Landscape research 1600 to 1970
End of year review .
The volunteers have begun to
tackle several different strands of archival research, all currently focused on
the century 1750-1850 and the parishes of Cannock, Rugeley and Colwich. Much of
what we are looking at comes from the archive of the Paget family, who owned
the Chase. A group looking at miscellaneous estate memoranda have found a
number of interesting documents that illustrate the management of the Chase,
such as lists of sheep herds and the marks used to identify them, and notes
about colltages built on the edges of the Chase. The correspondence of estate
agents forms a similar kind of resource, shedding light on a number of
different management issues, in particular poaching. A more formulaic source is
provided by estate rentals: here, a group are transcribing selected rentals in
order to build up a picture of landholding around and on the Chase; we hope to
compare these with the earliest maps of the Chase (notably the tithe) in order
to locate holdings and the place-names that go with them, with the ultimate aim
of building a picture of the social geography of the area.
Another group is looking at
parish records, creating spreadsheets of baptisms, burials and marriages that
will enable us to run a number of statistical calculations on the local
population. This will tell us how the area compared to the national average,
and should shed light on issues such as migration. A group looking at census
returns is tackling similar issues, particularly migration (from records of
place of birth) and the kinds of occupations practiced by the local
inhabitants. We hope to use trade directories for similar purposes.
Finally, we have a student
looking at quarter sessions and magistrates records, pulling out records of
crimes committed on the Chase; again, this is often poaching, but also includes
activities such as illegal heath burning and fern cutting.
We have enough material to
keep us busy for the next few months, but are planning to hold a special
session to take stock of our current progress in mid-January.
Best wishes,
No comments:
Post a Comment