Celebrating 125 years of Victoria County History publications

What are the Victoria County History publications?

'The VCH project, as originally conceived, set out to provide a historical encyclopaedia of the English counties,' writes family and local history expert Stuart Raymond in the September issue of Family Tree.

'The project was initiated in 1899,' continues Stuart. 'It was originally thought that the entire work could be published in 160 volumes within six years. That proved illusory – work is still continuing after 125 years.' 

So far 300 volumes have been published and many further volumes will be added to the collections in the coming decades.

Originally intended to be a commercial enterprise by the 1930s the VCH were taken on by the Institute of Historical Research in 1934, but still progress was slow as Stuart explains: 'Between the wars, little progress was made. It was not until the Institute provided additional funds after the end of World War II, and county councils were approached to finance the appointment of local editors, that steady progress began to be made. Progress since then has depended on local voluntary trusts, reliant in part on council funding.'

The works are written by professional historians and are overseen by the Institute of Historical Research to ensure uniformity.

How can the Victoria County Histories help your family history research?

As is clear from the title, the publications are county-based works.

Topics that are covered within the volumes of the Victoria County Histories include: architecture, natural history, prehistory, archaeology, the Domesday Book, ecclesiastical history, political history, social and economic history, industrial history, schools, sport, agriculture and forestry, fairs, schools, local government. As you can see - a wide variety of information. While uniformity is aimed at, the coverage for 'no two parishes is alike' writes Stuart.

Where can you find Victoria County Histories?

Find digitised copies of most of the Victoria County Histories online at www.british-history.ac.uk

For details of works in progress see www.history.ac.uk/research/victoria-county-history/county-histories-progress