The Story of Berkshire Record Office
It was in 1939 that Berkshire County Council established a Berkshire Records Committee. Its job was to consider how to look after the many official and private records that were stored in the basement of the old Shire Hall in the Forbury, Reading.
The Clerk of the Council, Harold Neobard, was keen to employ an archivist. Over twenty shire counties had already established a County Record Office, and Mr Neobard wanted Berkshire to be next.
It was agreed to appoint an archivist by April 1940, but the Second World War intervened and it was only in August 1948 that Felix Hull started work as the first County Archivist. His temporary Record Office was in the caretaker's flat of the old Shire Hall.
More detail on the story of the Berkshire Record Office can be found by clicking here.