September 2011
Report on Collections Weeks, July-September 2011
We have now had another three ‘collections
weeks’, when we have been closed to the public in order to
concentrate on cataloguing and other work vital to making our
collections available to current and future users. During
these weeks, we have been working on:
Acc 0907: Duck Son and Pinker
Collection
We recently took in an interesting collection
of records rescued from the shop Duck, Son and Pinker, which closed
down earlier this year. These date from 1842 to 2000, and
include customer account books, stock books, order books for piano
sales, hire and repair, and newspaper advertisements. They
were in very poor condition when they arrived, but we have now
cleaned them thoroughly and made a draft list. A full
catalogue should be available shortly.
Acc 0423B:
Partis College Collection
– additional material
Partis College was founded in 1824 by Ann
Partis as a charity 'for thirty reduced gentlewomen in the decline
of life', who were provided with accommodation and support.
The Record Office received a deposit of records from the College
some years ago, which was catalogued. Additional material,
including trustees’ minutes financial records, application papers
and candidates' books, was received more recently. This new
material has been catalogued during the last three closure weeks,
and the original catalogue has been revised. Some work
remains on checking the catalogue – once this has been done, it
will be made available online and in the searchroom.
Small Collections
Accession numbers 0896 (assignment of lease,
1735), 0901 (photographic prints of the Kennet and Avon Canal about
1858), 0902 (photographs of Milsom Street, decorated with bunting,
about 1937), 0903 (a letter from W R Cook, wholesale clothiers, of
Bath, 1897) and 0904 (photograph of Widcombe Institute Football
Team, 1880s) have been catalogued, and the catalogues are available
online and in the searchroom.
We would like to thank all our users
for their continued support.
August 2011
Historical letters paint a picture of Bath
A series of letters from the early 1800s,
which offer a fascinating insight into life in Bath at the time,
are now available to view at Bath & North East Somerset
Council’s Bath Record Office.
The correspondence, dating back to March 1810, begins with a
letter from Maria Langton to her husband Miguel (‘Mich’), a wealthy
merchant of Irish descent who was trapped in the Spanish city of
Cadiz whilst it was under siege from the French army.
The Emperor Napoleon had overrun nearly all of the rest of
Spain, and it seemed as if Cadiz might soon have to surrender
too.
Writing from Bath, where she had taken refuge from the
Peninsular War, along with her grown-up son, a daughter and several
grandchildren, Maria pleaded: “‘God direct you my dearly beloved
Mich. I shall never be easy until I know you out of danger, Cadiz
can not resiste…”
Miguel never made it to Bath – he died of natural causes before
he could join his wife and family. This left his son, Miguel
Theobald, with the problem of executing his father’s will –
liquidating the family’s assets in Spain and Ireland and sharing
them between the heirs. It took him nearly seven years,
during the course of which he wrote over 150 letters to people in
Spain, Ireland and England.
These letters have survived to this day and are now in the
Council’s Bath Record Office, together with the letters written to
his father Miguel before his death, and the replies sent from Spain
to the family in Bath.
Colin Johnston, Bath & North East Somerset Council's
Principal Archivist, said: “This is an amazing acquisition to have
in Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Bath Record Office as
they give a fascinating picture of life at the time both in Bath
and war-torn Spain. The letters deal with an enormous range of
subjects from family news to politics, and from detailed analysis
of the accounts of the business to the cost of living in Bath and
the difficulties of living on a much-reduced income. Incidentally,
we also learn how long it could take for a letter to travel between
Spain and England, and understand something of the attitudes of the
wealthier classes of society at the time.”
The letters are part of the Langton Family Papers, which were
acquired by Bath & North East Somerset Council’s Record Office
in 2008, and have now been catalogued with the help of a grant from
the National Cataloguing Grant Fund.
The catalogue – including details of the Langton family members,
places and events – is available online via the Council’s Bath
Record Office website http://www.batharchives.co.uk/,
and the papers, including the original letters, can be viewed in
the Record Office.
July 2011
Report on Collections Weeks April - June
2011
During the last three 'Collections Weeks', we
have catalogued the following collections:
BC200 – Bath City Council – Town Clerk’s
Cemetery Records
BC201 – Bathwick Burial Board Records
BC202 – Lyncombe and Widcombe and St James’s
Burial Board, Records
BC203 – St Michael’s Burial Board Records
BC204 – St Saviour’s Burial Board Records
BC205 – Twerton Burial Board Records
BC206 – Walcot Burial Board Records
BC207 – Weston Burial Board Records
These new catalogues are available in printed
format in the search room and on our online catalogue.
We have also been able to clear a large
backlog of books and pamphlets waiting to be added to our small
‘reference library’ – several hundred items have been catalogued
and shelved.
Work has also begun on an extensive
re-organisation of storage in our strongrooms, moving collections
to make more effective use of space.
