The Exeter Local Maritime Archives Project (ELMAP)

Introduction

The Exeter Local Maritime Archives Project (ELMAP) has created a searchable online database of references to records with maritime and naval significance that are held in local record offices and other archives across England and Wales.

The database is fully searchable on keywords or dates and provides the user with a brief description and the reference number and details of the archive in which the material is held.

• Search the ELMAP database (opens in a new window)
• Browse by record office (opens in a new window)

At present the database comprises material received and held by local archives up to 1997. There are currently over 12,000 entries and new material is being added on a regular basis.

Maritime History at the University of Exeter: A Bibliography of Writings Since 1964 (pdf). Compiled by Celia King and Alston Kennerley.

Background

The database is the product of a substantial grant by the Leverhulme Trust to meet the widely felt need for a guide to the very considerable sources for maritime history in the local archives of the United Kingdom. It was originally assembled over three years by the Leverhulme Research Fellow, Dr Todd Gray, with the generous co-operation of the Association of County Archivists which provided both financial assistance and the support of an advisory panel of County Archivists: Margery Rowe (Devon), Christine North (Cornwall) and Bryn Parry (Gwynnedd). Completion was delayed by local government reorganisation and the departure of Dr Gray into a career as a successful publisher. His work however has been the basis for continuing the project and developing it into a searchable database, revived and advanced to its present state by the enthusiastic efforts of Dr Helen Doe, supported by postgraduates of the Centre, and with the editorial assistance of Karen Toulalan.