Publications Bedfordshire Hist Rec Soc – serie

The third volume in BHRS's series of poll books and covers the years from the fall of Walpole to the rise of William Pitt the younger.This is the first volume of BHRS's series of late seventeenth and early eighteenth century poll books. Poll books tell the story of local people and their link with national history. This book is the first in a series by BHRS containing transcripts of the poll books for the county and borough seats of Bedford, and also includes some election accounts showing candidates' expenditure.The introductory commentary gives an insight into political influences in Bedfordshire during the seminal period of English history from the Glorious Revolution to the accession of George I. It enables comparisons and political trends to be detected, including allegiances of regions of the county and parishes, the survival of the Tory party, the political allegiance of Anglican clergy and the role of Protestant nonconformists. Major landowners were important in Bedfordshire politics, but not dominant, and local gentry played a crucial role.The transcriptions list all those who voted in four county and one borough election. The 8,500 names, fully indexed, will give unparalleled information on local landholding and help family historians find ancestors between the 1671 Hearth Tax and the 1841 Census.

A very useful analysis of the political debates of the times. ANCESTORS [for volume I]This second volume of BHRS`s series of late seventeenth and early eighteenth century poll books continues the story of Bedfordshire voting in the context of local and national politics up to the election in 1734. It contains transcriptions of the poll books for four Bedford borough elections and three county elections held between 1722 and 1734. Except for the 1722 county election, the poll books are taken from hitherto unpublished manuscripts.Much of the political and local background to voting is recounted in volume 1. For this volume, each chapter has an introduction which draws upon letters to provide an insight into the political alliances and manoeuvres which occurred in selecting candidates, including the part played by the Duchess of Marlborough.The poll books themselves are a mine of local information about Bedfordshire. The 10,000 names in this volume (fully indexed), added to the 8,500 names in the first volume, provide evidence for in-depth study of people, places and landholding in Bedfordshire. They will also help family historians find ancestors between the 1671 Hearth Tax and the 1841 Census.

The diaries of Charlotte Bousfield, extending from 1878 to 1896, paint a vivid picture of the activities of the multi-talented Bousfield family of Bedford, led by its strong-minded matriarch.The diaries of Charlotte Bousfield, extending from 1878 to 1896, paint a vivid picture of the activities of the multi-talented Bousfield family of Bedford, led by its strong-minded matriarch.The Bousfields were prominent in local life. Charlotte's husband, Edward, was an influential figure in developing agricultural machinery at the Britannia Iron Works, Bedford's successful exemplar of a modern iron foundry, important as a factor in Bedford's growth. Will, the ablest of their children, became a QC and Conservative MP, whose election campaigns are described in lively detail.Charlotte was also active both in Bedford and further afield. Her concern for the underprivileged in the town, a practical expression of her fervent Methodist beliefs, emerges clearly in her lifelong work for the temperance cause, locally and nationally. She founded a home for 'inebriate women', which was ground-breaking for the time, and describes the work of the home in fascinating detail. She was also a Poor Law Guardian and a leading figure in the Bedford workhouse scandal of the 1890s.Throughout, the diaries bring out aspects of Victorian social life which are not always obvious: the dependence of the family on their servants; the ease of travelling using railways and horse-drawn transport; and the frequency with which family members would spend time staying with friends and relatives.

The third volume in BHRS's series of poll books and covers the years from the fall of Walpole to the rise of William Pitt the younger.This is the third volume in BHRS's series of poll books and covers the years from the fall of Walpole to the rise of William Pitt the younger. It was a period when Britain was constantly at war, when it suffered a dangerous Jacobite rebellion and when the American colonies were lost. Yet this constant warfare did not produce the revolutionary changes to the national and local economy that the Napoleonic wars subsequently created.There is only one complete poll book for the county (1774) but surviving lists from Bedford borough, including a partial poll book of 1747, enable political allegiance to be gauged. Lack of contested elections does not mean an absence of political activity. Detectable trends are illustrated from the Duke of Bedford's archives and the Hardwicke manuscripts in the British Library. They include the attempts of the Duke to increase his powers, which were successfully challenged by Bedford borough by the creation in 1769 of many new out-of-town freemen to detach it from his influence; the decline of formerly prominent political families; and, from the 1760s, the rise of the Whitbreads.The volume also details the political dimensions of the litigation over the appointment of the rector of St John's, Bedford; the administration of the Harpur Trust; and turnpike and enclosure acts.

Drawing on documentary evidence dating between 1382 and 1522, this volume examines a single manor parish that was dominated by the powerful Mowbray family, the Dukes of Norfolk, and by Katherine Neville, widow of the second Duke,as part of her dower 1432-c.1482.Drawing on documentary evidence dating between 1382 and 1522, this volume examines a single manor parish that was dominated by the powerful Mowbray family, the Dukes of Norfolk, and by Katherine Neville, widow of the second Duke,as part of her dower 1432-c.1482. Numerous documents relating to the manor are extant including 101 manor court rolls, bailiffs' accounts and receiver's accounts; taken together they provide an insight into local administration and justice in a rural settlement on the south bank of the River Great Ouse, east of Bedford.The Newnham Priory terrier, a transcription of which is included in this book, gives details of the prior's holdings in the manor in 1507. Although the prior held substantial lands in Willington, it seems that life in the manor was less influenced by the church in the years after the Peasants' Revolt than by members of local families, such as the Gostwyks, who would later go on to undertake roles of national importance.Although the structure and language of the manorial records suggests continuity and a hierarchical system of control, the history of Willington reveals how tenants took opportunities to better themselves and their families while the lords of the manor sought to maintain the value of their property and income. This was a difficult task due to long-standing issues with declining rental values and ruined buildings. While there is evidence for crime and disorder, the manor emerges as a relatively stable community where the custom of the manor prevailed, and the local bailiff, almost always a resident, was a pivotalfigure.DOROTHY JAMIESON has an M.A. in English Local History from the University of Leicester. She translated the Willington Manor Court Rolls, 1394-1674, about one hundred of which can be found on the Bedfordshire Archives web-site. Her most recent project has been the transcription, translation and analysis of the Wroxhill Custumal of 1253, which has been completed with the assistance of Dr Kathryn Faulkner of Bedfordshire Archives.

