Library news: May 2009

Notes

The library team is delighted to welcome a new member, Elizabeth Gardner, who has been working with us for several weeks now. Elizabeth has a range of valuable experience and skills. Her first degree was in history, and she went on to complete a doctorate in medieval history at Oxford, and then to work in the library, and as an editor, in a current affairs institute in London. Since she had her family she has worked in a number of local schools, mainly with children with special educational needs. She has been a volunteer for more than ten years at the Museum of St Albans, organising and cataloguing the library, helping with enquiries and carrying out research. She has written a history of Marlborough Road Methodist Church, and was one of the authors of the recent book on Marshalswick House and its estate. She is currently working with museum staff on a history of Fleetville. The Arc and Arc is very fortunate to have Elizabeth's assistance in the work of its library.

Elizabeth's first task has been to index to a collection of some 600 35mm slides, mostly of local scenes, donated by Frank Kilvington. The library team continue the long-term tasks of cataloguing books and pamphlets, and organising other library materials, dealing with enquiries, and talking to our visitors, from whom we learn a good deal. Other volunteers have been sorting and indexing papers, and producing a single index to the Transactions, Herts Archaeology, and Arc and Arc publications since the 1850s.

Apropos the slide collection above, the indexing has been done without the use of a slide viewer. If any member has a small battery-powered viewer for which they no longer have a use, and would be happy to donate it to the library, we would be very grateful.

Members who attended the very enjoyable visits to Kingsbury Barn, guided by Roger Miles, (and perhaps those members who might have missed them) may like to know of an article containing a description of the barn and its construction in Herts Archaeology, vol. 3 1973, pp134-138. The medieval aisled barns at Kingsbury Manor Farm, St Albans, and Croxley Hall Farm, by Stephen A Castle includes a plan and section of Kingsbury barn, and a photograph of the original roof-tile pattern. This pattern is followed in the current renovation and conservation project.

Books added recently to Library stock

A Redbourn commoner: a country life, by Geoff Webb. Stroud, Amberley Publications, 2008. 127pp, photographs. First published 1982.
The author's family ran a dairy in Redbourn for over a hundred years.

The reign of King HenryVI, by R A Griffiths. Stroud, Sutton Publishing, 1981. 968pp, bibliogs, index.

John Monk of St Michael's: the life story of a St Albans Victorian, by John Everett. Oakley Press, 1989[?]. 42pp
John Monk, born 1802, died 1890, was a village bootmaker who also served the parish, in a variety of capacities. This memoir draws on records held in St Michael's parish chest.

The Peasants' Revolt: England's failed revolution of 1381, by Alastair Dunn. Stroud, Tempus Publishing, 2004. Includes an account of the revolt in St Albans, and its aftermath.

Articles from journals recently received, which might interest members.

In British Archaeology, January/February 2009
Pp 30-33, John Evans, by Susanne Bangert. The author is one of the initiators of the Ashmolean Museum's Sir John Evans Centenary Project, which has sorted, catalogued and re-housed his archive.

In The Alban Link, No 70, Spring 2009
Pp 4-9 Friends - ancient and modern, by Stephen de Silva. An account of the medieval fraternity of St Albans Abbey, drawing on the Book of Benefactors of St Albans Abbey, compiled about 1380.

Pp 10-14 The forgotten ceiling , by Michael Rose. The ceiling paintings in the Abbey choir, re-discovered in 1875, are described and interpreted.

Pp 16-20 The Caen connection of 1909, by Jean Payton. The Entente Cordiale of 1904 led to an association between St Albans and Caen. Mayor Arthur Faulkner was instrumental in arranging civic exchange visits in 1909 of dignitaries from each city.

In Herts Past and Present no 13, Spring 2009
Pp 3-10 Hertfordshire children and the First World War, by David Parker.

Pp 11-16 Paul Victor Edison Mauger, FRIBA, (1896 1982): Quaker architect of Welwyn Garden City, by Oliver Bradbury. Includes photographs of some of Mauger's buildings, and a list of his known work at Welwyn Garden City.

Pp 17-20 Arthur Sebright, a Victorian ne'er-do-well: the story of a Flamstead younger son, by Arthur Addington. Arthur Sebright was an aristocratic black sheep, involved in financial and marital scandals.

Pp 21-30 More hidden histories: new evidence relating to Hertfordshire and the slave trade, by Jill Barber. Hertfordshire people played a key part in the capture and enslavement, and then transportation of people from west Africa. The role of eight families is described.

In London Archaeologist vol 12, no 4 Spring 2008
Pp 107-113 Red or yellow? The changing colour of London's roof-line, by Sophie Unger. Reports on an investigation of one of the rural suppliers of roof tiles for later Roman buildings in London. The yellow or orange-brown tiles were transported from Harrold in Bedfordshire.

The library has also received copies of these journals: