Ken Foster is a retired police officer who lives in Eastbourne. He uses the British Newspaper Archive website, run by the British Library and FindMyPast.com, to research family history. He is the secretary of the Great War Forum Ltd. 

I left the Metropolitan Police after over 30 years’ service with the rank of Detective Superintendent. I have always been interested in the Great War of 1914–1919. When I retired, I began to research in greater depth the part my family had played in the war, and that’s where my interest in family history began. 

The newspapers held by the British Library, which are available online, are a fantastic, unfiltered resource for family historians. They reflect the values of the communities they were published for and help the reader build a more intimate picture of their lives. 

My great uncle Percy served on the Western Front

My father was named Percy, a living memorial to his uncle, who was a member of the 14th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in the First World War. This was a bantam regiment for soldiers under five foot three in height. The under-height men were recruited in 1915; they were supposedly fit, but because they were from industrial cities, they had lots of medical problems such as rickets. 

Many, including Percy, were formed into the 40th Division, who served on the Western Front. They helped to capture Bourlon Wood as part of the Battle of Cambrai and suffered tremendous losses. They were disbanded in 1918 and soldiers were sent to the base depot at Etaples. Percy was there on 20 May 1918, when the Germans bombed the base. There were a number of Scottish soldiers killed, and they're all buried together in the cemetery at Etaples, which is one of the biggest war cemeteries in France. 

My interest in Percy’s generation led me to research why some members of my family had volunteered while others had not. It turned out that my family were Methodists. Generally speaking, the Methodists are pacifists, but there was some question as to whether or not this was a just war. Percy and my grandfather volunteered before conscription was introduced to the United Kingdom and Ireland (as it was then) in March 1916. Their other two brothers were shoemakers, and they didn’t fight in the war. One of them joined the Local Defence Volunteers. The fourth brother carried on in his own sweet way, making boots for the army.

Thieves broke into my great great grandfather’s shop

My second great grandfather, James, was the start of my family’s connection with the boot and shoe trade. Using the newspaper collection, I found out that in November 1855, his shop in Stainland, West Yorkshire, was burgled. The whole shop was ransacked, and the newspaper account said that every shoe in the shop, even those that were in for repair, was taken; he had absolutely no stock left at all. The thieves broke into the back of the shop, according to the newspaper report, and the burglary wasn’t discovered until James went in the front door the following morning. It was a typical night burglary, if you like. 

As far as I'm aware, the burglars were never caught. I've had a look for them, to try to find out who they were. I had a really good dig around in the newspapers, but without any luck. Shortly after the incident, James moved away – whether as a result of the burglary, I don't know. 

The Methodist community had a whip-round for him, and it was reported that they raised about two thirds of the value of his stock. I think he probably used that money to set up his business in Camberwell in London with his new wife. Was it an insurance fraud? I don't know. The fact that every item was taken, even including those boots that were in for repair, does make you think.

The discoveries I’ve made answer some puzzling questions 

The mechanisation of the boot and shoe industry meant that James’ bespoke business folded after a few years, and he moved to the East Midlands, the centre of the trade. My mother and father met in the Timpsons shoe factory in Kettering. The discoveries I’ve made answer some questions that have always puzzled me as far as my childhood was concerned. My dad used to use these Yorkshire phrases, and I never understood where they came from, until I found that that was where his father was from. 

As a former investigator, my research is a kind of continuation of my career. The downside of the internet is that people can put any old rubbish on there. I think it’s important that there is evidence that corroborates what is written on a website. There’s actually a parallel in the past: after World War I, there were a number of vanity publications, like the National Roll of the Great War, where you could pay to have your name put in, and puff up your service, just a little bit. 

Researching family history is a fascinating pursuit

I should like to find more photographs related to my family history. Whenever people ask the Great War Forum where they can find photographs, we refer them to the British Newspaper Archive, because when people became casualties in the Great War, relatives could submit a photograph to the local newspaper. It’s been quite gratifying when people have found pictures, when they never knew what their ancestors looked like before. 

In the last 10 years or so, it’s become much easier to research the past because so much information has been digitised, including, of course, the British Newspaper Archive. Newspapers are released by the British Library to FindMyPast.com week on week, so more and more information is made available. Researching family history is a fascinating pursuit and there are always too many avenues to explore and too little time. 

The British Library holds many manuscripts that offer insights into the practice of cookery and culinary tastes from the 17th century onwards. Below provides an introduction to some of these sources.  

Culinary Manuscripts: 17th Century

17th-century miscellany of culinary and medical recipes (Sloane MS. 703 f. 85r)

Unpublished manuscripts from the 17th century offer insights into the personal recipes, tastes and habits of specific families and households. These manuscripts were most often produced informally, for domestic use, and so are often unattributed and written in multiple hands. 

