Public Record Office Research Articles

Women's Life Writing and Early Modern Ireland ed. by Julie A. Eckerle and Naomi McAreavey

Reviewed by: Women's Life Writing and Early Modern Ireland ed. by Julie A. Eckerle and Naomi McAreavey Sarah Covington (bio) Women's Life Writing and Early Modern Ireland Julie A. Eckerle and Naomi McAreavey, editors U of Nebraska P, 2019, 342 pp. ISBN 9780803299979, $35.00 paperback. The seventeenth century was arguably the most important period in Ireland's history, as the country endured continued English colonialist policies, civil wars, violent invasion, massive land confiscations, and a settlement that led to the rule, for the next two centuries, of a tiny Protestant elite. A further disaster awaited those who study the crucial middle decades of the century, and specifically the years of Oliver Cromwell's conquest and rule. In 1922, at the height of Ireland's civil war and struggle for independence, a massive fire erupted at the Public Records Office in Dublin, destroying thousands of administrative records from the thirteenth through the nineteenth centuries. As Ernie O'Malley famously described the scene, from within the giant black cloud that arose from the flaming building, one could witness "leaves of white paper" which "looked like hovering white birds" (114). [End Page 467] While no historical period emerged unscathed, the loss was particularly damaging for seventeenth-century specialists, and especially so when it came to accessing the lives of those whose presence passed through those now-vanished records. Yet amid the charred wreckage, some sources, to quote Julie Eckerle, have been "hiding in plain sight," neglected by scholars who have focused instead on traditional governmental records or documents authored primarily by men (204). Historians, literary critics, and scholars of life writing therefore have much to celebrate with the groundbreaking publication of Women's Life Writing and Early Modern Ireland, a collection of nine essays that opens up previously neglected sources and provides fascinating readings of women's experience of and in Ireland during its most tumultuous decades. Arguing for a "more nuanced understanding of women's identity in early modern Ireland" and their representation of "Irishness" (9), the book provides a major contribution to our historical understanding of changing modes of life writing, just as it reveals the more personal side of a world whose past was otherwise lost to us, quite literally, in the flames. Life writing in this period, it should be pointed out, reflected different subjectivities, even if scholars have argued that "modern" interiority and psychology emerged in the works, for example, of Montaigne or Shakespeare. Early modern soldiers' accounts of their own experiences in war, for example, resist our expectations of what it was like to endure the trauma of the battlefield; the result is a frustrating opacity, as these texts resist the kind of emotionally forthcoming, and very modern, memoirs from World War I or Vietnam. As Anne Fogarty puts it in her essay, for pre-modern women, life writing is similar in that it was bound not only to rhetorical conventions but to female standards of honor, deportment, and the need to "uphold communal and religious values . . . as prized indicators of worth" (54), all of which were expected of women who held a relatively elevated status in English and Irish (or English-Irish) society. In other words, women's life writings can be more self-concealing than self-revealing, unless they are read sensitively and against the grain, as Marie-Louise Coolahan has demonstrated in her own pioneering work, and as the essays in this volume describe. As Julie Eckerle and Naomi McAreavey point out in their introduction, the women under examination are distinct in that they straddled the British archipelagic world, belonging to neither Ireland nor England but to an in-between space where attitudes towards Ireland could be complex and ambivalent. While no essay examines women of the Irish-speaking Gaelic order, the women under consideration fall under—and cross—a multitude of categories that defined early modern Ireland's social world: the "Old English," or those descended from the Norman invasions of the twelfth century and who remained primarily Catholic; those of the "New English," or more recent Protestant transplants in the Tudor and early Stuart periods; and those who came in and settled with Oliver Cromwell's violent invasion of...

Ernest William Denham (1922–2019)

Ernest William Denham, who died on 27 August 2019 three weeks short of his 97th birthday, spent all his archival career at the Public Record Office and is probably best known to archivists outside ...

