********************************** PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE GENERAL INFORMATION Leaflet No: 25 ********************************** [Note: this and all other PRO General Information leaflets are (c) Crown Copyright, but may be freely reproduced except for sale or advertising purposes. Copies should always include this Copyright notice -- please respect this.] (c) Crown Copyright, December 1990. --------------------------- start of text -------------------------- HOW TO CITE DOCUMENTS IN THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE 1. INTRODUCTION Users of public records often ask for advice on how to cite them in books, articles, or theses. The purpose of this leaflet is to describe the way in which the Public Record Office recommends that records in its custody be cited. It sets out the general rules to be followed, and the more common exceptions. However, it is not exhaustive; further details are provided in our leaflet General Information 24. A brief citation usually contains the following information: - the place of custody, i.e. a note that the document is in the Public Record Office; - the document reference (or call number), i.e. the code used to requisition the piece (our term for a file, volume etc.) and to cite it; - the internal reference, i.e. details of the folio (or membrane etc.) number within the piece. In some cases it is necessary to include also: - the extended reference, i.e. the full class title. Guidance on each of these items appears below. This is followed by a short note of copyright requirements and appendixes dealing with (1) recommended abbreviations for counties, monarchs etc., and (2) recommended punctuation and spacing. 2. PLACE OF CUSTODY 2.1. Generally an initial explanatory note that all documents (or that, unless otherwise stated, all documents) cited are in the Public Record Office is all that is needed. If, however, documents from several repositories are being cited, it may be necessary to include in each citation an indication of the whereabouts of the document. 2.2. If the document is in the Public Record Office the citation should be preceded by the letters PRO and a colon. e.g. PRO: C 145/254 The letters PRO should be defined the first time they are used. e.g. Public Record Office [hereafter PRO]: C 145/254 3. THE DOCUMENT REFERENCE This consists of two parts: - the class code - the piece number 3.1. The class code 3.1.1. This should be set out exactly as it appears in the Public Record Office Current Guide, pt 2. The code for most classes consists of one or more capital letters followed by a space and number, with no punctuation. e.g. ADM 59 3.1.2. There are two exceptions to this: - a few class codes contain two sets of numbers, separated by an oblique stroke. e.g.PRO 30/36 CP 25/2 - some classes consist of maps which have been extracted from pieces in other classes for separate storage. Their class codes consist of letters only. e.g. MPH (Extract map classes are not listed in the Current Guide, pt 2; details of them can be found in our leaflet Information 49.) 3.1.3. IND references should be cited as IND 1, and OBS references as OBS 1. 3.1.4. A reference to a single complete class needs no more. A reference to a run of consecutive classes should contain the full code of the first and last classes, separated by a hyphen. e.g. CO 260 - CO 265 3.1.5. Reference to two or more non-consecutive classes should all be in full, separated by semi-colons. e.g. ASSI 35; ASSI 45; ASSI 54 3.2. The piece number 3.2.1. This should be set out as it appears in the class list. It is usually a number but may be a letter (always written as a capital) or a combination of number and letter. It is separated from the class code by an oblique stroke. e.g. JUST 1/46 SP 17/B ASSI 34/57A 3.2.2. The piece number may consist of two or more sets of numbers, or letters and numbers. More complex piece numbers may include a regnal year, law term, county, diocese, or continent. (See Appendix I for guidance on the expression of counties, law terms etc.). Each element should be separated from the next by an oblique stroke. e.g. E 163/6/46 C 115/M 33/8237 C 2/Chas I/B42/160B E 134/25 Eliz I/Mich/37 CO 700/Malta/3 CP 25/2/1321/1 Geo III/M There is one exception to these rules: in extract map classes the class code (which consists of letters only) should be separated from the piece number by a space instead of by an oblique stroke. e.g. MPH 139 3.2.4. A reference to a single complete piece needs no more. A reference to a run of consecutive pieces within a class should take one of two forms: i) when the first and last piece numbers differ only in the element following the final oblique stroke, there is no need to repeat all the elements; the document reference of the first piece should be given in full, followed by a hyphen and the final element of the last piece number. e.g.MH 17/107-112 E 134/25 Eliz I/Mich/24-37 