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November 1995, vol. 27, no. 11
by Betty Deavy, Former Government and Law Specialist, National Library of Canada
In 1853, the public records of Great Britain were praised by F.S. Thomas, Secretary of the Public Record Office, as excelling "all others in age, beauty, correctness and authority. From them is to be obtained the history of the laws, constitution and polity of the kingdom". 1 The Public Record Office was established by an act in 1838 to bring together scattered judicial records for safe keeping. In 1852, an Order-in-Council authorized the addition of records from the State Paper Office, Treasury, War Office, Admiralty, Home, Foreign and Colonial Offices. All were to be cleaned, repaired and made accessible through printed calendars (summaries complete enough to replace the original documents for most purposes), indexes and full texts. The accessibility of the Public Record Office holdings has meant that scholars and researchers do not have to use the originals, they do not even have to visit Britain to read many of the primary sources for studying British history, such as Papal Bulls that influenced the course of the Church, and edicts issued by the Lords of Trade and Plantations that changed territories and boundaries in the colonies.
These documents begin, for the most part, with the reign of Henry III in 1216, although the earliest judicial records, the Curia Regis Rolls, date from the sixth year of the reign of Richard I, in 1194. In addition to records of government and the courts, more than 100 ancient and historical manuscripts have been published in full text in the series Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores or Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages. The early works may be in Latin, Old English or Norman French. In more recent times, full-text documents have been issued in microform rather than being summarized in calendars.
Many of these early records are available to Canadian researchers at the National Library, along with current and retrospective debates, journals, sessional papers, bills and statutes. Extensive indexing has been done on most of this material; publications issued since 1980 are indexed on a CD-ROM, United Kingdom Official Publications (UKOP), accessible in the Library's Reference Room. However, because foreign official publications are not always included in the National Library's online public access catalogue, they may be overlooked by individuals who could use them.
Part of the National Library's collection.
In 1995, the National Library is publishing The British Official Publications Collection Guide. It describes documents selected because of their value for reference and for research in Canadian studies (particularly in relation to the historical development of Canadian society), genealogy and in the social sciences, especially the history and government of Great Britain. Items have been selected from the general collection, the Reference Collection and the Rare Book Collection, but most are in the Foreign and International Official Publications (FIOP) collection. It is the third in a series of guides intended to promote the awareness and increase the accessibility of the National Library's official publications. The revised United States Federal Official Publications Collection Guide appeared in 1993, followed by The Official Publications of France: Collection Guide in 1994 (see "Government of the People, by the People, for the People: United States Federal Official Publications at the National Library of Canada", and "The Official Publications of France at the National Library of Canada; or, How a Little Project Grew", both published in National Library News, vol. 26, no. 10, October 1994).
When the National Library was established in 1953, a large gift of publications was received from the Library of Parliament, including many long series runs published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). These were the basis for the Library's excellent collection relating to Great Britain. Farsighted acquisition policies during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s helped to fill the gaps and strengthen the holdings. Until it ceased in 1989, an exchange program with Great Britain increased holdings of current publications.
Many parts of the collection are well known and well used: debates, command papers (including royal commission reports), House of Lords and House of Commons papers, statutes, the London Gazette. Less well known is the large body of materials published by the Public Record Office, but the contents are invaluable to a social historian or genealogist who wants to explore a family tree to its deepest roots. The Calendar of Assize Records describes the criminal trials that took place during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I, covering crimes that range from stealing a loaf of bread to practising witchcraft and committing murder. The records are indexed by type of crime as well as individual names. The Committee for Compounding with Delinquents, etc. was established by the Commonwealth under Cromwell to fine those who took the Royalist side in the Civil War or who were considered "Papists". The State papers, domestic, foreign and colonial series, contain information on a multitude of subjects, including agriculture, forests, poor laws, diplomacy, treaties, slavery, Parliament, the church, and the universities.
The army, navy and air force lists are a source of information on officers, battalions, schools, ships, dress regulations, and related topics that cover more than two centuries. Holdings of the Army List begin in 1758 and continue until 1989. The Navy List holdings run from 1807 to 1989. Canadian officers and ships were included until after World War II. The Air Force List holdings begin with records for 1939, then cover the years 1971 to 1989.
There are excellent sources of material in the general collection and in the Rare Book Collection that deal with Canadian studies, genealogy and constitutional and administrative history, as mentioned earlier. Only a few of them are described in the guide because they are accessible through the National Library's online catalogue, Dynix, unlike most titles in FIOP.
Part of the National Library's collection.
In the Rare Book Collection, classified by subject, are early examples of bills, acts and command
papers of Great Britain that relate to events in Canada's history. Examples include arguments over the
ownership of fish in Newfoundland, the beginnings of the Hudson Bay Company, and boundary disputes
with the United States. One of my favourite rare publications is a 1685 collection of treaties,
Several Treaties of Peace and Commerce Concluded between the Late King of Blessed Memory
Deceased [Charles II], and Other Princes and States. These treaties mention
Newfoundland fish (a topic of ongoing importance!) and formal arrangements for the transfer of "Acadia"
to the French. Hatsell's Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons, with
Observations formed the basis of parliamentary law for all countries that use a parliamentary form
of government; included are eyewitness accounts of the happenings in Parliament during the reign of
Charles I.
The Library's general collection, especially in the LC categories of DA (Great Britain as a subject) and JN101-1500s (Constitutional and administrative history of Great Britain and Ireland), is rich in histories, chronologies, memoirs, and diaries. Microfiche sets, such as Early English Books, 1475-1640 and 1641-1700 and Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature, offer access to the contents of thousands more books that are rare or difficult to locate. Also in microfiche are British Biographical Archive: A One-Alphabet Cumulation of 324 of the Most Important English-Language Biographical Reference Works Originally Published between 1601 and 1929 and British and Irish Biographies, 1840-1940, two of many biographical resources in the Reference Collection.
These comprehensive collections make it possible for the Library's Reference and Information Services staff to satisfy most of the requests for information about Britain and its past. Researchers may require sessional papers, committee or royal commission reports for the study of trade, labour, economics or Arctic exploration, while others need statutes, regulations and debates, and the London Gazette is frequently searched for citations of honours and awards. Questions about royalty are always favorites with clients. Some examples of researchers' interests:
There are more than 170 titles described in the National Library's British Official Publications Collection Guide, ranging from HMSO catalogues, museum and gallery publications to compilations of trade, employment and statistics information. It is the aim of the guide to make this large and valuable collection more widely known and used.
Information:
Reference and Information Services Division
National Library of Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0N4
Telephone: (613) 995-9481
Fax: (613) 943-1112
TTY: (613) 992-6969
Internet: reference@nlc-bnc.ca
The Great Britain Official Publications Collection Guide will be available from:
Canada Communication Group -
Publishing
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0S9
Telephone: (819) 956-4802
Fax: (819) 994-1498
(Price to be announced)
1Thomas, F.S., Handbook to the Public Records (London: George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1853), p. xxxii.
Copyright. The National Library of Canada. (Revised: 1995-12-11).