National Archives for researching the Great Famine

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National Archives for researching the Great Famine

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/f ... amine.html

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Sources in the National Archives for researching the Great Famine by Marianne Cosgrave, Rena Lohan and Tom Quinlan: Introduction

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Administration during the Famine

The Great Famine imposed a severe strain on the Irish government. Of the various offices and boards that constituted the Irish administration, the ones which were affected in a very direct way were:

The Chief Secretary's Office
The Poor Law Commission
The Relief Commission
The Office of Public Works
Additional online resources

Relief Commission Papers database, 1845-1847

A large amount of related material may also be found in the article Sources in the National Archives for research into the transportation of Irish convicts to Australia (1791-1853)

Ireland-Australia transportation database

This article is an attempt to bring to the attention of those interested in Famine research - whether at local or national level - collections in the National Archives which span the Famine period. These collections - information on which is provided via the links in the table above - not only document the actual measures taken to alleviate distress, but are also an invaluable source for other types of research, such as an analysis both of the extent of distress and of government response at local level, as well as the degree to which prevailing theories of government had an impact on the administration of relief.

Irish Archives

The following pages are an online version of the article Sources in the National Archives for researching the Great Famine by Marianne Cosgrave, Rena Lohan and Tom Quinlan. The complete printed version with illustrative examples of the document types mentioned, appears in Irish Archives, the Journal of the Irish Society for Archives, Spring 1995.

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Sources in the National Archives for researching the Great Famine: the Chief Secretary's Office

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Immediately subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant and appointed by him, the Chief Secretary served as head of the Lord Lieutenant's secretariat. In the latter half of the eighteenth century, the destruction of the Undertaker system in the Irish Parliament and its replacement by the installation of the Chief Secretary as a member of the Irish Commons, brought him and his activities into the political sphere to a greater extent.

In the aftermath of the Act of Union, the presence of the Chief Secretary in parliament in London and his position as chief executive of the Irish administration increased his status relative to that of the Lord Lieutenant to the point where the latter was little more than his nominal superior.

Several Chief Secretaries would attain the rank of cabinet minister, while the role of the Lord Lieutenant diminished. During the eighteenth century, the separate administrative offices of the secretariat of the Lord Lieutenant evolved into one central office surrounding the activities of the Chief Secretary. Its business was the supervision of the workings of the various boards and offices that constituted the Irish administration.

As chief executive of the Irish administration, the Chief Secretary naturally had a role in the efforts to alleviate the distress caused by the Great Famine, with his office functioning as a channel for communication between the Treasury in London and such central government agencies as the Relief Commission, the Poor Law Commission and the Office of Public Works, on all matters relating to the disbursement of public monies in the administration of relief. The Chief Secretary's Office (CSO) also received reports, memoranda, letters and memorials concerning the distressed state of the country and the archives of the CSO preserved in the National Archives are an indispensable source for any study of the Great Famine.

The Registered Papers of the Chief Secretary's Office, spanning the years 1818 to 1924, consist of one main series of bound volumes which, together with a number of sub-series, are used as finding aids to a main series and sub-series of incoming reports, returns, letters and memoranda. The incoming communications or papers, and their finding aids, form the largest class of archives of the former Chief Secretary's Office. In all, there are 337 volumes which serve either as indexes to incoming papers, as registers into which abstracts of information relating to these papers were entered, and as indexes to these registers. Subjects covered by the papers include cholera epidemics, cattle plague, economic depression, breaches of law and order and rebellion and political unrest, as well as the more mundane aspects of the day-to-day government of the country, such as the preparation of Treasury estimates, the payment of gratuities and pensions to civil servants, the administration of justice and the prisons and the preparation and enactment of legislation. The incoming papers were received from a wide variety of individuals, institutions and government offices.

The title of the class derives from the way in which these papers were dealt with by the registry staff of the CSO during the period 1840-1922. When received at the CSO, each individual incoming paper was given a unique reference number allocated consecutively from a straight numerical sequence. The registry clerks then entered or registered details of each of these papers in ascending numerical order by reference number of the individual paper in large volumes. Thus the registers present information abstracted from each paper in ascending numerical order by paper reference number. Generally, the indexing and registration of papers was conducted on an annual basis, with the first paper received in a given year being allotted the number 1, the second the number 2, and so on. The complete reference number of each individual paper was then a composite of the series title, the number allotted and the year in which it was registered. For example, the complete reference number of the first paper registered in 1853 is cited as Chief Secretary's Office Registered Paper 1/1853 (CSO RP 1/1853), and that of the second as CSO RP 2/1853. Once the papers had been registered and the matter to which they related disposed of, the papers were then filed away in numerical order by reference number.

