News From the Family & Community Historical Research Society |
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National Monuments Record Center Toward 2002Archive
Reader's Letters
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News Editor Wendy Baird
Publication
of Research results Clive Leivers (Chairman
FACHRS) With
the successful launch of our collaborative projects, the committee have been
giving thought to the presentation of the results of that research. We expect to
see an overall report of each project appearing in due course in the Society
Journal, with detailed findings probably being posted on the Society's web site.
In the case of the Arithmeticke project the detail will probably appear on a
dedicated web site prepared by Peter Wardley, the academic advisor for the
project. For our next project ‑ on the Swing riots ‑the end result
will be a database of the events in areas covered by our researchers will be
made available on the web site. However, the research undertaken in
connection with Arithmeticke led members into some fascinating areas outside the
primary focus of the project: transcription of wills for 3 parishes in West
Yorkshire, the identification of the scribes of wills and inventories, the study
of churchwardens' accounts, examination of the account books of the Drapers
company estate in Northern Ireland and of the inventories of those who died at
sea. Some of the information gathered ‑ the Yorkshire wills for example
‑ could well be of interest to other researchers and the findings and
conclusions arising from these individual pieces of research are probably worthy
of publication. Thinking about this led us to the
conclusion that we should try and facilitate the dissemination of this data and
research findings. We could place data on our web site for free access or
perhaps capture it on CD, if we or the individual who had done the work wanted
some commercial return. The presentation of research findings could come in the
form of a series of occasional papers published by the Society, in a standard
livery under the direction of a general editor with a focus editor where the
paper had a common theme ‑ for example, the "incidental" work
arising from Arithmeticke or the results of the south‑East group's
research on pubs. We could also see the possibility of initiatives on similar
lines for individual. pieces of research undertaken by members as well as those
arising from our sponsored projects. We see this idea providing a facility that
might bridge the gap between the brief items that appear in our newsletter and
the ~ very proper ~ rigorous academic standards set for journal articles. We would like to hear your suggestions for inclusion in such publications along with offers to help with production by volunteering for an editorial role perhaps. We think that this would be a popular and useful service to members and the wider world of family and community historians. Let us know what you think!
The National Monuments Record Centre (NMR)The
NMR's own publicity describes itself as, "the
public archive of English Heritage. NMR provides information on the
architecture and archaeology of England and contains over 10 million
items, including historic and aerial photographs, maps, plans and drawings. From 7 July to 7 October this year NMR had an exhibition with the title "Works of Worship" with a free lecture given by Francis Kelly, Historic Buildings Inspector on 5 September. From 13th October to 13th January 2002, there will be an exhibition entitled "The Arts and Crafts Movement". Free tours of the NMRC leave The Gallery at 2.15pm on the following Saturdays: 20 October, 17 November, 15 December. For
£15 you can obtain 3 A3 sized aerial photographs dated between 1945 and
1975 of a chosen area and you will also receive an
index of listed buildings in your area together with a similar listing of
the area's archaeology. Quite a
bargain! Clive has sampled this service and was quite impressed with what
was provided. Further
details of NMR and its services can be obtained from The
National Monuments Record Centre, Kemble Drive, Swindon, SN2 2GZ
(01793414600)
Pub History SocietyAfter the 2000 AGM & Annual Conference FACHRS has received more information about the "Pub History Society". The objectives of the PHS is to
Further information can be obtained from the Membership Secretary, PHS, 15 Hawthorn Road, Peterborough, PE1 4PA
Cambridge
Group Survey
Enclosed with the Newsletter sent directly to members was a survey from the University of Liverpool asking for your help in evaluating the contribution made by the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure from 1995‑2000. This group was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and many of you will have come across their work during your studies. Probably because they have been in existence some time many members may have thought of them as a permanent organisation rather than a temporary one. Please, if you have made use of any of their research, take the time to fill in and return the survey (directly to Professor Lee at the University of Liverpool). If you haven't made use of their work you may find some of the articles mentioned in the survey of interest. You can read more and even complete the on-line ESRC survey.
