A major project celebrating all those who have contributed to the history of the county and its towns, cities and villages is nearing completion, writes Barry Shurlock
THREE years ago, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, the Hampshire Field Club (HFC) responded to a call from the London-based Institute for Historical Research (IHR) to come up with an idea for celebrating its centenary.
Their proposal project, Celebrating Hampshire Historians, was quickly accepted. Its aim was to research the lives and works of the many historians who over the years have contributed to the history of the county in all its forms.
Described as “a feather in the cap”’ by the HFC Council, the project is nearing completion after more than 50 meetings of a small group of researchers, all but two by Zoom.
It is a considerable achievement by the HFC, which has been at the forefront of Hampshire studies since 1885, when it was founded by Thomas Shore and a few others. Essentially he was a science teacher with a knowledge of geology, who became interested in the history of Hampshire. He got a job as the curator cum librarian of the Hartley Institution (the forerunner of Southampton University) and later became its principal.
Last summer CHH featured in a symposium held in London, where a number of projects selected by IHR were on show. They demonstrated the spread of interests of this prestigious institution, which provides resources and training for historical researchers within the School of Advanced Study of the University of London.
Other projects demonstrated alongside CHH was one on Women in Archaeology 1850-1950 from the University of Southampton, and another on the temperance movement in Preston, where Joseph Livesey set the ball rolling it in 1832. Nationwide organisations also on show included the National Archives, the Royal Historical Association and the Historical Association.
At this meeting, TV historian Professor Michael Wood reminded delegates that history, including genealogy, is the “biggest hobby in the country”.
At the heart of CHH has been a small group, including the present author, two former HFC presidents, Dick Selwood, and Dave Allen, and retired university lecturer, Roger Ottewill. Their aim has been to write mini-biographies of those who in various ways have helped to tell the story of the county, and highlight their studies and publications, many of which have long been forgotten (the technical term is: biobibliography).
Most of the profiles were written by the core team, but contributions have also been sought from many others – archivists, local historians and former HFC president Jo Bailey. Mike Broderick provided IT support and Julia Sandison helped with editing.
More than 200 entries for individuals from a broad range of backgrounds have been written, including archivists, book collectors, curators, librarians, genealogists and local historians. As expected, many of them focused on the major academic institutions of the county[BS1] , including the cathedral and Winchester College, but a large number researched their own areas.
Country GP, Joseph Stevens, wrote on St Mary Bourne, medieval historian Professor Rosalind Hill on Stockbridge, where she was Lord of the Manor, and journalist and broadcaster Elsie Sandell on Southampton, where she is honoured with a block of flats named after her!
Heavyweights include OGS Crawford, “photographer, Marxist, social critic and cat mimic”, who was the first archaeologist to be employed by the Ordnance Survey and a leading figure in the first half of the last century, when Hampshire pioneered the field.
Another central figure for more than 30 years was Dr John Williams-Freeman, a country doctor cum archaeologist, who showed in 1915 in his Field Archaeology as Illustrated by Hampshire published how local history, folklore and place-names could enrich the discipline.
Catholic independent researcher Francis Baigent edited some of the bishops’ registers and was in great demand in the late Victorian period, both as a medieval historian and artist. He co-authored the first major history of Basingstoke with the town’s vicar, James Millard, as well as researching Crondall, the parish church of Weeke and many other subjects.
Cathedral deans and archivists were very active from the late 1800s, led by George Kitchin, founder of the Hampshire Record Society, one-time head of Twyford School, promoter of Modern History at Oxford and champion of female students at Durham. Others included world-traveller Francis Madge and the husband-and-wife team Arthur and Florence Goodman
Almost every place has at some time had its local historian – such as Dorothy Escombe (who has a road named after her) and Albert Drewitt at Bishopstoke and Eastleigh, Arthur Finch at Kingsclere, William Eyre at Northington and Swarraton, Isabel Sanderson at Itchen Stoke and many many others.
Eleanor and Frank Cottrill were a talented couple: she set up Hampshire Record Office and he became curator of Winchester City Museum, following in the footsteps of WH Jacob, the journalist and alderman who led a campaign to set it up in 1903.
Others who sat on Winchester City Council – and more – and served as city archivist were former Winchester College don, JS Furley, and Barbara Carpenter Turner, mayor, prolific writer, married to the cathedral architect. The current archivist of Winchester College, Suzanne Foster, reckons its great historian was Herbert Chitty.
One of the most successful popular histories, It Happened in Hampshire, published in 1936, was edited by Winifred Beddington (Longstock’s local historian) and Elsa Christy, for the Hampshire Federation of Women’s Institutes.
The county elite have also contributed: The Vyne was chronicled by William Chute, Ralph Dutton recorded the story of his estate at Hinton Ampner and left “a frank view of the lives of the great and good by an insider”. Reginald Bigg-Wither wrote on various subjects, including a comprehensive family history and the “buccaneer” archivist William Moëns made a fortune from being held hostage on Sicily.
There were many failed attempts to write “the county history” before the Victoria County History of Hampshire – the first in the country – appeared in the years before WWI, edited by publisher and genealogist Herbert Doubleday and engineer William Page. Numerous contributions came from the nationally renowned gentleman scholar Horace Round and many others, including Audrey Locke, the clever Oxford-educated daughter of a Head Porter of Winchester College.
The CHH historians have been chosen with a deadline (literally) of “dead by 2000” to avoid personal factors. They were drawn from many sources, including the Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club (indexed by Jane Nicholson), the catalogues of the Hampshire Record Office, the British Library and Hampshire Libraries, and the Cope Collection at the University of Southampton, named after an eccentric Victorian book collector, Sir William Cope.
Also used were the online Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (and earlier editions) and major lists such as Bibliotheca Hantoniensis, published in 1891 by Winchester and Southampton bookseller H.M. Gilbert and the Revd. George Godwin, author of The Civil War in Hampshire (1882). Several “forgotten” local historians were discovered in the footnotes of the Victoria County History of Hampshire.
Above all, CHH has demonstrated that there are many routes to becoming an historian. William Ravenscroft the “energetic first secretary” of the Milford-on-Sea Historical Records Society, the oldest group of local historians in the county, was an architect. Publisher and journalist William Whiteman left his mark on Steep. “Collector and hoarder” Herbert Druitt was brought to order by William Dale, who ran a piano business, and helped to create the Red House Museum, Christchurch. Arthur Willis was a quantity surveyor.
The profiles follow a standard pattern, with a biography and portrait, if available, sub-sections on sources of information and major published works. Also included are comments on “contribution to the county’s history” and other items.
The results of CHH to date, listed alphabetically as Nominated Individuals can be viewed on: www.hantsfieldclub.org.uk/ihr100/index.html. New contributions are always welcome, as well as comments, additions and changes for those already posted (contact: celebrating@hantsfieldclub.org.uk). Over the coming months, this rich resource will be displayed in a series of articles in the Chronicle.
barryshurlock@gmail.com
CAPTIONS
TV historian, Michael Wood, promoter of the “biggest hobby in the country”
Rosalind Hill (1908-1997), Lord of the Manor, Stockbridge
Isabel Sanderson (1907-1987), Itchen Stoke historian, sketching in Alresford
A bestseller published by the WI in 1936
Sir William Cope (1811-1892), creator of the Cope Collection, University of Southampton
William Moëns (1833-1904), antiquary and author of English Travellers and Italian Brigands, 1866
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