Minet memories

Browsing the June 2016 issue, I saw an article on the uncertain future of the Minet Library. I presume the issue will be well-settled now, but wish to place on record that I found great assistance at that library while visiting Britain in 2013. Many names and dates are obtainable online these days, but being unfamiliar with the geography and history of London, the maps, Lambeth histories and local knowledge at the library were of immense assistance in my piecing together our family’s existence, between the Lambeth Workhouse, the ‘respectable’ end of Walworth and the various dissenting congregations thereabouts. My great grandparents, John and Emma Hayward (she n. Beauvais), emigrated to New Zealand in 1881, John becoming the first secretary of the Roslyn Baptist Church in Dunedin.

I understand the Minet Library may have been isolated and inefficient, and wouldn’t worry if the various Lambeth/ Southwark archives were gathered in one place. However, I fondly remember my excursion to the exotically named Knatchbull Road and, having purchased a collection of old topo maps and Southwark Council local history booklets at the Minet, now have a fair idea of how my ancestors fitted into that expanding cityscape.

Thanks to the staff who assisted. I will be sad if the historic links to names such as Minet and Knatchbull are lost or diminished. Graham Densem, Christchurch, New Zealand Editor replies: Although Minet Library is no longer a lending library, it is still the home of Lambeth Archives until a suitable alternative is found.