Electoral registers

We are pleased to announce that Berkshire’s electoral registers are now all available up to 2024 (ER1), including some for Slough for the years 1974, 1989 and 2001-2002 which had hitherto not been deposited (C/CS and ER1). 2020 was the very last year in which they were produced in the traditional paper format, and from 2021 onwards they are born-digital. These are available to view onsite on a specific laptop which must be prebooked, but please note that they are not searchable electronically and may not be copied except in the form of your own pencil notes.  

Politics

 The only way to stop war

We have recently received the records of Windsor Conservative Association, 1897-2006 (D/EX2923). The minutes include concerns about Germany’s ‘alarming’ militarisation in the 1930s; noting that 'it was very difficult for the Government to make headway in negotiations with both Germany and Italy in view of their abhorrent belligerent attitude’, and 'if war should come in spite of this Government's continuous and great efforts to avert it, this Country would have the moral satisfaction of knowing that such an event was none of our seeking and that the cause we should be called upon to defend was a just and righteous one'. Post-war the Soviet Union was the new enemy, and as early as September 1947 it was observed that 'Russia had a tremendous network [of spies] all over the world and ... the only way to stop war was for peace-loving nations to get together and have a unified armed system to fight against an aggressor... the Conservatives should be the first to put this in their policy'.  

Moral responsibility

For a more recent period we have acquired records of the Purley Ward Branch of the West Berks Conservative Association (formerly the South Berks Conservative and Unionist Association), 1970-1989 (D/EX3045). These give a good insight into the concerns of local Conservative party members, who discussed schools policy in 1976, when the party was in opposition. Views expressed by individual members included, 'stop recruiting low grade graduates and hire people with a real vocation and commitment to teaching... recruit people to teach who have some real life experience'.  

In 1982 they thought it was ‘better to trade with Eastern Bloc countries than to keep them in isolation. There should however be sufficient back-up facilities to ensure that Europe does not become dependent upon Russian gas'. Crime was a constant worry, exacerbated in 1983 by 'the breakdown of law and order caused by demonstrations such as Greenham Common'. However, members supported foreign aid, saying, 'we all have a moral responsibility to see that the starving are fed.'   

Local political activity is also represented by the minutes of Reading Liberal Association’s Castle Ward Committee, 1925-1952 (D/EX2498). We have received a notebook recording all election results in the Wantage area, 1957-1988 (D/EX2596). We have also catalogued the scrapbooks and other papers of Conservative Alderman Arthur Trevener of Slough, 1902-1949 (D/EX1803). Keep an eye out for more on him in a future issue of our blog!  

Also of great interest are the papers of Marjorie Nicholson (1914-1997) of Windsor and Slough, 1939-1952 (D/EX1586). Marjorie was a teacher and Labour activist who unsuccessfully stood for Parliament three times in Windsor in 1945, 1950 and 1951. Her papers include a survey by the local Workers’ Educational Association (for which she was a tutor) on the proposed post-war reconstruction of Slough, 1942-1943, as well as all her election campaign records.  

'In no way rigidly political'  

Also with a political connection are the records of Windsor Constitutional Club, 1886-1971 (D/EX2775). It was formed in 1886 as a Conservative Club for Windsor and neighbourhood with 215 members. It was of a predominantly social nature (bar, billiards, smoking, etc.), but members were occasionally asked to contribute to election campaigns. By the 1960s it was noted, 'while ... the Constitutional Club is in no way rigidly political, nevertheless it can be fairly assumed that for practical purposes all present Members are at least ''Right of Centre'' in political thought'. The club appears to have closed in c.2014. We have also acquired the records of Windsor Labour Hall, 1924-1992 (D/EX1836) – a different political party but a similar organisation.

You can find out more about all of these collections by searching the RBA online catalogue. Enter the collection references given above.