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BALH GUIDED VISITS Visits are arranged to places of interest to local historians, often not easily accessible to individuals. See EVENTS page for current programme. MEMBERSHIP Click Here to become a member of the BALH ACCESSIBILITY How to make this site easier to use. Search The Site advanced search		The Local Historian Volume 36, Number 4 - November 2006
		Contents	[ Close all Abstracts ]		Current issue
		Editorial By: Alan Crosby [ Read Abstract ] Sources for local history research and analysis form a central theme of this issue of The Local Historian. In his impressive 2006 Phillimore Lecture, the text of which is published here, Professor Steve Hindle of Warwick University considered the ‘technologies of identification’ by which paupers could be labelled or classified under the Old Poor Law, that remarkable institution which lasted, with modifications, for over 230 years to 1834. He draws attention to the methods used by contemporary officialdom to identify different categories of the poor and, in doing so, points to the uncertain survival of the evidence. One extremely common procedure which has left almost no tangible trace, was badging the poor, by sewing a distinguishing mark to their clothes. The front cover of this issue depicts one of the few surviving examples of such a badge, the continued existence of which a matter of pure chance. Though there were hundreds of thousands of such badges, all but a handful have long since perished with the tattered clothing to which they were affixed. When he turns to the documentary sources, Hindle shows us that their survival is similarly uncertain and that it is heavily dependent on the bureaucratic and administrative process. Settlement certificates, for example, survive in very large numbers because they were consciously filed for posterity, but vagrants’ passes, carried from place to place by the subject and, once they had served their purpose, usually discarded, are rarities. The ephemerality of the historical evidence is therefore a consideration of major importance in our research. Our understanding is skewed by the survival or loss of material, and we have to interpolate and hypothesise—use educated guesswork, perhaps—in order to fill the gaps, tell a story, or postulate a sequence of events and explanations. When he researched an event in what is still to many of us ‘recent history’ (the evacuation of the Tarbat peninsula in the mid-1940s), James Fallon drew upon a wide range of printed and documentary sources, but also upon the oral testimony of those who had been affected by these more-or-less secret wartime activities. He, and others who worked on this theme, were able to use the firsthand evidence of the people themselves, filtered through the sieve of memory. Such testimony had the characteristic immediacy and intimacy which makes oral history such a powerful, though inescapably controversial, source for historians. There is, and for many years has been, extensive debate about the justification and rationale for oral history, and about its technical procedures and appropriate methods of interpretation, but surely few among us can fail to respond to its compelling quality, and to the sense that we, too, are part of history. In the previous issue of The Local Historian (August 2006) Kate Tiller gave an authoritative and challenging assessment of the present and future state of local history, considering the agendas which we have set themselves and the factors which have shaped and influenced the way the subject is currently practised. She drew attention to the importance of community-based projects, to the use of oral history, to the linking of local history with wider issues in society itself, and to its links with personal and family experience. I’m well aware that these views and perceptions are not necessarily shared by all local historians—our recent survey of members of BALH indicated that nineteenth and twentieth century history is far from being a favourite among a significant section of the readership of TLH—but it is very important that philosophical debate and discussion about the nature and purpose of the subject continues and flourishes. We should not be afraid of controversy and neither should we shy away from consideration of the future direction of the subject. Kate Tiller’s article prompted quite a few very positive and favourable responses, suggesting that it struck a chord with other readers because of its emphasis on practical group-based projects and on the huge importance of local historians themselves being pro-active (horrible term, valuable concept!) in capturing the present for future generations. And that leads to what is undoubtedly the most challenging article in the present issue, one which should set us all thinking about seriously about evidence, sources and the future of local history itself. Margaret Procter, of the University of Liverpool, is one of Britain’s leading experts on the principles and practice of the archive profession. In her article she discusses the transformation of the nature of the source material itself, as ‘born digital’ records supersede the hard copy printed or written word, and as the creation of archival material moves towards solely electronic production, use and storage. This will radically alter the character and accessibility of source material not only for future generations, but also for ourselves now, as existing resources are made available only in electronic or digitised form. For example, a heated debate over the digitisation of the 1911 census is now under way, because it seems likely that it will only be available on-line and that access procedures will be designed primarily for the use of family historians rather than addressing the often very different requirements of other users. This potentially limits, to an alarming extent, the freedom of access which we should expect as our right, and it is not unduly cynical to suggest that the driving force behind such projects is unlikely to be the altruistic aim of increasing access to information, but rather the commercial imperative of generating income for The National Archives. Margaret’s article should be read carefully by all of us, for the scenario which she describes is already taking shape and it has profound implications for anybody who engages in local history research. She argues that the relationship between user and archivist is going to change fundamentally, and that there is a real danger of the user’s voice being lost. She urges us to make our views known, to participate in the processes by which decisions are taken, and to try to influence the perceptions of those who are concocting the new policies. Consultation processes are currently weak, often superficial, and frequently seem to be mere window-dressing to justify decisions and policies which have already