BHRS's centenary

One hundred years ago in November 1912 BHRS was founded by Dr Fowler and others to research and publish Bedfordshire's rich history.  Except for the years of the two world wars, the society has published a volume every year covering all manner of subjects and periods from Domesday to WWII.

The first event to mark the Society's centenary took place last week with a garden party at the home of the Society's President, Sir Sam Whitbread.  In a period of unpredictable weather - storms, gales and unseasonably low temperatures - the sun shone on the afternoon.  About 100 Society members and their friends attended.  We renewed friendships, chatted, took tea on the lawn and listened to a jazz group which included our secretary, Richard Smart. 

The speeches - only two - emphasised the immense amount of research and publishing that the Society has undertaken and the prospects for future work.  They also highlighted the close relationship between the Society and the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS).  In 1913, the year following the establishment of BHRS, Dr Fowler set up the county record office- the first in the country - and was its first archivist.  Succeeding county archivists and their staff have contributed to, and been general editors of, the Society's volumes.   Today the relationship is as strong as ever.

Other events to mark the centenary will include the display in venues around the county of joint posters with BLARS; the completion of cataloguing Dr Fowler's library in its new venue (the University of Northampton Library); and a stimulating lecture following the AGM at Stockwood Park in Luton in September.

BHRS's President to be knighted

Congratulations to Samuel Whitbread, Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, who was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the Birthday Honours list last week (12 June 2010)  Bedfordshire News carries a report and photograph following the announcement. The award is in the Queen's personal gift and is made for services to her or the royal family.

Sir Samuel has been Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire for 19 years and President of the Bedfordshire Historical Record Society since 1980.    The Central Bedfordshire government website gives information about the activities of the county's Lord Lieutenant and, incidentally, shows that Sir Samuel is the third member of his family to be the county's Lord Lieutenant.

Bousfield Diaries reprinted!

BHRS's 2007 volume, The Bousfield Diaries, sold out several months ago and has now been reprinted in paperback at £14.99.  Available from the publisher, Boydell & Brewer, or good bookshops - see the list on the right for local Bedfordshire bookshops.

A recent review in The Local Historian praised the "exemplary introduction" and calls the diary "a valuable addition to local history and many other fields of nineteenth-century studies".

A Soldier in Bedfordshire 1941-42 - BHRS's 2009 volume

BHRS's 2009 volume A Soldier in Bedfordshire 1941-42 was launched at the Society's AGM in Bedford on 19 September.



It is the diary written for Mass Observation by Denis Argent who was in a bomb disposal unit stationed in Bedford then Luton for a few months. Mass Observation, a social research organisation set up in the late 1930s to record 'how we were', relied on ordinary people to submit diaries and answer questionaires for its archive of everyday life. Denis Argent, who had been a journalist before joining up, took his diary very seriously and wrote about daily life as he saw it in Bedford and Luton.

The diary is full of army routine, transport problems, politics, leisure, films, books, music and bomb disposal, including an account and pictures of digging up a bomb in Bedfordshire. Denis was also a conscientious objector at the beginning of the war and he writes a lot about how conchies viewed themselves.

The book was launched with a lively presentation by Dorothy Sheridan, Development Director of the Mass Observation Archive and Bob and Patricia Malcolmson, who edited the diary for publication and who have edited several MO diaries. Sussex University hosts the MO Archive, which is very much an ongoing project - view its website to find out what is currently going on.

The dairy is available from booksellers and the publisher, Boydell & Brewer at £25.

How Bedfordshire Voted

BHRS's 2008 volume, published in September, is the second in the series of Bedfordshire poll books published under the title How Bedfordshire voted: the evidence of local poll books.

The aim is to make Bedfordshire people's voting record in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries available for study. A review of volume 1 says that it shows "how county politics actually functioned at the level of the individual voter.” and that "this edition … will be absolutely essential for those with specific political, local or familial interests in late seventeenth-century Bedfordshire, as well as those seeking material for a comparative analysis.”

(H R French in History, volume 93, no 311, July 2008, p428-9)

HBV1 covers five elections from 1685 to 1715. HBV2 continues the poll book transcriptions for 1722 to 1735 covering the elections for two representatives of the borough of Bedford for 1722, 1725 (a by-election to elect one representative), 1727 and 1730/1 (another election of one representative) and for two knights of the shire for 1722, 1727 and 1734.

