Editorial note

EDITORIAL NOTE

The arrangement of the Victoria History of the County of York in five distinct sets of volumes is described in the Editorial Note to Volume I of the East Riding set. The present volume, the third in that set, relates the history of the parishes in Ouse and Derwent wapentake and of the more westerly parishes in the Wilton Beacon division of Harthill wapentake; the remainder of that division and the other divisions of the wapentake are reserved for treatment in later volumes.

The East Riding County Council, which in 1970 had assumed the responsibility for compiling the remaining East Riding volumes, was dissolved on 31 March 1974 under the Local Government Act, 1972, and the area which it had administered was transferred to the new counties of Humberside and North Yorkshire. Before the end of its existence the Council made a loan, free of interest, to the University of London to enable the University to take over the Council's purpose of completing the history of the East Riding. The staff of the East Riding History were accordingly transferred to the University's employment, and have continued their work under the direct supervision of the general Editor of the History. The University of London gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the former County Council both for its earlier collaboration and particularly for providing for the continuation of the project. The new arrangement was made possible by the resolute initiative of Lt.-Col. Sir John Dunnington-Jefferson, Bt., D.S.O., D.L., and the former Clerk of the East Riding County Council, the late Mr. R. A. Whitley, D.L.

In September 1972 the Revd. J. D. Purdy, who before taking orders had been assistant editor of the East Riding History since 1968, resigned his post. He was succeeded in August 1973 by Mr. (later Dr.) G. H. R. Kent.

Many have helped in preparing this volume. The names of those who assisted with a particular part are indicated in the footnotes or in the preface to the list of illustrations. Among those who made documents available and provided information for several places or passages were the Librarian of York Minster, the Director and acting Director of the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, University of York, the Diocesan Registrar, the Librarian of the North Yorkshire County Library at York, the Librarian of the Humberside County Library at Beverley, and the City Archivist of Leeds: to them and their colleagues, as also to Mr. N. C. Forbes Adam, and to parochial incumbents collectively, thanks are gratefully offered. In particular, acknowledgement is made of the extensive help given by Mr. N. Higson, formerly East Riding County Archivist and now Archivist to the University of Hull, and by Mr. C. N. Snowden, Acting Registrar of Deeds for the East Riding.

The General Introduction to the History (1970) outlines the structure and aims of the series as a whole.