The history of Bedfordshire Historical Record Society 1912-2026, including associated publications - the Bedfordshire Bibliography and Bedfordshire Magazine.


Founded in 1912, Bedfordshire Historical Record Society has published volumes on Bedfordshire's history ever since, making sources widely available, particularly to local and family historians. Ninety-nine volumes have appeared. This final volume, marking the dissolution of the Society, explores the Society's history, the people involved and its associated publications - Bedfordshire Bibliography and Bedfordshire Magazine - showing how editorial policy evolved and how it embraced developments such as digitisation.
It also highlights the remarkable range of material published: Bedfordshire in 1086; medieval cartularies and Dissolution records; early wills and probate inventories; Civil War studies; the papers of a doctor who treated Oliver Cromwell; Nonconformist church books including the Bunyan Meeting; and research into Moravian and Roman Catholic communities. From poll books and church surveys to the history of Luton and Vauxhall Motors, and from First World War diaries to Second World War accounts drawn from the Mass-Observation Archive, the Society's work has deepened understanding of Bedfordshire's past and contributed to local history more broadly.
This volume takes its place within the growing literature on record societies and their contribution to historical research.