Court rolls, valuable wills and deeds are often placed by noble owners and squires in the custody of their solicitors.  They repose in peace in safes or tin boxes with the name of the client printed on them.  Recent legislation has made it possible to prove a title without reference to all the old deeds.  Hence the contents of these boxes are regarded only as old lumber and of no value.  A change is made in the office.  The old family solicitor dies, and the new man proceeds with the permission of his clients to burn all these musty papers, which are of immense value in tracing the history of a manor or of a family.  Some years ago a leading family solicitor became bankrupt.  His office was full of old family deeds and municipal archives.  What happened?  A fire was kindled in the garden, and for a whole fortnight it was fed with parchment deeds and rolls, many of them of immense value to the genealogist and the antiquary.  It was all done very speedily, and no one had a chance to interfere.  This is only one instance of what we fear has taken place in many offices, the speedy disappearance of documents which can never be replaced.

From the contents of the parish chests, from churchwardens’ account-books, we learn much concerning the economic history of the country, and the methods of the administration of local and parochial government.  As a rule persons interested in such matters have to content themselves with the statements of the ecclesiastical law books on the subject of the repair of churches, the law of church rates, the duties of churchwardens, and the constitution and power of vestries.  And yet there has always existed a variety of customs and practices which have stood for ages on their prescriptive usage with many complications and minute differentiations.  These old account-books and minute-books of the churchwardens in town and country are a very large but a very perishable and rapidly perishing treasury of information on matters the very remembrance of which is passing away.  Yet little care is taken of these books.  An old book is finished and filled up with entries; a new book is begun.  No one takes any care of the old book.  It is too bulky for the little iron register safe.  A farmer takes charge of it; his children tear out pages on which to make their drawings; it is torn, mutilated, and forgotten, and the record perishes.  All honour to those who have transcribed these documents with much labour and endless pains and printed them.  They will have gained no money for their toil.  The public do not show their gratitude to such laborious students by purchasing many copies, but the transcribers know that they have fitted another stone in the Temple of Knowledge, and enabled antiquaries, genealogists, economists, and historical inquirers to find material for their pursuits.