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COUNTY ARCHIVES ANDTHE STUDY OF LOCALHISTORY IN SCHOOLSMiss M. C. Hill aa County Archivist of ShropshirePublished online: 06 Jul 2006.

To cite this article: Miss M. C. Hill (1952) COUNTY ARCHIVES AND THESTUDY OF LOCAL HISTORY IN SCHOOLS, Educational Review, 5:1, 26-32,DOI: 10.1080/0013191520050104

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0013191520050104

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26 E D U C A T I O N A L REVIEW

COUNTY ARCHIVES AND THE STUDY OFLOCAL HISTORY IN SCHOOLS

by Miss M. C. HILLCounty Archivist of Shropshire

THE value of local studies in teaching history is being increasinglyunderstood to-day; yet even so, teachers do not always realise howrapidly the system of local record repositories has developed duringthe last 20 years, and how much the County or Borough RecordOffice can contribute to school studies. This paper describes someexperiments in co-operation between schools and Record Officewhich have actually taken place, as an indication of two possiblemethods of approach.

1. SIXTH FORM RESEARCH

It is excellent training for sixth forms, or upper fifths in thehiatus after examinations, to carry out a small investigation basedat least in part on original materials.

For those who are not going to read history at the Universityand for those who do not intend to take an academic training at all,the experience of attempting research is well worth while. It oughtin some degree to disabuse them of the notion that all the facts ofhistory are solid indisputable pieces of knowledge which only haveto be learnt. It ought to suggest to them that "facts" are built upby the historian from the documentary evidence available to him,and that subsequent discoveries may modify or even abolish theartificial unit of "fact" so created. It may do more than this. For ifchildren once experience the joy of discovering the past, their firsttentative piece of research may stimulate a lifelong interest in localhistory. This is a province which need not be reserved for thespecialist historian and in which the non-university student may stilldo good work. We owe much to the labours of the nineteenth centurylocal antiquary who made the past his hobby, even if we have alsosuffered from his uncritical enthusiasm. It would be a tremendousgain to local studies and a help to all our Local History and Archaeo-logical Societies if our secondary schools could foster a more generaland at the same time a more critical interest in ancient things. Thenevery prehistoric monument would not be automatically described(by otherwise well-informed people) as the work of druids or Romans;

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COUNTY ARCHIVES AND EDUCATION 27

and some of the hoary legends which now pass in guide books forlocal history might be decently buried. The real history which ispartly known and in part awaits discovery is much more fascinating.In any case, we want children to leave school aware of the importanceof documents. In later life they will probably find themselves inpossession of title deeds or business records, the minute books oflocal societies and clubs, or civil parish papers; and we want them torealise that all these are valuable to the historian. Then we shall nothear so many stories of parish papers burnt or lost because they were"old and useless"; and accumulations which tell the story of old-established firms will not be sent to salvage without examination.

For students who hope to go on from school to the University, asmall piece of real research on original documents is the most valu-able introduction to problems of historical evidence. Only by usingactual records can they discover for themselves the kind of informa-tion documents are able to give the searcher, and the questions thatcan profitably be asked. They will soon find that there are alwaysgaps in the evidence, however complete the documentation of anevent seems to be. They will soon come across those tantalising caseswhere only one or two items from a long process have survived.This is usually a surprise, even to students brought up on printedsource books as well as school text books. For in the source book, afew significant passages have been extracted; the student has nothad to sift his material at all; the amount of matter he has had toconsider has naturally been very limited. He has not had to copewith evidence overwhelmingly generous on one point and extremelymeagre on another. Nor, as a rule", has he been taught to think ofrecords as archives—that, is, from the point of view of the peoplewho made them. They were not written to be fodder for the his-torian, yet that is how they are treated by the inexperienced research-er. His preconceptions are read into the documents, and this leadsinevitably to misapprehensions and mistakes. If the right approachcan be explained to the beginner and some of the pitfalls pointed out,he will be saved much labour and sorrow at a later stage.

The choice of a subject for sixth form research needs carefulconsideration. It must be one which can be compassed in a fairlyshort time, one for which material exists in adequate but not over-whelming quantity, and for which documents can be easily read (thatis, not earlier than the eighteenth century). The period coveredshould not be too long, and the geographical area dealt with shouldnot be too large. Vague and ill-defined subjects are quite unsuitable

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28 E D U C A T I O N A L REVIEW

for a preliminary encounter with record material, because the be-ginner cannot be expected to know what material exists or how touse it profitably. His first essay should be regarded as a training inuse of material, not a treasure hunt. The one infallible rule is thatthe material available must dictate the subject. It is not the leastuse to attempt a study, however intriguing, for which little or nomaterial exists. There is no profit for researcher or reader in adissertation where every other sentence must begin with "probably"or "possibly".

