A Collection of Farming and Rural Records primarily from the East Midlands, 1706-1951

The collection is dominated by accounts recording expenditure and the earnings of individuals or their rural businesses. These accounts provide a useful primary source for studying the costs of farm produce, machinery and labour during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The collection also contains personal memoranda books (diaries) that were kept in the 18th century by Jonathan Ash, a farmer in Ireland and Rev. Seth Ellis Stevenson, a rector and headmaster of Retford, Nottinghamshire.

The collection is defined by the subject matter of nine smaller collections which all in some way concern farming or rural life of the East Midlands (with the exception of one item which has an Irish provenance, Fr 74). Although some of these smaller collections include significant entries about individual farmers or the business of particular farms, the majority represent only a single volume or a few documents. The value for research of these smaller collections is increased by their association with other records of a similar type.

This artificial collection brings together small groups of records and individual items which concern farming or rural history of the East Midlands. It grew out of a collection compiled by staff of The University of Nottingham's School of Agriculture, but a number of items were given independently to The University of Nottingham's Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections. Further items are added if they fit the subject matter criteria.

The intention in creating this collection was to bring small groups of records and scattered items relating to farming and rural life together as a subject based collection. Groups within the collection retain distinctions based on their separate provenance.

ACCESS: Accessible to all registered readers. Fragile material is currently restricted pending repair.

REPROGRAPHIC: Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

NOTE: Copyright on all Finding Aids belongs to the University of Nottingham.

• In the Reading Room, The University of Nottingham Library: Typescript Catalogue, 7ff
• At the National Register of Archives, London: Typescript Catalogue, 7ff

COPYRIGHT: Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Keeper of the Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk). The Department will try to assist in identifying copyright owners but this can be difficult and responsibility for copyright clearance before publication ultimately rests with the person wishing to publish.

LANGUAGE: English

The records contained in this collection came from a variety of sources and were acquired by The University of Nottingham's Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections between 1951 and 1989.

• The University of Nottingham; Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections: family papers and historical notes of Frank Hays, 1882-1943. MS 163 (formerly Fr 62-64)