Source material: Parliamentary papers
Surveys of various kinds were carried out
at a national, regional and local level in connection with Royal
Commissions which were set up on an increasing scale during the
19th century to investigate specific problems. These surveys
form part of an enormous collection of Parliamentary Papers which
have accumulated over the years, and which provide detailed information
on a multitude of topics of interest to the local historian.
Availability
A small selection of the more locally relevant Commissions are available in the Local Studies Collection, perhaps the most significant one being the 1842 Children's Employment Commission, which gives details of the working conditions of children in local mines at this time.
Form
In most Commissions, the record of each investigation is excessively detailed, and indeed often verbatim. In many cases it is as though a courtroom drama is being enacted, and the graphic detail makes both fascinating and moving reading.
Limitations
As with other 19th-century sources, the researcher should be on the look out for discrepancies and possible misprints, as Commissions were often printed in haste. The wealth of local data is often inaccessible, moreover, due to the sheer mass of information contained within the surveys, which were often regional or national in character.
Conclusion
Despite their limitations, Parliamentary Papers remain one of the most important guides to a whole range of controversial areas of 19th-century history.
Sources
- Acts of parliament
- Archive sources
- Autobiographies and biographies
- Census abstracts
- Census returns
- Churchwardens' accounts
- Constables' accounts
- Council minutes
- Diaries
- Directories
- Electoral registers
- Gazetteers
- Illustrations
- Manor rolls
- Maps
- Newspapers
- Parish registers
- Parliamentary papers
- Poll books
- Probate inventories
- Topographical surveys
- Wills