I recently got involved in a long debate regarding what happens to all the huge collections of railway photos and documents taken/collected by rail enthusiast, especially as the older guys who did BR steam disappear!... and perchance the subject came up whilst I was talking to Sougher on the phone, who like me has vast amounts of pics and docs relating to mining and in my case mining and railways.

We both know of aqaintences collections that had simply just got bagged, burned or bunged on the tip.

Whilst its not something any of us like to acknowledge, we are all getting older and occasionally get taken somewhat earlier than we would like so this post applies to all... Myself I have my photo collection archived, labelled and included in my will to go to the relative organisations, friends and societies I belong to. I'm also scanning them all and maintaining them on 3 external HD's.... The reason why I posted is the 6 other collections in my loft of other peoples stuff (mostly pics) of which 2 lots I literally pulled out of a council skip, the latest event when one of my friends in Erdington passed away without relatives or will in his council flat. His collection was of over 1000 LMSR engine record cards and docs, just shovelled into bags along with 1000s of prints and negs in a skip! He was 63!

The reason for this post is just to raise it and if it jolts someone into making provision with local history groups, museum or at least ensuring its ongoing preservation, even by sale by leaving it to family to auction to collectors etc, then its done its job.

Quite often wives/husbands, boyfriends/girlfriends and, children, families have little or no idea of the value (I don't mean just monetry either) of these collections and archives being often un-interested unless you are lucky enough to have an understanding wife like mine who gets the whole engine house, railway photography/collecting thing which is in my nature.

Perhaps others might want to chip in here with suggestions on what they have done or ideas .... but any of us however young or old need to consider this!

EDIT- Just make a will and an archive record of what you have for a start!

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Very true ICLOK, one man's irreplacable life's work is so easily destroyed by someone who doesn't understand its value. To take a Peak mining example, the barmaster's books of ore measurements on the face of it are pretty meaningless, so had they remained with the families of the people who drew them up and been stuffed in an attic, I can easily see them having been thrown away as worthless. Fortunately for us, many of them got retained and handed on, and then given to places like the DRO and Chatsworth when incumbent Barmasters retired, so that people like me can now go through them - I picked up something really surprising from a mid 19th century one which I need to speak to Jim Rieuwerts about but had that ledger been junked no-one would be any the wiser....

Publication is another thing, speaking to SteveT last night he mentioned the case of a small mine he and some colleagues went down and surveyed years ago, but the person with the plan moved away without leaving copies behind at they've lost contact with him. The shaft to this mine has been filled in , so there's no way of making an effective record beyond a sketch plan from memory unless the original turns up.
So - publish your findings or at very least get them into a club/ society archive, as generally these have provison in their constitutions for preservation of records in the event of dissolution.

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There is a legally recognised way of informing ones family and executors of what you want done with certain items after you die (other than a will). IIRC it's called a "letter of wishes" and can/should be mentioned in a will. The LoW isn't legally binding on the executor but at least they know of your wishes and would probably feel obliged to carry them out.

If you have any particular collections of historical photographs, reports, surveys, or other items, mention them in your LoW and they should end up where you want them to go.

Chat to your solicitor next time your will is changed or do it anyway if you are particularly concerned.

My solicitor told me that the letter of wishes can be changed without the solicitor being involved but it's wise for the family and executors to be told of the location if your LoW.