The system of recording information relating to incoming papers altered over the period 1818 to 1922 as various methods were experimented with in order to ensure that the registry of the CSO could produce quickly any available papers on a given subject. From 1818 to 1839, the registry clerks of the CSO indexed rather than registered all papers and the volumes for these years form annual indexes to incoming papers. It was not until 1840 that the Chief Secretary's Office adopted the system of registering details of all incoming papers in ascending numerical order by reference number in bound volumes designed specifically for the recording of information relating to each paper in tabular format across the full opening of each page, including columns for date of document, date of receipt, from whom received, subject matter of paper and how disposed of. The system of registration introduced at this date remained in use for twelve years and it thus spans the years of the Great Famine. It was also from 1840 that the practice of amalgamating related papers to form files was adopted as a consistent practice. So, if several papers on the same or a related topic were received in a given year, or over a period of several years, then they were assembled and filed under the reference number and year of the latest incoming paper. As previous papers on a particular subject were removed from their appropriate place for annexation to the latest related paper, the register entry relating to the paper removed was amended to indicate this fact by the inscription in the register of the reference number of the paper to which the removed paper was annexed.

There was no system of opening and registering of files on a particular subject and of placing all relevant papers in a file jacket as is done at present in many government departments and offices. Instead, files of papers grew or evolved through the amalgamation of individual papers on a related topic, sometimes over a period as great as twenty years, but more often over a period of two to five. Indeed, it was not until the early years of the twentieth century that the practice of even putting each file of accumulated papers in a file jacket was adopted in the CSO. Prior to this, associated registered papers were attached to each other using straight metal pins (hazardous to the physical wellbeing of the documents, to the maintenance of associated papers as part of the same file unit and even to researchers making use of them) and brass paper tacks, or tied together by means of lengths of silk or linen ribbon. In this way, registered papers filed under a particular number may vary in content from a single document to a large mass of papers extending over a period of years. In some instances, files of papers accumulating over a lengthy period of time became extremely bulky and were split into at least two files of more manageable size and the register entry annotated to indicate this. Therefore, from 1840, the annual registers also had to include a column to note the reference number of any subsequent communication on the same or a related subject.

In order to permit access to the information relating to individual or accumulated papers contained in the registers so as to facilitate their retrieval, indexes to the registers were maintained by the clerks of the CSO. There are volume indexes to the registers for each year and each one is divided into alphabetical sections, or cuts, in which all papers received in a given year were indexed under the initial letter of the name of the individual, organisation or institution from which they emanated, or under the subject matter to which they related, and the papers' respective reference numbers recorded. Within each alphabetical cut, index sub- headings/categories were created for the indexing of frequently received papers from a particular official (such as a magistrate), government office, etc., or on a recurring subject matter. For example, the alphabetical cut C tends to have index sub-headings under which were recorded all papers relating to crown witnesses and crown lands; and the alphabetical cut P, sub-headings for the recording of numbers of all papers relating to public works, penitentiaries and the police.

When the CSO commenced its registration system in 1840, incoming papers were divided into two categories: first division, which related to the maintenance of law and order, and second division, consisting of incoming papers relating to all other administrative matters. In allocating reference numbers, all odd numbers were given to first division papers and all even to second division. Separate registers were maintained for first and second division papers with separate indexes. In addition to dividing papers into the above two categories, there was a further refinement of the registration system whereby the reference numbers of all first division correspondence were given a numerical prefix to denote the county to which the content of the paper related: the reference numbers allocated to all reports of crimes and outrages committed in County Antrim were given the prefix 1, those committed in County Armagh, the prefix 2 etc. Alphabetical prefixes to the registered numbers of all second division papers were used to indicate their subject matter: A - the magistracy and the administration of justice generally; C - crown witnesses, their payment and the prosecution of criminals based on their evidence; E - religious and church matters; F - grants of money to charitable and other institutions; F - levying and payment of fines; G - the administration of prisons; H - Board of Health; I - policing; M - military matters; O - administration of the civil service generally; P - Metropolitan Police; W - public works; Z - miscellaneous.

Researchers who wish to make use of Registered Papers must first search the index to the numerical registers. In the case of research for documentation relating to the alleviation of distress, the indexes to second division correspondence should be checked. Once the registered number has been obtained from the index, the numerical registers should then be consulted. The relevant register entry will indicate from whom the letter was received, the date of letter and date of receipt at the CSO, the subject of the letter, and the way in which the matter was disposed of. The researcher should note the alphabetical prefix given to the paper reference number and whether a later paper was received by checking the subsequent communication column. Where there is an entry of a number in this column the register should be checked under this number and the step repeated each time the subsequent communication column contains an entry. It is only where this column is blank that the paper may be requested under the reference number of that particular entry. The researcher should also note that numbers of incoming papers relating to distress in famine years were given the prefix Z when registered.

