... and writing the history of the nation from the public records. Their interest in local history went only as far as searching for suitable examples to illustrate national history. The Public Record Office was their laboratory, and the English Historical Review was their scholarly journal...

... century. Every published edition of a source extended the range of possibilities for both national and local historians, but it was the principle of public responsibility for records, which really stimulated change. The founding of the Public Record Office in the mid-nineteenth century improved access...