The Amateur Historian Volume 1 Number 7 August September 1953

By Tupling, G.H.

pp 198-201

Examination of the content and value of parish registers, the most popular and readily-available source of data on baptisms, marriages and burials. The keeping of registers has been compulsory since 1538, and although early records are less easy to find, more stringent regulations for the keeping of registers were introduced in the late 16th and early 17th centuries after which the quality of the records improves and their survival rate has been much greater. During the Civil War most record-keeping was severely disrupted: many registers were interrupted and some were lost. Tupling comments on the quality of these parish registers, and especially on the problems of carrying out any statistical analysis. He suggests (perhaps pessimistically in the light of their post-1953 use by demographers) that much of the value of parish registers lies in the non-specific detail which they include. They were often used for recording events and local activities, minutes of meetings, notes on climate, current events and gossip (see also 01 08 234-237; 01 09 269-272; 01 10 301-304; 01 11 335-339; 01 12 361-364). 

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By Pirie, Elizabeth

pp 202-204

Short article explaining how local history societies may mount small exhibitions or create local museums, including detail on display techniques and suggestions for the types and range of material that may be included.

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By Bullock, Brigadier Humphry

pp 205-208

The author suggests how the local historian may trace persons who have served in the army. First steps include identifying dates of service, regiment and rank. Sources then include army lists (which are less detailed for the yeomanry or volunteers); regimental histories and biographies; campaign histories; the Society for Army Research; and unofficial regimental historians. The article indicates where these sources might be found.

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By Reynolds, J.D.

pp 209-212

Bibliographical guide to printed sources on prehistory, early history and the Roman occupation.

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By Hicks, F.W. Potto

pp 220-224

Account of the founding of the Selden Society (which is devoted to the study of legal history) by F.W. Maitland, the great constitutional and legal historian. Includes a review of the Society's main activities and some of the famous names connected with it, and also notes the its publishing activities and the proposed volumes on which work was being undertaken by a range of scholars in the early 1950s.