3 



LOCAL RECORDS. 



Great satisfaction was expressed at the terms of the Treasury 

 Report on the Custody of Local Records, copies of which had been 

 sent to the Secretaries of Societies. The Hon. Secretary was directed 

 to obtain and send copies of the Appendix to the Societies. 



Mr. Willis-Bund, F.S.A., Chairman of the Worcestershire County 

 Council, drew attention to the fact that, under the present system, 

 Parish Records were in greater danger than they had ever been, and 

 pointed out that County Councils had legal power, under an Act of 

 last year, to collect statistics of local charitable endowments, and to 

 take charge of their documents. He suggested that they should be 

 asked, at the same time, to endeavour to obtain custody of the great 

 mass of ancient Parish Records that were at present a burden to their 

 custodians, and exposed to loss and injury ; he was of opinion that 

 Parish Councils would very gladly deposit their ancient deeds in 

 County Council strong rooms. Proposals had to his knowledge been 

 made to burn ancient rate books, and the separation of the tithe award 

 and the tithe map frequently occurred. 



Mr. Freer, F.S.A., Clerk of the Peace for Leicestershire, pointed 

 out that not only was there a danger of wanton destruction but also 

 of accident by fire, and strongly advocated the necessity of moving 

 the County Councils to action. 



Mr. A. R. Goddard pointed out that the tithe maps must be kept in 

 the Parish unless copies were made and the originals sent to the 

 Record Offices, as was desirable. Mr. Rice mentioned the many 

 valuable documents that were often found in Parish Chests, and 

 instanced the complete bills for the repair of a Church that he had 

 once found. 



The Rev. C. Evelyn White, F.S.A., called attention to the serious 

 conflicts that often took place between the Clergy and the Parish 

 Council and the need of removing documents from the centre of strife. 



Mr. Willis-Bund suggested that the County Councils Association 

 should be asked to enquire what County Councils had up to the present 

 provided strong rooms. 



Messrs. Willis-Bund, Freer, Round, Blashill, and the Hon. Secre- 

 tary were appointed a Committee, with power to add to their number, 

 to take steps to promote the formation of the Record Offices. 



Mr. T. Blashill and Mr. J. Parker advocated the collection in the 

 Record Offices of Court Rolls and private deeds, and Mr. St. Clair 

 Baddeley spoke to the vicissitudes to which such deeds were exposed. 

 It was agreed that it was most desirable that such deeds should be 

 safely housed. 



