Record Commission

The Record Commissions were a series of six Royal Commissions of Great Britain and (from 1801) the United Kingdom which sat between 1800 and 1837 to inquire into the custody and public accessibility of the state archives. The Commissioners' work led eventually to the establishment of the Public Record Office in 1838. The Commissioners were also responsible for publishing various historical records, including the Statutes of the Realm (i.e. of England and Great Britain) to 1714 and the Acts of Parliament of Scotland to 1707, as well as a number of important medieval records.

Although the six Commissions were technically distinct from one another, there was a considerable degree of continuity between them, and it is common practice to regard them as a single entity and to refer to them in singular form as the Record Commission.

Activities

The first Commission was established on 19 July 1800, on the recommendation of a Select Committee appointed earlier in the year, on the initiative and under the chairmanship of Charles Abbot, MP for Helston, "to inquire into the State of the Public Records of this kingdom". The public records were at this time housed in a variety of repositories, including the Tower of London, the chapter house of Westminster Abbey, the Pell Office adjacent to Westminster Hall, Somerset House, and elsewhere, often in a disorganised state and in highly unsuitable physical conditions. The idea of a single central repository was mooted as early as 1800, but it was to be many years before this was achieved: in the meantime, the Commissioners arranged for various moves of individual classes of records into new accommodation. These moves were well-intentioned and sometimes led to improvements in storage and arrangement, but more often resulted in the loss and further disorganisation of records. Nevertheless, the work of the sixth Commission, which sat from 1831 to 1837, paved the way for the passing of the Public Record Office Act 1838, which established the Public Record Office the same year.

The Commissioners' second objective was to make the records more accessible through the compilation of finding aids (indexes), and where possible the publication of these, and of calendars and full texts of selected records of particular importance. The sixth Commission employed four sub-Commissioners (Joseph Hunter, Francis Palgrave, Joseph Stevenson, and for a time John Caley), as well as other ad hoc editors and a number of clerks, specifically in the task of editing records for publication. The publications programme was generally considered a success, although in some cases the absence of a permanent arrangement to the records rapidly rendered the compilation of finding aids efforts redundant.

Publications

The Commissions' publications included:

