Back
Back
Mike Petty’s Guides for the Cambridgeshire Researcher
The Cambridgeshire Collection was established in 1855 to collect contemporary material relating to Cambridge and its county. In 1964 I started to organise and expand the accumulated material and over the next 30 years compiled a variety of specialist catalogues and indexes. Things have of course changed in the period since I left the Collection but the enclosed notes still have some relevance.
The Cambridgeshire Collection is due to move from the Central Library in Lion Yard Cambridge to the Milton Road branch library from 24th December 2006 and is likely to be there until at least March 2008. A certain amount of material will continue to be available but much will no longer be as accessible. You are advised to check with the staff before making any long journeys or contact me for advice.
BOOKS
The Cambridgeshire Collection has many thousands of books, reports, journals and articles, each of which was examined. This involved reading each book, article, report etc and making catalogue cards to emphasise important topics covered.
The card catalogue had two sections:
Name catalogue : an A - Z sequence containing entries by author, place and Cambridge buildings.
Classified catalogue arranged by subject numbers with an index to explain the code. A guide to the headings used is available from Mike Petty
Unfortunately the card book catalogue has now been removed from public use; although it is still stored in the building readers are not permitted to use it. It has been replaced with a computerised version, which is available on the library’s website - www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/catalogue/. When you reach the ‘Quick Search’ screen be sure to click the down arrow in the ‘library’ option box and scroll up to select ‘Cambridgeshire Collection’. Type in the word you are seeking and click search. There are various search options including a classified subject sequence. Beware that when you choose a New Search you will need to select the Cambridgeshire Collection catalogue again.
It is far easier to do this search at home than in the Library and to compile a list of items you wish to see. When you get there you will need to quote author title and the number in the bottom left hand corner of the entry. This will either be something like ‘c.45.7’ or ‘R02.1102’.
Good Luck!
NEWSPAPERS
Newspapers
The Cambridgeshire Collection has files of 35 local newspapers from 1762 to date.. There are a number of indexes
Newspaper Indexes
Cambridgeshire Collection News Index 1770 to 1899.- card index
The news index is divided into three sequences:
a) Cambridge and miscellaneous A - Z.
b) Villages A - Z.
c) topics arranged by subject numbers as in book catalogue.
Each sequence is divided into three sections:
1) chronological 1770-1819; a detailed index to the Cambridge Chronicle newspaper covering all sections of the paper;
2) chronological 1820-1899; an index to news appearing in the village news columns of the Cambridge Chronicle or Independent press;
3) a mixture of dates and information gleaned from a variety of sources.
This News Index was published on microfiche by Chadwyck Healey as part of their National Inventory of Documentary Sources collection. It is available in the University Library and a few others around the world.
Staff will show you how to use a microfilm reader; using microfilm reduces the wear and tear on the original volumes which will not usually be produced when film is available.
'Chronicles': many of the stories have been transcribed or published; they are listed on blue cards in the News Index; ask the staff
Century of Cambridge News 1888–1988 (& supplement)
An index to Cambridge headlines compiled by M J Petty from newspapers, cuttings and other sources; it covers all aspects of Cambridge life over the period. The index is arranged by subject numbers and comprises a chronological list of headlines together with notes which identify the source of the information.
A copy of this index is obtainable on disk from Mike Petty
Other Newspaper indexes
There are various other guides and indexes including PEEPS FROM THE PAST and REVIEWS OF THE YEAR which will identify stories for particular years.
Cambridge Evening News website
The CEN website – cambridge-news.co.uk – has a search facility that enables you to find stories that have appeared in their paper within the last few years.
Cuttings
The Cambridgeshire Collection maintains files of newspaper cuttings on 850 topics since 1960; they include each village, most Cambridge streets and topics such as roads, weather, local firms etc. There is a card index of headings. This is a most valuable resource for many researchers; ask the staff for files that might assist you.