The Struggle for Sustainable Waste Management in Hong Kong: 1950s–2010s

As Hong Kong’s landfills are expected to reach saturated conditions by 2020, the city can no longer rely on landfilling alone as the sole solution for waste treatment in the long term. Drawing on five months of archival research at the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Public Records Office (PRO) in 2016 as well as 17 months of fieldwork conducted between 2012, 2013 and 2016, this article provides a much-needed overview of why sustainable waste management has always been such a challenge for Hong Kong. Focusing on the city’s dependence on landfills and its failure to integrate alternative waste management technologies, namely incineration, into its current waste management regime, we explicate Hong Kong’s waste management predicaments from the 1950s to the present day. Through a historical lens, we argue that Hong Kong’s waste problems have a historical root and that they are unlikely to be resolved unless the government is willing to learn from its past mistakes and adopt a much more proactive approach in the near future.

Odnos Velike Britanije do Avstro-Ogrske leta 1918 in dogajanja na Koroškem po koncu prve svetovne vojne

Category: 1.01 Original scientific paper Language: Original in Slovene (Abstract in Slovene and English, Summary in English) Keywords: Austria-Hungary, Carinthia, United Kingdom, attempts at separate peace, 1918, Harold William Vazeille Temperley, manuals, diplomacy Abstract: Based on an analysis of British sources and the most relevant scholarly literature, the article focuses on the knowledge on and attitude of London's foreign policy towards Austro-Hungary in 1918 and what happened in Carinthia after the collapse of the Central European monarchy in the same year. As regards the latter, historians have paid little attention to the material kept by the British archives. Their analysis makes it possible to interpret the events of the so-called "third party", that is, those who were not directly affected by the situation on the ground. The archival material used for the purpose of this article is kept by The National Archives (former Public Record Office) in London.

Love and Dishonour in Elizabethan England: Two Families and a Failed Marriage, by Ralph Houlbrooke

One beautiful autumn afternoon in 1979, Professor Ralph Houlbrooke discovered a tightly rolled vellum strip of over five metres length in the old Public Record Office, Chancery Lane. It described in poignant detail the clandestine marriage and marital breakdown of a late-sixteenth-century couple from East Anglia, Charles and Elizabeth Forth (née Jerningham). Captivated immediately, Houlbrooke resolved to revisit the case in his retirement. Thirty-nine years later, the resulting monograph has been published. Meticulously researched, this magnificent microhistory unravels the twists and turns in the (mis)fortunes of two families, culminating in a fateful marriage. Chapters One and Two introduce the Jerninghams, a long-established Catholic family from Suffolk, and describe their rise and ruin between the 1300s and 1500s, with a particular focus on the escapades of John Jerningham, the father of the book’s protagonist, Elizabeth Forth. In Chapter Three, we meet the contrasting Forth family, descendants of wealthy Hadleigh clothiers, who acquired substantial landholdings in the early 1500s, and became highly respected members of the Protestant elite.

The origins and development of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 1922–1948

ABSTRACTThis article examines the history and development of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) between 1922 and 1948, from the destruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI) in Dublin to the retirement of David Alfred Chart, a man who played a pivotal role in the development of PRONI. Drawing on extensive archival sources, the article qualitatively analyses the administrative history of PRONI. It explores the legislation underpinning PRONI, the early establishment and development of the record office, the means by which the institution acquired records, the expansion of the record office in the 1930s and the work of the institution during World War Two (WWII). The article argues that PRONI had a clear legislative framework, scope, and mandate for its Deputy-Keeper, factors that enabled the archive to develop quickly and to thrive. It also argues that the energy, enthusiasm, and hard work of Chart was vital in the successful development of the institution. Using PRONI as a case study, the findings of this article contribute more broadly to our understanding of the establishment and development of national archives internationally, the challenges employees face, and the factors that contribute to the successful development of a new national archive.

From Big Bang to Big Crash: The Early Origins of the UK’s Finance-led Growth Model and the Persistence of Bad Policy Ideas

ABSTRACTUsing newly declassified documents from the British Public Records Office, we argue that the finance-dependent growth regime that typified the UK economy in the period up to the Great Crash of 2008 has much deeper roots than is commonly realised. We use these documents to demonstrate that the growth of finance was integral to the Thatcher revolution, tying together mortgage markets, household debt, and boom-bust cycles as early as the mid-1980s. We also show how policy-makers in this period were aware of all the weaknesses of this growth model, to the point that they effectively diagnosed what would happened in 2008, back in 1987. We argue that selecting for a finance-led growth model as the preferred growth model so early effectively rendered other possible growth models for the UK unattainable. The result was the shift from an economy characterised by ‘stop-go’ cycles in the post-war period to an economy characterised by recurrent ‘boom-slump-austerity-reset’ cycles in the Thatcher and post Thatcher periods. The 2008 crisis did not change this highly unstable mode of accumulation.

