Catholic Archives 1999
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Catholic Archives 1999 Number 19 THE JOURNAL OF The Catholic Archives Society CATHOLIC ARCHIVES NO 19 CONTENTS 1999 Editorial Notes Looking Forward Together: The Future of the Catholic Archives B. HOUGH 3 The Wider Context of Catholic Archives C. KITCHING 14 Liverpool Archdiocesan Archive M. WHITTLE 18 The Archives of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle R. GARD 24 Archival Holdings of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton S. JACKSON 42 Archives of the Archdiocese of Boston R. JOHNSON-LALLY 47 Father William Tuomey PP Churchtown & Liscarroll and Bishop Briggs' Nuns E. WALSH 52 The Catholic Church and the 1944 Education Act: Material in the Public Record Office J. DAVIES 60 Work in Progress M. E. WILLIAMS 75 Poem A. LECHNIR, SSND 78 The Manning Archive v. a. M cClelland 79 Book Reviews 83 The Catholic Archives Society Conference, 1998 88 Illustrations The author at work 8 Thomas Whiteside, Fourth Bishop and First Archbishop of Liverpool, 1894-1921 20 A Copy of Search Warrant for Priests (1578) 44 Memorial of the Irish Bishops to Lord Palmerston, 1857 56 1 EDITORIAL NOTES The present edition of Catholic Archives, being the last before the new Millennium, seeks to look to the past and very much to the future. The world of the archivist is always a blend of both past and future. The past is very well represented in the articles by Edward Walsh on Father Tuomey and Dr John Davies in the conclusion to his previous contribution (Catholic Archives 18) on material in the Public Record Office relating to the Catholic Church and the 1944 Education Act. Likewise Professor McClelland offers a timely synopsis of the position of Cardinal Manning’s papers. The future is to the fore in Dr Brenda Hough’s stimulating article on possible ecumenical co-operation in archival matters, while Dr Christopher Kitching sheds light on Catholic archives as they relate to the wider archival context. One of the chief purposes of this journal is to m ake available descriptions and assessments of current archival holdings. The Editor is particularly pleased to be able to publish four such descriptions in this edition of Catholic Archives: Dr Meg Whittle’s report on the Liverpool Archdiocesan Archives; Robin Gard’s incisive account of the Hexham and Newcastle Archives■, and Sandre Jackson's timely sum mary of the holdings of one of the more recently-established English dioceses, Arundel and Brighton. Robert Johnson-Lally’s most welcome conrtribution from the Archdiocese of Boston helps to maintain the journal's international flavour. Monsignor Michael Williams (and we congratulate him on his recent Papal honour) offers a thought-provoking reflection on ‘making connections' in archival matters in the context of his own current work, while Sister Alice Lechnir’s poem captures the more reflective side of the archivist’s lot. On behalf of the Catholic Archives Society the Editor thanks all the contributors to this year’s journal. If the Editor may be permitted to offer his own short reflection, it is simply this: Catholic archivists, and indeed all concerned with the archives of the various Christian traditions, will enjoy a remarkable opportunity during the coming Millennium celebrations to reiterate the true meaning of the Jubilee. The two thousandth anniversary of the Birth of Christ is the very reason for the existence of the archival heritage of the Church, and for the Church herself. The Mystery of the Incarnation permeates all that the Christian archivist seeks to achieve. Father Stewart Foster 2 LOOKING FORWARD TOGETHER: THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCHES ARCHIVES Dr Brenda Hough INTRODUCTION The apostrophe in my title is a plural one: I really am having the temerity to try to reflect on what we can all do together to foster the archive of the religious life in Britain. I mean 'religious life' in the general not the specific sense: not, this time, members of religious communities, but the life of everyone who still holds that unfashion able view that God, however you define the term, is a living and powerful force in our everyday lives. All our churches are recording what it means to be a Christian in the late twentieth century in our corner of Europe, as well as preserving the records which have survived of earlier generations' efforts in the same direction. My only real qualification for the task of 'Looking Forward Together' is that I care very much about it; and that I have spent some time in recent years thinking about ways in which we can perhaps work more closely. I am now just three months from my retirement, which I interpret as giving me a good excuse to ponder a little on both past and future. This is not a paper offering a great vision for the future. There have been exciting developments in thinking in recent years which have offered vision - your own Pontifical Commission's letter, The Pastoral Function of Church Archives, is the leading example. State ments like that (so ably summarised for us recently by Robin Gard in the Journal of the Society of Archivists) will be key documents in formulat ing a new attitude to archives in all levels of administration in our churches, and are as welcome as the sunbeams from heaven. The official recognition that archives have their part to play in the mission of the Church will give strength and significance to everything we try to do for the records in our care. But today I want to suggest a few practical steps we, as the people at the sharp end, can begin taking. The aim will be to prepare ourselves for the new responsibilities which will, I suspect, come our way in the next decades. If we can begin to work more closely together, we shall indeed also be playing our part in the ecumenical movement, another area where I fully hope to see great strides in the years to come. 3 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND RECORD CENTRE But first, a word about how my own work fits into the general picture. I last spoke to the Catholic Archives Society in 1984, long before my present organisation, the Church of England Record Centre, came into being. Robin Gard has asked me to say a little about what has happened in the years since then. In 1984 I was the archivist to the General Synod, the Church of England's Parliament. Some four years later it was decided that we should join forces with the Church Commissioners, the other main administrative organisation in the central Church of England as well as with the National Society, the body which looks after the church's interests in education. The archives of the three bodies together moved out of their expensive Westminster storage and were found a large warehouse on the edge of London's Docklands: and in 1990 we went into joint operation. Some of you may have heard about the structural changes in the Church of England's administration which are under way at present. Those of us who work in the archives take great pleasure in telling the rest of the Church of England that we got there first. Being a pioneer is not easy, so we deserve some kind of perk for putting up with the role for ten years. Our main work, of course, is that of providing a service to our parent organisations. The business of locating the files and information needed by our administrators, together with the provision of finding aids, keeps about twelve of the twenty-one staff fully occupied. We also have two specialist records managers who try to keep the growing paper mountain in the central offices under some sort of control. Some of the rest of our time goes on looking after members of the public, from professors of ecclesiastical history to the inevitable family historians, who want to carry out research into the records whether in person, by 'phone, or by letter (or often, these days, by FAX or e-mail). In any time that is left, we try to give advice to other parts of the Church of England. Sometimes the dioceses look to us for help with their record needs though the storage of those records, and indeed much of the day-to-day advice and support, is the work of the local authority record offices. This is a long-established arrangement between the Church of England and the record offices and, generally speaking, works to the advantage of both parties. The record offices become custodians of an historical resource which is in great demand, thus ensuring high reader figures; and the Church of England is saved what would other wise be a hugely demanding and responsible task. There are also 4 numerous surviving voluntary societies in the Church of England, though much reduced from the hundreds which were in existence a century or so ago. Sometimes they have archive collections of a size and importance out of all proportion to the societies' present scale of activity. Many of those collections have now been deposited in record offices, but there are still occasional requests for advice on sorting, listing, storage and so on. It is part of our role at the Record Centre to help such societies, though always working in tandem with the other Anglican offices, and with the other organisations represented at this conference by Amanda Arrowsmith and Chris Kitching1. As one part of our work with the large 'voluntary sector' of the Church of England, the Record Centre has, through the years, held occasional one-day meetings for members of Anglican religious com munities.