Summary

Reference No:

C DFP

Extent:

3517 items, 13 volumes 0.18m3

Access Conditions:

Private

Access will be granted to any accredited reader

Custodial History:

The papers described in this list were placed in Hull Museums in 1958 and transferred to the Record Office in 1978. Internal evidence suggests that they have been the subject of at least two arrangements before reaching the Record Office.

The first of these was carried out by Joseph Robinson Pease II (1789-1866) probably towards the end of his life. He seems to have gone through all the papers of earlier members of the family and may well have weeded as well as arranged them. This is suggested by the relative scarcity of papers from Joseph Robinson Pease I (1752-1807) as compared with those of his grandfather Joseph Pease (1688-1778). It may be that contrary to the usual pattern less survived but it seems more likely that the more recent papers were considered to be of less interest and that some form of selection took place. There can be little doubt that this was the case when Pease turned to his own correspondence. He did not specify the basis of his selection but extended correspondence, subjects of special or lasting importance and famous names were clearly among his criteria for retention. Naturally, the papers of later generations were not touched at this stage.

The second arrangement took place after the transferrence to Hull Museums. This involved gathering the papers into c.100 groups by author or subject and was summarised in a list compiled at the time. It is possible that for the earlier papers this arrangement followed that already imposed by J. R. Pease. This arrangement was unsatisfactory in a number of respects, the most serious of which was the fact that its author basis can conceal the provenance of papers by bringing together letters received by different individuals from the same writer. It also confused individuals of the same name and, in some cases, placed letters from one individual to another in separate unrelated groups.

The third arrangement was therefore undertaken after the transfer of the records to the City Record Office. Given the history of the collection it was impossible to reconstruct the original arrangement. It was possible, however, to identify the original owner or recipient of most of the papers and thus to group them according to their various provenances. The papers of each owner have been arranged according to a standard format of correspondence (by far the largest group), arranged alphabetically by correspondent, business and investment, estates and property, and family personal and domestic. The headings vary to some extent to reflect the different nature of the records and the changing life-style of the family. Please be aware that the series of papers of Joseph Robinson Pease held at C DFP/904-C DFP/2563 also hold a small series of papers belonging to Joseph Walker Pease at C DFP/2305-

C DFP/2308, which continue at C DFP/2576-C DFP/3008.

Permanent Link

https://catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/catalogue/C-DFP

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Archive Catalogue (PDF format)

Repository:

Hull City Archives