Article abstracts for ARCHIVES, Volume XL: Numbers 128-9
David X. Carpenter, THE ‘LOST VOLUME’ OF THE COWCHER BOOKS OF THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER: THE INVENTION OF A MANUSCRIPT
The existence of a lost third volume of the Great Cowcher books of the Duchy of Lancaster was first postulated in the early 19th century. This article traces the historiography associated with the ‘lost’ volume and considers the origins of the various charters it was supposed to contain, concluding that a series of errors lent plausibility to an otherwise untenable theory. It identifies the origins and location of the charters supposedly contained in the phantom volume.
Thomas W. Smith, REVIEW ARTICLE: ENGLISH EPISCOPAL ACTA AND THIRTEENTH-CENTURY PETITIONS TO THE POPE
This essay considers the achievement of the English Episcopal Acta series. It draws attention to the some of the uses that the English Episcopal Acta can be put in the study of papal petitioning in the thirteenth century, a topic which has traditionally been neglected by scholars because of a perceived lack of source material.
Robert D. Cornwall, INTO NONJURY: THE RESIGNATION OF THOMAS BRETT IN 1715
A series of letters, including a letter from Thomas Tenison, archbishop of Canterbury, to Thomas Brett, a high church tory priest serving in his diocese, provide insight into the complex nature of church relationships at the accession of George of Hanover to the British throne in 1714. Tenison’s letter responds to Brett’s resignation of his livings due to his inability to take the required oaths to the new king, sending Brett into the non-juring movement. These letters, which inform the history of the non-juring movement and the English church in the eighteenth century are found in the Thomas Brett Collection at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
Paul Carter and Steven King, KEEPING TRACK: MODERN METHODS, ADMINISTRATION AND THE VICTORIAN POOR LAW, 1834-1871
This essay examines the archive created buy the poor law commissioners as a result of the Poor Law amendment act of 1834. Struggling to deal with the mountain of correspondence that resulted from its attempt to supervise local government across the whole of England and Wales, the commissioners invented new ways of keeping track of their records. The surviving archive provides a goldmine of information for historians interested in local and social history.
Alex Hodge, THE ORIGIN OF ARCHIVAL TRAINING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL: THE SCHOOL OF LOCAL HISTORY AND RECORDS (1900-1948)
The University of Liverpool has been formally training those entering the archive profession since 1947 with the inception of the diploma in the study of records and administration of archives. The diploma has evolved into what is now the masters of archives and records management degree. The roots of the diploma and consequently the present degree course began with the founding of the School of Local History and Records in 1900, in what was then University College Liverpool. This article is a history of the School of Local History and Records from its foundation in 1900 until 1948. It provides information on those who were instrumental in the development of the School, (especially John Mackay, Ramsay Muir and Jesse Twemlow), those who were trained by the school, and the academic work that was undertaken by it. The article additionally aims to explain why the school developed in Liverpool, in comparison to other university cities.
Joanne Smith, CITIZENS AND ACTIVISTS: A SURVEY OF THE HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE WOMEN CITIZENS’ ASSOCIATIONS AND THEIR RESEARCH POTENTIAL
After the partial franchise was granted to women in 1918 some historians have claimed that the British women’s movement largely went into decline, its resurgence not evident for some decades This narrative has been challenged by feminists and scholars of women’s history, who have later demonstrated the ways in which women chose to continue their political activities once in possession of the parliamentary franchise following the Representation of the People Act 1918 through a growing number of local case studies and comparative analyses we now have a much more comprehensive understanding of the direction taken by the women’s movement after the end of the First War. Nevertheless, more detailed accounts are needed to assess the development of specific non-party political women’s organisations such as the Women Citizen’s Associations (WCAs) which operated throughout the twentieth century.
editor@britishrecordsassociation.org.uk
Archives Volume XL Number 128-9 available to purchase at £15 – Contact BRA on info@britishrecoredsassociation.org.uk