Accompanying text sets the elections in their local, county and national context and demonstrates that political calculations in selecting candidates and how many votes could be counted on are not a new phenomenon. This volume needs to be read with volume 1 where the electoral system and method of voting are explained.

HBV1 and 2 contain around 20,000 names of Bedfordshire voters in 12 elections for the half century from James II’s reign. Three of the poll books were printed at the time and the texts may be found on the internet, but most of the poll books are in manuscript only, so these two volumes make available a massive amount of new information for the historian of Bedfordshire. They give a vivid – and changing – picture of life in the county at a time of social and political upheaval.

Last word to the reviewer “Given the work involved in editing, checking and indexing these lists, the retail price [£25] offers good value, as is usually the case for county record society volumes.” Both volumes are available from the publisher, Boydell & Brewer, and bookshops (see side panel.)

BHRS - lucky winner

Recently BHRS's secretary, Richard Smart, took part in an ICT survey run by Community and Voluntary Service Mid and North Beds. His response to the questionnaire was one of 157 from organisations around the area that looked at requirements for IT support.

A full report will be published soon. Meanwhile general findings are that around half the respondents felt that more help was needed by the voluntary sector in supporting the use of computers in their voluntary work.

The names of survey participants were entered in a prize draw and - Richard won an HP all-in-one printer, scanner and copier for the Society.

Who Do You Think You Are - LIVE?

Well, several members of BHRS Council spent two enjoyable days at Who Do You Think You Are? at Olympia last weekend, 4 and 5 May. We met lots of family historians who either live in Bedfordshire now or whose ancestors lived there.

The main area of interest was the east of the county, especially around Biggleswade, although the Society's three books on Luton excited some interest - Strawopolis, The Education and Employment of Girls in Luton, and Vauxhall Motors and the Luton Economy 1900-2002 - as did the The Shiny Seventh: the 7th (Service) Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment at War 1915-1918.

People wanted to know "what we had on ..." their village and we were able to direct them to the Bedfordshire Family Society History stand where there was a wider range of books for sale and to BLARS stand for advice on the resources of the Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Record Service.

I had a long discussion with one lady about the importance of poll books in throwing light on political, economic and social background. With the publication in August of the Society's second volume of poll book transcriptions, the voting patterns in Bedfordshire for the 50-year period 1685-1735 will be available.

BHRS expands

The Bedfordshire Historical Record Society is going through an exciting time of development. In addition to the annual volume, which has been the centre of the Society’s activities for many years, the Society is currently -

· planning a major new database to update the Bedfordshire Bibliography,
· discussing digitisation with British History Online,
· planning to reprint articles from the Bedfordshire Magazine, and
· discussing participation in the national Hearth Tax transcription project with the project management at the University of Roehampton.

They are all exciting projects that will provide access to sources for the history of Bedfordshire to a wider audience through the internet. They also present many opportunities for participation by BHRS members and non-members.

If you are interested in being part of this expansion or contributing to its annual volume, why not contact BHRS - bhrs@bedfordshirehrs.org.uk - and volunteer? The Society is looking particularly for people with IT, admin., fundraising, research, bibliographical and transcription skills – and a little time. And you don’t have to live in Bedfordshire to take part.

Who Do You Think You Are - LIVE

Bedfordshire Historical Record Society has a stand at WDYTYA for the two days, Saturday and Sunday 3 and 4 May.

We shall be selling recent BHRS volumes and a few of the older ones, all at competitive prices.

Of particular use to family historians is How Bedfordshire Voted, volume 1 edited by James Collett-White. It contains 8,500 names of people who voted in the Parliamentary elections for representatives for the borough of Bedford and county of Bedfordshire in the period 1685-1715. The poll books transcribed in this volume were not printed at the time, so the information is a new published source for people researching Bedfordshire's history. Introductions to each election put it in a local and national context. The second volume will be published in August this year taking coverage to 1734 and revealing the voting history of the county for a 50 year period. The two volumes contain nearly 20,000 names.

Amongst the older volumes on sale will be the four Church volumes - Bedfordshire Churches in the Nineteenth Century, by Chris Pickford, BHRS vols 73, 77, 79 and 80. They are a mine of authoritative information about the design, architecture, artefacts and administration of Church of England churches including the many mission churches and rooms built in the 19th century to provide for the increase in population in such places as Luton.

