Issue 16, Winter 2019 Detail from Map of Lands in Midley, Old Romney, Lydd, Kenardington, Warehorne and Woodchurch, 1687 [Ref
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Issue 16, Winter 2019 Detail from map of lands in Midley, Old Romney, Lydd, Kenardington, Warehorne and Woodchurch, 1687 [ref. U4202/P1], showing Lydd church and the ‘Pigg well’. Catalogue Transfer Project Temporary closure of Kent Archive and Local History service at the Kent History and Library Centre, 9-26 December 2019 Work on phase 1 of our Catalogue Transfer Project by staff and volunteers is now drawing to a close. This means that we have now almost completed typing up and uploading all of the outstanding paper catalogues that predated the introduction of our electronic cataloguing software and its online counterpart. In total, we have completed typing up almost 500 archive catalogues. The next phase of this project is to enable readers to order documents directly from our online catalogue. In 2017, Kent Archives launched its own website and integrated catalogue, enabling readers to find out more about our services and collections all in one place at www.kentarchives.org.uk. Making our collections orderable Some of the rare books held in Kent Archives’ local history collection that require catalogue online will involve checking all of entries to be created, as well as packaging, barcoding and locating, prior to being orderable on our existing online catalogues for our online catalogue. errors in the structure and arrangement of the entries, which if uncorrected would prevent our users from being able to locate and identify relevant records. We also need to produce catalogue entries for our extensive local history collections, which have previously only been partially listed on the Kent libraries catalogue. Every book, map and document that has not already been prepared will need to be placed in archival packaging, barcoded and located. Work on the local history collection has already been taking place alongside phase 1 of the Catalogue Transfer Project but will now focus on our 1,350 rare books. To help enable us to carry out this vital work, the Kent Archive and Local History service will be temporarily closed to the public for two and half weeks from 9 December 2019. The archive searchroom and the remote enquiry service will reopen from 27 December 2019 after the Christmas holidays. Catalogue Transfer Project Tenth update on newly transferred catalogues The following catalogues have recently been added and will be available on our online catalogue soon: U1679: Correspondence of Dr F. W. Cock, 1902-1935, and miscellaneous printed papers, 1632-1933 U1682: Deeds of Maidstone, 1665-1924 U1701: Estate documents of Chislehurst, Orpington, Deal and Lydd, 1928-1947 U1709: Deeds of Tenterden, 1601-1870 U1712: Deeds of Smallhythe, Tenterden, 1592-1964 U1739: Deeds and estate papers of St John’s College, Cambridge, relating to land in various parishes, 1834 -1961 U1816: Miscellaneous title deeds, presented by Day, Rooke and Bradfield, Maidstone, 1803-1923 U1821: Title deeds and printed items, Herne and district, 1832-1929; sale particulars, Wateringbury and neighbouring parishes, 19th century U2348: Papers of Sir Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge of Lahore (microfilm) U3567: Lease and release for property at Godden Green, Seal U3583: Title deed for land in Wrotham U3627: Deeds and documents relating to Sevenoaks U3673: Deed of covenant for Fordcombe Green, Penshurst U3791: Title deed for property in Tenterden U3991: Dymchurch vestry minute book U3994: Deed for Lamb Lane, Canterbury U4101: Title deeds for land in Shepherdswell U4135: Abstract of title for the Evington estate U4137: Mortgage for farms in the parishes of Bapchild, Lynsted and Tong Archive Events If you missed any of Kent Archives’ lunchtime talks in September and October, then you can now watch them online on Youtube: • Watch Peter Clarke, ‘Clergy and Criminal Violence in Late Medieval Kent’ here A presentation of the speaker’s current research on clergy and criminal violence in later medieval England and Wales, with special reference to pre-1500 church court records in the Rochester and Canterbury dio- cese archives. Peter Clarke is Professor of Ecclesiasti- cal History at the University of Southampton and spe- cialises in later medieval religious history, especially the papacy and canon law. • Watch James Lloyd, ‘The White Horse of Kent’ here The White Horse is the ubiquitous symbol of the county but what exactly does it mean and for how long has it been used? James Lloyd gained a Cambridge doctor- ate for research into local government in Anglo- Saxon England. He currently combines roles as an ar- chivist at the Kent History and Library Centre and Li- brarian at Aylesford Priory. Staffing update James Larden, Archive Collections Assistant For those that I haven’t yet had the chance to meet, this is just a quick introduction from a not-so-new face here at the Kent History and Li- brary Centre. My name is James, and in March I joined Kent Archives and Local History Service as a volunteer, assisting James Lloyd with his