Separate notes on CAMBRIDGESHIRE NEWSPAPERS AND THE LOCAL RESEARCHER giving notes on their use and indexing are available from Mike Petty.
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Cambridgeshire Collection has a large number of illustrations including prints, paintings, drawings, postcards, videos, photographs and negatives. Other Collections are also currently deposited in the department. Many of the pictures will have been individually studied and catalogued, with entries made for significant details, such as windmills, buses etc.
Catalogues
The main Cambridgeshire Collection Illustrations Catalogue is arranged by subject headings.
Illustrations card catalogue
Individual pictures are catalogued on standard library cards. Cambridge pictures are represented by letters A - P. Topics are arranged by letters Q - X. Villages are arranged under Y. Pictures are then arranged in chronological order using the letter 'J' as shorthand for 1800, & 'K' for 1900; thus J56 = 1856, K4 = the 1940s. Each picture has its own individual accession number. Many of the cards will include a small photographic copy of the picture to assist identification.
There may be cards referring to other catalogues, especially of negatives. Take care to note these as they can be particularly important and extensive. Ask staff.
The illustrations catalogue was also published by Chadwyck Healey, though this is now very incomplete.
Other collections of illustrations
Aerial Photographs
There is a collection of Aerofilms aerial photographs of Cambridge taken from the 1960s and a county-wide survey in the 1980s – ask staff
Cambridge Antiquarian Society's Collection catalogue
This collection includes many photographs taken by Society members as part of a Cambridgeshire Photographic Record in the 1920s and 30s; the card catalogue is arranged by place, Cambridge pictures being subdivided into subjects. There is a separate index to negatives.
Portraits collection
The Collection has a very large number of negatives of portraits taken by Ramsey and Muspratt and predecessor photographers in Post Office Terrace between c1870 and c 1970.
The Ramsey and Muspratt index is on 6x4 cards and records name, details of order - e.g portrait or group, date and negative reference.
J Palmer Clarke collection comprises some 1,000 boxes each containing 50 negatives. The contents of each box are listed on sheets giving name, address and type of photograph. The names are indexed on 5x3 cards recording box and negative number. It also includes negatives taken by other photographers in Post Office Terrace. These indexes are available on request.
Negatives
The Collection holds extensive files of original negatives from a number of photographers including Thomas Stearn. Capt Hatfield, Briscoe Snelson, W.Martin Lane, Percy Salmon & the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. These are listed separately in folders and have supplementary indexes. Ask staff.
Transparencies
These are of two types :
a. original transparencies;
b. copies of items such as old pictures, maps, books etc.
These are listed in a separate catalogue arranged under the same headings as the main Illustrations catalogue
Lantern Slides : ask staff.
Videos :
There are indexes by name and in classified sequences; ask staff
Supplementary Indexes
Various supplementary indexes have been complied; they include:
engravers, artists, photographers etc. whose work is represented in the Collection;
local artists and photographers with dates when active;
postcard series
Copying
A full copying service is available; ask the staff for details.
Guides
A list of engravings of Cambridge is included in the first volume of The Architectural History of the University of Cambridge by R. Willis & J.W. Clark.
Notes on Cambridge Illustrators and Photographers are available from Mike Petty.
MAPS
The Collection has files of published maps of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire from 1574 which include Ordnance Survey maps on all scales from 1888.
Single-sheet maps
There are separate catalogues for Cambridge and Cambridgeshire.
Each catalogue has three sections:
a) Chronological sequence arranged by date the map depicts;
b) name indexes to cartographer, engravers etc;
c) a subject index for geological maps, soil surveys etc.
Other guides:
J W CLARK and A GRAY, Old Plans of Cambridge 1574 - 1798. 1921 (cc.49.9)
CAMBRIDGESHIRE COLLECTION, Cambridge Maps 1800-1920 (ask staff)
H G FORDHAM, Cambridgeshire Maps 1576 - 1878. 1908. (cc.49.9).
Plans
There are separate catalogues for Cambridge and Cambridgeshire.
Cambridge properties are listed by name.
