The Paper Parish: The Parish Register and the Reformation of Parish Memory in Early Modern London

Andrew Gordon

doi:10.1177/1750698017736838

The Paper Parish: The Parish Register and the Reformation of Parish Memory in Early Modern London

Andrew Gordon

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Abstract

This essay explores the development of parish record-keeping in early modern London, examining the implications of changing practices for communal memory. Building on the study of more than 50 parish registers, it investigates who wrote the parish records, how they were kept and how they were used. Many of the extant records are the product of a ‘memorial moment’ at the turn of the seventeenth century, involving a concerted attempt to re-order and re-present parish papers as memorial objects: the material representations of parish memory. These registers highlight the emergence of an ongoing communal investment in and oversight of record-keeping practices, while the evidence of annotations and corrections in parish registers demonstrates the persistence of oral forms of communal memory, contesting the textual record. The development of the parish register in the period thus emerges as a key site for renegotiating the forms and habits of parish memory.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	51-68
Number of pages	23
Journal	Memory Studies
Volume	11
Issue number	1
Early online date	23 Jan 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017736838
Publication status	Published - Jan 2018

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
I wish to record my particular gratitude to the staff of the London Metropolitan Archive for their assistance during the research for this article. Thanks also to the editors of this special issue and to audiences in Newcastle, Reading and London where early versions of this material were delivered.

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Keywords

communal memory
early modern London
parish record-keeping
parish registers

Access to Document

10.1177/1750698017736838Licence: Unspecified

Accepted Manuscript
This article has been accepted for publication. The definitive version to appear: Gordon, A, The Paper Parish: The Parish Register and the Reformation of Parish Memory in Early Modern London, Memory Studies Volume: 11 issue: 1, page(s): 51-68. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.
Accepted author manuscript, 377 KBLicence: Other

Andrew Gordon
- School of Language, Literature, Music & Visual Culture, English - Personal Chair
- School of Divinity, History & Philosophy, Centre for Early Modern Studies
Person: Academic

Cite this

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The Paper Parish: The Parish Register and the Reformation of Parish Memory in Early Modern London

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Andrew Gordon

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