More Sources
A full list (five pages) of sources and references is in the book, but most of the information for the book came from these three. None of them is indexed and finding information relies on knowing at least the approximate date of an event.
The Minute Books of the Board of Gaurdians, in Hampshire Archives and Local Studies in Winchester. As with minutes everywhere, they are often dry, boring and tedious, but they provide a useful detailed timeline of events.
PL3/5/1 to /29, a series organised by date from 1835. These are restricted after after 31 December 1914 and cannot be accessed until the 2030s.
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The folios of correspondence between the union and the London authorities. These are held in The National Archives at Kew.
These are much more interesting as they are the real writing, with opinions and arguments, of those who were there. But they are often difficult to read and understand. The folios for the period after 1900 were destroyed during World War 2.
MH 12/10669 to /10699, a series organised by date. 1834 to 1900.
Hants & Berks Gazette, the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Guardians, on microfiche in the Basingstoke Discovery Centre, 1915 to 1931 - the period after 1914 to the end of the Poor Law Union.
Meetings were actually reported from 1895, but without details of relief. The columns are difficult to find, although the meetings are usually on the same page each week. Reading them can be a challenge, but the surrounding contemporary newspaper itself is quite fascinating.
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More sources to follow .......