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| Sussex Record Society | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sussex Record Society |
| Formation | 1901 |
| Status | Charity |
| Purpose | Publication of historical records |
| Headquarters | Lewes, East Sussex |
| Region served | Sussex |
| Leader title | Chair |
Sussex Record Society is a text publication society founded in 1901 dedicated to editing and publishing primary source materials relating to Sussex and its historic subdivisions such as East Sussex and West Sussex. The Society issues scholarly editions, indexes, and calendars that illuminate the medieval Norman conquest of England, the English Reformation, the English Civil War, and later periods in Sussex history. Its work complements institutions like the National Archives (United Kingdom), the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Royal Historical Society, and county record offices.
The Society was established at a meeting influenced by local antiquaries, landowners and clergy associated with Lewes and Chichester Cathedral, drawing support from figures linked to Brighton borough governance, the University of Sussex scholarly community, and the network around the Victoria County History. Early editors included antiquarians active in documenting manorial records, episcopal registers from the Diocese of Chichester, and miscellanies related to the Battle of Lewes (1264). Throughout the twentieth century the Society responded to scholarly currents generated by historians of the Tudor period, practitioners involved with the Public Record Office (United Kingdom), and local studies promoted by municipal archives in Hastings and Arundel. The Society's continuity survived wartime disruptions such as the Bombing of Brighton and Hove in World War II and adapted to modern textual criticism influenced by methods used at the Bodleian Library, the British Library, and the Institute of Historical Research.
The Society publishes editions, calendars, and transcriptions including episcopal registers, manorial rolls, wills, hearth tax returns, and militia lists tied to events like the Glorious Revolution and the Jacobite rising of 1745. It has produced volumes on subjects connected to the Domesday Book, medieval cartularies, and early modern parish records from churches such as St. Michael's Church, Lewes and St. Nicholas' Church, Arundel. Contributors have included editors trained at the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and the Society's volumes are cited alongside works from the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts and the British Record Society. Its series complements editions by county-focused publishers like the Surrey Archaeological Society and national projects such as the Calendar of Patent Rolls.
Governance follows a committee model with officers including a chair, treasurer and honorary secretary drawn from local historians, archivists at the East Sussex Record Office and the West Sussex Record Office, and academics affiliated with the Open University and regional museums such as The Keep. Membership comprises subscribers from municipalities like Worthing and Horsham, researchers at the University of Brighton, professional archivists from the National Trust, and enthusiasts connected to the Sussex Archaeological Society. Funding is supported by subscription income, donations from trusts such as the Pilgrim Trust, and occasional grants from bodies like the Arts Council England.
The Society organizes public lectures, editorial workshops, and launch events often held at venues including Lewes Town Hall, Chichester Festival Theatre foyer spaces, and meeting rooms in Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. It collaborates with conferences at the Institute of Historical Research, seminars hosted by the Royal Historical Society, and local heritage campaigns involving the Sussex Archaeological Society and parish councils in Petworth and Midhurst. Training sessions for volunteers and amateur transcribers have been run in partnership with university departments and by speakers who have lectured on topics ranging from paleography of medieval charters to digitisation techniques used by the British Library.
Edited source materials are drawn from repositories such as the The Keep (Brighton) complex, diocesan archives at Chichester Cathedral, private collections formerly held at ancestral seats like Petworth House, and national holdings at the National Archives (United Kingdom). The Society's editors work with documents including manorial court rolls, probate inventories, parish registers, vestry minutes, and estate papers connected to families who appear in studies of the Plantagenets, the Howards (English aristocratic family), and other landed houses. Collaborative projects have digitised selections to align with catalogues maintained by the Federation of Family History Societies and to support access initiatives like those undertaken by the People’s Collection.
Scholars in fields such as regional history, social history, and legal history cite the Society’s editions in monographs on the Black Death in England, studies of agricultural change associated with the Enclosure Acts, and research into militia rosters from the Napoleonic Wars. Reviews appear in journals tied to the English Historical Review, the Local Population Studies Journal, and publications of the Sussex Archaeological Society. Local historians and genealogists in communities including Hastings, Bexhill-on-Sea, and Lewes District value the Society’s contributions to preserving documentary heritage, while university researchers at institutions like King's College London and University College London use its volumes in comparative studies of county record societies.
Category:History of Sussex Category:Text publication societies