R.T.Pritchard Papers

This collection of material consists of photographs and research material collated and produced by R.T. Pritchard on a variety of subjects, the majority of which relate to the history of Bangor and North Wales. The fonds have been separated into two main sections: 1. Photographs, Drawings and Images, and 2. Research Notes: handwritten notes and miscellaneous research material.

The photographs have been divided and catalogued into the following three categories:

Bangor:-

* Bangor Cathedral and The Bishop's Palace.

* University College of North Wales.

* General Bangor Scenes and Views (streets, city views, etc.).

* Buildings, shops and people of Bangor.

* Ships, The Pier and the Menai Straits.

Images from across North Wales (including Snowdonia and Anglesey), and English landmarks.

Miscellaneous images, plans and documents.

The Research notes have been catalogued at box level - each box contains handwritten notes by R.T. Pritchard relating to a wide range of subjects and have been arranged in bundles according to each. Care has been taken to retain the material in their original order at the time of deposit.

A native of the City of Bangor, Robert Thomas Pritchard (1890 - 1978) had an abiding interest in its history and development, and although he spent most of his life with the local firm of builders Watkin Jones & Son, he was essentially a scholar. A truly cultured man, R.T. Pritchard was keenly interested in literature, music, and the fine arts, and he became a privileged member of Bangor's 'town and gown' debating society known as the Dialectical Society. However, it is primarily as an historian that he is remembered - in addition to his service on the Council of the Caernarvonshire Historical Society, he also served on the Committee of the University College of North Wales's Museum of Welsh Antiquities. His academic interests led him to the Library of U.C.N.W. where he would spend many hours every week researching. He contributed over a dozen substantial articles to the publications of various historical societies, dealing primarily with turnpike history.

His main contribution to local historical studies was to examine in greater detail an area of study already pioneered by A.H. Dodd in his seminal article, 'The Roads of North Wales, 1750-1850,' which appeared in Archaeologia Cambrensis in 1925. Although R.T. Pritchard's historical interests were by no means confined to the history of communications, it was in this field that he made his main contribution to the study of local history. He was passionately committed to the history of Bangor, but unfortunately due to ill-health he was unable to complete his work for publication on the subject.

(Information taken from 'In Memoriam: G.T. Roberts and R.T. Pritchard,' reprinted from Caernarvonshire Historical Society Transactions, Volume 39, 1978. Printed by Gee & Son (Denbigh) Limited).

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