• Astle, Thomas; Ayscough, Samuel; Caley, John, eds. (1802). Taxatio Ecclesiastica Angliae et Walliae auctoritate P. Nicholai IV, circa A.D. 1291.
• Astle, Thomas; Ayscough, Samuel; Caley, John, eds. (1802). Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium in Turri Londiniensi. See Patent Rolls.
• Caley, John, ed. (1803). Calendarium Rotulorum Chartarum et Inquisitionum ad quod damnum. See Charter Roll.
• Robertson, W., ed. (1804). The Parliamentary Records of Scotland in the General Register House, Edinburgh.
• Playford, H.; Caley, John, eds. (1805–10). Rotulorum Originalium in Curia Scaccarii Abbreviato. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help) (2 vols)
• Caley, John; Bayley, J., eds. (1806–28). Calendarium Inquisitionum post mortem sive Escaetarum. (4 vols). See Inquisition post mortem.
• Vanderzee, G., ed. (1807). Nonarum Inquisitiones in Curia Scaccarii, temp. Regis Edwardi III.
• Caley, John; Illingworth, William, eds. (1807). Testa de Nevill sive liber feodorum in Curia Scaccarii, temp Hen. III et Edw. I. See Book of Fees.
• Luders, A.; Tomlins, T.E.; Taunton, W.E.; Raithby, J., eds. (1810–28). The Statutes of the Realm, from original records and authentic manuscripts. (11 vols). See The Statutes of the Realm.
• Caley, John; Hunter, J., eds. (1810–34). Valor Ecclesiasticus temp. Hen. VIII auctoritate regia institutus. (6 vols)
• Illingworth, William, ed. (1811). Placitorum in Domo Capitulari Westmonasteriensi asservatorum abbreviatio, temporibus regum Ric. I, Johann., Hen. III, Edw. I, Edw. II.
• Thomson, T., ed. (1811–16). Inquistitionum ad Capellam Domini Regis retornatarum quae in publicis archivis Scotiae adhuc servantur, abbreviatio. (3 vols)
• Illingworth, William, ed. (1812–18). Rotuli Hundredorum temp. Hen. III et Edw. I in turr’ Lond’ et in curia receptae scaccarii West' asservati. (2 vols). See Hundred Rolls.
• Macpherson, David; Caley, John; Illingworth, William, eds. (1814–19). Rotuli Scotiae in Turri Londinensi et in Domo Capitulari Westmonasteriensi asservati. (2 vols)
• Thomson, Thomas; Innes, Cosmo, eds. (1814–44). The Acts of Parliament of Scotland. (11 vols)
• Ellis, Henry, ed. (1816). Libri Censualis, vocati Domesday-Book, additamenta ex codic. antiquiss.: Exon’ Domesday, Inquisition Eliensis, Liber Winton’, Boldon Book. See Publication of Domesday Book.
• Ellis, Henry, ed. (1816). Libri Censualis, vocati Domesday-Book, Indices: accesit dissertatio generalis de ratione hujusce libri. See Publication of Domesday Book.
• Illingworth, William, ed. (1818). Placita de Quo Warranto, temporibus Edw. I, II et III in Curia Receptae Scaccarii Westm. Asservata.
• Harper, R.J.; Caley, John; Minchin, W., eds. (1823–34). Ducatus Lancastriae.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) (Records of inquisitions post mortem, and pleadings and depositions, within the Duchy of Lancaster, in 3 vols)
• Bayley, John, ed. (1827–32). Calendars of the Proceedings in Chancery in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth; to which are prefixed examples of earlier proceedings in that court, namely, from the reign of Richard the Second to that of Queen Elizabeth inclusive.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) (3 vols)
• Palgrave, Francis, ed. (1827–34). The Parliamentary Writs and Writs of Military Summons, together with the records and muniments relating to the suit and service due and performed to the King’s High Court of Parliament and the Councils of the Realm, or affording evidence of attendance at Parliaments and Councils.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) (2 vols: includes in Vol. 2 a text of Nomina Villarum)
• Hunter, Joseph, ed. (1833). Magnum Rotulum Scaccarii, vel Magnum Rotulum Pipae, anno tricesimo-primo regni Henrici primi, ut videtur, quem plurimi hactenus laudarunt pro rotulo quinti anni Stephani Regis.
• Hunter, Joseph, ed. (1833). Rotulus Cancellarii, vel Antigraphum Magni Rotuli Pipae, de tertio anno regni Regis Johannis.
• Hardy, Thomas Duffus, ed. (1833). Rotuli Litteraum Clausarum in Turri Londinensi Asservati. (An edition of the Close Rolls for the years 1204–1224. A second volume, covering the years 1224–27 and also edited by Hardy, was published by the Public Record Office in 1844.)
• Hunter, Joseph, ed. (1834). Rotuli Selecti ad res Anglicas et Hibernicas Spectantes: ex Archivis in Domo Capitulari Westmonasteriensi Deprompti.
• Nicolas, Sir Harris, ed. (1834–7). Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England [1386–1542]. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |editorlink= ignored (|editor-link= suggested) (help) (7 vols)
• Palgrave, Francis, ed. (1835). Rotuli Curiae Regis: Rolls and Records of the Court held before the King’s Justiciars or Justices.

See also

• Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts

Bibliography

• Gouldesbrough, Peter (1973). "The Record Commissions and Scotland". In Ranger, Felicity (ed.). Prisca Munimenta: studies in archival & administrative history presented to Dr A.E.J. Hollaender. London: University of London Press. pp. 19–26. ISBN 0-340-17398-X.
• Walne, Peter (1973). "The Record Commissions 1800–37". In Ranger, Felicity (ed.). Prisca Munimenta: studies in archival & administrative history presented to Dr A.E.J. Hollaender. London: University of London Press. pp. 9–18. ISBN 0-340-17398-X.

External links

• "Texts and Calendars published by the Record Commissioners" (PDF). Royal Historical Society. Retrieved 1 January 2014.