THE ADVISORY COUNCIL OF THE VICTORIA HISTORY His Grace The Lord Arch- bishop OF Canterbury His Grace The Duke of Bedford, K.G. Pi esident of the Zoological Society His Grace The Duke op Portland, K.G. His Grace The Duke of Argyll, K.T. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Rosebery, K.G., K.T. The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Coventry Late President of the Royal Agri- cultural Society The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Dillon Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S., F.S.A. Late Pretident of the Royal GeO' graphical Society Sir Henry C. Maxvvell-Lyte, K.CB., M.A., F.S.A., etc. Keeper 0/ the Public Records Sir Edwin RayLankester,K.C.B., MA., LL.D., F.R.S., etc. Late Director of the Natural History Museum^ South Kensington Sir Jos. Hooker, G.C.S.I., M.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., ETC. Col. Sir Duncan A. Johnston, K.C.M.G., C.B., R.E. Late Director General of the Ordnance Sur-vey Laic Prelident of the Society of SiR ARCHIBALD GeIKIE, LL.D., Anticjuaries The Rt. Hon. The Lord Lister Late Pr eiiJent of the Royal Society The Rt. Hon. The Lord Alverstone, G.C.M.G. Lord Chief Justice The Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P. Sir Frederick Pollock, Bart., LL.D., F.S.A., ETC. Sir Edward Maunde Thomp- son, K.C.B., D.C.L., LL.D., F.S.A. , ETC. Director of the British Museum F.R.S., ETC. Rev. J. Charles Cox, LL.D., F.S.A., ETC. Lionel Cust, M.V.O., M.A., F.S.A., etc. Director •f the National Portrait Gallery Charles H. Firth, M. A., LL.D., D.LiTT , F.S.A. Regius Projessor of Modern History^ Oxford Albert C. L. G. Gunther, M. A., M.D., F.R.S., Ph.D. Late President of the Linnean Society F. Haverfield, M.A., LL.D., F.S.A. Camden Professor of Ancient History Reginald L. Poole, M.A., Ph.D. University Lecturer in Diplomatic, Oxford J. Horace Round, M.A., LL.D. Walter Rye W. H. St. John Hope, M.A. Assistant Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries Among the original members of the Council were The late Duke of Devonshire The late Duke of Rutland The late Marc^uess of Salisbury The late Dr. Mandell Creighton, Bishop of London The late Dr. Stubbs, Bishop of Oxford The late Lord Acton The late Sir William Flower The late Col. Sir J. Farqu- HARSON The late Sir John Evans and The late Professor F. York Powell General Editor — William Page, F.S.A. GENERAL ADVERTISEMENT The Victoria History of the Counties of England is a National Historic Survey which, under the direction of a large staff comprising the foremost students in science, history, and archaeology, is designed to record the history of every county of England in detail. This work was, by gracious permission, dedicated to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, who gave it her own name. It is the endeavour of all who are associated with the undertaking to make it a worthy and permanent monument to her memory. Rich as every county of England is in materials for local history, there has hitherto been no attempt made to bring all these materials together into a coherent form. Although from the seventeenth century down to quite recent times numerous county histories have been issued, they are very unequal in merit ; the best of them are very rare and costly ; most of them are imperfect and many are now out of date. Moreover, they were the work of one or two isolated scholars, who, however scholarly, could not possibly deal adequately with all the varied subjects which go to the making of a county history.
