Oxfordshire Record Society

The Oxfordshire Record Society was founded in 1919. In 2019, it celebrated 100 years of publishing primary sources for the history of the county of Oxfordshire, and raising awareness and understanding of this vital evidence of the historic county.

Now moving into its second century, the ORS has a substantial record of publication. It continues to aim at countywide interests, and to make accessible a variety of records on different periods, places and themes. It still discovers fresh aspirations and subjects. Recent volumes have opened up 20th-century sources. Up-to-date publishing arrangements have been adopted. Special projects, including an Oxfordshire historical atlas that distils themes from every period of the county’s history, are undertaken. ORS volumes reach local and family historians, find their place in libraries and archives, and are also valued beyond the county, as seen in a recent review of the centenary volume, The Parish in Wartime.

The Society is keen that students are made aware of the range of rich sources available on their website https://oxrecsoc.org/publications. This includes 70 digitised volumes of Oxfordshire primary sources freely available for public use. In addition the most recent volumes are available to members, and there is a discounted student rate of £15 for membership https://oxrecsoc.org/membership.

In addition to publications the society arranges members’ visits to archives in the city and county [some of which are not open to the public], and an annual lecture.