Editorial note

EDITORIAL NOTE

This volume, the sixth of the series of Victoria Histories of Oxfordshire, is a further outcome of the partnership between Oxfordshire and the University of London. The local committee under the chairmanship of Sir Charles Ponsonby has been responsible for the preparation of the text, and the University of London has borne the cost of its publication. In this case the local committee has also taken responsibility for the final editing of the volume, which, with the agreement of the Institute of Historical Research, was entrusted to an editorial committee consisting of Professor V. H. Galbraith (Chairman), Mr. H. M. Colvin, Professor H. J. Habakkuk, Dr. W. G. Hoskins, Miss K. Major, Principal of St. Hilda's College, and Mr. L. Stone.

For financial support of the editorial and research staff the committee is indebted to the generous subsidies of the University and City of Oxford and of the Oxfordshire County Council: also to the Borough of Henley, the Oxford colleges, and to many private subscribers, whose names are printed below.

As much property in Ploughley Hundred was held by corporate bodies, their archives have provided an abundance of material for the agrarian history of many of the parishes. A number of private collections have also proved of value, and the records of the diocese and archdeaconry of Oxford, now easily accessible in the Bodleian Library, have enabled the ecclesiastical history of the parishes to be written with greater fullness and certainty.

The volume owes much to the kindness of governing bodies of many Oxford colleges, to the incumbents of Oxfordshire parishes, and to others who have given permission to use documents in their care. Particular mention may be made of Mr. J. N. L. Myres, Bodley's Librarian, of Dr. W. O. Hassall and other members of the Bodleian staff, of Mr. H. M. Walton, the County archivist, and his assistant, Mr. S. G. Baker, who have assisted the History in every way in their power. Thanks are due to the Governors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, to Mr. G. Elliott, Provost of Eton, and to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster for their kindness in allowing access to their archives, and to their respective archivists, Mrs. G. Whitteridge, Mr. T. Lyon, and Dr. L. E. Tanner, for their courteous help. Among private owners especial thanks are due to Mr. T. CottrellDormer and Mrs. Stanley Barry for the trouble they have so willingly taken.

Valuable help has been given in architectural matters by Mr. H. M. Colvin and on heraldry by Mr. P. S. Spokes. Mr. A. R. Charlton, Director of Education for Oxfordshire, and Mr. J. Garne, Chief Education Officer for the City of Oxford, have kindly supplied notes on the Oxfordshire schools. Mr. A. Cossons has allowed the use of his unpublished paper on the Oxfordshire turnpikes, and Mr. W. L. Brown has made an index of recent archaeological finds especially for the Victoria Histories of Oxfordshire. Mr. W. H. Godfrey put at the committee's disposal the photographs in the collection of the National Buildings Record, and the Revd. B. F. L. Clarke lent his notes on church buildings. To all these and to many others who have given general help sincere thanks are expressed. To others who have given specific information or help acknowledgement is made in the footnotes.

The illustrations owe much to Miss D. B. Dew's generosity in lending pen drawings from the late Mr. G. J. Dew's collection, and to the Revd. W. H. Trebble, Vicar of Bicester, in lending a lithograph of the interior of the church. Much general assistance, often of a laborious kind, has been voluntarily given by the Revd. E. P. Baker, Mrs. H. M. Colvin, Miss K. FitzGerald, Miss C. L. M. Hawtrey, Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Kirby, Miss K. E. Moore, Miss Katharine Price, Miss Ethel Savill, Miss Mary Savill, Mrs. Arthur Selwyn, and above all by Miss Mary Barran, a part-time honorary assistant.