Northamptonshire Studies Collection: Northamptonshire Central Library

Title: Northamptonshire Studies Collection: Northamptonshire Central Library

Description: Northamptonshire Studies Collection contains material both past and present relating to the study of Northamptonshire, including its landscape, built environment, history and the county’s diverse communities. Printed material – monographs, periodicals and pamphlets - dates from the seventeenth century to present. The collection also contains a large number of maps, photographs, prints & engravings, watercolours, newspapers and ephemera. There is a small collection of manuscript material, including the internationally important John Clare manuscripts (and his library) and the Sir Henry Dryden Collection of drawings and notes. Other collections of note include the Charles Bradlaugh MP Collection, Philip Dodderidge Collection and the Shoe and Leather Collection. The collection also includes resources for Family History, mostly on microform, notably census returns for Northamptonshire, 1841–1891, parish registers (copies from the Northamptonshire Record Office) and the GRO index.
With regard to Caribbean studies the Northamptonshire Studies Collection holds approximately 40 relevant volumes and files, including the following:

• Biographies and cuttings file on William Knibb [1803-1845], Slaves’ Missionary (Baptist) and Anti-Slavery Campaigner, containing information about Jamaica.
• Minutes of the Kettering Anti-Slavery Auxiliary Association, 1831-1835 (Manuscripts)
• Barclay, Alexander - A Practical View of the Present State of Slavery in the West Indies, 1828 (housed in the John Clare library).
• HMSO Calendars of State Papers, Colonial Series, America & West Indies,1617 – 1688 and 1708–1736.
• HMSO Journals of the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, 1714-1782.
• Information contained within the Northampton Mercury newspaper, dated 1720-present, covering the slave trade, the abolition movement and general intelligence from the colonies.

With regard to the history of Black and Asian people in Britain the following collections are available:

• 10 small files, entitled 'Black Presence in Northamptonshire', including off-prints and cuttings, biographical notes, ephemera, play-bills, photographs and illustrations, and notes relating to Black and Asian peoples in Northamptonshire from c.1215 to present. Information in these files is arranged under the headings: 17th Century and Earlier; 18thC; Anti-Slavery in the18th Century; Parish Registers; 19th Century; Anti-Slavery, Racism and Anti-Racism in the 19th Century; 20th Century; Exhibition Notes; Photographs & Illustrations from 17th Century-c.1950; Summary of sources and a list of early Black presence. This collection was collated in association with the Northamptonshire Black History Group and other local researchers and is being actively developed.
• One biographical cuttings file on Walter Tull. (NB: Walter Tull was born in Folkestone in 1888 and later became one of Britain's first black professional footballers, playing for Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town in the years leading up to the first world war. During the war he was one of the first black army officers in the British Army, serving as a second lieutenant in the 23rd (2nd Foot) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. He was killed in action in near Favreuil, France, in 1918.)
• Approx. 10 small vols./files of statistical and social information and news cuttings on Black and Asian communities in Northamptonshire from c.1945-present.
• An exhibition (4 boards approx. 90cm X 60 cm), on the Early Black Presence in Northamptonshire, created in partnership with the Northamptonshire Black History Project.

The Northampton Mercury (from 1720-present) and other local newspapers (available on microfilm), also contain a wealth of information. A local newspaper index, available online via the Library Service, includes many references to current issues facing minority ethnic communities in the region. The index starts in 1999 and is updated weekly. At present there are no plans for retrospective indexing of the newspaper collections, but the Northamptonshire Studies Collection contains manual indexes to early newspapers.
Information on subjects such as social history, employment, migration, race relations, racism and anti-racism, religion, slavery and abolition feature prominently in the above-mentioned records.

Strengths: The main strength of the collection is the material relating to the early Black and Asian presence in Northamptonshire.

Size: c.40 volumes and files pertinent to Caribbean studies; 10 volumes, 11files and 4 exhibition boards providing information on the history of Black and Asian peoples in Northamptonshire.

Catalogue: Northamptonshire Libraries and Information Service Opac (Talis)

Catalogue URL: http://www.library.northamptonshire.gov.uk/www-bin/www_talis32?

Main URL: http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk

Access: Open access to the collections during the Central library's opening hours. No appointment is necessary, except to see original Clare and Dryden Manuscripts (please contact library for details). Booking for microfilm and fiche readers is advisable. The Central Library has a lending collection, but will not lend reference material. Resources will be supplied for Inter-library Loan (reference use only), if duplicate copies are available. The Central Library can arrange purchase of copies of microfilm and fiche.

Acquisition dates: 1870 - present

Note: Northamptonshire Libraries and Information Service is actively acquiring and promoting the Northamptonshire Studies Collection as part of a service philosophy to make collections representative of all the diverse local communities. A particular strength is the past and continuing research work undertaken by the Northamptonshire Black History Project, which involves the Library Service, County Record Office, Local Education Authority, University College Northampton, Racial Equalities Councils, local community groups and individuals.

Interest: Asian, Black

Complete: Complete

Subjects

Social history

Abolition of slavery

Slavery

Interethnic relations

Ethnic groups

Communities

Personal/Corporate names

Tull, Walter, 1888-1918

Northamptonshire Black History Project

Knibb, William, 1803-1845

Kettering Anti-Slavery Auxiliary Association

Places

Northamptonshire, United Kingdom

Jamaica