MS. Letter from Rotherham Committee to West Riding Committee of Protestant Dissenters 8 June 1791

Letter from Rotherham committee, dated 8 June 1791, signed by Mr. Robert Moult, Samuel Walker, Thomas Grove, and William Allard, reporting to the West Riding Committee concerning the creation of a depository for Dissenting church records in Yorkshire.

        In consequence of our appointment at a Meeting of the General committee of Dissenters in the West Riding of Yorkshire held at Wakefield Jany 28th 1790 “to digest a plan for forming a general Repository in which the Deeds, Registers or any other public writings of the Dissenters in the County of York may be preserved”; We have this day held a meeting, for the above purpose, and after discussing the matter, are unanimously of opinion that there are very great Obstacles to the establishment of a provincial or local Repository:  Particularly, that it will be difficult to fix on a Situation sufficiently permanent, to find a proper Person to manage the business; or to raise such a Salary as an eligible person could one be found, would deem a sufficient compensation of his services.

        At the same time, fully sensible of the advantages which would arise to our Body, from having some public, specific place, where our Baptismal registers, Trust Deeds, or copies of them may be securely deposited, and to which all persons interested may have access, We beg leave to recommend it to the consideration of the general Meeting of the West-Riding, or their general committee, whether if leave can be obtained from the Trustees, Dr Williams’ Library in London would not be a proper place for the purpose?  This is a place generally known among us as likely to be permanent, and where many Papers belonging to the Dissenters, are already deposited.

Robert Moult

Samuel Walker

Thomas Grove

William Allard

Text: Test Acts Papers, no. 116, Unitarian Collection, UCC 3/6/6, John Rylands University Library of Manchester.