Rebuilding the past: The transformation of early modern Irish history

ABSTRACTThe study of early modern Irish history is undergoing major transformation. For almost a century since the destruction of the Public Records Office of Ireland in 1922, scholars have bemoaned the lack of source material for the period 1500 to 1800, which has severely limited the breadth and depth of historical research. A new project, however, is uncovering significant amounts of hitherto unidentified material and entire archives are being rebuilt, using mainly nineteenth-century transcriptions. Technological advances assist the process of exploiting these newly rediscovered manuscripts but a fundamental rethink is also required by historians of Ireland on how best to capture the myriad of experiences of all the peoples of the island, particularly the Catholic majority. These exciting developments mark a true turning point in Irish historical research. We have an opportunity to break through the barriers of rigid periodisation and to explore the deep continuities evident in the history of early modern Ireland.

Curatorial and archival approaches to the National Gallery archives

The article considers recordkeeping at the National Gallery, from the Gallery’s foundation in 1824 to the present day. It explores the relationship between the archive and the paintings which form the Gallery’s collection and considers how this relationship has influenced the arrangement and use of the archive. An assessment is made of the status of the archives and how they have been perceived by a variety of members of staff. During the early nineteenth century, Gallery records were maintained in a small number of broad series such as the minutes of the Board of Trustees and letters in and out. Key moments in the Gallery’s history are shown to have affected the archive, such as the reconstitution of the Gallery in 1855, administrative reforms in the early twentieth century and initiatives to produce new catalogues of the paintings after the Second World War. Such moments in the Gallery’s history are noted for the manner in which they expanded the series of records being created and maintained. A wider professionalization of roles at the Gallery, particularly in the 1970s, is shown to have had a significant impact on the archive and its administration. At this time, a meaningful engagement with the Public Record Office was entered into and this activity would ultimately lead to the archive being arranged and listed. The professionalization of roles is also shown to have been the catalyst for the appointment of the Gallery’s first permanent archivist in 1994. The article concludes with a consideration of the post-1994 work of staff which demonstrates how the archive has become increasingly embedded in the activities of the Gallery and has moved away from an entirely subservient relationship with the collection of paintings.

PREFACE

I would like to thank the many people who helped in the preparation of this volume. I must thank Dr Patrick Zutshi, Cambridge University Archivist, for his kind permission to edit the volume for publication as well as the staff in the Cambridge University Library Manuscripts Room, Rare Books Room and Official Publications Room, the Seeley History Library at Cambridge, the British Library Manuscripts Room staff, and the staffs of the old Public Record Office at Chancery Lane and the National Archives at Kew. My doctoral supervisor, the late Sir Geoffrey Elton, was a great source of encouragement in plumbing the vast Cecil archives and related state papers, and the administration of the Principal Secretariat. The late Wallace MacCaffrey, a great friend and examiner, was always willing to discuss finer points on Burghley at the tea room of the Library and I miss him very much. The late Patrick Collinson was, in a real sense, the inspiration behind this publication. He saw that the manuscript materials relating to the Cecils’ transfer of power could be better worked through in an edition of these papers than by a traditional monograph. He called the volume the ‘spine’ of the work of father and son.

‘THE DREADFUL FLOOD OF DOCUMENTS’: THE 1958 PUBLIC RECORD ACT AND ITS AFTERMATH

Part 1 of this double-barrelled article described the genealogy of the 1958 Public Records Act, which was enacted at the very opening of the history of criminal justice upon which David Downes, Tim Newburn and I had embarked and which was still in force whilst we worked. It related how a concatenation of events – a prodigiously increasing accumulation of official papers generated by the swelling bureaucracy of an ever more busy state; the need for effecting economies at a time of austerity; and the application of policies driven by a new organisation and methods team at the Treasury – made it seem imperative radically to control the flow of records and restrict the numbers that were retained. Part 2 describes the implementation of the Act, the reorganisation of the Public Record Office (PRO)and the manner in which concern about what was called a ‘dreadful flood of documents’ continued to press hard on record retention policies.

