Donnelly & Thoms tapes

This material is held atCoventry University Archives

  • Reference
    • GB 434 DON
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1980s
  • Language of Material
    • English
  • Physical Description
    • 0.5 linear metres (3 boxes).

Scope and Content

Audio cassettes of interviews, with questionnaires, information sheets and transcripts, made during research for the book The Motor Car Industry in Coventry since the 1890’s: (origins, development and structure) by David Thoms & Tom Donnelly (published in 1985).

This material is similar to and inspired by the work carried out by former Lanchester Polytechnic history lecturer Kenneth Richardson on the history of Coventry and the car industry (see also the Richardson tapes collection). Thoms and Donnelly found people to interview by inserting an advert in the Coventry Evening Telegraph and talked to all of those who responded to the advert.

Professor Tom Donnelly is an economic historian and Professor in Automotive Business, Centre for Business in Society, Coventry University. David Thoms formerly taught history at Coventry University before moving to De Montford University, Leicester. They were both involved with the Coventry Centre for Business History which was set up in 1985 at what was then Coventry Polytechnic.

A second edition of the book The Coventry Motor Industry: Birth to Renaissance was published in 2000.

Like Richardson, they interviewed some of the major individuals involved in the car industry, such as Alick Dick of Standard Triumph, Jack Jones of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, Sir William Lyons of Jaguar, and many others.

Arrangement

Tapes and their related paperwork were filed together alphabetically. The tapes have now been removed and are stored separately.

Access Information

By appointment.

The cassette tapes have been digitised for the British Library's 'Unlocking Our Sound Heritage' project and it is hoped that they will be available on our online catalogue for listening to or downloading in early 2020. It is planned to get the transcripts digitised as well so they can also be read online or downloaded. Until then a typed list with details on the files for each interview is available - noting whether a questionnaire, information sheet or transcript is included.

The tapes also have an alternative reference code as well as a document reference number. The codes were used for the tapes during their digitisation at Leicester University (the regional hub for Unlocking Our Sound Heritage).

Other Finding Aids

A detailed catalogue is available at https://archivescatalogue.coventry.ac.uk/records/DON