Resources
The Society intends to make available for searching and download key sources for Wiltshire’s history that were either published before we came into existence, or (by arrangement) have been published elsewhere. We are also initiating a programme of posting online useful material that has not been published in print.
Video
Ken Rogers remembers 70 years with the Wiltshire Record Society
Former County Archivist Ken Rogers joined the Wiltshire Record Society in 1953. In June 2023, as a guest of Simon and Carey Tesler, he invited friends and WRS members to a celebrate with him at Parade House in Trowbridge, and to share some of his recollections of his time in the Society and the record office.
Unpublished research
Capital in the Countryside: Social Change in West Wiltshire, 1530-1680
Dr John Gaisford’s 2015 doctoral thesis (Birkbeck, University of London) on social change in West Wiltshire will be of interest to many Society members.
Abstract
West Wiltshire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was among the leading producers of woollen cloth, England’s most important export commodity by far, but the region’s importance is often understated by modern historians. The cloth towns of Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge and Westbury were thriving when John Leland visited in 1540; but GD Ramsay thought they had passed their golden age by 1550 and declined during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Joan Thirsk – following the precedent of John Aubrey, who wrote a survey of north Wiltshire in the 1660s – characterised the region as ‘cheese country’.
Based on new archival research, this thesis argues that, far from declining, cloth manufacture in west Wiltshire grew throughout the Tudor era and remained strong under the early Stuarts; that production of this crucial trade commodity gave the region national significance; and that profits from the woollen trade were the main drivers of change in west Wiltshire over the period 1530-1680. Supporting evidence is presented from four complementary sectors of society: London merchants, country clothiers, west Wiltshire gentry, and the villagers of Bulkington, Keevil and Seend, southwest of Devizes – an area with which John Aubrey was briefly but intensely involved.
The thesis demonstrates that the manufactory was dominated by a small group of entrepreneurs who protected their position through successive generations. As prominent landowners in their own right, as buyers of wool from the gentry estates, and as employers of large numbers of spinners, weavers and other cloth-workers, they exerted a pervasive influence over the local economy. The thesis identifies these leading entrepreneurs and for the first time examines their impact on social, economic and cultural development. It challenges the established narrative of decline, and argues that John Aubrey’s account was deeply affected by his own personal circumstances and experience.
Dr Gaisford’s thesis can be found here.
Papist Estates in Wiltshire in the Eighteenth century
An Act of Parliament in 1717 required all Papists ‘to Register their Names and Real Estates… to the end that their estates may be certainly known and discovered’. The government had already levied heavy land taxes on known Catholics and also threatened possible forfeiture of their lands. The returns were to be made to the Clerk of the Peace and enrolled in the Quarter Sessions of the County in which the land was situated. Each lists the separate properties and land, the tenant, when it was granted (either by copy of court roll or by lease), the yearly rent and any provisions such as heriots and fines.
The Wiltshire documents are in Wiltshire and Swindon Archives (WSA, A/310/1–12; A/311/1–8). Most of them are dated 1717 but there are some returns, especially for the larger estates, in 1726, 1746, 1761 and 1764. The largest estate was that of the Arundells of Wardour with some 460 separate holdings listed. Other large or medium sized estate owners included Francis Cottington at Fonthill Gifford (before it was sold to William Beckford); Sir John Webb (with extensive property in Odstock, Homington, Hamptworth and Downton); Edward Cary and Elizabeth, Dowager Duchess of Castlehaven both of whom owned large tracts of land in Pewham Forest and Blackmore Forest. Excluding the Arundells, fifty-four landowners made a return, many with just one or two properties. Significantly quite a high proportion of the landowners lived outside Wiltshire. The total annual rent from all the properties listed amounted to £5,732 13s. 8d.
Mr J. Anthony Williams researched Catholic Recusancy for many years and in 1968 the Catholic Record Society published his definitive work Catholic Recusancy in Wiltshire 1660–1791. Some time later he started transcribing the Wiltshire Papist Estate returns with a view to producing a volume for the Wiltshire Record Society. Unfortunately this was not completed before he died. His daughter has now donated his research papers to the Record Society. These contain a full transcript of the Papist Estate returns.
The Record Society committee decided it would be more effective if the lists of properties were calendared rather than reproduced in full. It also considered it would be useful to put this online with, perhaps, a full volume with an Introduction, etc at a later date.
This first document covers the non-Arundell properties. Apart from its contribution to the study of Catholic Recusancy, it is likely to be of value to researchers on particular areas of Wiltshire, on land management and tenure on larger and medium-sized estates and the extensive lists of tenants and their holdings are a useful resource for family historians. The next two documents comprise the returns of the Arundell estates in 1717 and 1746 respectively. The final document consists of short biographies of the Catholic owners of the estates in the enrollments.
Papist Estates in Wiltshire in the Eighteenth Century, ed. J. Anthony Williams
Surveys of estates of Henry Arundell, 1717 and 1746
Biographies of Catholic Landowners
Wiltshire Quarter Sessions Order Book, Volume 2 1654-1668
In 2014 the society published Ivor Slocombe’s edition of Wiltshire Quarter Sessions Order book, 1642-54 (volume 67, and now available online ). Ivor has continued his work and has now edited the records covering the years up to and following the restoration, 1654-1668. The edition is available here as a PDF file, including indexes.