William Brown's Account Book - A Major Project

W. Brown's Account Book

A few years ago I acquired the client account book of William Brown, Estate Agent of Tring for most of the 1850s. Part was put online at the time and the aim was to make it all available. This got delayed and I have decided to give the matter top priority for at least the rest on 2013, with some continuing into 2014.

The plan for documenting this manuscript book is as follows:

Stage 1 is now complete. All 283 folios are now online in image form, with a draft calendar based on the entry titles, and a copy of William Brown's index, in digital image form.

Stage 2 involves an upgrade of the draft calendar. The first 20 folios have short extra texts describing the content of the folio. Each folio needs to be read and a brief description added. The plan is to complete this by the end of the year, with additional summaries being added almost every day.

Stage 3 is to complete William Brown's biography and other supporting information pages.

Stage 4: I will also be producing extended notes, which takes a group of entries and looks in some depth into the people or properties mentioned. These will be selected because the subject is of wider interest - for instance demonstrating how records from different sources fit together - or because the folio(s) include locally important references to names, places and events. The plan is to produce one long note, or two or three short notes, a month. The drafts may start appearing online in advance of being announced as ready in the newsletter.

There is no intention of producing extended notes on all folios or all clients - but if you have detailed knowledge relevant to an folio, or have a query about a particular folio, let me know and I will be happy to include it in a linked note.

Please note that because this is a Hertfordshire site, and my access to Buckinghamshire records is less extensive, priority will be given to folios with clear Hertfordshire connections.