 |
| Whispers of Time | Documentary on London's Chinese community, featuring memories of migration and settlement from the 1950s onwards. | LMA/4513/02/01 |
| Through Different Eyes: The Samuel Lewis Trust Remembered | Oral history interviews with tenants to celebrate the centenary of the Samuel Lewis Housing Trust. | LMA/4318/C/01/003 |
| An Interview with Roy Perkins | Oral history and video of Roy Perkins, who lived in London and worked as a Cabbie (Taxi Driver). | LMA/4794/03 |
| Positive History | Oral history videos of people who lived through and were affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United Kingdom, in the 1980s and 1990s. | LMA/4801/A/03 |
3. Films and videos
Browse rare film and video footage documenting London's changing skyline, cultural events, and daily life over the decades. The films available to view each explore different aspects of London life – its architecture, people, open spaces, and civic administration. With the earliest dating back to the 1920s, these films showcase events such as the Lord Mayor’s Show, people including Charles Dickens and Florence Nightingale, and engineering feats like the Barbican estate.
SC/AV/01/05/022, Seeing London - A silent, black and white Kodak film during the late 1920s, providing an image of different ‘London Types’.
Below are some of our collections that include films which are available to watch on our Mediatheque. Please browse the catalogue for further details on each collection:
| Title | Description | Catalogue reference |
|---|---|---|
| Corporation of London | Films showing Lord Mayor's Shows, royal visits and various civic events. | COL/AC/31 |
| Greater London Council | Public relations branch films advertising housing and promoting GLC events, as well as videos of speeches, meetings, and enquiry proceedings. | GLC/DG/PRB |
| Inner London Education Authority | Learning resources, radio programmes and other footage about past people and places. | ILEA/VID |
| Middlesex County Council | The work of the council's hospital service before the NHS. | MCC/CL/PRO/024/001 |
| Special Collections | Amateur footage of the Lord Mayor's Show, scenes of London in the sixties, films produced by Hampstead Film Makers, and others. | SC/AV/01 |
| Time and Talents Association | Silent film about young people in the London district of Bermondsey. | A/TT/245 |
| Thames Water | Story of London's water supply and the story of the Metropolitan Water Board | ACC/2558/MW/C/11/026 |
4. Sounds
Experience the sounds of London with a selection of recordings including radio broadcasts, musical performances, speeches and sounds of everyday public life.
Below are some of the sound recordings that are available to listen on our Mediatheque. Please browse the catalogue for further details on each collection:
| Title | Description | Catalogue reference |
|---|---|---|
| Inner London Education Authority | Learning resources, music and radio programmes. | ILEA/S/LR/10 |
| Bogle L’Ouverture Publications | Recording of lectures, poetry and music, published by Friends of Bogle. | LMA/4462/H/07 |
| rukus! | Interview recordings, films, television and radio broadcasts, and personal music compilations for the rukus! Black, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans cultural archive. | LMA/4571/06/05 |
| The London Sound Survey | Sounds of everyday public life from across London. | SC/LSS |
5. How to research and access audio-visual collections?
At The London Archives we have a dedicated audio-visual suite that holds specialist equipment to playback and digitise our collections, and we store our records in strongrooms with cool temperatures and low humidity. Work is ongoing to gradually catalogue and digitise our collections to make them available.
To find relevant collections, visit The London Archives catalogue, enter relevant words in the 'Search Terms' box and filter results by format with options of 'Sound Recording', 'Video Recording' or 'Film Recording'.
Some of our records are digitised and available to watch and listen to on Mediatheque. A few films are available on our YouTube and on our catalogue.
Most of our audio-visual records are access by appointment only. Please contact us, providing the reference code and title of each record you are interested in. We will endeavour to make audio-visual records available on Mediatheque for researchers within 10 working days provided there are no access restrictions. We have a standalone PC for highly sensitive collections to be viewed. Note, we do not offer access remotely.
There may be several reasons for access restrictions including copyright, data protection closures, depositor requests, sensitivity issues, records that are not yet catalogued, or that are not in a fit enough condition to be digitised.
Audio-visual records can be digitised, reproduced and licensed by request, and fees may be apply. See our licensing collections page for more information and to get in touch with us.
If you would like to learn more about how to identify, handle and store your own analogue sound formats, our video on YouTube below provides more information:
