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Archives
Contents
For many years after its foundation in 1847, the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society was the only repository for archives in the county and a collection was gradually built up through deposits and gifts. In 1924 it was designated an approved repository for manorial records under the Law of Property Act of that year. By 1932 there were many hundreds of items in the Society’s care and an underground Muniment Room was built in the County Museum for their safe-keeping. This was opened in 1934 by the Master of the Rolls, Lord Hanworth.By 1950, as reported in Records of Bucks, 'it has become increasingly apparent that the resources of the Museum could not be strained indefinitely to accommodate and care for the large number of documents which were steadily accumulating'. By this time the County Record Office was well established, so the next year the post–1600 deeds were transferred there, leaving the Society with manorial records, early deeds and all 'documents of literary, artistic or archaeological importance'.
In 1951 also, the Muniment Room was made the official repository for parochial records of the archdeaconry of Buckingham (i.e. the county of Buckinghamshire). However, in 1971 these parochial records were also transferred to the County Record Office where they were more readily available to the increasing number of genealogical researchers.
During the major refurbishment of the County Museum (1990-1995) all the material in the original Muniment Room was deposited for safe-keeping in the County Record Office. A new Muniment Room was constructed in conjunction with the new Museum basement. The Society’s Council and the County Archivist agreed that the court rolls, early deeds, estate maps and other original documents should be retained in the Record Office on indefinite loan. This valuable Bucks collection of thousands of items is now readily available to researchers at all times rather than just once a week, and it receives the professional attention that archives should have nowadays.
During and immediately after the War, from 1940 to 1946, the whole Museum was in the care of Cicely Baker. On the appointment of a full-time Museum Curator in 1947, she became the Hon. Archivist. In 1975 Elizabeth M. Elvey took over, having previously been Hon. Librarian for eight years. She was succeeded in 1986 by Lorna M. Head, the Hon. Librarian, who combined the two appointments. Mrs Head gave up the Hon. Librarianship to Diana Gulland in 1996 and relinquished the Hon. Archivist appointment to her in 1998, thus combining the two jobs once again.
The archives remaining in the Society’s care in the Muniment Room now consist mostly of collections donated by past members of the results of their researches in Bucks, together with topographical prints, maps (other than estate maps), election material and various miscellaneous items. Details of these are given in this catalogue.
To download a list of the documents in the archives in the Muniment Room click on the icon below.
| Archives Catalogue list |  |
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