ii) when the variation occurs in any element before the final oblique stroke, the complete document reference of both the first and last pieces should be given, separated by a hyphen. e.g. ASSI 35/55/1 - ASSI 35/58/2 3.2.5. A reference to two or more non-consecutive pieces in the same class should be treated in the same way. When the piece numbers differ only in the element following the final oblique stroke, the document reference of the first piece should be given in full, followed by the final element of the remaining pieces, separated from each other by a comma. e.g. ASSI 35/55/1, 3, 6 But when the variation occurs before the final oblique stroke, the full document reference of each piece should be given, separated by a semi-colon. e.g. ASSI 35/55/1; ASSI 35/56/2 4. THE INTERNAL REFERENCE 4.1. A reference to part of a document can take a variety of forms but should always be separated from the piece number by a comma, not by an oblique stroke. 4.2. The following abbreviations should be used, without punctuation and not italicised: p or pp for page or pages f or ff for folio or folios no or nos for number or numbers m or mm for membrane or membranes (used only for chancery-style rolls, i.e. those sewn head to foot, and for parchment membranes of files) rot or rots for rotulus or rotuli (used only for exchequer-style rolls, i.e. those sewn together at the head) col or cols for column or columns 4.3. The abbreviation will usually be followed by a number or a letter. Numbers are written as arabic numerals with one exception: if a document (for example, a printed book) contains consecutive sequences, one with roman numerals and the other with arabic numerals, small roman numerals should be used for the former. e.g. SP 52/64, f xvi 4.4. When the reference is to the piece of parchment rather than to its contents, the number of the folio or membrane is enough. However, when the reference is to the contents, it is necessary to be more specific. After the number should be added the letters 'r' (for the recto of a folio or the face of a membrane), 'd' (for the dorse of a membrane) or 'v' (for the verso of a folio). After letters or small roman numerals the words recto, dorse and verso should be written in full instead of the abbreviations, to prevent ambiguity. The number should be repeated when the matter referred to begins on one side and continues onto the other. e.g. SP 52/40, f 21r JUST 1/509, rot 4r-4d E 363/3, rot F dorse SP 52/64, f xvi recto - xvi dorse The principles outlined above for runs of pieces should be followed for runs of pages or membranes. e.g. consecutive pages CO 5/690, pp 143-149 JUST 1/509, rots 4r-11d e.g. non-consecutive pages CO 5/690, pp 103, 108, 113 JUST 1/509, rots 1r, 2d, 4r 4.5. A run of almost continuous numbers can be written in the same way as consecutive numbers, with the addition of the word 'passim'. e.g. CO 5/690, pp 103-149 passim 4.6. If there are conflicting sequences of numbers on the folios or membranes, and it is not obvious which numeration should be chosen, the Officer in Charge of the appropriate Reading Room should be consulted. The numeration chosen should be indicated briefly in a list of abbreviations or within square brackets immediately after the number when the document is first cited. e.g. JUST 1/699, rot 1 [orig nos] schedule 1r 4.7. If there is no internal numbering the internal reference should consist of the briefest description that allows ready identification of the part being cited, such as a date, or a date and the names of the correspondents. Dates should be set out in the order day, month, year (see Appendix I for guidance on abbreviating months) but should otherwise be given as in the document. e.g. PRO 1/3, 25 June 1840 Workmen to Palgrave 5. THE EXTENDED REFERENCE 5.1. In every work in which a class code is used for citation a definition in words of that class code should somewhere appear. The words should be the class title exactly as it appears in the Current Guide, pt 2. 5.2. The definition can be placed in a prefatory list of abbreviations, in a bibliography, or in the footnote where the class is first cited. - In a list of abbreviations the definition should follow the class code, separated from it by a colon: e.g. C 139: Chancery: Inquisitions Post Mortem, Series I, Henry VI - In a bibliography the class title should come first, followed by the class code in round brackets: e.g. Chancery: Inquisitions Post Mortem, Series I, Henry VI (C 139) - In a footnote the class should be defined in the same way as in a bliography, followed by a colon and the relevant brief citation: e.g. Chancery: Inquisitions Post Mortem, Series I, Henry VI (C 139): C 139/52, no 3 6. COPYRIGHT Most records held in the PRO are in copyright, which imposes restrictions on the extent to which they may be quoted, published in full or reproduced in facsimile without permission from the copyright owner. Detailed