The Interruption of the British-Romanian Relations in 1941

The study analyses the withdrawals of the British Legation from Bucharest and of the Romanian Legation from London. The research was undertaken at the Central Historical National Archives of Romania in Bucharest where the author studied the microfiches of the Public Record Office of the Great Britain, Foreign Office, Political, 371/29992, 371/29993 and 371/29994.The United Kingdom declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. The British Legation could not gather military, political and economical information as the new regime in Romania had invited the troops of Nazi Germany in the country. As the British found themselves implied only in formal activities, they decided to withdraw the Legation on February 15, 1941 and the Romanian Government acted on reciprocal basis but few Romanians returned from the London staff. The study deals with the preparations needed to withdraw the two Legations and the modalities required for the British and Romanian staffs for departure.General Ion Antonescu, Romanian Prime-Minister and de facto ruler of the country, was more than pleased with the British proposal of the interruption of bilateral relations.

Reviews of Books and Maps

REVIEWS OF BOOKSIRELAND IN PREHISTORY, by Michael Herity and George Eogan. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1977. 302 pp. £8.95. Reviewed by: T. J. HughesTHE LIVING LANDSCAPE: KILGALLIGAN, ERRIS, CO. MAYO, by S. Ó Catháin and Patrick O'Flanagan. Dublin: Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann, 1975. 312 pp. Reviewed by: R. H. BuchananTHE IRISH TOWN: AN APPROACH TO SURVIVAL, by Patrick Shaffrey. Dublin: The O'Brien Press, 1975. 192 pp. £5.00. Reviewed by: K. A. MawhinneyLOST DEMESNES: IRISH LANDSCAPE GARDENING 1660–1845, by Edward Malins and the Knight of Glin. London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1976. 208 pp. ,£15.00. Reviewed by: K. A. MawhinneyNORTH BULL ISLAND, DUBLIN BAY — A MODERN COASTAL NATURAL HISTORY, edited by D. W. Jeffrey and others. Dublin: Royal Dublin Society, 1977. 158 pp. Hardback .£6.50, paperback £3.60. Reviewed by: J. P. HaughtonCONFLICT IN NORTHERN IRELAND: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POLARISED COMMUNITY, by John Darby. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1976. 268 pp. £7.95. Reviewed by: F. W. BoalBELFAST: AREAS OF SPECIAL SOCIAL NEED. REPORT BY PROJECT TEAM. Belfast: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1976. 85 pp. £3.25. Reviewed by: Robert D. OsborncDUBLIN: A CITY IN CRISIS, edited by P. M. Delany. Dublin: Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, 1975. 108 pp. £3.25. Reviewed by: Anngret SimmsIRELAND'S VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE, by Kevin Danaher. Cork: Mercier Press for the Cultural Relations Committee of Ireland, 1975. 82 pp., 68 plates. £1.50. Reviewed by: F. H. A. Aalen18TH CENTURY ULSTER EMIGRATION TO NORTH AMERICA, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Education Facsimiles 121–140. Belfast: H.M.S.O., 1972. £0.45.; PLANTATIONS IN ULSTER, c. 1600–41, by R. J. Hunter. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Education Facsimilies 161–180. Belfast: H.M.S.O., 1975. £1.00.; RURAL HOUSING IN ULSTER IN THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY, prepared by Alan Gailey, Victor Kelly and James Paul with an introduction by E. Estyn Evans, for the Teachers' Centre of the Queen's University, Belfast in association with the Ulster Folk Museum and the Public Record Office Northern Ireland. Belfast: H.M.S.O., 1974. £0.70.; LETTERS OF A GREAT IRISH LANDLORD: A SELECTION FROM THE ESTATE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE THIRD MARQUESS OF DOWNSHIRE, 1809–45, edited with an introduction by W. A. Maguire, for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Belfast: H.M.S.O., 1974. 189 pp. £1–65.; ORDNANCE SURVEY MEMOIR FOR THE PARISH OF DONEGORE, Belfast: Department of Extra-Mural Studies, Queen's University, and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 1974. v + 64 pp. 1 map and 31 plates. £0.75. Reviewed by: A. A. HornerTHE LANDED GENTRY. Facsimile documents with commentaries. Dublin: The National Library of Ireland, 1977. 20 sheets and introduction. £1.00. Reviewed by: J. A. K. GrahameSANITATION, CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICES IN IRELAND, by Michael Flannery. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration, 1976. 178 pp. £5.75. Reviewed by: Michael J. BannonGEOGRAPHY, CULTURE AND HABITAT, SELECTED ESSAYS (1925–1975) OF E. G. BOWEN, selected and introduced by Harold Carter and Wayne K. D. Davies. Llandysul: Gomer Press, 1976. 275 pp. £6. Reviewed by: J. H. AndrewsDICTIONARY OF LAND SURVEYORS AND LOCAL CARTOGRAPHERS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 1550–1850 edited by Peter Eden. Folkestone: William Dawson & Sons. Part I, 1975; Parts II and III, 1976. 377 pp. £6.00 per part. Reviewed by: A. A. HornerFIELDS, FARMS AND SETTLEMENT IN EUROPE, edited by R. H. Buchanan, R. A. Butlin and D. McCourt. Belfast: Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, 1976. 161 pp. £5. Reviewed by: J. H. AndrewsREVIEWS OF MAPSNORTHERN IRELAND — A MAP FOR TOURISTS. 1:250,000(1970); CASTLEWELLAN FOREST PARK. 1:10,000(1975); ADMINISTRATIVE MAPS; MAP CATALOGUE (1975 edition). 26 pp. Reviewed by: J. A. K. Grahame

