Good news!

The Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society has taken on ownership of the glos1909survey.org.uk website. The Society has for several years supported the project to transcribe the material in Gloucestershire Archives relating to the Lloyd George survey of land values, introduced in the People’s Budget of 1909; it has also given invaluable financial help in setting up a website to make the material freely available. Now the maintenance of the site is assured for the long term, which is good news indeed.

Gloucestershire Archives has supported the project by making the material available and by agreeing that it should be freely accessible on the website. Transcription of this material is now completed, thanks to many volunteers’ willing perseverance.

Jan Broadway of Xmera Ltd has developed the website and uploaded the material, and, with the continuing support of B&GAS, will upload further data as volunteers transcribe material in The National Archives to fill gaps where local sources are missing. She will also upload material from the Bristol project as it becomes available.

Bristol starts a parallel project

The first three boxes of forms - nearly 6,000 lines of information - will shortly be available on this website.

For those in the south of the county, it is of particular interest that Peter and Jinx Newley are starting to transcribe the Lloyd George survey material in Bristol Record Office. They are working on Form 37s, which match the Cheltenham Office material for Gloucestershire. The forms give final valuations of property as agreed by owners, with their names and addresses. Bristol had a population of 330,000 and nearly 64,000 houses, but fortunately many groups of houses were owned by one person and were dealt with as a block. It is nonetheless a large task and volunteers are needed to tackle this mass of material.

VOLUNTEERS ARE WELCOME AT ALL TIMES FOR AS MUCH

OR AS LITTLE TIME AS THEY FEEL ABLE TO SPEND

CONTACT info@glos1909survey.org.uk

A list of all those who have contributed to the project to date: 

Alison Hobson   Andrew Baines   Ann Bailey   Ann Hookey   Ann Eldridge  Anne Seymour  Anne Perkins  Anthea Jones  Bill Welsh   Brian Lickman   Carol Watkins   David Broad David O'Connor  David Scriven Di Medland   Dick Greenslade   Gail Jolly   Elizabeth Jack  Geoff Haines   Jan Whitton Jane Haines Janet Mann    Janet Robson    Jill Voyce   Jill Waller    John Loosley  Judith Ellis    Linda Warwick   Lyn Carnaby   Martin Bailey Mary Southerton    Maureen Anderson   Mike Beacham    Mike Payne   Mont Bryan    Neela Mann   Pat Conibere    Pat Norman   Peter Barlow Peter Yardley   Richard Smith    Rob WhiteSue Brown   Susan Constance Tony & Jane Sale   Wendy Sharpe   Wendy Snarey 

Thanks to contributors who have written blogs stimulated by the 1909 survey material.

The Friends of Gloucestershire Archives have a website which includes 'The Parlour'. Volunteers on the glos1909survey, or users of the website material, can contribute a short note (up to 400 words) to The Parlour describing any interesting item which you have come across while transcribing the 1909 material (or relevant to it), or you can add a comment on an item or items already entered. Please contribute. No matter how short the note, it keeps a record of interesting items for everyone to share.

Progress report

The transcribing of material in Gloucestershire Archives is completed.

Volunteers would be welcome to photograph or transcribe from photographic images - a task which can be done at home

At the same time, The National Archives are busy indexing their Lloyd George survey record maps and linking them to the Field Books via an interactive map. They are described as 'Board of Inland Revenue:Valuation Office: Finance Act 1910: Record Sheet Plans'. The interactive map is at http://labs.nationalarchives.gov.uk/maps/valuation.html

It is good to find the website being used!

Di Ryley writes:

'The properties (and in particular the mills) that I have been researching in Mill Lane, Prestbury, had long tenancies and ownerships until the early nineteen hundreds. Then there were many sales of properties in quick succession. In part, this was because the era of water milling was overtaken by steam. Being able to search by name and property has revealed some surprises and clarifications, both especially useful as more recent deeds were lost when a solicitor left them on a train....'

Wendy Snarey of Tewkesbury has transcribed the information  for Tewkesbury Abbey  (reference IR 58/33086)

“Built of stone in the form of Latin Cross – with a square battlemented tower at intersection. The Architecture is chiefly Norman tho' shewing portions in Early English, English, AngloNorman, Decorated and Perpendicular. The church consists of Nave 167 ft long, aisles, transept, choir, ambulatory round choir and eight chapels built off ambulatory. These chapels vary in size and six of them are polygonal. On each side of the Nave are 7 cylindrical columns 30ft 8in x 6ft 3in diameter surmounted by plain arches and above each arch are double openings separated by a balluster behind which is a triforium walk.
Total internal length – 311ft 2in  Width of Transept – 122ft   Width of Nave – 71ft 6in  Height of Nave to Vault – 58ft 6in
The Tower is 46ft square and 132ft high to leads and 148ft to top of pinnacles. Roofs of Nave, Choir, Transepts, North Aisle and Tower of lead Roofs of Chapels, South Aisle and Porch of tile. There is a large Norman Porch on the north side. The West Front has a very large window recessed by 6 orders. The stained glass windows of the Choir are said to be 600 years old and of particularly fine workmanship. The building generally is considered the finest example of Norman Architecture extant. The Tower is badly cracked in places and requires grouting. Burial Ground in front contains many ornamental trees.”

Valuation:- “6ft added to all heights above ground to allow for foundations”    Total Value £299657

Tracing public rights of way

One researcher is studying the evidence of Public Rights of Way in Gloucestershire in the survey records. He is finding many which are no longer recognised or used, but others which may be added to the county footpath maps. He is also able to supplement the Gloucestershire sources from the National Archives Field Books.

Missing properties

This same energetic researcher has been comparing the Gloucestershire Archives draft record maps with those in The National Archives, and the coverage of properties in the Form 37s with the Field Books. It is clear that the Gloucestershire Archives material does not include every property surveyed, but where are the missing surveys?

While the Field Books in TNA can fill in the names of occupiers which the Cheltenham Valuation Office did not bother to record where an owner had more than one property, there are also gaps in the Field Books, too, where no survey had been recorded.

Some answers

Sometimes this is almost certainly because corporate bodies like Corpus Christi College, Oxford, which owned Cheltenham property, had all their property surveyed in a block – perhaps in Oxford or in London. Other examples include the owner of Charlton Park in Charlton Kings, the property of Albert Brassey. As he owned Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire, where he lived, Charlton Park may be dealt with there. Interesting research possibilities are opened up! Nonetheless an amazing amount of material is gradually being assembled onto our Gloucesteshire database.

Your Family History?

The September 2012 issue contains an article on the Gloucestershire project. Visit www.your-familyhistory.com.

See also an article in the August issue  (forthcoming)