The student must have adequate background knowledge for hiswork; and this too will limit his choice of subject. Even when he isdealing with the period he knows best, plenty of reference books willbe necessary. Lack of sufficiently detailed background knowledgeabout matters allied to his subject, and the unfamiliarity of the eyewith handwriting, even clear, easy handwriting, are the first problemsfor every beginner. A good deal of help is needed at the start; andfor this reason among others, it is usually best to work with smallgroups and produce a group rather than an individual essay at the endof the research.

The examples I am now going to cite will show the kind of sub-ject which may profitably be attempted.

In the first case, the lower sixth form of a girls' secondary school(the majority not University candidates) heard a talk on records andwere keen to see them. A party of 12 came to the Record Office onThursday afternoons for five successive weeks and worked on docu-ments illustrating:

(a) the establishment and development of one of the pre-1834Houses of Industry established for five parishes under a private act.Materials available included minute books, accounts, returns ofpaupers, food and clothing books, boarding-out books, 1784-1834.

(6) and (c). The application of the parish poor law system in twoparishes, c. 1700-1840. The material included apprenticeship inden-tures, settlement and removal papers (about 400 documents for oneparish and about 200 for the other).

(d) Prison conditions in the early nineteenth century. Thematerial included printed reports, printed Quarter Session records,and a large collection of papers for the building of the gaol, its re-organisation in 1833, and the treatment of prisoners there, 1833-1860.A sub-section of this group concentrated on the treatment of juvenileoffenders.

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COUNTY ARCHIVES AND EDUCATION 29Subjects (a) and (d) were most popular and most successfully

tackled. But all were found interesting. The girls' visits wereentirely voluntary and there was no falling off in attendance over thefive weeks. Indeed, the sessions were gradually prolonged from anhour to an hour and a half. At first much help was needed to explainthe material chosen, and four of us each took care of a group. Laterwe were able to leave them to themselves, only giving occasionaladvice. The work produced was entirely their own and bore evidenceof their sustained interest and their grasp of the material.

In the second case, the history sixth of a boys' public school hadseen in the school library some pamphlet material relating to anotorious local parliamentary election in 1796, when the seat wascontested at ruinous expense by two cousins. The Record Officehappened to be able to produce from a private collection a greatmany accounts, tavern books, and treating tickets for this election,together with a further selection of the propaganda issued. Theboys came to the Office every day for a week at the end of term.Working in groups they analysed different sections of the material,putting their conclusions together at the end in a final report. Inthis case, very little help was needed from the Record Office staff.

2. EXHIBITIONS OF RECORDS FOR SCHOOLS

- A first introduction to records may be profitably made by muchyounger children through school visits to record exhibitions. Thesemay be either the large scale show arranged for the general publicor a smaller selection of documents put out for a class visit. Thespecial exhibition is certainly best, because it can deal with topicsthe class has heard about recently and because more personal atten-tion can be given. We have generally found it convenient to divide aclass of 30 or so into three groups. While one group looks at theexhibition, another is taken to the repair room to see a demonstrationof fumigating and repairing documents, and a third is shown roundthe Courts. This means that there is no crowding. Documents canbe seen and questions asked. From the archivist's point of view,sub-division of groups is absolutely necessary for supervision when(as often happens) documents have to be exhibited without the pro-tection of glass.

The material chosen will depend on the age and interests of thechildren, and is better decided in advance between the archivist,who knows what suitable material there is, and the teacher whoknows what the children have been doing and what they are likely

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30 EDUCATIONAL REVIEW

to enjoy. Tastes vary much, and one of the interests of an exhibitionto the organiser is to see how different groups of children react to thesame material. Usually it is advisable to have one main section on ageneral topic—the land, communications, parliamentary elections,the poor law—and two or three small sections of local and socialinterest.

In areas where the progress of inclosure can be shown in definitestages, the change from open field agriculture to modern farmingmakes a good main section. The development of roads, canals, andrailways in the area interests many, though one must always bear inmind how small a district most children know outside their homevillage or their part of the town. For those struggling to master thereform of parliament, the whole process of an election can be shown,from the writ initiating proceedings to the declaration of the polland the indenture certifying the names of the members returned.Poll books open at the right page will be searched for familiar names.Treating tickets and a few lively specimens of verse and prose pro-paganda add amusement. A boon to exhibitors are the crude draw-ings used in the seventies and eighties to persuade illiterate votersthat the secret ballot was really secret. Some children will enjoyexercising their powers of observation on a series of estate mapsillustrating the advance of cartography from the crude sixteenthcentury drawing (half plan, half sketch), to the elegant volume pro-duced by the late eighteenth century draftsman. Ask children totell you what is missing from the early maps, and they will soondetect the absence of compass points and scale.

