9mmm mmm 7 15 5 VSiSb of. z. THE BRITISH PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE THE VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY RICHMOND, VIRGINIA The British Public Record Office Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/britishpublicrecOOwill The British Public Record Office History, Description, Record Groups, Finding Aids, and Materials for American History with Special Reference to Virginia SPECIAL REPORTS 25, 26, 27, AND 28 OF THE VIRGINIA COLONIAL RECORDS PROJECT i960 THE VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY RICHMOND, VIRGINIA VIRGINIA STATE LIBRARY PUBLICATIONS, No. 12 Published under authority of the Library Board of Virginia J. MAYNARD MAGRUDER, Chairman EDWARD A. WYATT, IV WILLIAM A. STUART DAVID J. MAYS LEWIS F. POWELL, JR. EDWIN COX DAVIS Y. PASCHALL And under the direction of RANDOLPH W. CHURCH, State Librarian PRINTED IN U.S.A. TIUwms H»sWh furv/eM PREFATORY NOTE The preparation of guides and finding lists and the micro- filming of Virginia records in English and continental reposi- tories are the main purposes of the Virginia Colonial Records Project. With this publication of Special Reports 25, 26, 27 and 28 of the Project, the Virginia State Library is able to bring to partial completion a program which it has advo- cated over the last twenty years. It is anticipated that other Special Reports will be published in the not too distant future. The success of this undertaking is due to the fine coopera- tive work of many hands, but most especially to the Virginia Committee on Colonial Records, the group now in charge of the project's activities. This Committee descends from an advisory committee of Consultants on Archives and History appointed to assist the U. S. Jamestown-Williamsburg-York- town Commission and the Virginia 350th Anniversary Com- mission. Its Chairman, William J. Van Schreeven, State Archivist, early advocated the program and has directed continuously the preparation of instructions, reports and forms. He spent several weeks in England and Europe in 1956 directing personally the survey work. Francis L. Berke- ley, Jr., Curator of Manuscripts, Alderman Library, Uni- versity of Virginia, did pioneer survey work in England and Scotland under a Fulbright grant in 1952 and 1953 and returned briefly in 1955 in an advisory capacity. Edward M. Riley, Director of Research, Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., <A visited England in 1956 and devoted time to the project. The assistance and advice of E. G. Swem, Librarian Emeritus of the College of William and Mary, and John M. Jennings, Director of the Virginia Historical Society have been invalu- able. George H. Reese, the Committee's Agent in London since the beginning of the project, has carried out his assign- ments with energy, enthusiasm and care. This project has been financed from numerous sources. It is particularly indebted to Samuel M. Bemiss, Vice- Chairman of the U. S. Commission, for his interest in urging the Commission to underwrite the program from 1955 to 1957 when it was an official part of the Jamestown enter- prises. Since December 1, 1957, the administration of the fiscal affairs of the Committee has been in the hands of the Virginia Historical Society. The Association for Preservation of Virginia Antiquities has given generously to the project; the University of Virginia, Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., and the Virginia Historical Society have also contributed funds, and the Virginia State Library, through special allotments and through direct appropriations to it by the General Assembly for this particular purpose, has been a major source of support. Such funds insure the continuation of the project through June 30, 1962. Randolph W. Church State Librarian June 15, i960 INTRODUCTION Seasoned researchers in England will read with nostalgia the accounts of the British Public Record Office and the description of the groups and classes of the manuscripts relating to American colonial history with special reference to Virginia. Those fortunate scholars who for the first time are to do research in British records will find the accounts a most useful introduction to the Public Record Office. The four papers have been prepared as Special Reports for the Virginia Colonial Records Project. It is fitting that the oldest colony of the old British Empire should now make available to scholars everywhere these interesting and com- prehensive papers. Although the emphasis is on Virginia material, the same groups and classes discussed should con- tain records of the other original colonies. The material was prepared by competent English scholars under the direction of Dr. George H. Reese, the agent for the Virginia Colonial Records Committee. Dr. Neville Wil- liams of the Public Record Office is the author of Special Reports No. 25 and No. 28. It is believed that the four reports will assist those American scholars who intend to do research in the British Public Record Office. Special Report No. 25 presents a brief historical