Letters from Eighteenth Century Hexham

Life in Hexham in the early 18th century is brought to life vividly in a great collection of more than 160 letters written by the Reverend George Ritschel and his successor, the Reverend Thomas Andrews, to their superiors in York. The letters are now preserved at the Borthwick Institute for Archives in York, but Society members Liz Sobell and Greg Finch were permitted to photograph them last year. Ritschel was at loggerheads with most of Hexham's leading townspeople, and gave free rein to his caustic opinions. Letters from both men detail the misdemeanours of their parishioners, at a time when the church still attempted to exercise moral judgement over the public through its courts.

The Society now plans to transcribe the letters with a view to producing a fully edited publication in due course, and would be interested to hear from anyone who might wish to help. The vast majority of the handwriting is quite legible, especially once a reader has 'got their eye in' with some of the contemporary lettering, and in any case we would aim to provide some 'crib sheets' if needed. For practical purposes having a computer which can display digital photographs, an email account, and being familiar with Open Office or MS Word, will be essential. If you are interested in being part of a team to take forward what should be a fascinating project, please contact the Society at the following email address: gregpfinch@hotmail.com