The Sloane manuscript collections hold thousands of recipes that Sir Hans Sloane collected as a physician. The relationship between diet, health, food and medicine was very close in the 17th century and many medicinal and cookery recipes (or receipts as they were known before the 18th century) have been preserved side-by-side in the manuscripts. In amongst these manuscripts are the recipes of Margaret Crux (Sloane MS 1468), John Hobart (Sloane MS 2155), Elizabeth Beere (Sloane MS 2488), Hugo Vaugen (Sloane MS 3276), Anthony Lewes (Sloane MS 556), Samuel Bellingham (Sloane MS 645), and many more by unnamed authors. 

Many culinary manuscripts have been preserved through the papers of royal and aristocratic households. Household accounts often include kitchen expenditure, offering insights into the cost of ingredients, the quantities bought and culinary fashions that were followed by prominent families. An example of this can be seen in food expenses and bills of fare belonging to Lady Jane Townshend (Add MS 41306). Some manuscript recipe books have also been preserved within these family collections, for example those of Anne Glydd (Add MS 45196) and Elizabeth Brockman (Add MS 45199) in the Brockman Papers; and multiple family recipe books within the Evelyn Papers (Add MS 78168-78693). 

Other stand-alone manuscript recipe books are found outside of collected family papers. Manuscript recipe books were often kept by prominent women within the household who would have had oversight of the kitchens. Examples include the recipe books of Mary Glover (Add MS 57944), Dorothy Washbourne (Add MS 36308), Mary Birkhead (Egerton MS 2415), Mary Doggett (Add MS 27466), Mary Dacres (Add MS 56248) and Lady Harley (Egerton MS 2214).

Highlights 

• An account of food served to Queen Elizabeth I (dated 16th–17th century) Lansdowne MS 105/3 

• Queen Anne of Denmark's household food accounts Harley MS 157 

• Richard Bower's recipe for making coffee and chocolate Sloane MS 645 

• Recipe to preserve beef at sea, in the hand of Sir Walter Raleigh Add MS 12097 

• Early 17th-century recipe book with directions for serving dinners Add MS 28319 

• Mary Evelyn's instructions on keeping a house, and her bills of fare Add MS 80766 

• Diaries and recipes of Elizabeth Freke, in the Freke Papers Add MS 45718 

Culinary manuscripts: 18th century 

Table plan of a bill of fare for the 1st Earl of Chichester, Thomas Pelham, Add MS 33509, f 1r.

The 1700s witnessed significant advancements in agriculture and food production, as well as an increasing variety of ingredients available for cooking that were bought back from Britain’s trade networks and expanding empire. The establishment of plantations and expansion of slave labour in the Americas meant that foodstuffs such as sugar, coffee and cocoa became more widely available in Britain and were incorporated into popular recipes. Changes in tastes, patterns of consumption and cooking practices from the era are preserved in manuscript recipe books, bills of fare and household food accounts. 

Most of these manuscripts have been preserved within the papers of family estates of royalty and the aristocracy. Included among these are the kitchen accounts of the Coke family at Holkham Hall (Add MS 69991 C), household recipes of the Duchess of Marlborough within the Blenheim Papers (Add MS 61479), daily registers of bills of fare in the house of the Duke of Newcastle (Add MSS 33325–33336), and food accounts for Althorp House (Add MS 75762–75763). 

Manuscript recipe books were often kept by prominent women within the household who would have had oversight of the kitchens. These volumes often contain assorted collected recipes in multiple hands, reflecting a tradition of adding to family recipe books, an example being the recipe book of Anne Nicolson (Add MS 30244). Some manuscript recipe books are compendiums of collected recipes from multiple authors, such as the cookery recipe book containing recipes from Mrs. Bates, Mrs Burbidge, Mrs. Meymott and Lady Herness (Add MS 45931). 

Highlights 

• Accounts of the royal kitchen of George I of Great Britain Add MS 34761 

• Ledger detailing bills of fare tables of the royal household of George III at Richmond, 1765 Add MS 78545 

• Account book of the butcher for the Lamb family Add MS 83023 

• Table plans of bills of fare for the household of Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester Add MS 33343 

• Book of household recipes for making preserves and confectionery, owned by Elizabeth Sloane Add MS 29739 

• Recipe book of the 18th century diarist Caroline Powys Add MS 42173 

• Recipe book kept at Chequers during the 18th century Add MS 69409 

• A commonplace book of Joanna Clay containing her recipes, laundry advice, and riddles Add MS 85471 

Culinary manuscripts: 19th–20th century

Recipe from Mrs Palmers’ recipe book, dated 1810: Add MS 46171, f 12r.

