[5] Other active members in the early years included G. H. Fowler, Joan Wake, Ethel Stokes, Irene Churchill, Kathleen Major, William Le Hardy, and H. M. Cashmore.

[6][7][8] During the Second World War, when the British government promoted a salvage campaign to encourage the recycling of waste paper, the BRA ran a vigorous counter-campaign to safeguard against the over-enthusiastic destruction of records of historical value.

[16] The journal's editors have been: Roger Ellis, 1949–57; Joan Lancaster, 1957–63; Arthur Owen, 1964–76; Andrew Cook, 1977–84; John Warner-Davies/Davies, 1985–89; Jeremy Black, 1990–2005; Ruth Paley, 2006–date.

[17] The annual Maurice Bond Memorial Lecture, named after the former Clerk of the House of Lords Record Office, is held in the late autumn (normally October) in conjunction with the association's AGM, and is delivered by a speaker prominent in the world of scholarship, record-keeping or politics.

Recent Maurice Bond Lecturers have included Clyde Jeavons, formerly of the National Film and Television Archive (2005), Nicholas Rodger (2006), Nicholas Kingsley of The National Archives (2007), Bamber Gascoigne (2008), Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet (2009), Frank Prochaska (2010), Michael Meadowcroft, MP (2011), Peter Hennessy (2012), Professor Eric Ketelaar (2013), Jeremy Musson (2014), Fiona Skillen (2015), Caroline Shenton (2016), Joan Winterkorn (2017), Martin Daunton (2021), Andrew Flynn (2023).

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the BRA held a series of webinars discussing truth and the archival record, in partnership with the Institute of Historical Research.

The prize, of £500, is awarded for the best or most original piece of work published in any media in the previous three years which has met the aims of the association in promoting the preservation, understanding, accessibility or study of archives.

[21][22] The role of the RPS is to act as a rescue organisation and clearing-house for records deemed to be at risk, passing them on to appropriate institutional custodians.

This was made possible in part through the receipt of an annual grant-in-aid from HM Treasury, paid from 1959 to 2000; but the work is now again carried out on an entirely voluntary basis.