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| Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire | |
|---|---|
| Name | Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire |
| Formation | 1878 |
| Type | Text publication society |
| Headquarters | Manchester |
| Region served | Lancashire; Cheshire |
| Leader title | President |
| Publications | Historical documents; county records series |
Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire is a longstanding text publication society founded in 1878 dedicated to editing and publishing primary sources relating to the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. The society operates from Manchester and collaborates with libraries, archives, universities, and museums to produce scholarly editions of charters, court rolls, wills, manorial records, and parish registers. Its work intersects with county history, legal history, ecclesiastical history, and genealogical research for scholars and local historians.
The society was established amid Victorian antiquarianism linked to trends exemplified by Antiquarianism, the Royal Historical Society, the Surtees Society, the Chetham Society, and the Camden Society. Early patrons and correspondents included figures associated with British Museum, Bodleian Library, Chetham's Library, Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, and municipal bodies in Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, and Preston. Founding members drew on networks tied to John Rylands Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, and university scholars from University of Manchester and University of Liverpool. The society's formation paralleled initiatives such as the Public Record Office reforms and county-based publishing movements during the reign of Queen Victoria. Over successive decades the society navigated challenges posed by world events including First World War, Second World War, and twentieth-century archival consolidation exemplified by the creation of the National Archives (United Kingdom).
The society's mission emphasizes scholarly editing, transcription, and annotation of records relevant to Lancashire and Cheshire. Its serial publications present sources ranging from medieval documents associated with families like the Stanleys, De Lacy family, and Furness Abbey charters to early modern materials tied to institutions such as Manchester Cathedral, Chester Cathedral, and the Diocese of Chester. Publications have included manorial surveys, borough records for towns such as Lancaster, Chester, Rochdale, and Bolton, as well as taxation lists linked to phenomena like the Subsidy Rolls and the Hearth Tax. Editions often cite repositories including the National Trust, county record offices (e.g., Lancashire Archives, Cheshire Archives and Local Studies), and private collections like papers of the Egerton family and estates associated with Earl of Derby.
Governance has typically featured a council and officers drawn from civic leaders, university historians, archivists, and antiquaries connected to institutions such as Historic England, British Library, Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), and local record offices. Membership includes professional historians linked with University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, and regional scholars from Lancaster University, along with amateur researchers and representatives from organisations such as the Society of Genealogists and the Local History Federation. Funding has combined subscriptions, endowments from benefactors associated with families like the Ashton family and grants from bodies comparable to the Arts Council England and private trusts. The society organises meetings, lectures, and collaborations with institutions including Manchester Art Gallery, Walker Art Gallery, and county museums.
Major series published by the society feature edited texts such as medieval cartularies relating to Whalley Abbey, the minute books of borough corporations for Chester, and compilations of probate inventories from estates across Lancashire and Cheshire. Projects have intersected with scholarship on figures and entities including Henry VIII, Edward I of England, Prince of Wales, and local magnates like the Stancliff family; they have produced source editions used in studies of events like the Pilgrimage of Grace and the English Civil War. Collaborative ventures have linked to cataloguing initiatives at Chetham's Library, digitisation partnerships resembling those of the British Library and regional digitisation programmes undertaken by university presses and local archives.
The society's editorial activities draw on archival holdings from repositories such as Lancashire Archives, Cheshire Archives and Local Studies, National Archives (United Kingdom), John Rylands Research Institute and Library, and municipal record offices in Manchester, Bolton, and Warrington. Source types include manorial records, ecclesiastical registers, guild minute books from towns like Wigan and Rochdale, estate papers of the Tatton family, and legal records from county courts linked to the Court of Common Pleas. The society has also worked with private collections held by families associated with estates at Tatton Park, Dunham Massey, and other landed houses, coordinating with curatorial staff at country house museums.
Scholars in fields connected to institutions such as Royal Historical Society, Economic History Society, British Academy, and departments at University of Manchester and University of Liverpool regularly cite the society’s editions in monographs and articles on local and national history. Genealogists using resources from Society of Genealogists and local family history societies rely on its transcriptions for provenance research. Reviews in journals tied to Victorian Studies, Ecclesiastical History Society, and county history periodicals have praised the society's contributions to accessibility of primary sources, while archivists affiliated with Archives and Records Association note its role in prompting preservation projects. The society's long-running series remains a staple in collections at university libraries, public libraries, and specialized research libraries including Bodleian Library and Cambridge University Library.
Category:History of Lancashire Category:History of Cheshire Category:Text publication societies