I have just completed the design of four roller banners for Dr Harris on the 'Loss Accounts' for the' old' county of Warwickshire.
After Charles I’s defeat in the first English Civil War in Warwickshire from 1642 to 1646, the victorious Parliamentarians ordered each constabulary (usually a parish) to submit a book of losses incurred through parliamentary activity. These ‘Accounts’ include details of taxation, the supply of ‘free quarter’ (free board and lodging for passing soldiers), plunder and the seizing of horses and provisions needed by local soldiers and garrisons.
Nearly 200 ‘Accounts’ exist for the ‘old’ county of Warwickshire (including Birmingham and Coventry). Most are preserved at The National Archives (TNA) in London. The ‘Loss Accounts’ record details of the financial and material losses of hundreds of named civilians revealing the human suffering experienced during the First Civil War in Warwickshire’s towns and villages. They are a rich source for family, local, social and military historians alike.
Dr Maureen Harris created and led the ‘Loss Accounts’ project from June 2018 to June 2020 to explore the human cost of the First English Civil War in Warwickshire. Twenty-six volunteers from across the county were trained to read and transcribe the Warwickshire ‘Loss Accounts’ and to research some of the people named. Supported by the Friends of the Warwickshire County Record Office and the Dugdale Society, the project received a grant of £13,800 in March 2018 from the Heritage Lottery Fund made possible by money raised by National Lottery players.
The banners will be used at Warwickshire County Record Office for the launch of the fully transcribed accounts on the website on 26 March. You will be able to find more information after the launch at: https://heritage.warwickshire.gov.uk/civilwaraccounts