been taken or formulated. Time and again we are presented with a fait accompli—the most recent and glaring instance being the proposed closure of the Family Records Centre in London—and decisions are made as part of political agendas and fashionable ‘flavour of the month’ strategies. Few of those who make those decisions seem to have any genuine understanding of the needs and perceptions of historians of any kind, and (more worryingly) few of them seem to be interested in finding out. Local history, compared with family history, is more fragmented and has a much lower profile (‘Where do you think you are’? is not yet on our screens) and so our voice is more subdued, more hesitant and more easily ignored. We must shout much more loudly and much more frequently. Phillimore Lecture 2006 Technologies of identification under the Old Poor Law By: Steve Hindle [ Read Abstract ] In this important article Steve Hindle, the leading historian of the local state and the pre-1834 Poor Law, considers the different ways in which parish and township authorities labelled and identified paupers. His paper is closely based upon the lecture which he gave to the British Association for Local History in June 2006. Steve Hindle gives an accessible and comprehensive explanation of the background and rationale for the various ways in which the poor could be categorised, and discusses in fascinating detail the methods which were used, drawing his evidence widely from different parts of the country. His review covers four main categories of identification: first, licences to beg, which were issued to paupers and provided them with the means to obtain an ‘honourable’ livelihood; second, the vagrant’s passport, which was a means of allowing a pauper to move, or be moved, from one part of the country to another; third, the settlement certificate, which specifically identified the place which was legally responsible for a pauper; and fourth, the parish badge, an outward physical identifier of pauper status. He makes clear the administrative procedures whereby these four methods were implemented, and emphasises the advantages and disadvantages of each for the pauper and the ‘system’ alike. In this article Hindle gives prominence to the pragmatic and responsive nature of the Old Poor Law. The article is a major contribution to the literature on the functioning of the Poor Law as it affected individuals, and as such deserves to be widely-read by local historians. The 'War Books' challenge! By: Steve Hobbs [ Read Abstract ] An article by Colin Cohen in the May 2006 issue of The Local Historian discussed the wartime census and the locally-compiled 'war books' which were put together by local defence committees. They detailed the personnel and equipment potentially available for resistance during the Second World War and also included extensive evidence about preparations for action in the event of German invasion. In the article Cohen asked whether his Oxfordshire examples were unique, or whether other places had similar material. Here, in a short response to the original, Steve Hobbs outlines the relevant holdings of the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office. 'The end of [local] history': will twenty-first century sources survive? By: Margaret Procter [ Read Abstract ] Margaret Procter, of the University of Liverpool's Centre for Archives Studies, is one of the country's leading experts on the principles and philosophy of archival management, and she has written and lectured extensively on archive use and the technological challenges posed by modern media. This is a very important article, which outlines the current state of archives in Britain in the context of digitisation and, especially, the many categories of material which are now 'born digital' and so have no original hard copy. The growth in this sector is set to continue inexorably, and this will have profound implications for the nature of historical sources in the future. Crucial issues, such as the rapid or almost instant obsolescence of technology, and the different ways in which material will be accessed and exploited, are addressed. This is a highly-complex, often very technical, and always very specialised subject, yet it is one which no local historian can readily ignore. The article explains, in the clearest way possible, the challenges which lie ahead, and seeks to demonstrate that these will impinge (and already are impinging) on the relationship between archivist and user. It includes a rallying cry, asking local historians to play a more prominent role in determining archival policymaking. Evacuation: the Tarbat peninsula 1943-1944 By: James A Fallon [ Read Abstract ] The Tarbat peninsula is a relatively remote area on the east coast of Ross and Cromarty. In 1943, after a lengthy search for a suitable site, it was selected by the government as one of the places for testing weapons, trying out fighting methods, and rehearsing landing strategies in anticipation of the forthcoming invasion of German-occupied Europe. At very short notice, the inhabitants of three villages and many farms and cottages were evacuated, their animals were sold at local stock markets, and the entire area was then cordoned off for military use. James Fallon, a local resident who is an experienced local historian, used oral history as the focus of his article which describes this two-year period. He supplemented it with a range of official records, and produced a wide ranging and highly informative study of a little-known episode of wartime history. The article, which was first published in the journal Scottish Local History, was selected as the winner of the first prize in the British Association for Local History 2006 publications awards. Printed primary sources and the local historian By: Evelyn Lord [ Read Abstract ] Among the main categories of publications which are received for review by The Local Historian are the numerous volumes produced by record societies and related organisations. Their main aim is to publish transcripts and editions of primary source material, and thus to make it more readily available to local and other historians. The volumes usually also include a range of finding aids and other technical resources, such as glossaries and detailed discussion of archival provenance. Almost all of them also have an editorial introduction, sometimes one of considerable length and depth, which provides overviews of the material and analyses its content. In her article Evelyn Lord, Reviews Editor of The Local Historian, considers a range of these record society volumes, seeking to establish a pattern of the ‘ideal’ volume and giving some personal views on the role of the editor. The volumes which are reviewed are on a variety of themes and topics and are drawn from different parts of the country. Reviews
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