Treasure trove
One lesson this trip to England has taught me is that just because a document or book sounds promising does not mean it will hold any value to your research. More often then not, the book or document I am chasing winds up a dead end. Every time I go to the library or records office, I am armed with a long list of items to investigate. When that list is exhausted, I consider myself really lucky if a third of the items prove useful.
On days where I'm not that lucky, I often find myself copying down information "just in case." For instance, I wrote down information from the Earl of Derby's rent receipt books for 1839, 1840, and 1841 "just in case." But, to be honest, I don't see needing to know that Paul Catterall failed to pay his annual chapel pew rental of four pounds in 1839 for my thesis. In reality, the "just in case" is really a so-it-looks-like-I-got-something-accomplished-today maneuver. There's nothing worse than returning from a day of research with only one or two pages of notes.
In light of this trend, I was superpsyched with the amount of usable material I discovered today. Dozens of pages of information that actually will come in handy with my thesis! It was crazy! It was exciting! It came out of . . . a phone book? Okay, not really a phone book. But close. I found a collection of directories from Preston in the nineteenth century. In addition to lists of all the businesses in the town, the directories provided a variety of data, such as the names of the gentry, church information, postal information (including prices), public buildings, and population figures. The collection was an unexpected treasure trove of information. I even found Steve's great-great-great grandfather's listing for his wheelwright shop! I selected directories for three different years spread across the century: 1818 (the earliest one available), 1841, and 1889. This way, I can see the changes in the businesses over the years. In particular, cotton manufacturing and taverns.
I also found a wealth of information about pollution and the River Ribble, including one of four volumes from a commission established by Queen Victoria in 1887 to investigate how to curb pollution in both the Ribble and Mersey rivers. Now this doesn't have anything to do with my thesis, but I've been keeping my eyes open for Ribble info in case it might prove useful for the research paper I'm sure I'm going to have to write for my environmental history class in the fall. So I was really excited to come across this gem - although making copies of the pages I found interesting is going to cost quite a bit. And result in me hogging the copier for ages, to boot! Muwahahahahaha! Sorry. I just feel the evil urge to get even with a certain copy machine hog I encountered today. But that's a different story. I didn't make the copies today, because I want to see if the volume is available somewhere else first. And I'd also like to get my hands on the other three. So I have some computer investigation to commence shortly.
So today was easily the best day of document hunting I've had yet. Here's hoping the remaining two weeks or so of actual research prove nearly as good.
-------------------------------
Addendum: I just began researching that River Ribble source. Talk about small worlds. The University of Florida has the collection! Of course, I need to suss out where and how to go about being able to see it. And if it's even going to help with whatever Dr. Closmann assigns. But it's in Gainesville - 45 minutes from my house! :-D
On days where I'm not that lucky, I often find myself copying down information "just in case." For instance, I wrote down information from the Earl of Derby's rent receipt books for 1839, 1840, and 1841 "just in case." But, to be honest, I don't see needing to know that Paul Catterall failed to pay his annual chapel pew rental of four pounds in 1839 for my thesis. In reality, the "just in case" is really a so-it-looks-like-I-got-something-accomplished-today maneuver. There's nothing worse than returning from a day of research with only one or two pages of notes.
In light of this trend, I was superpsyched with the amount of usable material I discovered today. Dozens of pages of information that actually will come in handy with my thesis! It was crazy! It was exciting! It came out of . . . a phone book? Okay, not really a phone book. But close. I found a collection of directories from Preston in the nineteenth century. In addition to lists of all the businesses in the town, the directories provided a variety of data, such as the names of the gentry, church information, postal information (including prices), public buildings, and population figures. The collection was an unexpected treasure trove of information. I even found Steve's great-great-great grandfather's listing for his wheelwright shop! I selected directories for three different years spread across the century: 1818 (the earliest one available), 1841, and 1889. This way, I can see the changes in the businesses over the years. In particular, cotton manufacturing and taverns.
I also found a wealth of information about pollution and the River Ribble, including one of four volumes from a commission established by Queen Victoria in 1887 to investigate how to curb pollution in both the Ribble and Mersey rivers. Now this doesn't have anything to do with my thesis, but I've been keeping my eyes open for Ribble info in case it might prove useful for the research paper I'm sure I'm going to have to write for my environmental history class in the fall. So I was really excited to come across this gem - although making copies of the pages I found interesting is going to cost quite a bit. And result in me hogging the copier for ages, to boot! Muwahahahahaha! Sorry. I just feel the evil urge to get even with a certain copy machine hog I encountered today. But that's a different story. I didn't make the copies today, because I want to see if the volume is available somewhere else first. And I'd also like to get my hands on the other three. So I have some computer investigation to commence shortly.
So today was easily the best day of document hunting I've had yet. Here's hoping the remaining two weeks or so of actual research prove nearly as good.
-------------------------------
Addendum: I just began researching that River Ribble source. Talk about small worlds. The University of Florida has the collection! Of course, I need to suss out where and how to go about being able to see it. And if it's even going to help with whatever Dr. Closmann assigns. But it's in Gainesville - 45 minutes from my house! :-D
Sandie: I never would have imagined they'd be so useful.
ReplyDeleteKaren: Guess I'll see you in Enviro then! :-) And I'm trying. I spent ALL of last semester behind the eight ball. I'm trying not to have a repeat of that.