Sometimes it is the simple things that are most appreciated. Ifind that children often like to see the full text of a statute they haveheard much about—e.g. the Bill of Rights. A few selected examplesof handwriting from different periods interest some—others enjoy acouple of sheets of illuminated MSS, which were torn out of amedieval service book to make covers for some borough accountbooks. Some children will crowd round the signatures of kings andstatesmen. A selection of great seals from the thirteenth to thetwentieth century seldom fails to attract attention, especially whenan explanation is given of the way a seal was made and used. It isalways worth putting out a few deeds of local provenance, not be-cause the children will be able to read them, but because they oughtto be made familiar with the sight of a deed in case they find one,and because they generally like to discover that houses have theirown histories. Once by sheer chance I hit on deeds for the house

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COUNTY ARCHIVES AND EDUCATION 31

in which one of the party lived, and the whole group was thrilled.School records are always of interest to children. These may be

rules and regulations showing the hours kept, an early log bookdescribing the inadequacy of curriculum and equipment in a villageschool in 1870, master's letters applying for posts, their reports onchildren, parent's letters, copybooks, pictures of schools and chil-dren's games. Our most popular single item is without question theUnion punishment book for the 1840's which has an Oliver Twistentry about a boy who asked the kitchen staff for more food, and along history of absconsion and punishment for three other boys aged10 and 11. Second to this comes a broadsheet of the execution ofsome highwaymen and an account of a prize fight, and not far behindsome particularly nasty recipes for home medicine and beauty treat-ment. A small section on "what things cost", built up from house-hold accounts, bills, and advertisements is generally found intriguing.

Whatever material or subject is selected, it is always wise toinclude illustrations and a good deal of printed matter. Children dofind handwriting difficult because they are not used to reading it.A set of local newspapers for the Napoleonic war period has beeninvaluable here, and in them attention may be called to a dispatchfrom Nelson, a notice calling up the militia for training, an advertise-ment for turnpike tolls to let and a cockfight. After that the childwill browse happily.

Everything must be clearly labelled and subject sections well de-fined. Sketch maps and a large scale map of the district are im-portant aids. Even when all this has been done beforehand, plentyof personal explanation at the time and opportunity to ask questionsare essential to the success of an exhibition.

Working on these lines, we have during the past three yearsorganised small exhibitions for classes from every type of school(elementary, senior, secondary, public, and private), for boys andgirls, from the ages of 10 to 18. Some groups have proved moreresponsive than others, and generally speaking, I think this has de-pended on the kind of teaching they have received in school, theamount of preparation their ordinary work has given them, andthe degree to which they have been encouraged to think and to askquestions for themselves. To see an exhibition and to take it in,demands attention and concentration on the child's part, and thosewho are spoon-fed in school will take little away. The observant andthe intelligent, and the many who learn more easily from seeingthan from listening, will gain much and retain much.

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In conclusion, is it worth the time and labour involved, eitherto supervise group research or to plan, arrange and hold a classexhibition? I personally feel that both are worth the considerableeffort involved, and that closer co-operation on these lines betweenschools and Record Offices could have valuable results.

THE MATERIAL FOR LOCAL HISTORY:SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY GROUPSVISITING LOCAL RECORD OFFICES

by Miss M. GOLLANCZ, M.A.County Archivist, Staffordshire

IT CANNOT be stressed too often that, given the right impetus, a childstill at school and a young teacher in training can be helped to de-velop an interest in the raw materials of history, but to this end theschool teacher and training college lecturer should be prepared towork hand in hand with the archivist, who they will find will co-oper-ate willingly with them. It must be emphasised however once againthat not all subjects can be studied in a few hours, particularly bythose without any experience in the use of primary sources. It is forthis reason that if any experiment in the use of records is to have thechance of success, it should be discussed beforehand so that thearchivist can say whether he or she can provide suitable material forthe suggested line of study. Often a slight twist in the direction of agiven project will make all the difference. Probably most archivistshave been visited by students who have been set tasks for which theoriginal material is not available in their office and such situationsare most disheartening, particularly to the student. This plea forco-operation with the archivist is made therefore in the interest ofall who wish to use records, for it would save much disappointmentand fruitless labour.

In the following pages I do not propose to make a list of thedifferent types of documents which may be found in one or more ofthe document repositories of the West Midlands, but to select fromthe two Staffordshire repositories under my care, the County RecordOffice, Stafford, and the William Salt Library, Stafford, examples ofdocuments and other papers of a kind that may have a ready appealto children and their teachers, provided that they are used or shownto them one in relation to the others, forming part of a theme which

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