Library News

VOLUNTEERS FOR LIBRARY ASSISTANCE

Our appeal for volunteers to work in the Library has not fallen on deaf ears. We have enlisted a sufficient number of willing members to make a start on the work that needs to be done to improve the service which the Library offers to members. Among the areas on which work has started or is continuing are:

• cataloguing the Hussey collection of files of Kentish genealogy and family history interest
• cataloguing of visual records and assessing the quantity and diversity of different types of visual records in order to draw up plans and costs for their conservation
• assisting in editorial preparation of articles for posting on the website kentarchaeology.ac
• cleaning and organisation of books on shelves, and identifying items needing refurbishment

My thanks are due to those members doing this work. However, there is room for more volunteers on these and other tasks. A pressing need is for someone with knowledge of Brass Rubbings. The library has a collection of rubbings in need of cataloguing and assessing for conservation and storage. Potential volunteers for this and other work please contact the Hon. Librarian: Dr F Panton. Grove End, Tunstall, Sittingbourne ME9 8DY

Two Guide Folders are now in the Library to assist users. The Book Guide will help to locate books in the library rooms or stores, and the Safety Guide gives guidance on health and safety aspects of the use of the Library.

A carefully researched and well written account of an area of Kent's history that is not otherwise well supported by published material.

NEW ADDITIONS TO LIBRARY

913. Pearson, Andrew The Roman Shore Forts: coastal defences of Southern Britain Stroud, Tempus Publishing Ltd 2002
0 7524 1948 8
illus., plates, maps, biblio.
A brisk but adequate survey of the Roman forts, including those in Kent. Good illustrations, informative text and a useful bibliography.

301.4K. O’Hara, Diana Courtship and Constraint: rethinking the making of marriage in Tudor England Manchester, Manchester University Press 2000
0 7190 5074 X
diagrams, biblio.
A scholarly account of Tudor marriage customs, of particular use to KAS members, since it draws heavily upon church, and other, court records in Kent.

942K. Black, Shirley Burgoyne Local Government, Law and Order in a Pre-reform English Parish, 1790-1834 Lampeter, Mellen Research University Press 1992
0 7734 9239 9
maps, biblio.
Detailed research into the parish of Farningham. A valuable addition to the Library.

301.424K. Joyce, Brian The Chatham Scandal: a history of Medway’s prostitution in the late 18th century Rochester, Baggins Book Bazaar 1999
1 901625 04 4
biblio.
A well written account of policing in Kent. It contains good illustrations and would be a useful source of information for anyone commencing a deeper study in this, or related fields.

725. Johnson, Matthew Behind the Castle Gate London, Routledge 2002
0 415 26100 7
illus., diagrams., biblio.
A lively but scholarly reappraisal of castle design and building. Life in castles was not so grim as we might expect, and careful examination of sites and plans can show how castle builders were careful to site and build these structures with regard not only to defence, but to the quality of life that they could sustain. An intriguing book, with much relevance and reference to Kent.

942K. Lyle, Marjorie Canterbury: 2000 years of history Stroud, Tempus Publishing 2002
0 7524 1948 X
illus., plates (col), diagrams, biblio.
A useful, modern account of Canterbury’s history, with some good illustrations and an intelligent text.

913. Crainge, Gerald The Roman Channel Crossing of AD43: the constraints of Claudius’s naval strategy; Oxford, Archaeopress 2002
1 84171 2973
maps, diagrams, biblio.
BAR British Series 2973

352.2K. Ingleton, Roy Policing Kent: Guarding the garden of England, 1800-2000 Chichester, Phillimore & Co Ltd 2002
1 86077 2331
front., illus., biblio.
A well written account of policing in Kent. It contains good illustrations and would be a useful source of information for anyone commencing a deeper study in this, or related fields.

RECTORS OF ALDINGTON

Indexing the Hussey collection has begun, and revealed some colourful Rectors of Aldington. John Noble, one of the Library Volunteers writes, “After reading this, you may conclude that subsequent Rectors of Aldington determined to live a quiet and sober life!”

John Allen, rector 1510-1511, became Cardinal Wolsey’s henchman in the early suppression of smaller monasteries, which rendered him odious to the people. Rewarded by elevation to the Archbishopric of Dublin, he was barbarously murdered at Clontarf on 28 July 1534, his brains being beaten out with a club.

Desiderious Erasmus of Rotterdam, rector 1511-1512. Archbishop Warham offered him the living, but Erasmus initially declined since “he was not sufficiently versed in English but a barbarian speaking a foreign tongue”, but was persuaded to accept. He resigned in 1512 upon appointment to a Professorship at Oxford. Before leaving, he astutely arranged a pension of £20 per annum should be paid to him out of the living.

Robert Masters, rector 1514-1558. He had as a parishioner Elizabeth Bolton, a young girl subject to fits and trances during which she saw visions and uttered prophecies. In 1525, she entered a nunnery and became known as the holy Maid of Kent. In 1533 she began to denounce King Henry VIII and his conduct towards his Queen about the proposed divorce. Thomas Cromwell ordered that everyone who had at any time been privy to her prophecies should be arrested and condemned to death, including Masters. The charges were knowing her to be an imposter and aiding and abetting her to their own advantage. Masters, and the others implicated, were placed upon a high platform at St Paul’s Cross, London, and put to public humiliation before a vast concourse of spectators. Bolton reading a confession of guilt. Bolton, two monks and a priest, were hanged at Tyburn. Masters, although condemned, was imprisoned for a further four months, then by Royal Grant (1534/35) received pardon and remission of his attainder with restoration of his goods and possessions.

Meanwhile, Erasmus complained that his £20 was not being paid!!

John Noble