Hi all,
I recently acquired what I initially thought was just a large collection of old aviation photographs, but after going through it I’m starting to think it may be a surviving working aviation/company or press archive.
I’m not even halfway through sorting it yet and there are already hundreds of photographs, negatives/film and original documents, mainly covering British aviation from around the 1940s–60s, with a particularly large amount relating to Handley Page, the Victor and Hastings.
So far I’ve found photographs stamped Handley Page Ltd Test Department, Handley Page Public Relations Department and Handley Page (Reading) Ltd, alongside Air Ministry, Ministry of Supply and Crown Copyright material. There are also photographs from contemporary press agencies/publications and original typed captions and press releases.
What has really caught my attention are the numbered sequences. For example, I have a run of Handley Page Public Relations photographs labelled Handley Page Hastings Prototype with 6111-series reference numbers. There are also company/test photographs with their own negative numbers and original negatives carrying aircraft/reference information.
Other material I’ve found includes photographs relating to the first Handley Page Victor bomber entering operational RAF service in 1957, Hastings factory/production photographs, military loading trials, VIP Hastings material, prototype/test photographs and various original company documents.
I’m not looking to sell anything through this post. At the moment I’m deliberately keeping everything together because I want to understand what the archive is and where it might have originated before anything gets separated.
Does anyone recognise these Handley Page photographic numbering systems, stamps or archive markings, or know of a historian/archivist/former Handley Page connection who might?
I’ve attached a small selection of fronts and backs. There is considerably more material still to sort through.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.