The Reverend Timothy Neve founded the Peterborough Gentleman's
Society on 26, August 1730. He was an original member of the
Spalding Gentleman's Society founded in 1712. At Peterborough,
where Neve became the first Secretary, the Society's aims were
expressed as the 'improvement of literature and promotion of
friendship and good neighbourhood'. In addition all new members
were required to present a suitable book to the Society, resulting
in the eventual creation of a library.
For the first 20-30 years the Society kept meticulous minute
books but by 1760 these become very irregular. The meetings
themselves got progressively fewer until they were only quarterly
and the minutes just list the titles of the library books
purchased. This increasing interest in books resulted in the
Society becoming a lending library and in January 1820 they were
first referred to as the Peterborough Book Society. By the end of
the nineteenth century membership was low and in 1899 the Society
was dissolved with the remainder of the books being transferred to
the public library service. Regrettably some of this library was
sent for salvage in the Second World War when paper was desperately
required.
In relation to the Peterborough Gentleman's Society Peterborough
Archives Service holds:
- The Peterborough Gentleman's Society Archive (Ref:
PAS/PGS)
- 5 volumes of minutes and an account book.
An inventory for this collection is available for consultation
in the Local Studies and Archive Room at Peterborough Central
Library and online.
Printed sources:
Peterborough Gentlemen's Society by Charles Dack, in,
Journal British Archaeological Association (NS) 5, 1899;
ppxxxx.
The Peterborough Gentlemen's Society by I E Burrows.
Unpublished Dissertation, Nottingham University, 1995.
Libraries and Reading Rooms in Peterborough and the early
history (1892-1952) of the Public Library Service by Richard
Hillier, in, Peterborough Museum Society Proceedings 1991-2000,
pp16-17.
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