The 1800s saw vast industrial development across the UK, a rapidly growing population, technological advances in transport, food production and food preservation, as well as an ever-increasing volume of food being brought to Britain from across the British Empire and elsewhere. This increased the quality, quantity and diversity of food, which can be recognised in culinary manuscripts from the time. As well as a continuing presence of culinary manuscripts among the collections of aristocratic families and estates, such as those relating to Dropmore House (Add MSS 69259–69279), there are more manuscripts to be found among the papers of the growing middle-classes of the era. The collection also reflects the increasing literacy and survival of manuscripts left by domestic servants in the home with the papers of the housekeeper of Kew Palace (Add MS 62560) and later in the papers of Grace Higgens (Add MSS 83247–83253), domestic servant to the writer Vita Sackville-West. 

In the late 1900s and 20th century popular printed cookery books became increasingly available and the tradition of manuscript recipes started to decline. Some manuscript recipes drafted in the 20th century can still be seen in the collections, but they tend to be found among the personal papers of individuals recorded as notes, rather than as distinct manuscript cookery books created with the purpose of being a family resource through generations. As well as personal notes, insights into domestic cooking in the 20th century can be found in correspondence. The two world wars saw rationing as the availability of food declined and its impact is explored in letters such as those authored by Phyllis (Add MS 89076/1/4) and Ernest Gardner (Add MS 89076/2/1) during World War One in the Gardner Papers. Some collected recipes from the later 20th century are found in the archive papers of selected figures, including within the notebooks of the scientist Donald Mitchie (Add MS 88958/2/215) and the poet Kathleen Raine (Add MS 88766). 

Highlights 

• Mrs Evelyn's Wotton House account book of daily outgoings on food  Add MS 78564 

• Recipe book of Mrs Palmer, housekeeper at Gransden House, dated 1810-1829 Add MS 46171 

• William Henry Fox Talbot's food expenditure account book, 1833-1837 Add MS 88942/1/268 

• Accounts of the kitchen offices of Althorp House including the almonry, bakery, buttery, larder, spicery and wine cellar, dated 1854-1857   Add MSS 76681–76686 

• Late 19th-century commonplace book containing notes and cuttings of food and drink recipes Add MS 85455 

• Menu-book for home dinners of Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, including names of guests, 1903–1913 Add MS 49347 A-B 

• Recipes authored by the opera singer Bertha Lewis, early 20th century Add MS 89231/25/62 

• Powell family WWI rationing ephemera (within add Ms 89307, but need to find exact file) Add MS 89307/1/37 

• Wilson family WWII rationing ephemera Add MS 70670 A-D 

What is available in our Reading Rooms? 

Culinary manuscripts can be consulted in the Manuscripts Reading Room. Due to the 2023 cyber attack the online Archives & Manuscripts catalogue is not currently available, however, you can request items using the shelfmark details included in this blog post. Printed catalogues and handlists are available in our Reading Rooms, or you can also try searching the National Archives Discovery catalogue and filtering by “Other archives only”. View full details of the resources currently.   

Please contact the Manuscripts Reference Team for information about accessing restricted items. 

What is available in other organisations? 

• The Wellcome Collection holds a collection of domestic medicinal and culinary recipe manuscripts dating from the 16th–19th centuries. Many of these are available to view online 

• Leeds University Library holds many cookery manuscripts in its expansive Cookery Collection 

• The National Library of Scotland holds manuscript recipe books from the 17th century and many of them are available online 

• The Folger Shakespeare Library holds many early modern English manuscript recipe books. The Folder Library also hosts the Early Modern Recipes Online Collective (EMROC) 

By Jessica Gregory 

Since the cyber-attack in October 2023, we have been unable to provide access to the vast collection of material we receive via electronic (non-print) legal deposit.

We know this has really impacted those who need access to this material for their research. Although the collection itself is safe, the online platform we used to provide access to it is among the many systems damaged, and since then we have been working with the other members of the legal deposit library network to restore secure access.

Access restored

The National Libraries of Wales and Scotland, the Bodleian Libraries, Cambridge University Library and the Library of Trinity College Dublin are now providing access to this material via an interim platform, which can be used onsite in their reading rooms.

At this stage, access is available to electronic legal deposit content collected prior to October 2023.

The interim platform has limited functionality compared with the version available before the cyber-attack, but our priority has been to restore a basic level of access to electronic legal deposit collections, and then improve this through incremental changes and future iterations, informed by feedback and insight from those using the platform.

At the moment this doesn’t provide access to the UK Web Archive, for which a different solution is required.

User guides are available from each of the legal deposit libraries, and staff have been trained to support you accessing this content.

Access for British Library Readers

This solution is not initially available in the British Library’s Reading Rooms, because of ongoing work to restore a secure infrastructure for our Reading Room PCs for use by Readers.

We’re putting arrangements in place to enable British Library Readers to access the other legal deposit libraries to access this content and will provide full instructions once this is possible.

What’s currently available?

In the meantime, please see what’s currently available and find out how you can use the Library during this recovery period.