Bernard West’s Bedfordshire

Contributed by Anne Allsopp

Last Friday, 16 November, saw the launch at Willington Village Hall of this delightful collection of sketches.

The Bedfordshire Historical Record Society now owns the copyright to the excellent Bedfordshire Magazine which ceased publication in 1999. Between Summer 1947 and Spring 1998, Bernard West contributed sketchbook drawings for all but two of the quarterly issues. Gordon Vowles, a member of the BHRS and personal friend of Bernard West, has collected a selection of his sketches for publication in this delightful book.

Bernard West was a practising architect and his interests included history as well as archaeology, conservation and natural history. He ‘waged an unrelenting campaign for good design and sympathetic preservation’. The sketches are accompanied by commentaries, many of which reflect his contempt for the lack of sensitive planning over the years.

When he died, in January 2006, the local history group in his home village of Willington decided that something should be done to commemorate Bernard West’s contribution to recording the history of the county and, with the support of the BHRS, this book was published. Gordon Vowles has aimed to produce a ‘representative spread’ of locations throughout the county in this selection.

This excellent book will enable a wider audience to appreciate the artistic skill of Bernard West and also the architectural and rural treasures of Bedfordshire.

Bernard West’s Bedfordshire: a selection of his Sketch-books from the Bedfordshire Magazine 1947-98, edited by Gordon Vowles and published by The Book Castle, Dunstable, LU5 4RU in November 2007 at £12.99 http://www.book-castle.co.uk/

See other reviews of this book at
http://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/todays-choice/Sketches-of-Bedfordshire.3898969.jp
http://www.mk-news.co.uk/bedsonsunday-leisure-books/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=240392
http://www.balhs.org.uk/bookreviews.htm

The Bousfield Diaries - BHRS’s 2007 volume

The Society’s latest book was launched on 8 September. Appropriately sub-titled A middle-class family in late Victorian Bedford, it contains the diaries for 1878 to 1896 of Charlotte Bousfield, the wife of the manager of the Britannia Ironworks in Bedford. She tells us a little about her husband, Edward’s, work, especially his experiments with electricity and with new designs for automated reaping and harvesting equipment. She records her children’s successes: one son became a QC and Tory MP as well as sharing his father’s interest in inventions; another became a doctor and member of the Queckett Microscopical Club; the third was a patent agent; and one daughter was an accomplished artist.
The family were staunch Methodists and teetotallers and Charlotte, helped by her two daughters, was very active in spreading the good word of both causes, although her use of the description of her work as ‘a toiler in the vineyard’ is rather incongruous given the teetotal nature of her views. The diaries describe meetings of national temperance organisations in London and journeyings around the country – all spreading the good word. She was also involved in running a home for inebriated middle class women in London.
All these activities saw her travelling around the country but always returning to Bedford and Aspley Heath. Nearer home, there was a succession of Mother’s Meetings, Blue Ribbon clubs and temperance meetings in and around Bedford. She was amongst the poor law guardians elected after the Bedford Workhouse scandal of 1894 and she records some of that and conditions in the workhouse.
Amidst the daily round, there are entrancing accounts of watching convicts on Dartmoor, converting a Scottish travelling salesman and imbiber on a train journey, election canvassing in London, and watching her son’s introduction as a new member of Parliament. There are glimpses of middle class domestic life, of the social round, religious commitments and of the lives of servants, the working class and the poor.

The diaries belong to Charlotte’s descendants and have been transcribed and edited by two of them, John and Hilary Hamilton. They have been edited for publication by Dr Richard Smart who has added copious notes about the people and the social and political background of Charlotte’s world.

The Bousfield Diaries: a middle-class family in late Victorian Bedford, published by Boydell and Brewer, 2007, Bedfordshire Historical Records Society volume 86. It is available from bookshops or the publisher at http://www.boydell.co.uk/

See reviews of this book at
http://www.bedsonsunday.com/bedsonsunday-leisure-books/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=242174

Launch of Bedfordshirehistory Blog!

This is the blog of the Bedfordshire Historical Record Society (BHRS). The Society has been in existence for nearly 100 years and publishes books of source material for the history of Bedfordshire.

But the Blog is not only about BHRS. It aims to cover news, events, books, lectures, research and INTERESTING stuff about the history of Bedfordshire and welcomes your contributions on these topics as comments or as blog entries.

Barbara Tearle
General Editor
BHRS