England, Local Histories, Record Societies - International Institute

Local Topography and History
On general, geography describes continents and countries, chorography describes counties, and topography covers the detailed description of towns, villages and even small hamlets. Hey has an excellent survey of the tradition of antiquarian writing in England dating back to the Middle Ages. It encompasses quite a range of publications and those of most use to the genealogist are summarized below.

Historical and Record Societies
Many national publishing enterprises developed in England during the 18th and 19th centuries, as seen below.

Chart: National Record Publication

A most interesting summary of the aims and history of the British Record Society, together with its influence on and encouragement of other bodies to transcribe, index and preserve records, was given on its centenary by its general editor, Spufford. A new List and Index Society was established in 1965 to print useful material such as unpublished lists available at The National Archives.

A number of local historical societies, some named after early pioneers, were formed in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were, and still are, concerned with transcribing and publishing the older records of their respective counties. Others called County Record Societies have similar aims, and these should not be confused with the County Record Offices or the Family History Societies, also generally organized by county.

Chart: Local Record Publication

It pays to keep an eye on commercial as well as society websites, for example Archive CD Books as there is an amazing variety of material now sold on CD.

Topographical prints and drawings in the British Library maps collection can be found at the website.

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