Dugdale Society

Almost every English county has a record society, which in the case of Warwickshire is called the Dugdale Society in honour of the great historian of the Civil War period, whose ‘Antiquities of Warwickshire’ was published in 1656. The society’s main purpose is to identify written documents which are important sources for the history of the county, and to find editors who will produce a modern printed translated version, with explanatory notes, an index and other aids which will make the document easy to read and understand.

Recent volumes have included the Register of Coventry Priory, which has surveys mostly written in the 15th century. These tell us about the properties of the monks of Coventry, both in the city and scattered over the county. The previous year we published a book of household accounts of Thomas Puckering for 1620, who lived on the site of Warwick Priory (which is now used as the County Record Office). We also publish occasional papers, which are based on the annual lecture given in October. We meet to hear the lecture, and also meet in the summer for a social evening in a historic house.

New members are very welcome. Members enjoy the meetings and the books and papers, but also feel that they are contributing through their modest subscriptions in a very constructive way; they feel they are helping to expand our knowledge of the history of Warwickshire.