Family history is a thriving hobby, with parish registers and census returns offering vital information for those trying to trace their ancestors. Most people are lucky if they have a few old photographs, letters or diaries to go on.
The archives and papers of the landed families of the East Riding collectively include vast amounts of material not only on their ancestors but local history too. East Riding Archives and Local Studies Service hold, amongst other collections, the Calverley-Rudston family, who were local to Hayton, near Pocklington and had national and international importance.
As part of the project ‘Crown, Colonies and Countrymen’, funded by the National Cataloguing Grants Scheme, an exhibition based on these family papers is currently being held in the Treasure House, in Beverley, where some of their stories are being told.
Some vitally important historical papers are on display. The Irish Warrants are a unique set of orders issued by Thomas Wentworth, Lord Deputy of Ireland in the 1630s. They are all the more important as in 1922, Ireland was in the throes of a civil war and sadly many of its early records were destroyed by fire. Also on display is the will and inventory of Sir John Rudston, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1528. It is another gem within this collection as it is believed that such detailed inventories of a man of his social standing are rare.
The exhibition also examines the stories of Ann Rudston who suffered mental illness and was placed in a private asylum, from 1805 to 1855, and George Rudston, a draper of Hull whose financial gambling under the Corn Laws sent him spiralling into bankruptcy. Another family member, George Calverley-Rudston, was reputed to have met with ‘Buffalo Bill’ in the American ‘Wild West’. George was sent out to America in financial disgrace and his correspondence to his father gives intriguing insights into George’s character and his life in America during the early 20th Century.
Joanna Larter, collections officer, said: “This collection has revealed some really varied human interest stories and hopefully the exhibition will show that archives are about real people from history. There are also plenty of documents on display, hopefully giving people the opportunity to come face-to-face with some very old records. ”
In collaboration with East Riding Museums Service, these wonderful stories are being told in the form of an eight-week exhibition which is running until Saturday, 7 April in Gallery Two of the Treasure House, Beverley.
For further information, contact (01482) 392780.
