Next time you discuss a research trip to England, mention "Quality Court" or "Swindon," just to see what the reaction is. Swindon even stumped some of my English genealogist friends. And although one associate actually knew that Swindon was a railway terminus (in 1841, Isambard Kingdom Brunel built the works yards of his Great Western Railway there), most asked, "Why would you go there?"

I certainly don't go for the shopping, or to see old railway sheds, or the railway museum-all of which are at Swindon. I go to Swindon because it is the location of the archives of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. And why would I go to Quality Court, a small courtyard off of Chancery Lane in London? Because it is the home of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, and, like the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, well worth a visit.

Computers at Quality Court give access to on-line database collection information by four searches: Name, Place, Organization, or Business. Within the Place search you are provided with addresses and hours of the record office. Whenever a collection of papers is listed, the location is included, and, frequently, the item call number as well. The modest premises are lined with the bound volumes of the Commission's publications, printed guides to historical records, and other reference works. Many of these have been incorporated into other indexes. Working there one afternoon, I came across everything from brief references to pages of pedigrees; however, the Commission does point out that it is not a place to begin tracing family history. This is absolutely true, but more about that later.

Finding aids exist to help-the main ones being indexes of people, subjects, and businesses. The Personal Index has the names of more than 30,000 men and women listed, along with details of papers in their collections. These people were generally of some importance in areas such as politics, diplomacy, colonial administration, law, army and navy, the church, the arts, science, and industry. The Organization Index arranges papers under thirty headings which reflect the archival origin of the material, not the topic, and hence is of assistance when there is interest in an organization to which someone belonged. The Business Index can be searched either with the actual name of a company or according to the type of business.

Consulting the Manorial Documents Register is going to become easier. The information is being entered into a computer database that will be accessible via the Internet. The first of these, manors in Wales and in the English county of Yorkshire, will soon become available.

Once off the train in Swindon, it is a short walk to the pedestrian tunnel under the tracks; you emerge looking at what once were, presumably, railway sheds. The building of the National Monuments Record is modern-looking, with lots of glass and steel. Inside there is plenty of light. Very welcome, as well, is the small cafe with reasonably priced light lunches, because it is a bit of a hike back to restaurants in the heart of Swindon.

The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) has divided the National Monuments Record into two locations: the main one at Swindon, and a separate one for the city of London, just off Baker Street, halfway between Marylebone Road and Oxford Street. Combined, these two locations offer an amazing treasure trove: over 55,000 architectural drawings, three million historic building records and photographs, total coverage of England in aerial photographs, information on archaeological sites, a library of books and journals, and the records of statutory listed buildings.

For many years, up until the 1980s, every issue of Country Life magazine was clipped and the pictures and articles filed by place. There is also a complete run of this magazine at Swindon. These clippings and part of the photographic collections can be found in row upon row of red storage boxes. They are sorted by modern civil parish, grouped by county. If you are not sure whether the name of the ancient parish which you have corresponds, there are gazetteers and Ordnance Survey maps to help. You can be looking for a specific building, or for many pictures of one parish. Everything is clearly labeled and dated as accurately as possible. The bookshelves contain a very interesting array of material on architecture, landscape, and local history, including a complete set of the volumes in the Victoria History of the Counties of England.¹

Even if your research has been successful through more common documents. Quality Court should be on your to-do list when visiting London. If manorial documents have survived, they are well worth locating. The manorial system gave structure to the lives of the inhabitants of much of England and parts of Wales for several hundred years. Therefore, they record considerable detail relating to land tenure, surveying of the lands, accounts, trespass, disputes, and a host of infractions against the customs of the manor. Much useful genealogical, social, and historical information can be gleaned from these records. Recent books on the subject encourage researchers to consider using them for 18th century research as a means of building some familiarity before crossing the divide into Latin (pre-1733) and more difficult handwriting.

The indexes of the NRA are worth checking under two sets of circumstances if you have any ancestors or family connections who achieved prominence; or if there was an association with a business. The ancestor need not have been the business owner. It is possible to look up the type of business, then watch for references which fit as to place and time. Your ancestor may not be named in any collection identified, but there may be much of interest on wages and working conditions. The NRA produces a series of information sheets on how to use each one of the main indexes in different types of searches, e.g., for those who were soldiers, sailors, artists, or criminals.

Photographs and drawings of the places our ancestors lived and worked give added interest to a family history, and sometimes provide clues for further research. The collections of the National Monuments Records make it possible to search for architectural and photographic records for all parts of the country all in one place. Plan ahead and take along good maps of the area of interest to help identify the locations of the photographs. If you are interested in aerial photographs, locate the place on a modern Ordnance Survey map ahead of time. This makes it possible to quickly determine the national grid reference, the key to selecting the correct picture. The Ordnance Survey has been the national mapping agency of Britain for over 200 years. The name derives from the fact that it was originally established in the eighteenth century by the Board of Ordnance, the department of state which was at that time in charge of "the defense of the realm." Ordnance Survey maps are readily available in England, and can be bought from some genealogical vendors and map dealers in the USA and Canada.

Both of these agencies have Web sites and e-mail addresses. The NRA database is accessible online. The site offers general advice, as well as information on the publications of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England offers a news-and-information service, including details of activities, pictures from the collection, publications, and current research projects.

Any research trip to England should focus, at least in part, on things that must be done "on location." Visiting Quality Court and Swindon fits this category. If your research goes back to the middle of the 18th century, or to England prior to that time, the finding aids of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts should be checked. And everyone should consider a stop at the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England, in Swindon; after all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England
www.rchme.gov.uk
e-mail: info@rchme.gov.uk

National Monuments Record
Kemble Drive
Swindon, SN2 2GZ, Wiltshire, England

National Monuments Record
London Search Room
55 Blandford Street
London WIH 3AF, England

International Society for British Genealogy and Family History
PO Box 3115
Salt Lake City, UT 84110-3115
(Maintains for its members a list of vendors in the USA and Canada of British genealogical books and maps.)

Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. Guide to the Location of Collections Described in the Reports and Calendars Series 1870-1980. London: HMSO, 1982.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. An Inventory of the Historic Monuments in Essex. London: HMSO, Vol. II, 1921.