The Catholic Record Society (

Registered Charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

No. 313529), founded in 1904, is a scholarly society devoted to the study of

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and post-Reformation

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in England and Wales. It has been described as "the premier Catholic historical society in the United Kingdom", and has been credited with making much otherwise obscure archival material more readily available.

History

The society was initially established in 1904 as a

text publication society A text publication society is a learned society which publishes (either as its sole function, or as a principal function) scholarly editions of old works of historical or literary interest, or archival documents. In addition to full texts, a text p ...

, with the aim of publishing Catholic historical records. Active members in its early years included

Joseph Gillow Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850, Preston, Lancashire – 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale, Cheshire) was an English Roman Catholic antiquary, historian and bio-bibliographer, "the Plutarch of the English Catholics". Biography Born in Frenchwood Hous ...

, J. H. Pollen, and Joseph S. Hansom. It subsequently developed into a more general historical society.

Publications

The Society continues to issue volumes of source material relating to Catholic history in the CRS Records Series; and a separate series of

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

s, CRS Monographs. Both series are published on the Society's behalf by

Boydell & Brewer Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, edition ...

. It also publishes a journal, which was originally titled ''Biographical Studies, 1534–1829'' (volumes 1–3, 1951–56); then ''Recusant History'' (volumes 4–31, 1957–2014); but which since volume 32 (2015) has been known as ''

British Catholic History ''British Catholic History'' is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Catholic Record Society. In its early years it was known as Biographical Studies of English Catholics, and then fro ...

'', and is published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

Conferences

A residential three-day conference is organised each year, at which the Society's AGM takes place. For many years these events took place at

Plater College Plater College was an adult education establishment which was based in Oxford, England. College history The college was founded in 1922 by the Rev. Leo O'Hea, S.J. (1881–1976), director of the Catholic Social Guild, in memory of the Father ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Since then it has moved to Liverpool and Cambridge, and has been based at the

Bar Convent The Convent of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin at Micklegate Bar, York, better known as The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, is the oldest surviving Catholic convent in England, established in 1686. The laws of England at this time proh ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

since 2019. The 2021 Conference will be held on Zoom.

References

External links

* * * Journal webpages on Cambridge University Press website, http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=BCH. * Catholic Record Society, Records Series
Miscellanea VI
(1909). {{authority control 1904 establishments in the United Kingdom Charities based in England History organisations based in the United Kingdom Learned societies of the United Kingdom Text publication societies Organizations established in 1904