Pls respond to this consultation: UK Govt proposing to digitise wills fr c.1800s -& then destroy originals, supposedly to save money! Hard copies wd be kept for 25 yrs 'in recognition of their sentimental value to families'. Blind to the importance of hard copies to historians #skystorians 🗃
I've responded. We learn far more about social history from the records about ordinary citizens. Planning to keep only the documents of famous or 'notable' people is so typical of the celebrity mentality. Even the paper, parchment, and lettering or print tell a story.
Post WW2 History changed for the better as non-elites wrote histories about non-elites. We gained infinite knowledge of plebes in Ancient Rome, serfs in Medieval Eastern Europe, Nahuatl market economies, immigrant life in NYC, the list is huge! No way should we return to a Thucydian perspective!
