The Local Historian Volume 10 Number 2 May 1972

By R.W. Ambler

Review of the range, scope and content of nonconformist registers, which were not (and indeed are not) subject to the same statutory controls as the registers of Church of England parishes and chapels. Nonconformist registers were given no formal recognition until the late 1830s, when they were ordered to be deposited in the new Public Record Office, but significant numbers of nonconformist chapels and meetings evaded or avoided this requirement. The article discusses the potential importance of these records in local history research.

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By S. Martin Gaskell

Building societies expanded rapidly in the later 19th century, in response the to the growing problems faced by working people in financing and acquiring housing. These 'mutual' societies had their origins in the late 18th century, with the devising, often apparently spontaneously, of a range of self-help approaches to such pressing needs. Self-help societies were usually formed by groups of people who built homes or bought land for allocation among their members. These groups were widespread, but they are frequently very difficult to trace because their records have been lost and (unlike later building societies) they were often wound up once the required number of houses had been built and occupied. The article discusses examples, mainly from Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, and uses evidence such as Ordnance Survey maps, society rule books, local newspapers, topographical studies and building records and rate books to illustrate ways in which such housing schemes can be researched by local historians.

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By Peter Grey

A review of sources available for the study of parish workhouses and poorhouses, and for the development of these very significant elements in the overall strategy of the Poor Law authorities before 1834. The sources which are described include i) early 19th century parliamentary surveys into levels of expenditure on poor relief; ii) the reports of Select Committees on the working of the old Poor Law; iii) Royal Commissions on the Poor Laws; iv) parish, township and other local records; v) workhouse documents and overseers' accounts; vi) workhouse rules of conduct; vii) justices' reports to the quarter sessions; and viii) the private papers of those involved in the system.

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By W.F. Mumford

A short article in response to earlier queries about how to undertake research using medieval court rolls, in which Mumford discusses approaches to the use of these sources, indicates possible themes and topics to investigate, refers to recent publications which can be of assistance to the researcher, and describes methodologies. The article also covers linguistic techniques and the problems and pitfalls of translation and interpretation.