Gloucestershire Record Series
Each year the Society issues a hardback volume of records relating to the history of our area. We’ve published 35 volumes since 1988. The edited records cover a huge range, from medieval to the early 1900s, the one common feature being that they are previously unpublished and likely to be a useful resource for future researchers and students.
How much?
We operate a subscription model for the Record Series – it’s currently an extra £15 on top of the normal membership fee – and for that bargain price you get a quality hardback, carefully edited and fully indexed. You can also buy individual volumes at a non-subscriber price.
The latest issues
2020 was a bumper year – we published two titles
- Volume 34 – Managing Poverty: Cheltenham Settlement Examinations and Removal Orders, 1831-52, edited by John Simpson, and
- Volume 35 – The Gloucestershire Court of Sewers, 1583-1642, edited by Rose Hewlett
The next issue*
The 2021 volume (GRS 36) is to be an edition of a Tudor listing of ‘men fit to serve’ – a parish-by-parish statement naming those eligible to bear arms in 1523, edited from a manuscript in the Berkeley Castle Muniments.
*Please note: Production has been delayed by Covid-related issues, and publication is now expected in April 2022.
Past issues
All titles are listed here. We have small stocks of some back numbers available from the Honorary Secretary. For out-of-print volumes, we recommend trying online second-hand book sites.
Future editions
We’re always interested to hear from people willing to edit a set of records for a future volume. You don’t have to be an established author, as we can provide guidance and mentoring as necessary. If you can contribute the editorial time and effort, then in principle the Society will be prepared to fund the publication costs.
The main criteria are that
- the records haven’t been previously published
- they have wide relevance across our area of interest (Bristol and Gloucestershire)
- or they offer new focused insight into a specific area or activity
If you have a suggestion for a future title, please email the Honorary General Editor, Prof Richard Coates
Older Record Series (1952-85)
We occasionally have queries about these, so here for reference is a listing of the old ‘Green Series’ record editions. All are out-of-print, but during 2021 we’ll be scanning them and adding pdfs to this site.