work on the uncatalogued Kent Opera Collection. Since then, I have helped with listing over one hundred boxes of mate- rial spanning the company’s conception to closure, as well as repackaging and ar- ranging a large assortment of production photographs. In my new role as an Ar- chive Collections Assistant, I’m now typing up the index cards from the local history maps catalogue as part of the Catalogue Transfer Project. This information will provide the metadata for the new electronic catalogue entries that will be imported to our cataloguing software, CALM. I am only a few weeks into my new role but have already come across some particularly fascinating pieces, including maps reporting on the progress of the Spanish Armada, and others concerning the Anglo-French Survey (an ambitious, late-eighteenth century attempt to ascertain the relative coordinates of the Paris and Greenwich Observatories, using Romney Marsh as a baseline for trigonometric calculations). Improving accessibility to this collection will without- doubt facilitate fresh interpretation, allowing new audiences to investigate lesser-known facets of Kent’s rich history. My interest in the archives sector began in 2016, when I graduated from University of the Arts in London, having studied Set Design for Screen at Central Saint Martins and Wimbledon College of Arts. My degree projects typically explored anomalous periods in modern history and relied on very detailed research – a pro- cess which often became all-consuming, but nonetheless enjoyable! After graduating, I worked for a time within London’s commercial art scene at a Fitzrovia-based gallery specialising in emerging and established artists spanning antiquity to the present day. With conflicting feelings about the industry, I parted ways in or- der to pursue work that favours education over commercial motives. In addition to volunteering at the Kent History and Library Centre, I also joined a collaborative archiving project at the University of Kent, which fo- cused on the Max Tyler Music Hall Collection. Then from July to late-October I assisted with a project at the Rochester Bridge Trust, which saw the organisation’s 600-year-old archives move from its riverside location along the Medway to an underground storage facility in the North West of England — a temporary transfer whilst the Bridge Chamber and medieval Chapel undergo refurbishment. Intrigued by the use of primary sources to aid our contemporary understanding of history, I work on a self- directed project in my free time which combines my love of Post-Impressionism and French sociocultural his- tory. This venture involves sourcing scarce ephemera documenting Bohemian life in the Parisian district of Montmartre; the global epicentre of avant-garde art and subversive entertainment in the late-nineteenth cen- tury. Six-or-so years later, I have developed a collection that consists primarily of rare antique photographs, but also small-scale lithographs, large antique posters, theatre programs, periodicals, letters, clippings, post- cards and other unusual finds connected to famed cultural figures of the period. Fuelled by my disappoint- ment with the lack of related material in British galleries and museums, I hope to digitise the collection, es- tablish a website, and one day, fulfil my ultimate goal of loaning selected pieces for public display. Over the next few months, I look forward to engaging with the Kent Archives and Local History team and tak- ing every opportunity to learn about the archives sector, amidst this exciting turning point in the preservation of Kent’s cultural heritage. Responses to Remote Enquiry Survey – ‘A First Class Service’ Sheila Malloch, Customer Services Officer—Archives and Local History If you have contacted us recently by email or in writing with an enquiry about our collections or services, you will have been asked to complete a survey on our remote enquiry service. We are very grateful for the num- ber of responses that we received. Although the survey related primarily to enquiries made remotely, many people also commented about the service that they received when they visited in person. Overall, the responses we received were complimentary; others gave us constructive points on where they felt we could improve. We really appreciate the kind words that our readers took the time to write, just a few examples being: ‘first class service – The personal communication is wonderful’; ‘Service has been amazing: friendly helpful staff and prompt replies’; and ‘above and beyond’. I will attempt to answer some of these comments, to inform you of future changes which will improve the service, and clear up some misunder- standings. You may have seen advertised recently that public libraries in Kent have had changes to their opening hours, including the library at The Kent History and Library Centre. These changes have not affected the Ar- chives’ opening hours, which remain the same following the public consultation which took place about 18 months ago: we are open to the public Tuesday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm and are closed on Monday and Sunday.