| Description | There are two main series of letter books included in this catalogue. LB 1-12 form the first series. These books were compiled by the Dean and Chapter's auditors between 1803-1877 and contain hand-written copies of all official Chapter letters. The second main series (LB 13-74) are in the form of letter press copying books and run from 1889-1934.
The first series contain letters on all the subjects in which the Chapter had an interest, while the early volumes of the second series are concerned only with estate business. This changed in the first decade of the twentieth century, when the topics covered became general again. This second series was subdivided in 1919 into general letters and tithe letters. This was due to the appointment of F R Allen as tithe agent.
The Dean and Chapter's estates were run by Montague Kingsford of the solicitors Kingsford and Wightwick from 1889-1902. He was succeeded by S Newton Dickenson as seneschal and chapter agent in 1902. The position of Chapter clerk at this time was held by Frank Richard Allen and many of the administrative letters were written by him.
Edward Hegan was appointed as seneschal and agent in 1910, being replaced by F R Allen in 1922. Allen was removed from the office in 1924 and H Graham Barker was appointed in his place.
Incoming letters from 1902-1924 were filed by F R Allen into two series; one for general letters (DCc/GLB) and one for letters about tithe matters (DCc/TLB). The latter are catalogued with the other tithe books. Each letter in these series was given a number as it arrived in the office (see the note on the letter registers below).
After the two main series of letter books two smaller series are to be found. WLB 1 and 2 are letter books written by Daniel Finch between 1847 and 1864. They contain correspondence relating to the Dean and Chapter's Walworth estate.
There is also a category of 'Miscellaneous Letter Books'. MLB 1 holds correspondence with the lessees of the Dean and Chapter's 'Foreign' properties (1843-1855) while MLB 2 contains copies of letters generated by the sale of Dean and Chapter lands and properties in 1860-1863.
After the letter books come two series of letter-related volumes from the early twentieth century. The first of these are 'Letter Registers' (LR), recording the sender and subject-matter of incoming mail, the number assigned to it and the action taken by the staff of the chapter office concerning it. The other series is that of 'Post Books' (PB) which noted the date of sending letters out of the chapter office and the amount of postage paid. The letter registers cover the period 1902-1925 and the post books 1902-1916. |