Victoria County History

Victoria History of the Counties of England

The VCH logo
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Discipline	History
Publisher	Institute of Historical Research
Media type	Print
Website	www.history.ac.uk/research/victoria-county-history

The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the

The history of the VCH falls into three main phases, defined by different funding regimes: an early phase, 1899–1914, when the project was conceived as a commercial enterprise, and progress was rapid; a second more desultory phase, 1914–1947, when relatively little progress was made; and the third phase beginning in 1947, when, under the auspices of the Institute of Historical Research, a high academic standard was set, and progress has been slow but reasonably steady.[2]^: 54–6

These phases have also been characterised by changing attitudes towards the proper scope of

From 1902 the joint general editors were H. Arthur Doubleday and William Page. Doubleday resigned (in acrimonious circumstances) in 1904,^{[3]: 148–52} leaving Page as sole general editor until his death in 1934. In 1932 Page bought the rights to the ailing project for a nominal sum, donating it to the Institute of Historical Research the following year.^[4] Page was succeeded as general editor by L. F. Salzman, who remained in post until 1949.^[4] The early volumes depended heavily on the efforts of a large number of young research workers, mostly female, fresh from degree courses at Oxford, Cambridge, London or the Scottish universities, for whom other employment opportunities were limited: the VCH of this period has been described as "a history for gentlemen largely researched by ladies".^[2]: 54

From 1909 until 1931

The first VCH volume was published in 1901, and publication continued slowly throughout the 20th century, although in some counties it has come to a halt, especially during the

There are now more than 230 VCH volumes, with around three new volumes published per year. Each is published with a red cover, and they are therefore sometimes known as "the big red books". When the Institute of Historical Research published a short history of the project to mark the 75th anniversary of taking it over, it was titled The Little Big Red Book.[6] A special edition Jubilee book was published in 2012, A Diamond Jubilee Celebration 1899–2012.^[1]

A map showing the publication status appears on the VCH website.^[7]

Structure and content of the county histories

From its inception, responsibility for writing the volumes was delegated to local editors for each individual county. The county editors traditionally worked under the direction of a general editor, following a uniform format and style.

In general, the histories begin with one or more volumes of general studies of the county as a whole, including major themes, such as religious history, agriculture, industries, population (with summary tables of decennial census totals 1801–1901), and an introduction to and translation of the relevant section of

Under the original plan, each county, in addition to its general and topographical volumes, was to have a genealogical volume containing the pedigrees of county families. Genealogical volumes were published in a large folio format for Northamptonshire (1906) and Hertfordshire (1907), but the research costs were found to be excessive, and this side of the project was discontinued.^{[3]: 156–57}

Completed county histories

Some of the county histories have been completed, as follows:

Counties in progress

For each uncompleted county history on which work is continuing (i.e.: "active" in VCH terminology), progress is as follows:

Dormant counties

Several volumes are not currently being worked on.

Counties with no published volumes

• Northumberland produced its own, non-VCH, history in 15 volumes, published by the Northumberland County History Committee, completed in 1940.
• Monmouthshire, sometimes regarded between the 16th and 20th centuries as an English county, has never been treated as such by the VCH, and has never been proposed for inclusion within the project. A non-VCH county history of Gwent/Monmouthshire was published by the University of Wales Press in five volumes between 2004 and 2013.^[9][10]
• Westmorland has not yet produced a VCH volume, but the area is included within the VCH Cumbria project.

General editors

• William Page (General Editor 1904–34)
• Louis Francis Salzman (General Editor 1934–49)
• Ralph Pugh (General Editor 1949–77)
• Christopher Elrington (General Editor 1977–94)
• Christopher Currie (General Editor 1994–2000)^[11]
• Anthony Fletcher (General Editor/Director 2000–2005)^[12]
• John Beckett (General Editor/Director 2005–2010)^[12]
• Elizabeth Williamson (Executive Editor 2010–2014)^[12]
• Richard Hoyle (General Editor/Director 2014–2016)^[13]
• Catherine Clarke (Director 2019–present)^[14]

Notable county editors

• William Page (Somerset, also general editor)
• David Crouch (Yorkshire, East Riding)
• Peter Ditchfield (Berkshire)
• Mary Lobel (Oxfordshire)
• Susan Reynolds (Middlesex)
• J. Horace Round
  (Essex)
• John William Willis-Bund (Worcestershire)
• Oswald Barron (general editor of the genealogical volumes for Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire)

Notable contributors

• Mary Bateson^[15]
• Madeleine Hope Dodds (contributed to Durham)^[16]
• Charles Reed Peers (Architectural Editor, 1903–10)
• Maud Sellars (contributed to Yorkshire, Durham)^[17]
• Ethel Stokes (contributed to Essex)
• Margerie Venables Taylor^[18]

Online availability

Much of the content of the older VCH volumes is now accessible via the

of each county.

