The mission of Surrey Record Society is to publish records relating to the historic county of Surrey, which includes the parishes of South London as far east as Rotherhithe. Since its foundation in 1913 the Society has published transcripts, translations and abstracts of texts ranging in date from the twelfth to the twentieth century.
The subject matter is extraordinarily varied, including records of central and local government, documents illuminating the ecclesiastical, manorial, industrial and military history of Surrey and private diaries and correspondence. Each text is provided with a full general introduction by expert scholars, to explain, interpret and set the text in context.
Through its publications many important documents (often in Latin and difficult to decipher) held in repositories in and outside the county have been made accessible and comprehensible to those interested in exploring Surrey's rich history and the story of the people who lived in the county. If the Society's work is to continue, it needs the support of all those individuals, local societies and institutions who benefit from its publications.
Membership
Individuals and institutions alike are eligible for membership at an annual subscription of £10. Members receive a copy of any volume published in a year for which they have paid a subscription and can buy back numbers of other volumes at greatly reduced prices. Some older volumes are now available free of charge apart from the cost of postage and packing. There may be years in which no volume is produced.
To join the Society, complete the application form below and return it to the Hon Secretary SRS, c/o Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking GU21 6ND. Tel: 01483 518737. Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk
It saves on the Society's administrative overheads, if members pay by standing order. If you would like to do this please complete and return the form below.
What's new from Surrey Record Society
The latest volumes to be published by the Society are:
Volume XLIX (49). Account Book of John Yeomans, Bricklayer, 1696-1711 edited by Anne McCormack, 2024
Free to members. Price to non-members £20. Postage and packing £4 (UK). Latest volume available to purchase on the Surrey Heritage online shop.
John Yeomans' account book, held in the archives of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, records work done by a master bricklayer and the bricklayers, other craftsmen and labourers working with him, together with the materials he needed and the identities of their suppliers. Yeomans worked on major house in Surrey at Petersham, Richmond and Weybridge, and in Middlesex at Teddington, Hampton Court and his own house in Hampton Wick. He was also commissioned to carry out repairs after the great storm of 1703. The chance survival of this 'working' document offers an intriguing insight into the work of a much-respected master bricklayer and artisan architect who worked for a number of significant clients including Laurence Hyde, earl of Rochester, and Catherine Sedley, duchess of Dorchester.
Volume XLVIII (48). Loving and Obedient? Family Correspondence of the Mores of Loseley Park, 1537 to 1686, edited by Eliza Wheaton, 2023
£10 to members. Price to non-members £25. Postage and packing £4 (UK). Available to purchase on the Surrey Heritage online shop.
The archive of the More-Molyneux family of Loseley Park is rich in correspondence of the members of the More family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This volume presents the lives and preoccupations of the women of the family through their letters and related documents. They needed to perform the vital role of running their own households and also to hold together and protect the family network and they possessed their own channels of political news and influence.
There was thus an inherent contradiction at the heart of the image of the perfect gentlewoman. She should be submissive and modest, but also educated, competent, and capable of wielding authority. Above all this correspondence throws light on many subjects which loom large in personal life in all ages but are not well documented in the surviving records of past centuries.
Volumes I to XLI (1 to 41) have been digitised and uploaded as free-to-view searchable PDFs on the Archaeology Data Service website.
Forthcoming volumes
Volumes in preparation include:
- Surrey-related extracts from the world's first periodical, The Gentleman's Magazine, 1731 to 1754, edited by Julian Pooley
- The register of Thomas Langton, Bishop of Winchester, 1493 to 1501, edited by Dr David Wright
See our list of Surrey Record Society publications many of which can be purchased on the Surrey Heritage online shop.
Files available to download
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Surrey Record Society membership application form (PDF)
Please print out and complete this form and send to the Honorary Secretary to become a member of Surrey Record Society -
Surrey Record Society standing order form (PDF)
Please print out and complete this form and send to the Honorary Treasurer if you would like to pay by standing order
