The Surrey Record Society is a British text‑publication society dedicated to editing and publishing historical records relating to the historic county of Surrey, England. The society’s remit includes the areas of present‑day Surrey as well as the portions of south‑London that historically formed part of the county, such as the modern London boroughs of Lambeth, Wandsworth, Southwark, Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Sutton and Richmond.
History
The society was founded in 1912, largely through the initiative of Hilary Jenkinson (1882–1961), who at the time served as an archivist at the Public Record Office and honorary secretary of the Surrey Archaeological Society. Recognising that the Archaeological Society could not sustain a long‑term programme of archival publication, Jenkinson proposed a separate organisation. He became its first secretary, while M. S. Giuseppi, a colleague from the Record Office, acted as general editor. Giuseppi stepped down in 1924, after which Jenkinson assumed both the secretary and general editor roles, holding them jointly until 1950. In 1950 he was elected president of the society. Under Jenkinson’s leadership, the society helped establish editorial standards for the preparation of historical records that influenced later publication societies.
Publications
The society’s inaugural publication was Registrum Johannis de Pontissara, the register of John of Pontoise, Bishop of Winchester (1282–1304), issued in two volumes between 1913 and 1924. Since then the Surrey Record Society has produced a wide range of volumes covering ecclesiastical visitations, religious censuses, probate inventories, eyre records, gun‑powder mill documents, and other archival materials spanning the 12th to the 20th centuries.
Early volumes were released in serial “parts” (fascicles) with card covers, allowing members to bind them into complete books once all parts were issued. This practice, which sometimes resulted in bibliographic confusion, was abandoned after World War II. From volume 22 (published 1955) onward, volumes have been issued as complete books, and since volume 25 (1964) they have been bound uniformly in burnt‑sienna hardback covers.
Organisation and Activities
The society operates as a charitable organization whose primary aim is to make historical sources from Surrey more widely accessible for research and education. It maintains an active membership, publishes new volumes regularly, and collaborates with libraries, archives, and other historical societies.
References
Information compiled from the society’s published history and its entry in the public domain encyclopedia.