PAPERS OF RAPHAEL SAMUEL CONCERNING HEADINGTON QUARRY

Scope and Content

These records are part of the working papers of Raphael Samuel, tutor at Ruskin College, for a study of life at Headington Quarry c. 1860 - 1920. They were deposited in 1990 with the accession number 3037.

The material was used in an essay by Samuel titled 'Quarry Roughs: life and labour in Headington Quarry, 1860-1920'. An essay on oral history, which is on pages 139-265 of Village Life and Labour (Routledge 1975), edited by Samuel. A copy of this can be found in the Local Studies Library (ref. OXFO 944 HEAQ). Potential users of P1 may find it useful to read this published essay before examining the documents themselves, as this will make the collection easier to understand (documents which Samuel refers to in this chapter as being in the archives of Holy Trinity, Headington Quarry, are now to be found at Oxfordshire Archives among the Quarry's parish records).

These papers are largely based on typed edited transcripts of taped interviews made, mostly in 1969, between Samuel and several elderly inhabitants of Headington Quarry. These transcripts are to be found in P1/MS15. In P1/MS1-14, other copies of these transcripts were cut up, arranged by subject, glued onto larger sheets of paper, and stored in files. These extracts can be anything from one or two lines to an entire page. There are also photocopies of several printed documents: some had been left as they were, but others had also been cut up and their pieces glued onto larger sheets of paper. Searchers should therefore realise that most of the papers are somewhat disjointed in format, and that those seeking individuals at the Quarry are advised to use P1/MS15, whereas the rest of the collection is more suitable for those searching by topic.

All the documents except P1/MS9 were found in 14 large files. The file divisions have been preserved (and the legends on each file reproduced), but the contents of each file have been divided up for ease of reference. Original order has been preserved, except where documents on the same topic were scattered over part of a file, and it made more sense to bring them together.

Catalogued in September 1993 by Robin Darwall-Smith.

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