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Sources in the National Archives for researching the Great Famine: The Relief Commission

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The temporary Relief Commission was established in November 1845 in response to the failure of the potato crop, to administer temporary relief supplementary to that provided by the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, 1838.

The members of the first Commission represented the various government departments in Ireland which were expected to co-ordinate relief;

Colonel Duncan McGregor, police commissioner
Sir James Dombrain, Inspector General of the Coast Guard
Edward B Twistleton, a poor law commissioner
Sir Randolph Routh of the Commissariat Department of the Army
Colonel Harry Jones of the Board of Works
Sir Robert Kane, a distinguished scientist
Theobald McKenna, Assistant Under Secretary and
Edward Lucas, Under Secretary
Captain John Pitt Kennedy, former Secretary of the Devon Commission acted as secretary
The Commission was reorganised in January 1846, disbanded in August 1846 and reconstituted in February 1847 under the Temporary Relief Act with Jones, McGregor, Twistleton, Routh and Thomas Redington, Under Secretary, as members.

The remit of the Relief Commission was to advise the government as to the extent of potato loss and distress within Ireland, to oversee the storage and distribution of Indian corn and meal and to direct, support and co-ordinate the activities of local relief committees. The Commission collected information from all local official sources regarding the advance of the potato disease and the condition of the populace. Reports were received from lieutenants of counties, resident magistrates, poor law guardians, the constabulary and the coast guard. These were collated and used to calculate the probable extent of food shortages.

Local relief committees were established on foot of instructions issued by the Relief Commission in February 1846. These were voluntary bodies consisting of local dignitaries, county officials, poor law guardians and clergymen. Their main duties were to encourage local employment, raise subscriptions and to purchase and distribute Indian corn from the depots established by the Relief Commission. The relief committees were financed by local voluntary subscriptions and could apply to the Lord Lieutenant for grants in proportion to the money subscribed locally. The Relief Commission instructed local committees to publish their subscription lists so as to discourage non-compliance by recalcitrant landowners. They were also directed to maintain lists of residents in every townland, noting the personal circumstance of each and were allowed to issue tickets of employment for public works. This function passed subsequently to the Board of Works, following allegations of mismanagement and the relief committees were limited to compiling lists of those eligible for employment. By August 1846, some 650 committees had been established. The majority were in the south and west of the country. There were fewer in the midlands and east and none in Armagh, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. Local committees were also reorganised on foot of the Temporary Relief Act, 1847.

The Relief Commission was one of the main components of the Peel administration's official response to the Famine. The replacement of Peel with the Whig administration of Lord John Russell and the deepening crisis saw the other components of relief - the public works and the poor law system - assume greater significance and limited the role of the Commission as the central relief authority.

The collection is broadly broken down into an administrative series, a series of distress reports from the constabulary, resident magistrates, lieutenants of counties, and local officials. There is a further series of incoming letters which is broken down into two sub-series: straight numerical from the beginning of the Commission's activities until August 1846, and, when the commission was re-constituted in February 1847, on a baronial basis. They were mainly from local relief committees, lieutenants and deputy lieutenants of counties, local clergy and concerned citizens. There is also a series of constabulary returns from May 1846, a selection of returns from relief committees and reports from county inspecting officers.

As the listing of the papers of the Relief Commission is ongoing, the arrangement is under revision and the main series of inward correspondence is being entered on a database. The collection is available for consultation in the National Archives, and although there is not as yet a comprehensive list available, every effort will be made to facilitate researchers.

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Sources in the National Archives for researching the Great Famine: The Office of Public Works

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The Office of Public Works, or Board of Works, was in existence less than fifteen years when the scale of the crisis in the potato crop was becoming apparent at the close of 1845. (The OPW was established by an Act of Parliament passed in 1831 entitled an Act for the Extension and Promotion of Public Works in Ireland (1 & 2 Will. IV c.33).

The nature of the Board's response to the catastrophe, a subject of debate among historians, was to concentrate on providing employment for the destitute poor under acts passed early in the parliamentary session of 1846 for the sole purpose of affording relief by employment: 9 Vict. c.1 (public works); 9 Vict c.2 (county relief works); 9 Vict. c.3 (construction of piers, harbours and other works to encourage sea fisheries) and 9 Vict. c.4 (drainage).

In August of that year, when the scale of the crisis was becoming clearer, the government was given additional powers to employ the labouring poor by means of treasury loans (9 & 10 Vict. c.107). This resulted in a daily average of up to 90,000 people being employed that year. The details of the Board's activities were set out in special monthly reports which were subsequently submitted to parliament.