Reviews of Books and Maps

REVIEWS OF BOOKSTHE IRISH LANDSCAPE, by Frank Mitchell. London: Collins, 1976. 240 pp. £5.50. Reviewed by: T. J. HughesTHE LAND AND PEOPLE OF NINETEENTH CENTURY CORK: THE RURAL ECONOMY AND THE LAND QUESTION, by James S. Donnelly, Jr. London and Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975. 440 pp. £9.95. Reviewed by: William J. SmythIRISH SETTLEMENTS IN EASTERN CANADA: A STUDY OF CULTURAL TRANSFER AND ADAPTATION, by John J. Mannion. University of Toronto Press, 1974. 219 pp. $5.00. Reviewed by: T. J. HughesREGIONAL PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 1975–95. Department of Housing, Local Government and Planning, Northern Ireland, Discussion Paper. Belfast: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1975. 39 pp. £0.30.; REGIONAL POLICY IN IRELAND: A REVIEW. National Economic and Social Council Report No. 4. Dublin: Stationery Office, 1975. 86 pp. £0.25.Reviewed by: A. A. HornerCARTON, CO. KILDARE: A CASE STUDY OF THE MAKING OF AN IRISH DEMESNE, by Arnold Horner. Dublin: Quarterly Bulletin of the Irish Georgian Society, Vol. 18, Nos. 2 and 3, 1975. 57 pp. £ 1 .Reviewed by: R. A. ButlinTHE CLIMATE OF IRELAND, by P. K. Rohan, Dublin: Stationery Office, 1975–112 pp. £1.50.Reviewed by: J. P. HaughtonDINNSEANCHAS. Baile Atha Cliath: An Cumann Logainmneacha. Vol. 3, No. 4, December 1969 - Vol. 6, No. 2, December 1974. Current price, £1.50 per annum.Reviewed by: Breandán S. Mac AodhaLOGAINMNEACHA AS PAROlSTE NA RINNE CO. PHORT LAlRGE. Baile Atha Cliath: An Cumann Logainmneacha, 1975. 43 pp. Reviewed by: Breandán S. Mac AodhaTHE JEWS OF IRELAND, by Louis Hyman. London: Jewish Historical Society of England; Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, 1972. xix + 403 pp. Reviewed by: Stanley WatermanTHE CAVES OF FERMANAGH AND CAVAN, by G. L. Jones. Enniskillen: Watergate Press, 1974. 117 pp.Reviewed by: D. P. DrewARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION - AN IRISH VIEWPOINT. Dublin: the Architectural Association of Ireland, 1975. 95 pp. £3.75.Reviewed by: J. A. K. GrahameHOW TO USE THE RECORD OFFICE: MAPS AND PLANS. NO. 11, CO. ANTRIM, C.1570–C.1830, 31 pp. NO. 12, CO. ARMAGH, c. 1600–c. 1830, 36 pp. NO. 13, CO. DOWN, c. 1600-c. 1830,39 pp. NO. 14, CO. FERMANAGH, C.1590-C.1830, 16pp. NO. 15, CO. LONDONDERRY, c. 1600–c. 1830, 23 pp. NO. 16, CO. TYRONE, C.1580–C.1830, 34 pp. NO. 17, BELFAST, c.1570– c.1860, 19 pp. NO. 18, GENERAL MAPS OF IRELAND AND ULSTER, C.1538–C.1830, 15 pp. Belfast: Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, n.d. £0.05 each.; NORTHERN IRELAND TOWN PLANS, 1828–1966. A CATALOGUE OF LARGE SCALE TOWN PLANS PREPARED BY THE ORDNANCE SURVEY AND DEPOSITED IN P.R.O.N.I. Belfast, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, n.d. 20 pp. £0.20. Reviewed by: J. H. AndrewsANGLO-IRISH STUDIES. Chalfont St Giles: Alpha Academic Books. Volume i, 1975, 118 pp. £4.Reviewed by: J. H. AndrewsA GEOGRAPHY OF TOWNS AND CITIES, by A. J. Parker. Dublin: the Educational Company, 1976. 117 pp.Reviewed by: James E. KillenMAP REVIEWOILEÁlN ÁRANN. 1:25,344. Kilronan, Aran Islands: T. D. Robinson, 1975.Reviewed by: J. P. Haughton

