The Amateur Historian Volume 6 Number 4 Summer 1964

By Tate, W.E.

pp 110-114

A summary of the main types of parish record, by the author of The Parish Chest, one of the best-known works on the subject. The article emphasises that most of the records were generated by the main officers of the parish or township, and that parish records were generally kept in the parish chest but are increasingly to be found in county record offices. Categories of records which are considered include: i) those produced by parish priests or clerks, such as registers of baptisms, marriages and burials - the earliest examples of these date from 1538; ii) the churchwardens' accounts and other papers, which give extensive information on the church, its structural problems and upkeep, church goods, worship, bells and bellringing, music and the financial administration of the parish or community; iii) the vestry minutes and records of the civil parish and its predecessor bodies; iv) records of the overseers of the poor, which are of fundamental importance in seeing how the poor laws were operated and how they affected local people; v) records produced by the constable, whose duties were often mundane and whose paperwork was not likely to be as systematic or efficiently-kept as that of other officers; vi) the records of the waywardens or surveyors of the highways; vii) those kept by the fieldmaster, who supervised the use of common land; and viii) those of a wide range of other officials who existed in some, but certainly not all, communities - examples include the pinders, dyke-reeves, and sexton.

[Hide]

By Keil, Ian

pp 115-117

Discussion of the problem of interpreting medieval documents which refer to units of size or measurement. Weights and measures were not standardised in medieval and early modern England, despite the definition of several forms of statute measure in the 13th century, and there were innumerable local and regional variations. In addition, weighing and measuring individual commodities was highly variable since many trades and crafts had their own separate units and nomenclature for this purpose. Keil uses studies from the 13th and 14th centuries to illustrate variations in pounds, stones and ways.

[Hide]

By Garnett, R.G.

pp 118-120

Study of the model community of New Lanark (Scotland) in the 18th and 19th centuries. The village was established by David Dale, who built a spinning mill on the Clyde and constructed a village for his workers. The enterprise was sold to Robert Owen in 1799 and developed as a social and economic experiment. Owen controlled the entire village, owning the mills and all the houses and employing all the workers. He established a shop, and a school which not only educated the children of the workforce but also ran evening classes for adults. He founded a savings bank, set up a sick fund, and paid unemployment benefit. The article traces the origins and development of this experiment, which was highly influential with later co-operatists and socialist thinkers.

[Hide]

By Read, Donald

pp 121-124

A comment on the 'local versus regional' and 'parish versus community' debate which had been voiced in local history circles and in the pages of the journal. Read contributes the suggestion that 'period' may also be an important factor for the local historian to consider, and that therefore the spatial dimensions which define study will change over time. Over the last 200 years, he argues, the population has become increasingly mobile and therefore geographical distinctions are correspondingly difficult to defend. In addition, he states that community studies are less appropriate for urbanised industrial areas, so that ultimately, and pragmatically, different approaches suit different periods.

[Hide]

By Muir, Augustus

pp 128-133

Business history as a separate theme within local history is discussed, with practical advice on the aims, methodology and sources which can be used for such research. Muir suggests that the following can be exploited by the researcher investigating a specific business, but warns that the quality of the sources will be very variable and patchy as the survival rate is often poor and many earlier businesses in any case kept few comprehensive records: i) oral history sources, which may give accounts of working conditions, employer and employee relationships, and the life-stories of those working in the business; ii) business archives, which are frequently incomplete or inadequate; iii) family records, especially of the owners and managers of businesses; iv) local newspapers; and v) the listings and reports of the Business Archives Council, which may help the researcher to locate the surviving records of a firm or business.

[Hide]

By Munby, Lionel M.

pp 134-135

Brief study of the existence and persistence of local myths and legends, and the corruption of historically verifiable stories, both of which processes lead to widely-held popular misconceptions. The author attempts to highlight the problems in deciphering fact from fiction when these myths are investigated.