The Bedford Diary of Leah Aynsley, 1943-1946, provides a fascinating insight into the daily life of a working class woman during the Second World War.Edited by Patricia and Robert Malcolmson, The Bedford Diary of Leah Aynsley, 1943-1946, provides a fascinating insight into the daily life of a working class woman during the Second World War. Leah hoped that her diary, which shegave as a bequest to Bedfordshire Archives Service, would: 'often be useful to settle arguments as to what happened on such and such occasions.' She also thought that: 'being written by a working-class person among whom I suspectnot many will keep such diaries . [it] may be interesting in future centuries'. Leah moved with her parents and two brothers to live in Queens Park, Bedford, in 1921 while in her twentieth year. During the war years she worked for W. H. Allen & Sons Engineering Works and the diary includes her thoughts on her job there and the work that was undertaken by the firm. The diary also details her day to day activities, generally confined to cycling distance of her home. But she had a busy and active life - working on her allotment in Bromham, attending BBC concerts in the Corn Exchange as well as going to local lectures and folk dances. Throughout the diary Leah comments on aspects of war-time Bedford including the influx of American airmen, rationing, Home Guard duties, bombing raids, air-raid warnings and preparations for invasion. Her style - understated, measured, factual, domestic but engaging - isno better captured than in her entry on Victory Day: 'V DAY. Well, the day is nearly over now. Very quiet around here. I have not heard any victory bells. The street has blossomed out into flags, bunting and fairy lights. The local shops were open - even the fish shop - and the baker called as usual ... Churchill broadcast at 3 p.m. ... A very pleasant day in May.'

The Turner Letters cover the years 1830-45 and give a lively view of life in a rural village in times of upheaval.The Turner Letters originated in Milton Ernest in Bedfordshire. They travelled to St Andrews in New Brunswick, Canada, to Thomas Turner, brother of John, the principal writer. They survived the journey by sailing boat and later steam ship. In the 1980s they returned to England and were bought by the Bedfordshire Record Office, so they are now housed a few miles from where they were written.The Turner Letters cover the years 1830-45 and give a lively view of life in a rural village in times of upheaval. The main writer of the letters, John Turner, was a Methodist baker, whose father ran a farm. John's religion and his hatred of the Church of England colours his writing.John Turner's sharp insights cover a number of the major issues of the day such as the Reform Bill, the New Poor Law and rural unrest as well as local issues such as the establishment of fox hound kennels in the village. His description of the villagers in 1834 is particularly valuable, bringing them to life and giving a real sense of what life in Milton Ernest was actually like.John's brother, Thomas, was a merchant in a small Canadian port close to the United States border. Part of the correspondence relates to Thomas's suppliers and gives an idea of the precariousness and danger of the passage from England to Canada and the difficulties of setting up a new business overseas. Above all the Turner letters tell human stories. The tragedy of the drowning of Susannah, Thomas's wife, in 1834 is revealed in graphic newspaper descriptions. John and Thomas Turner's sister was abused by her alcoholic husband. John's own life was frustrating, initially coping with his housekeepers and later, when he gave up his bakery and returned to his father's farm, coping with an aged and obstinate man, who did not appreciate him.

Fewer than two hundred probate inventories were thought to have survived for Bedfordshire and most were published in Bedfordshire Historical Record Society volumes 20 and 32. Recently more came to light, bringing the total of known pre-1660 inventories to almost six hundred. These additional 432 inventories are published here and provide evidence of the home environment of the minor gentry, clergy, middling sort, tradesmen and the poor of Bedfordshire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. While most inventories are for men, almost sixty are for widows and single women, whose circumstances mirror those of the men. The detailed listings of agricultural equipment, livestock and crops and the comfortable domestic life-style of the farming community, confirm what is already known of the agricultural prosperity of the county. Surviving inventories for shopkeepers and tradesmen are sparse, but the few inventories listing trades, services and manufacturing equipment (for malting, brewing and dyeing) provide a glimpse of thriving industry with links beyond the county. Several inventories stand out including a luxuriously furnished inn and two exceptionally wealthy gentry who were part of the county administration during the Commonwealth period. Not everyone was well-off and the inventories also include many people whose goods reveal them to be poor or living in near poverty. The introduction provides an overview of these varied living conditions, houses, furnishings, clothing, agriculture, prosperity and poverty, and draws on other sources to flesh out the lives of these people. An analysis of the debt culture, which occurred at all levels of society, challenges some of the first impressions of affluence or poverty.Appendices show the distribution of inventories over the county and list all published inventories. Another appendix sets out the process for exhibiting inventories against which local practice is compared in the introduction. The book concludes with an extensive glossary and index.