What lurks in these vaults? King's Remembrancer Records

The records of the King's Remembrancer were kept in the King's
Remembrancer's Office adjacent to Westminster Hall until the
beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1800 the select committee on
the state of the public records reported that the records were in
serious danger due to the disrepair of the storage areas and the
hazard of fire. In 1822, in order to make way for building work, the
records were moved into a 'dark, damp and pestilential' makeshift
shed inside the Hall itself. It was later reported that during the
move 'large quantities of parchments were purloined by the labourers
employed and sold to glue manufacturers', while the builders working
on the new fabric to the palace claimed they had in their possession
charters, seals and other records taken from the old offices. The
records were described as 'literally covered in filth' with 'dry rot
among them'. In 1831, the records were moved to the royal mews at
Charing Cross (a process which took five months) and then on to
Carlton Ride, the former royal stables, in 1835. This saved them from
the devastating fire which broke out at Westminster Palace in 1834,
but their condition remained extremely poor. Henry Cole reported in
1836 that the 5000 bundles which made up the Exchequer miscellanea
were stored at Carlton Ride in two giant sheds 4136 cubic feet in
size. The records were very damp, some coagulated beyond repair, with
others stuck permanently to the shed walls. Seven mummified rats and
a dead cat were found among the records when they were sorted. The
records were full of the bones of dead vermin, and a dog regularly
searched the sheds for living rats and their nests. On packing the
records in 1836, it took three labourers three weeks to transfer the
records from the shed into sacks, relying on strong drink to overcome
the 'putrid filth, stench, dirt and decomposition' of their working
conditions. Five hundred sacks of records were filled, and 24 bushels
of dust and dirt were discarded. The conditions of the records of the
King's Remembrancer were some of the worst discovered by the select
committee, whose report eventually led to the creation of the Public
Record Office in 1838.

http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatalogueDetails.a
sp?CATID=135&CATLN=2&FullDetails=True

it's not any wonder records are hard to find...twits and nitwits with
no respect for history..sigh.
roslyn

I was once curator of a museum/gallery/archives complex. When I went
seeking local public records from the nineteenth century, I discovered
that some public servants had actually kept materials in their personal
possessions rather than submit them to a central repository. I'm sure
these people kept the records because there were no proper storage
facilities. Better to keep the records in a house than in a barn, I
suppose. Lord knows where these items are after 150 years or so. Some of
these records were municipal minute books that contained bylaws and
other matters of legal import.

I wonder how many times the same law has been passed and re-passed over
the years in a particular jurisdiction, simply because records
pertaining to the law were lost over the years.

fayreroze wrote:

> The records of the King's Remembrancer were kept in the King's
> Remembrancer's Office adjacent to Westminster Hall until the
> beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1800 the select committee on
> the state of the public records reported that the records were in
> serious danger due to the disrepair of the storage areas and the
> hazard of fire. In 1822, in order to make way for building work, the
> records were moved into a 'dark, damp and pestilential' makeshift
> shed inside the Hall itself. It was later reported that during the
> move 'large quantities of parchments were purloined by the labourers
> employed and sold to glue manufacturers', while the builders working
> on the new fabric to the palace claimed they had in their possession
> charters, seals and other records taken from the old offices. The
> records were described as 'literally covered in filth' with 'dry rot
> among them'. In 1831, the records were moved to the royal mews at
> Charing Cross (a process which took five months) and then on to
> Carlton Ride, the former royal stables, in 1835. This saved them from
> the devastating fire which broke out at Westminster Palace in 1834,
> but their condition remained extremely poor. Henry Cole reported in
> 1836 that the 5000 bundles which made up the Exchequer miscellanea
> were stored at Carlton Ride in two giant sheds 4136 cubic feet in
> size. The records were very damp, some coagulated beyond repair, with
> others stuck permanently to the shed walls. Seven mummified rats and
> a dead cat were found among the records when they were sorted. The
> records were full of the bones of dead vermin, and a dog regularly
> searched the sheds for living rats and their nests. On packing the
> records in 1836, it took three labourers three weeks to transfer the
> records from the shed into sacks, relying on strong drink to overcome
> the 'putrid filth, stench, dirt and decomposition' of their working
> conditions. Five hundred sacks of records were filled, and 24 bushels
> of dust and dirt were discarded. The conditions of the records of the
> King's Remembrancer were some of the worst discovered by the select
> committee, whose report eventually led to the creation of the Public
> Record Office in 1838.
>
> http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatalogueDetails.a
> sp?CATID=135&CATLN=2&FullDetails=True
>
> it's not any wonder records are hard to find...twits and nitwits with
> no respect for history..sigh.
> roslyn
>
>
>
>
>
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