The value of research

SIR – I was disappointed to learn from Jonathan Allard (Letters, August 21) that Northamptonshire Archives is introducing an hourly fee for consulting historical documents.

I have spent many hours researching my ancestors at this record office, in the process acquiring an unparalleled knowledge of certain families and villages in the county. It would never have occurred to me that I might charge interested parties to benefit from the fruits of this research. Rather, I have made information freely available via a book and a website.

Knowledge of the world can be much enhanced by historical research – a field in which both amateur and professional have much to offer, thus rendering a research fee unsuitable. Stephen Willis

Bracknell, Berkshire

SIR – Until now, official and military museums and archives – such as the National Archives, the Imperial War Museum and the Royal Logistics Corps Museum – have been generous in giving free access to their records. With the current interest in the First World War, this has proved invaluable.

It is the private archives, such as the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum at Woodstock and the Wardrobe in Salisbury, that charge what many would consider exorbitant sums for research facilities. The latter has bedevilled my research into the military careers of my two uncles in the Royal Berkshire Regiment in the First World War, by demanding a fee of £30 per hour for viewing documents at the museum, or £35 per hour for online inquiries.

And this is despite my donation of a collection of family records and memorabilia in photographic form. Roy Bailey

Great Shefford, Berkshire