Christopher John Kitching CBE (born 5 August 1945) is a British archivist who served as Secretary of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (now part of The National Archives) from 1992 to 2004. [1]
Kitching completed a BA in Modern History at Durham University in 1967, followed by a PhD from the same institution in 1970. [2] He was awarded the Alexander Prize from the Royal Historical Society in 1973. [1] He began his career as an Assistant Keeper at the Public Record Office (PRO), where he worked until 1982, before joining the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (HMC) as Assistant Secretary. [1] He served in this role until 1992, when he became Secretary in succession to Brian Smith.
In April 2003, the HMC merged with the PRO to form The National Archives: Kitching moved to the new institution before retiring a year later. [1]
Symeonof Durham was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory.
William Greenwell, was an English archaeologist and Church of England priest.
Christopher Bainbridge was an English cardinal. Of Westmorland origins, he was a nephew of Bishop Thomas Langton of Winchester, represented the continuation of Langton's influence and teaching and succeeded him in many of his appointments such as provost of The Queen's College in the University of Oxford. Towards the end of the reign of King Henry VII, he was successively Master of the Rolls, a Privy Counsellor, Dean of Windsor and Bishop of Durham. Becoming Archbishop of York and therefore Primate of England in 1508, he was sent as procurator of King Henry VIII to the papal court of Pope Julius II, where he was active in the diplomatic affairs leading to Henry's war against France and took part in the election of Julius's successor, Pope Leo X. He was murdered by poisoning in Italy in 1514 and was succeeded as Archbishop of York by Thomas Wolsey.
Robert Surtees was a celebrated English historian and antiquary of his native County Durham.
Sir Cuthbert Morley Headlam, 1st Baronet, was a British Conservative politician.
John Robert Morris was an English historian who specialised in the study of the institutions of the Roman Empire and the history of Sub-Roman Britain. He is best known for his book The Age of Arthur (1973), which attempted to reconstruct the history of Britain and Ireland during the so-called "Dark Ages" following the Roman withdrawal, based on scattered archaeological and historical records. Much of his other work focused on Britain during this time.
A text publication society is a learned society which publishes scholarly editions of old works of historical or literary interest, or archival documents. In addition to full texts, a text publication society may publish translations, calendars, and indexes.
Sir Stephen Richard Glynne, 9th Baronet was a Welsh landowner and Conservative Party politician. He is principally remembered as an assiduous antiquary and student of British church architecture. He was a brother-in-law of the Liberal Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone.
A foot of fine is the archival copy of the agreement between two parties in an English lawsuit over land, most commonly the fictitious suit known as a fine of lands or final concord. The procedure was followed from around 1195 until 1833, and the considerable body of resulting records is now held at The National Archives, Kew, London.
The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, was a United Kingdom Royal Commission established in 1869 to survey and report on privately owned and privately held archival records of general historical interest. Its brief was "to make inquiry as to the places in which such Manuscripts and Papers were deposited", and to report on their contents. It remained in existence until 2003, when it merged with the Public Record Office to form The National Archives. Although it technically survives as a legal entity, its work is now entirely subsumed into that of The National Archives.
The Historia Regum is a historical compilation attributed to Symeon of Durham, which presents material going from the death of Bede until 1129. It survives only in one manuscript compiled in Yorkshire in the mid-to-late 12th century, though the material is earlier. It is an often-used source for medieval English and Northumbrian history. The first five sections are now attributed to Byrhtferth of Ramsey.
Charles Freville Surtees DL JP FRGS was a Conservative Party politician in England.
The Surtees Society is a text publication society and registered charity based in Durham in northern England. The society was established on 27 May 1834 by James Raine, following the death of the renowned County Durham antiquarian Robert Surtees. Raine and other former friends of Surtees created the society to honour his memory and carry on his legacy, with the focus on publishing documents relating to the region between the Humber estuary and Firth of Forth in the east and the River Mersey and the River Clyde in the west, the region that had once constituted the kingdom of Northumbria. Membership of the Society is by annual subscription. Members receive the book published for the year of subscription.
James Raine (1791–1858) was an English antiquarian and topographer. A Church of England clergyman from the 1810s, he held a variety of positions, including librarian to the dean and chapter of Durham and rector of Meldon in Northumberland.
John Richard Walbran was a British antiquarian with a strong focus on Yorkshire's history and Cistercian heritage. He initiated excavations at Fountains Abbey, authored significant works like The Memorials of the Abbey of St. Mary of Fountains, and contributed to the preservation of historical knowledge, despite his aversion to the publishing aspects of authorship. His dedication to antiquarian studies left a lasting impact on the understanding of Yorkshire's past.
Sir Henry Churchill Maxwell Lyte was an English historian and archivist. He served as Deputy Keeper of the Public Records from 1886 to 1926, and was the author of numerous books including a history of Eton College.
The Brantinghams are a super-noble family from North East England, originally from Brantingham in Yorkshire.
John Christopher Atkinson was an English author, antiquary, and priest.
Sir Bevis Bulmer (1536–1615) was an English mining engineer during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. He has been called "one of the great speculators of that era". Many of the events in his career were recorded by Stephen Atkinson in The Discoveries and Historie of the Gold Mynes in Scotland, compiled in part from a lost manuscript by Bulmer entitled Bulmer's Skill.
Alexander Hamilton Thompson, was a historian. He was Professor of Medieval History at the University of Leeds from 1924 to 1939.