The volunteers got to grips with some fascinating documents
this week from an eighteenth century Guild Book entry detailing the carving of
the coat of arms by a stonemason who had been working at Alnwick Castle, to a
pair of letters written in the same hand but with different signatures,
complaining about life in the Berwick Workhouse.
There was one letter that was with the Tweedmouth Parish
Records by an anonymous writer who was informing them about ‘a grat
Blagard a Margaret Haberon that moment she gittes her
the Prish money she goes to a wiske shop and spends it’. He claims that she
isn’t caring for her children and wouldn’t be given any money if she had
applied to Berwick for assistance.
Some research has been done on poor Margaret and she had
rather a sad life. It is thought that
her name was actually Hepburn and there are records of three baptisms of
children born to William and Margaret Hepburn, David in 1818 in Tweedmouth who
died aged 2 1/2 years old, Jane in 1820
also in Tweedmouth, and then after the family moved to Berwick, another David
in 1822. Her husband was a cabinet maker
who died at the age of 35 in the 1832 Cholera epidemic. This would explain why
she was in receipt of Poor Relief from the parish.
The author of the original complaint was in fear of her
burning down his house if she found out who had complained about her, obviously
she was quite a formidable character!
We assume that the letter was written by a man, as although the spelling
is erratic it puts over its point forcibly, and the level of education for boys
at the time would have been better than that on offer to girls.
So much to find out around one letter!
The other document that we looked at was ‘To Make Sirip of
Turnips’ (used to treat ‘Conscumpsion or cough of the Lungs’) which was a
mixture of sliced turnips, sugar, Hyssop Water, Aniseed, and liquorish
root. I’m not sure if anyone went home
to try it!
There was an amazing response to the call for volunteers to
join the Twixt Thistle and Rose project with about 40 people of all ages coming
to the two introductory sessions held last week.
SATURDAY’S DROP-IN
They heard about the opportunities to get involved from
Teresa and Linda, including transcribing, typing up, helping with cataloguing,
or repackaging documents from the Borough Archive which detail the running of
Berwick from the day to day to longer term building projects.
There was the chance to look at the account book from 1611
for the Old Bridge when it was the new bridge!
Or the need to repair the Town Hall 200 years ago. Or look at the ‘wanted posters’ sent to the
Berwick police force, which was independent from Northumberland service until
the 1020s, from around Britain. A glimpse of crimes and suspects over a century
and a half ago. Or taking it a step
further, looking at the documents from the Quarter Sessions.
There will be a short series of training sessions to pick up
or brush up palaeography skills for those wanting to work with the hand written
documents and then dedicated weekly sessions in the archive search room on
Tuesday afternoons or project work can be done on Wednesday or Thursday, the
public access days. Volunteers don’t
have to commit to every week, just a reasonable number of sessions over the
year. There is still time to get
involved…….just get in touch!
Old paper catalogues often have miscellaneous sections. This is sometimes because the catalogue is a work in progress – the records have a proper place in the collection but it hasn’t been located yet. Or it might be the place where records are put that don’t quite fit the collection. Unfortunately, a miscellaneous category tends to hide rather than reveal what’s put there – whereas a meaningful title or class description facilitates discovery.
Plan of the water supply to Hide Hill 1835 B10/41 Miscellaneous Guild letters and papers
Waifs and strays
The new catalogue of the archives of the Borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed will not have miscellaneous sections – records will relate to the body that created them. This will make them more accessible and put them in the correct context.
Miscellaneous unreferenced record – Plan of proposed North Bells Fishing Shiel, 1895
First task
I have begun to check some of the boxes of miscellaneous records to estimate the scale of the job ahead. In the main, the miscellaneous records relate to the class they have been placed with but, at some point, bundles have split and become mixed up or pages have been detached from their volumes. In all cases the records are unlisted individually – so none of the documents depicted here, for example, can currently be easily found by using the handlist. A researcher would have to rely on the knowledge of the archivist or browse all miscellaneous records with a relevant date.
Corporation Mathematical School inventory 1804 (C15/1-98 Miscellaneous Papers) showing items handed over by Mr Rae to Mr Todd who had taken over as master of the Mathematical School. The Corporation Academy was completed in 1800 bringing into one place the separate schoolmasters that had taught at different rooms in the town. Only Freemen’s children were admitted. Initially each master reported directly to the Guild but in 1844 a Rector was appointed by the Town Council following research into how Edinburgh and Glasgow schools had been reformed (John Scott History of Berwick, 1888 p.407; Janet D. Cowe The Development of Education in Berwick -upon-Tweed to 1902, 2018 pp 83-95).
Unintentional curators
However, some bundles contain a medley of documents that don’t follow a particular time sequence but contain the sort of records that might be selected when writing a book or article. For example, references to a theatre in Hide Hill, a case of infanticide or a list of books at the Mathematical School. It is not that uncommon to find ad-hoc curation in collections given to Archives – someone will have already found them useful but forgot to note where they came from or did not understand the need to return them to their original place.
Part of a bundle of records relating to the investigation of a charge of infanticide against Margaret Dryden (C15/1-98 Miscellaneous Papers)
Authentication
Detaching a record from it’s original place in the archive not only makes it harder to find but can break the custodial chain that gives a record authenticity and a traceable provenance. It is the reason why archives are listed hierarchically and in such great detail. If they were not, it wouldn’t be too hard to slip in a fake deed or receipt or remove unique and valuable evidence.
How to prepare a prisoner for transportation by hulk to a penal colony 1814 (C15/1-98 Miscellaneous papers)
Licencing Hide Hill Theatre 1794 (C15/1-98 Miscellaneous papers )
John Robinson…man of mystery (C15/1-98 Miscellaneous papers)
A man of mystery, a clothing account and how to maintain a fire engine
The reluctant release of John Robinson, a man with a mysterious past as a ship-hopping vagrant, a list of green clothing purchased and instructions on how to maintain a fire engine are a few examples of miscellaneous items in the current handlist that must be correctly relocated.
Account for clothing (C15/1-98 Miscellaneous papers)
When the catalogue is complete it should be much easier to to find them and understand how they fit into the history of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Fire Engine Instructions ,1814 (C15/1-98 Miscellaneous Papers)
