The Sussex Archaeological Society is a long-standing Institution based in Lewes. For many years it was not uncommon for its members to offer the Society documents which they had come across and which they thought were historic or interesting. After a while, the Society began to send documents which did not concern Sussex to the British Records Association, who in turn divided them among the appropriate County Record Offices. This is how the present collection reached Oxfordshire Archives. With one exception (see Appendix), there is no information on the history of the documents before they were given to the Society (although it is possible that some documentation may be found in its offices in Lewes), so that the collection has been kept together.
It is not surprising, if one bears in mind the history of these papers, that the collection is a very miscellaneous one, mostly consisting of property deeds. Most of these are individual documents on individual properties, which appear to have lost all accompanying context. A few deeds do seem to come from a common source, but this is the exception rather than the rule. The collection is therefore arranged as follows. First there are the property records, arranged alphabetically by parish, then some miscellaneous correspondence, some papers on manors, Sheriff's roll, some assorted financial and legal papers, and some wills.
The records were deposited at various times between 1946 and 1971, with the Accession Numbers 98, 295, 424, 533, 575, 768, 806 and 981. An appendix supplies more information about the
contents of each accession.
Recatalogued in July 1995.