The establishment of the Board, which consisted of three commissioners, including the chairman, was altered by adding two new commissioners and consolidating the duties performed under the legislation relating to drainage, fisheries and Shannon improvement. The number employed on all works (not just relief schemes) during the week ending 26 December 1846, represented ten per cent of the working population. Under the legislation providing grants for the promotion of sea fisheries (9 Vict. c.3), 195 memorials seeking grants were immediately received, 35 of which were successful at a cost of just under £80,000.

Considerable difficulty arose with the nature and quality of the work performed on these relief schemes and in controlling the huge numbers of labourers involved. A major problem was that schemes were largely confined to local work, such as the building of roads, which was generally under the control of the Grand Juries. The limitation of schemes in this way proved unsatisfactory, as some areas desperately needed roads, whereas others did not, and where roads in adjoining districts were to be constructed, a measure of co-ordination was required. This was invariably lacking, resulting in the completion of many schemes for which there was no need or demand. In defence of the work carried out at this time, the Board asked that these works be judged only on the grounds of positive utility and considered solely as an effort to obtain labour in return for subsistence. Another perceived abuse was that of paying wages by the day rather than by the task, so enticing labourers away from farmers and other employers.

The number of destitute rose to almost 750,000 in late 1846, many of whom were unable to work. Between October 1846 and the autumn of 1847, a daily average of approximately 100,000 men were employed on relief schemes under the Poor Employment (Ireland) Act, 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c.107). Although expenditure on distress was mainly in food relief under the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act, 1847 (10 Vict. c.31), overall expenditure remained at the same level.

Unfortunately, most of the Famine records were destroyed in the 1960s. There is still, however, some material surviving which is an excellent source for research into the period. The most comprehensive is that relating to the fishery, pier and harbour works carried out under the relief legislation mentioned above, where funds were made available for constructing, extending, repairing or improving harbours, piers, quays, landing slips, approach roads etc. The legislation also provided for making navigable cuts through shoals, connecting adjacent bays or inlets, erecting engines, beacons, or harbour lights, and other similar works useful for the encouragement and promotion of the sea fisheries. No grant was to exceed £5,000 or be greater than three quarters of the cost. The balance was to be provided by a loan charged either on the county, the district, or the proprietors of adjacent lands. The initiative in making application for such assistance was left to those locally interested. The works, when complete, remained vested in the Board of Works, and were to be maintained out of the rates and tolls collected for their use.

Any resident, proprietor or occupier of land near the sea coast could apply. Memorials signed by the various interested parties were forwarded to the Board of Works, who then requested the government to obtain a report on the feasibility of the project by the Inspectors of Fisheries. The Board was itself, however, responsible for the actual sites of the piers and had to undertake any necessary surveys in regard to these. If the survey and examination of the locality proved satisfactory, the Treasury could provisionally approve the work and sanction the grant or loan. A Provisional Declaration was then prepared, describing the proposed works, stating the estimate, amount of grant and/or loan, time of repayment of loan and rate of interest, indicating also the area to be charged for repayment. Copies of the Provisional Declaration, maps, plans, sections and estimates were then lodged, for not less than two weeks, in a convenient place (usually a court house) within the county or district from where the loan was to be repaid. A local newspaper was also notified and objections had to be forwarded to the Board within two weeks of the placing of this notice. A public meeting was then called to hear objections, after which the plans could be changed. If there were still objections, another meeting was held.

If the project was proceeded with, all preliminary expenses were to be part of the costs of the works, otherwise the applicants had to pay. When the plans and estimate were approved, the work was put out to tender. If a reasonable tender could not be procured, the Board carried out the work itself. When finished, the works were handed over to the counties as public property.

This material in the OPW archives carries a prefix OPW 8. Within this series there are files on over 220 fishery pier and harbour works carried out during the Famine. A full list of these is available at the National Archives.

Possibly the most interesting and useful document to be found on practically every file is the application form or memorial. Usually composed by a literate member of the community such as a clergyman, landowner or shopkeeper, they generally gave detailed accounts of the distress in the locality, and many were forwarded to the Board directly from the local relief committees. The signatories were local landowners, often indicating the exact location and extent of their lands, farmers, shopkeepers, clergymen, fishermen etc. Many of the files simply contain memorials and nothing more, indicating that the project was not proceeded with. If a project was approved, the file will contain other documents such as estimates (some of these were prepared in the locality and included with the initial application) and engineers' reports. These give descriptions of the structure and location of the various piers and harbours. Also on file are Admiralty sanctions, copy contracts, specifications, declarations (to which are often attached plans, sections and estimates), schedules of prices, schedules of tolls bye-laws, lists of plant and machinery required, public notices calling meetings of ratepayers, labour returns (including names, rates of pay and amounts earned by individuals), progress reports and details of expenditure.