When Dr. Margaret Ware published her edited version of the Shipton Constable’s Book 1 in 2005 she dedicated it ‘to Mrs Kitty Wiggins who appreciated the importance of her great-grandfather Richard Cross’s archives’.
She added a note ‘On the death of Mrs Kitty Wiggins, Shipton’s elderly
postmistress, the Shipton Constable’s account book came to light among other papers carefully preserved in her great-grandfather’s desk. Her sister Miss Jessica Coombes gave it to me “for safe keeping, because you will know what to do with it” …’.
Later Miss Coombes gave Dr. Ware the rest of the Richard Cross’s papers and she passed them on to the Society.
These are the ‘Cross Papers’. They are a miscellaneous collection of booklets, various pieces of paper, some no more than scraps, frequently written on in faint pencil, and a number of printed documents.
An article from the Society’s Journal Number 27 features the Cross Papers. The full text of the article is available as a PDF file here.
Full details of the Cross Papers are also available as a PDF. Click here.
