PUBLIC RECORDS. (Hansard, 28 April 1910)

Mr. LLEWELYN WILLIAMS

I wish to draw the attention of the House to the state of our public records. I had a Motion for a Return on the Order Paper last Monday, and my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Hobhouse) was good enough to send me a letter in which he gave all the available information he had at the time, and, although I am conscious of his courtesy in sending that reply, I could not help being struck by the inadequacy of the reply, not due to any fault of his own, but owing to the fact that his information was limited. In ancient days the keeping of our public records was looked upon as one of the most important things belonging to the service of the King. They were kept in the Royal palaces, and it was only in 1838 that an Act was passed under which the public records and State papers since then are sent to the Master of the Rolls in Ghancery Lane. In 1852 an Order in Council was issued extending to a certain extent the provisions of the Act, but ever since 1838 no inquiry has been made by any responsible official, or by the Government, into the working of that Act, or into the present condition of our records. Every other country in Europe is ahead of England in this respect. The great Napoleon a hundred years ago founded a school called the "Ecole des Chartes," which is now an example for all other countries. Holland, Belgium and Germany are far ahead of us in this matter of keeping archives. Although we have made great progress in the last fifteen years, we still lag behind other countries in this very important matter. Let me point out two things which happened this year to show the importance, for the purposes of scholarly research, of doing something in the direction I have indicated. Professor Wallace, an American scholar, came over here to make researches in our Record Office some time ago, and he discovered what had hitherto lain hidden—details of the private history of Shakespeare. Up to that time it was thought that everything that could be known about the life of Shakespeare had seen the light of day, and yet we had to wait until an American gentleman came over here to discover in the Record Office documents unknown and uncatalogued, which gave information which Englishmen wanted to know about the greatest of all Englishmen.

Within the last week or two a discovery has been made which ought to interest all 734 Members of this House. Up to a few weeks ago every constitutional historian believed that the model Parliament was the Parliament of 1295. Now, Mr. Jenkinson, quite by accident, came across certain writs of summons which show conclusively that the model Parliament henceforth should be designated the Parliament of 1275. The Parliament of 1295 was called the model Parliament, because it was thought to be the first in which writs were sent not only to knights of the shire, but also to the burgesses of the boroughs through the sheriffs, and that was supposed to be the first time that both classes were convened together. Mr. Jenkinson's discovery shows that the foundation of the modern Parliamentary system was laid not in 1295, but twenty years earlier. That is a fact of immense importance every scholar, and everyone who values the history of the past will agree with me that everything which this House can do to aid historical research ought to be done. We have been lagging too much behind other countries. Ever since the Public Record Act of 1838 was passed no public inquiry has been held into the working of that Act. In 1877 an Act was passed which gave for the first time power to public officials in a State Department to determine for themselves, without reference to scholars or experts, whether to destroy any document which they thought unnecessary to preserve. I do not wish to say that these gentlemen have not exercised the best discretion in the matter, but I am within the mark in saying that there is a great deal of fear among historical students and scholars lest through the working of that Act valuable documents should be destroyed. There is the astonishing fact that ever since 1877 now and again public documents have been sold in London and elsewhere. Documents which may be abstracted from public offices in this way may be of little value at the moment, but in another hundred years the most insignificant paper in the Home Office, or any other Department, might be of extreme value to the historian. I confess that I approach this matter, not from the standpoint of historical scholarship, on which I do not profess to be able to speak, but because I have interested myself in Welsh history, and I can give you an instance to show how necessary it is that something should be done which is not done now.

In 1543 there were established for the first time the Courts of Great Session, 735 which were held in North Wales and in South Wales, sitting for six days or sometimes for a fortnight each half-year. These records go right on from 1543 to 1830, when the Courts of Great Session were swept away, and the legal system assimilated to that of England. The records of those Courts, invaluable to every student of the social history of Wales during those two or three centuries, were sent to the Record Office here, after the passing of the Act. There they have remained from that day to this, uncatalogued and uncalendered, and anyone who wants to find out anything about the history of the people of Wales cannot get hold of the documents without an immense expenditure of time. I cite this simply as one instance of the necessity which exists to do something more than has been done up to the present time. Since the Historical Manuscripts Commission issued their Reports I think there have been over 700 volumes published relating to the history of England, something like seventy relating to Scotland, and forty relating to Ireland. The Scottish and Irish volumes have been published separately, because they each deal with a different state of things. There has been no attempt to publish Welsh historical records apart from others. I urge upon the Government that they should, not only in fairness to Wales, but in fairness to historical study, see that the records of Wales are published separately, as was done in the case of Scotland and Ireland. I am perfectly certain of this, that during the last thirty years historians have become more and more convinced of the necessity of these records being available if they are properly to understand some of the most critical times in our history.

6.0 P.M.

Governments have been spending thousands of pounds for the last twenty or thirty years in the interests of Egyptian archeology, and now we are for the first time spending a few hundreds of pounds in order to understand and appreciate the valuable things we have amongst ourselves, and how to preserve them, and how to make the best use of them. The late Government is entitled to our thanks for appointing the Royal Commissions on Ancient Monuments.

I do urge on the Government to go one step further. This is not a matter that appeals to the ordinary elector or to the man in the street, or even to the ordinary 736 scholar. The number of men who are engaged in research in this country are few and far between. They are men who ought to be encouraged in every possible way. They are men who sacrifice time and energy, and very often sacrifice brilliant prospects, which they would have if they devoted themselves to a more showy occupation, in order to devote themselves to this work. I do not know whether hon. Gentlemen read the very excellent article in the January number of the "Quarterly Review" of this year dealing with this matter. I do not know who the author was, but it was evident that it was written by a man who knew his subject thoroughly, and who established beyond all question a strong case for some action to be taken in this matter. I asked for a return to be made at the commencement, and I ask now whether the Government cannot consider the wishes of scholars in this question. I urge upon the Government to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into the whole subject of the working of the 1838 Act, and of the present position and of the future prospects, and to do for the records of this country what they have already done by the Royal Commission for Ancient Monuments. I think a very strong case can be made out, and has been made out and I ask the Government to lend a favourable ear to the cry of those men who very seldom trouble this House, and who deserve well of their country.