Cambridgeshire properties are listed under the name of the village.
Ordnance Survey
The Collection holds maps on the 2½” (1:25,000) , 6" (1:10,000) and 25" (1:2,500) scales for much of Cambridgeshire and on the 50" ( 1:500) scale for Cambridge itself.
There are base maps marking their holdings; the 1901, 1927 and 1950 editions of the 6" and 25" maps are on one base, later editions on others. Village sheets are listed in a card index.
More recent coverage is available on a computer from which it is possible to print out maps.
To request maps seek staff assistance
PRINTED EPHEMERA
Handbills
The Collection has an extensive file of handbills depicting events, political addresses and council official notices etc;
There is a separate catalogue in two sections
1. a chronological list
2. name and subject indexes
Playbills
The collection has several thousand playbills mainly from the Theatre Royal between c.1780 and c.1880. The cataloguing of this material is not yet complete
The catalogue has three sections:
1. a chronological list
2. an index to plays performed;
3. an index to actors performing.
There is also an index to plays performed at the Festival and Arts Theatres.
They also hold large files of programmes for the Festival, New and Arts Theatre
Posters
In addition to the material above the Cambridgeshire Collection has files of modern posters dating back to the 1960s. The catalogue of this material is not complete, ask staff.
BILLHEADS AND DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENTS
The Collection holds a large number of Billheads from local shops and companies and has indexed Display Advertisements published in many sources which give an indication of the range of services offered. These are listed together.
The catalogue has two sections:
1. A - Z by name;
2. Subject index arranged by type of trade - grocers, wheelwrights etc.
WATCH AND CLOCK MAKERS
There is a separate index of watch and clock makers and menders. This brings together information from national specialist dictionaries and items indexed in local directories and newspapers etc. It lists dates and places where named clockmakers were working.
The index is in two sections:
1. A-Z by name of clockmaker;
2. Place index.
SALE CATALOGUES
The Collection holds several thousand sale and auction particulars including many selected since 1964 to reflect changes in the area and covering such items as sales of village shops, pubs, schools and churches, brochures for new housing estates etc. and for Cambridge itself representative brochures for most streets in the city. Cambridge streets for which they have sales particulars are marked on a base map – ask staff
The catalogue has two sections:
1. A-Z by place, subdivided by street;
2. a subject index, to commercial property, farms, housing estates etc.
Note : An extensive collection of Victorian sales particulars is housed in the University Library Map Room
CAMBRIDGE SOCIETY FOR INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY SURVEY CARDS
A record of sites of Industrial Archaeology interest compiled by members of the Cambridge Society for Industrial Archaeology and currently deposited in the Cambridgeshire Collection. The record cards describe the monument and often contain measurements and illustrations.
The catalogue has two sections:
1. A-Z by place;
2. A-Z by type of monument - watermill, carpet-beating works etc.
CAMBRIDGE WINDMILLS INDEX
An index bringing together items listed in book catalogue, news index and illustrations catalogue arranged under place. Ask staff
TAPE RECORDINGS, CASSETTES AND DISKS
Tape recordings may be open spool or cassette. They are catalogued under TS or TC number with Indexes to contents. There are cross reference cards in other indexes. A summary of the contents of a transcript of the tape may be available from staff desk. The Collection also holds published cassettes and disks of Cambridgeshire material. Ask the staff.
PERSONAL NAMES
Cambridgeshire Collection Local Biography Index
An index to the lives and achievements of Cambridgeshire people, past and present. This index includes biographical articles and obituaries appearing in newspapers, magazines, books etc; it also indicates where material is listed in the Book catalogue and records details of portraits wherever published.
There are other specialist indexes – ask staff for details
M.J.
Petty MBE, MA, ALA,
13a Reads Street, Stretham,
Ely, Cambs. CB6 3JT
phone 01353 648106
E-mail mikepetty@tiscali.co.uk
November 2006
This guide is one of a series, please E-mail for a complete list