The Surtees Society was founded in 1834, to publish historical records relating to Northumbria. The inaugural meeting gave amplified expression to this purpose as
The moving spirit of the society for many years was James Raine (1791-1858), librarian to the Dean and Chapter of Durham, who was both the society's secretary and the editor of fifteen of its first twenty-four volumes. The society continues to flourish, and has now published over two hundred volumes. These cover all of the north of England, but volumes relating to Co. Durham have been most numerous.
Administrative records of the Society, accumulated by officers of the sciety, chiefly the secretary, including correspondence relating to its foundation, full set of minutes, recent financial material, files relating to the preparation and publication of Volumes 177 - 203, recent membership records.
Deposited by the society, 1990 onwards.
Future deposits by the officers of the society as convenient
Chronologically within the following groups:
Open for consultation
Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Sub-Librarian, Special Collections (e-mail PG.Library@durham.ac.uk) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. The Library will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.
Available online at
Add. MS 833 (letters to James Raine, including some relating to his activities as Surtees Society secretary).