March 2011
'Bath Blitz' maps added to our maps for sale on
disk
As well as large-scale maps of Bath for the 1850s and 1880s, you
can now buy a disk with four maps showing the bomb damage caused
during the 'Bath Blitz' of 1942. Find out more.
'Collections Weeks'
Report
We have now had three ‘collections weeks’, when we have been
closed to the public in order to concentrate on cataloguing and
other work vital to making our collections available to current and
future users.
During these weeks, we have catalogued the following
collections:
- 0661 BathCityPolice (and successor
bodies) Records, 1841-1991
- 0699 St Swithins Infants School,
Bath, and predecessor schools, records, c.1883-2005
- 0827 St Mark’s ComprehensiveSchool,
Bath, and prededessor schools, records, 1862-2004
- 0886 Ken James Research Papers on
18th Century BathMusic, 1970s-1990s
These new catalogues are available on our
online catalogue, and in printed form in the searchroom.
Work has also been carried out on other catalogues, including
Burial Board records and Bath & North East Somerset planning
reports - about 35 newly-received reports have been added to the
extensive and significant series of planning reports we hold.
These catalogues are at present available only in the Record Office
searchroom.
We will report again in three months' time, and in the meantime
we would like to thank all our users for their support.
Staff news
Nicky Sugar, who was taking the place of Lucy Powell while
she is away on maternity leave, left us in February. We
now welcome Lucy Smith as Assistant Archivist in her place
December 2010
Change to Record Office Opening Hours
From January 2011, Bath Record Office will be closed to the
public for the third full week of every month, for a trial period
of six months. During these 'Collections Weeks', staff will be
carrying out essential work on the collections to improve access to
them and preserve them for users now and in the future.
We realise that this will cause inconvenience to many of our
users, for which we apologise. However it will result in
greatly improved access to many of our collections, both to those
visiting the record office and to online users. Find out more...
Every three months, we will report on what we
have achieved in our ‘collection weeks’. Look out for our
updates!
October 2010
New accessions we have received recently include:
| Acc 0857 |
Records of the Vale of Brislington Lodge of Freemasons,
Keynsham, 1874-2006 |
| Acc 0858 |
Records of the Bath Assocaition of Graduate Women,
1957-2008 |
| Acc 0859 |
Records of St Keyna Lodge of Freemasons, Keynsham,
1879-1995 |
| Acc 0862 |
Account Book relating to 'Ford's Estate', 1822-1837. This
volume appears to have been kept by the agent or accountant
to John and William Ford. It includes cash and rent
accounts, and records amounts received in rents, ground
rents, and amounts paid for repairs
etc. |
August 2010
Staff News
We say a temporary farewell to Lucy Powell who is leaving on
maternity leave, and welcome Nicky Sugar, who is taking her place
as Assistant Archivist while she is away.
New Accessions
Some of the accessions we have received recently are:
|
|
| Acc 847 |
Papers of Major A J Jackman, director of Bath Military
Tattoo |
| Acc 850 |
School records from Bath Art Secondary School, 1942-1973 |
| Acc 851 |
Title deeds to Bath properties from P J Pepler, Solicitor |
| Acc 853 |
Records of Frank Keevil and Sons, Cabinet makers of Bath |
March 2010
Refurbishment of Microfiche Room
The microfiche room has been painted and new flooring has been
laid - a very welcome improvement.
December 2009
Contributions to TV Programmes
Among our many users are programme-makers from
television, and this year we have enjoyed the challenge of finding
documents for BBC researchers. “Saving Britain’s Past”,
broadcast in September, devoted its first
programme to Bath’s preservationists and campaigners over the
past sixty years. We provided documentary evidence and helped
organize interviews with local residents and experts.
This summer’s visit to the Assembly Rooms by BBC “Antiques
Roadshow” also involved Record Office staff providing historical
information on the Rooms, and documents were filmed for possible
screening. The family history series “Who Do You Think You
Are?” may also use evidence we provided for a mystery
celebrity.
October 2009
Additions to our collections
Our collections have grown this year with a
fascinating variety of new additions donated, purchased, or loaned
to the archive. These include
- business and estate papers of the Langton family of Bath and
Cadiz 1750-1810
- an unidentified Bath physician’s commonplace and remedy book of
c.1730
- advertising and customer records of Payne & Sons,
bootmakers of Broad Street, Bath 1880s-1920s
- Bath views by local amateur photographer John Stamp from the
1940s to the 1970s
Searchroom Refurbishment
Regular users of the Record Office will have
noticed a cleaner,
brighter Searchroom resulting from
redecoration and new lighting in August. Working conditions
behind-the-scenes are also much improved, following
a three-month conservation-cleaning programme by
outside specialist contractors. The work involved taking
every item off its shelf for cleaning and inspection for evidence
mould-growth or other deterioration. Quite an achievement
with over 3 kilometres of shelving in the archive!