The Local Historian Volume 17 Number 5 February 1987

By John Davies

Bibliographical review of the more important works on Welsh history before the union with England in 1536. The review begins by noting that 'these are stirring times for historians of Wales' and then considers a range of important themes: i) the Bibliography of Welsh History; ii) general histories; iii) material culture and landscape; iv) archaeology and early history; v) the 'veritable quagmire' of the 5th-10th centuries; vi) medieval political history; and vii) later medieval Wales. All the titles discussed are listed in a comprehensive bibliography at the end of the article (see also 17 06 358-365).

[Hide]

By Joan Dils

The article suggests that there are both quantitative and qualitative sources for reconstructing the social history of the early modern period. The deposition books which form part of the records of ecclesiastical courts in the 16th and 17th centuries fall in the latter category and provide a rich and important potential source for local historians. The range of cases which they dealt with is very wide and the English language depositions (as contrasted with the Latin formal text) give valuable insights into many aspects of everyday life. Using examples from the archdeaconry of Berkshire 1558-1620 the article shows how brief biographies of witnesses are given, allowing analysis of birthplace and origins of migrants and a tentative reconstruction of the process of migration to towns in this period. Literacy may be investigated and many aspects of occupations and employment. Other subjects noted include marriage and courtship behaviour, leisure and entertainment (often hilarious), beating the bounds, friendships, the lack of privacy and household activities. Images of events and fragments of description of topography are often given. It is argued that this sort of evidence can 'make the dead live'.

[Hide]

By Myrddin J. Lewis and Roger Lloyd-Jones

Arguing that rate books are a much more reliable source of information on industrial structures than directories, the authors suggest that this source may be used to provide detail on location, ownership, occupiers, nature of property, rate paid, arrears and extent of business and thereby, crucially, gives information about the relative sizes of individual businesses. This is not possible from directories, but it is very important because it allows changes in the scale and structure of industry over time to be calculated. Examples are quoted - the stability of the Sheffield iron and steel industry 1880-1901, where shifts in size are insignificant, contrasted with the experience of the Manchester cotton industry 1815-1833, where the structure was highly-volatile and there was a dramatic shift from small to medium and large sized firms. Rate books, it is concluded, provide a rich source of empirical data for the local historian, and recent developments in information technology provide the means to exploit this source of basic data.

[Hide]

By Jeremy S.W. Gibson

Informal article about the nature of indexes and the faults and failings of specific examples, followed by a discussion of how indexes are compiled, and the crucial importance of designing an index so that it relates to how people perceive the subject. Cross-referencing, avoidance of one-word headings, and the philosophy of indexes are considered.

[Hide]

By Ruth Downing

An analysis based on the evidence of the tithe maps and apportionments in the Blything area of east Suffolk, in which the large number of field names are analysed statistically as a basis for interpreting landscape and agricultural economy. The article includes analysis of: i) the frequency of individual field-name elements (meadow was the most common) and it is noted that there was a marked spatial concentration even of these familiar terms; ii) nouns referring to field size; and iii) field-names with livestock associations (also with analysis of spatial concentration, suggesting that these patterns are not accidental).