THE
SWING PROJECT
Jacqueline
Cooper Project
Co-ordinator Many
of us studying nineteenth century social history have come across the
'Captain Swing riots, that extraordinary series of dramatic incidents
which spread through many parts of England from 1830-32. The Society has
now agreed to support a major study project of 'Swing', with the ambitious
aim of compiling a comprehensive database of the full extent of the riots. The project is the brainchild of Michael Holland, a FACHRS member who lives in Essex and who has himself studied 'Swing' extensively, and who agreed to be academic advisor to the project. He feels that, notwithstanding the well-known book "Captain Swing" by Hobsbawm & Rude, plus the many county studies which have taken place, the true extent of the riots can only be uncovered through replicated research at the local level in every county affected. Since FACHRS now has members right across the country, we are ideally placed to be the ones to network this unique study. Read more about the Swing Project
South
East Network News
Notice
Board, the newsletter of the South East Network of FACHRS has information
on their past and future meetings and short articles from its members. The
Network's AGM and an update on their Public House Project will be held on
13 th October at the East
Grinstead Library Activities Room.
Maps
on Line
Wendy
Baird I was able to save this map from
the site by right clicking on the image. I saved as a png i.e. the latest
file format and easily editable. Whilst on-line I was able to view a
magnified version of the map and could have saved this version. The terms
and conditions of use are generous and involve no cost to the
non-commercial user. No more photocopying for me! Webmaster Note: The majority of the Internet Search Engines have now switched to the method of supporting "paid for" submissions. Many businesses now pay to have their web address listed higher in the search requests with the result that more often than not the higher the "hit" the more likely it is to be a commercial organisation.
Readers’ feedbackAn important part of being an historian is engaging in debate. FACHRS aim to publish a selection of the comments received on articles that have appeared in the journal. George and Yanina Sheeran took issue with some aspects of Pat Hudson (1999) 'Industrialisation in Britain: the challenge of micro-history', Family and Community History 2, 1: 5-17. Firstly, they feel that, although there is 'little consensus about what post-modern writing is', nevertheless it is clear that 'the post-modern position maintains that the past is irretrievable'. We can only recover fragments of the past and check our accounts against other accounts. There is no correct text against which to check all the others. Pat Hudson, they say, does not recognise this point. Secondly, they maintain that post-modernist commentators are not as focused on the public and political sphere as Pat Hudson suggests. Contact:: G & Y Sheeran, (1998) 'Discourses in local history', Rethinking History, 2, 1: 65-85. They also have a forthcoming article in Local Historian on this subject.
In response to David Tonks, (1999) 'A kind of life insurance: the coal-miners of north-east England, 1860-1920', Family and Community History 2, 1: 45-58, Clive Leivers suggests that broadly similar conclusions about working sons of miners can be drawn from analysis of census enumerators' books 1861-1881 for Portland Row, Kirkby-in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. In these 47 houses, built by the Butterley Company for employees, the percentage of households which had no working sons fell from 79.6% in 1861 to 58.8% in 1881. This was probably due to a fall of 10 percentage points in the number of households headed by young married men. Contrary to the situation in Brickgarth, in both 1871 and 1881 over 50% of the inhabitants of Portland Row had lived there for at least a decade and many sons remained there when they married. This close proximity of residence provides, Clive argues, a further, 'kind of life insurance'.
Simon Fowler suggests that Dan Weinbren (1999) 'Relative values: the financing of families' Family and Community History 2, 1: 59-71 does not take account of the fact that both the Royal Commission on the Poor Law (1905-09), which focused on towns which had a large number of charities and contemporaneous philanthropists, inflated claims as to the amount donated annually. Although public contributions to individual relief funds were significant (£1.275m was raised for Lancastrians affected by the cotton famine of the early 1860s) he doubts whether by the end of the last century charitable provision outstripped government spending on the poor law or education, the two main areas in which charities operated. In order to illustrate that the position was similar at local level he gives the example of affluent Richmond where, in 1913, poor law expenditure was greater than the money spent on welfare by charities.
Contact: Simon Fowler, Department of History, University College London, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT. |
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