Road to independence

Purpose The paper aims to explore the road to independence of the less-fortunate women in early Hong Kong society and their means in passing of wealth after death. In the 1970s, about 400 Chinese wills from the 1840s to the 1940s were dug up on a construction site in Hong Kong. One-fourth of these were from women who had held a substantial amount of property. How they obtained this property intrigued us because, at that time, women were seen as subordinate to men and excluded from the labor market. Why they had wills led to further questions about Hong Kong society of that time and the role of women in it. Design/methodology/approach The analysis of this paper is based on archival data gathered from the Hong Kong Public Records Office. These data include 98 women’s wills filed from the 1840s to the 1940s and a 500-page government investigation report on the prostitution industry released in 1879. The former recorded valuable information of brief testators’ family and personal life history, amount of assets, and profolio of investment, etc. The latter included testimonials of brothel keepers and prostitutes and their life stories and the background of legalizing prostitution in early Hong Kong. Apart from basic quantitative analysis on women’s marital status, number of properties, nature of wills and number of brothels, qualitative analysis is directed to review the testator’s life of self-reliance, wealth accumulation and reasons of using wills for arranging wealth transmission after death. Findings In this paper, the authors found that because the colonial government declared prostitution legal, and only women could obtain employment by becoming prostitutes or brothel keepers, they earned their own livelihood, saved money and finally became independent. However, because these professions were not seen as “decent”, and these women were excluded from the formal marriage system, intestacy could cause problems for them. Through their socio-business connections, they became familiar with the Western concept of testate inheritance. So, they tended to use wills – a legal document by which a person assigns someone to distribute his or her property according to his or her wishes after his or her death – to assign their property. Research limitations/implications Because only archival data are chosen for analysis, the research results may lack generalizability. Follow-up researches to examine whether the studied women acquired their wealth through their own work or simply as gifts from others are required. Originality/value This paper explores the understudied women’s life and method of estate passing after death in the early Hong Kong society. It fills the academic gap of women’s contribution to Hong Kong’s success and enriches our understanding on the important factors that could attribute women’s real independence.