sketch and description of the Public Record Office. The author presents a number of valuable suggestions which should assist the scholar in beginning his research. The changes in the administration under the Public Records Act of 1958 are noted, and matters such as copyright and photographic services are discussed. Special Report No. 26 presents a list of the record groups in the Public Record Office, briefly describes the classifica- tion of the records, and mentions the proper method of citation of group, class, and volume or piece. Special Report No. 27, as it were, takes the reader by the hand, and leads him to the Search Room Catalogues and other Finding Aids as arranged in certain presses in the Round (Literary Search) Room. The selected examples amply indicate the many manuscript, typed, and printed finding aids available to the researcher. Special Report No. 27 was previously issued in processed form, but the present publication is a complete revision, and certain sections of processed Special Report No. 27 have now been combined with Special Report No. 28. Special Report No. 28 discusses the Record Groups that contain materials for American History. Here class by class the author calls attention to the records which should be consulted by historians of Colonial America. Particular em- phasis is given to groups and classes omitted by Andrews or inadequately described by him. Materials that have come to light since the publication of Andrews' Guide are discussed in detail. It is expected that a future publication of the Virginia State Library will present Special Reports 1-24 as a unit. Special Report No. 1 will be devoted to a general discussion of the Virginia Colonial Records Project. Special Reports 2-24 will present detailed surveys of those groups in the Public Record Office containing Virginia materials. These surveys are in much greater detail than the more general analysis in Special Report No. 28. Each class of records under the appropriate group is examined in detail in the 8 surveys as to content, date range, and amount of material to be surveyed for the project. Although the surveys were prepared as an aid for the Virginia Committee on Colonial Records, it is apparent that the same groups and classes will contain material for all of the colonies. It has therefore been decided to make these surveys generally available. Special Reports in preparation will discuss the British Museum and other depositories in the London area, county and local record offices, probate records, materials in Oxford and Cambridge, and other institutions or collections of interest to the American researcher. William J. Van Schreeven Virginia State Archivist and Chairman, Virginia Committee on Colonial Records CONTENTS pag: Prefatory Note 5 Introduction 7 The British Public Record Office: History and Description 13 The British Public Record Office: List of Record Groups 47 The British Public Record Office: Search Room Catalogues and Other Finding Aids 57 The British Public Record Office: Survey of Materials for American History 131 11 THE VIRGINIA COMMITTEE ON COLONIAL RECORDS WILLIAM J. VAN SCHREEVEN, Chairman State Archivist of Virginia FRANCIS L. BERKELEY, JR. Curator of Manuscripts, Alderman Library, University of Virginia JOHN M. JENNINGS Director, Virginia Historical Society EDWARD M. RILEY Director of Research, Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. EARL G. SWEM Librarian Emeritus, College of William and Mary Agent in London GEORGE H. REESE 12 The Virginia Colonial Records Project Special Report No. 25 i * 1 The British Public Record Office: History and Description By NEVILLE WILLIAMS 13 . SPECIAL REPORT NO. 25 PAGE 1 Introductory 15 2. Historical Survey 17 3. The Public Records Act, 1958 21 4. The Work of the Department 22 5. Readers' Tickets 23 6. The Public and the Search Rooms 24 7. The System of References 32 8. Public Access to the Records 35 9. Records Not in the Public Record Office 36 10. Ministers' Papers 37 11. Photographic Services 40 1 2. Crown Copyright 40 13. Postal Inquiries 41 14. Publications 42 15. The Museum 44 Select Bibliography 45 14 THE VIRGINIA COLONIAL RECORDS PROJECT SPECIAL REPORT NO. 25 The British Public Record Office: History and Description 1. INTRODUCTORY The Public Record Office, which contains the vast bulk of the national archives, is on the east side of Chancery Lane in London, about a hundred yards north of Fleet Street. If it is no longer the largest building in Chancery Lane, it is still the only building there with a policeman on duty at the main gate. Though most of the building is devoted to strong rooms for housing the records of the central courts of law and cen- tral departments of state, there are search rooms where docu- ments may be inspected and a small museum which contains a permanent exhibition. The Public Record Office is a gov- ernment department staffed by civil servants, headed by the Keeper of Public Records who is appointed by the Lord Chancellor, the minister responsible to Parliament for the administration of the Department.