guidelines are set out in PRO General Information Leaflet 15, COPYRIGHT. _________________________________________________________________________ APPENDIX I RECOMMENDED ABBREVIATIONS Historic Counties of England and Wales Anglesey Ang Lancashire Lancs Bedfordshire Beds Leicestershire Leics Berkshire Berks Lincolnshire Lincs Brecknockshire Brec Merionethshire Merion Buckinghamshire Bucks Middlesex Midd Caernarvonshire Caern Monmouthshire Monm Cambridgeshire Cambs Montgomeryshire Mont Cardiganshire Card Norfolk Norf Carmarthenshire Carm Northamptonshire Northants Cheshire Ches Northumberland Northumb Cornwall Corn Nottinghamshire Notts Cumberland Cumb Oxfordshire Oxon Denbighshire Denb Pembrokeshire Pemb Derbyshire Derb Radnorshire Rad Devon Devon Rutland Rut Dorset Dors Shropshire Salop Durham Durh Somerset Som Essex Essex Staffordshire Staffs Flintshire Flint Suffolk Suff Glamorgan Glam Surrey Surrey Gloucestershire Glos Sussex Sussex Hampshire Hants Warwickshire Warw Herefordshire Heref Westmorland Westm Hertfordshire Herts Wiltshire Wilts Huntingdonshire Hunts Worcestershire Worcs Kent Kent Yorkshire Yorks Months Jan May Sept Feb June Oct Mar July Nov Apr Aug Dec Law Terms Hilary Hil Trinity Trin Easter Easter Michaelmas Mich Reigns - examples only Hen III (etc.) Chas I (etc.) Edw I (etc.) 1649 (etc.) Ric II (etc.) Wm & Mary Mary Wm III (etc.) Phil & Mary Anne Eliz I Geo I (etc.) Jas I (etc.) Vict _________________________________________________________________________ APPENDIX II RECOMMENDED PUNCTUATION AND SPACING Italic: never to be used Superior letters and figures: never to be used Large roman numerals: to be used only for monarchs' numbers Small roman numerals: to be used for folio etc. numbers only to distinguish a sequence of folios etc. so numbered in the original from a separate sequence having arabic numerals Arabic numerals: to be used in all other situations whatever numerals are used in the original Large capitals: to be used for: - the details of the place of custody - the letters of the class code - all letters used in lieu of numbers Full stops: to be used only at the end of the citation or series of citations Colons: to be used only: - after the details of the place of custody - at the end of the citation if it is followed by a comment in apposition - within the class title if it so appears in the Current Guide, pt 2 Semi-colons: to be used only to separate non-consecutive classes and pieces Commas: to be used only: - between the call number and the internal reference - to separate non-consecutive piece numbers within the same class - to separate non-consecutive page etc. numbers within the same piece Hyphens: to be used between the first and last items of a run Square brackets: to be used only: - to enclose any explanation of which of two conflicting sequences of page etc. numbers has been chosen - for the abbreviation when the place of custody is first cited Round brackets: to be used only in the extended reference Oblique strokes: to be used only: - between the various numbers within the document reference not be be used: - between the letters and numbers of the class code - between the document reference and the internal reference - within the internal reference Spacing: a single space should appear: - between the letters and numbers of the class code - after all colons, semi-colons, and commas - before all words not preceded by an oblique stroke, including abbreviations and numbers and symbols used in lieu of words, such as monarchs' numbers and ampersands - after all words not followed by an oblique stroke - before and after all hyphens except for those used in runs of numbers or within words, including numbers followed by 'r', 'd' or 'v' no space should appear: - before and after oblique strokes - before full stops, colons, semi-colons, and commas - after an initial square bracket and before a final one - before and after hyphens used in runs of numbers, including numbers followed by 'r', 'd', or 'v' - between a folio etc. number and 'r', 'd', or 'v'. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1LR. Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU. Tel: +44 (0) 181 876-3444 Opening hours: 9.30am - 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Closed on public holidays and for annual Stocktaking (normally the first two full weeks in October). Admission is by reader's ticket which will be issued on production of proof of identity, such as a (UK) driving licence or passport. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This text, and that of other PRO leaflets, is also available from: - World Wide Web URL: http://sable/ox/ac/uk/~malcolm/genealogy/pro - Anonymous-FTP (site) sable.ox.ac.uk (directory) /pub/users/malcolm/genealogy/pro - if you have trouble accessing either of the above, please contact (email) malcolm.austen@oucs.ox.ac.uk ----------------------------- end of text ------------------------------