Cutting with the Grain: Human Rights, Conflict Transformation and the Urban Planning System—Lessons from Northern Ireland

This article examines how the urban planning system in Northern Ireland served to concentrate segregation and systemic inequalities during the course of the recent conflict. Using documents recently uncovered from the Northern Ireland Public Record Office (PRONI), this article will show how the security forces ‘cut with the grain’ of a planning system that had historically been predicated upon segregation and exclusion in order to better control and manage politically motivated violence leaving a divided city in which systemic inequalities have been built into the fabric of the urban environment. Drawing on developments within regulatory theory this article will outline a way forward for creating an integrated post-conflict planning agenda for Belfast that takes account of the limits of traditional forms of legalism and adds learning to the debate around the relationship between systemic inequalities and the process of conflict transformation.

A Brief History of Record Management at the National Archives

AbstractWork on the official history of criminal justice prompted Paul Rock's interest in why it was that so many government papers, amounting to some 98% of the files produced, have been destroyed over the years. Successive crises in the accumulation of records, accompanied by only a limited increase in the shelving capacity of the Public Record Office - later The National Archives - led in the 1950s and beyond to a firm emphasis being placed on the destruction rather than the retention of papers. Officials and politicians were adamant that the unforeseeable demands which future historians might make on the archives had to be accorded less importance than the economic practicalities of what was called ‘weeding’.

Urban Animals: Human-Poultry Relationships in Later Post-Medieval Belfast

Live animals were a ubiquitous feature of post-medieval cities and provided a variety of products to a broad cross-section of society. Poultry species were portable and accessible to people of modest means. Yet, the quotidian presence of poultry contrasts with the lack of attention to urban animal husbandry. Zooarchaeological data from the faunal assemblage from St. Anne’s Square, a 0.77 ha seventeenth to early twentieth-century site in Belfast, combined with historical legislation, court records, and news sheets held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland reveal the complexity of and contradictions implicit in poultry-human relationships in Belfast and nearby areas.

THE DREADFUL FLOOD OF DOCUMENTS’: THE 1958 PUBLIC RECORD ACT AND ITS AFTERMATH

This bipartite paper flows out of the writing of a history of criminal justice and it attempts to resolve why so many state records of scholarly importance were destroyed in the latter half of the twentieth century. Since its foundation in 1838, the Public Record Office or PRO, later The National Archives, the chief repository of state papers, has confronted the problem of how to accommodate a remorselessly growing mass of documents. Shaped by periodic crises and bouts of anxious stocktaking, it has sought continually to develop effective ways of culling or ‘weeding’ the unwanted record. At the end of the Second World War, especially, the accumulation of papers had become so substantial that a new and radical organisation and methods analysis was to be applied by the Treasury to what was defined as a failed and antiquarian PRO. A committee under the chairmanship of Sir James Grigg elected to give primacy to reducing the volume of records. It turned its back on what it took to be the PRO’s discredited staff, techniques and ideology, although, ironically, it did warmly endorse the presumption of Sir Hilary Jenkinson, the PRO’s deputy keeper, that historians and archivists were quite incapable of identifying which records might become of future historical interest. Criteria of historical significance were as a result to be introduced slowly and belatedly, and only after Sir Hilary had departed. The outcome was to be a structural revolution that was driven principally by an imperative to save money and labour, conserve space and do away with as many records as possible, and much that was of scholarly interest has been lost in consequence.

Conversations with Emeritus Professor Stroud Francis Charles (Toby) Milsom: A Journey from Heretic to Giant in English Legal History

Stroud Francis Charles (Toby) Milsom QC BA retired from his chair of Professor of Law at the University of Cambridge in 2000 after a distinguished career as a legal historian at the universities of Oxford, London School of Economics and St John’s College Cambridge. His academic life and contentious theories on the development of the Common Law at the end of the feudal system in England were discussed in a series of interviews at his home in 2009. At the core are aspects of his criticism of the conclusions of the nineteenth century historian Frederick William Maitland, upon which the teaching of the early legal history of England was largely based during much of the 20th century. Also included are insights into his research methods in deciphering the parchment Plea Rolls in the Public Records Office, and anecdotes relating to his tenure as Dean at New College Oxford (1956-64) as well as associations with the Selden Society: he was its Literary Director, and later President during its centenary in 1987. Professor Milsom also briefly talked of his memories of childhood during WWII and his inspirational studies as a student at the University of Pennsylvania (1947-48).