See also

• Gloucestershire Victoria County History
• Somerset Victoria County History
• Wiltshire Victoria County History
• Cambridge County Geographies
• English county histories
• Historiography of the United Kingdom

References

1. ^
   ISBN 9781905165919
   .
2. ^
   ISBN 0712301755
   .
3. ^
   ISBN 1-898529-19-1
   .
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Lewis, Chris (2008). "William Page (1861–1934), general editor of the Victoria County History 1902–34". Making History.
5. ^ "England's Past for Everyone". Victoria County History. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
6. ^ "75 years at the IHR". Victoria County History. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
7. ^ "VCH Counties". Victoria County History. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
8. ^
   ISBN 0-86299-958-8
   .
9. ^ "The Gwent County History, Volume 1: Gwent in Prehistory and Early History". University of Wales Press. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
10. ^ "The Gwent County History, Volume 5: The Twentieth Century". University of Wales Press. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
11. ^ "Dr Christopher Currie, MA, D Phil (Oxon), FRHistS, FSA". IHR. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
12. ^ ^{a b c} "Contributors to the VCH". IHR. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
13. ^ "Professor Richard Hoyle appointed as VCH Director & General Editor". IHR. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
14. ^ "Medieval specialist Catherine Clarke to lead new IHR research centre and the VCH | Victoria County History". www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
15. ^ "Mary Bateson". beyond-notability.wikibase.cloud. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
16. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/60805. Retrieved 11 October 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
17. ^ "Maud Sellers". beyond-notability.wikibase.cloud. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
18. ^ "Margerie Venables Taylor". beyond-notability.wikibase.cloud. Retrieved 15 December 2022.

Further reading

• Baker, Timothy (1993). "The Victoria County History of Middlesex". The Local Historian. 23: 155–62.
• doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.2007.00426.x
  .
• Beckett, J. V. (2009). "The Thoroton Society and the Victoria County History". Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire. 113: 119–36.
• S2CID 162269824
  .
• Beckett, J. V. (2011). "Writing Hampshire's history: the Victoria County History, 1899–1914". Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society. 66: 201–214.
• S2CID 159827576
  .
• Beckett, J. V. (2011). "W. G. Hoskins and the Victoria County History in Leicestershire". Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. 85: 165–191.
• S2CID 162189941
  .
• Beckett, J. V. (2011). "The Victoria County History in Devon, 1899–1910". Devonshire Association Report and Transactions. 143: 283–310.
• Beckett, J. V. (2011). "The Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society and the Victoria County History". Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society. 3rd ser. 11: 207–225.
• Beckett, J. V. (2011). "Canon Thomas Taylor of St Just and the Victoria County History in Cornwall, 1899–1938". Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall: 31–44.
• S2CID 161292986
  .
• S2CID 161279919
  .
• ISBN 9781905165735
  .
• S2CID 162280058
  .
• Cooper, Janet (1992). "The Victoria County History". In Neale, Kenneth (ed.). Essex Heritage: essays presented to Sir William Addison as a tribute to his life and work for Essex history and literature. Oxford: Leopard's Head. pp. 15–30.
• Currie, C. R. J. (1999). "Victoria County History". History Today. 49 (12): 28–30.
• Dunning, R. W. (2006). "The Victoria County History of Cornwall: an uncertain start". Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall: 14–21.
• Elrington, Christopher (1992). "The Victoria County History". The Local Historian. 22: 128–37.
• Hackett, Mel; Whitston, Kerry (2008). The Little Big Red Book: a celebration of 75 years of the Victoria County History at the Institute of Historical Research. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer.
  ISBN 978-1-904356-14-1
  .
• Lilley, Keith D. (2012). "Review Article: The Victoria County History and the landscape of towns: a review and critique". 13 (1): 70–74. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Pugh, R. B. (1971). "The Victoria County History". British Studies Monitor. 2: 15–23.
• Williamson, Elizabeth (2001). "Heritage and history: the historic built environment and the Victoria County History". The Historian. 72: 44–47.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Victoria County History

• Official website
• The Victoria County History at Boydell & Brewer
• Professor Christopher Elrington – Daily Telegraph obituary