| Description | Records of the Society of Town Clerks comprising Executive Council minutes, 1964-1969; addresses, reports and other papers relating to annual meetings and conferences, 1962-1965; constitution and rules, 1949-1962; journal 1948-1958 (incomplete); correspondence and other papers relating to the winding up of the society, 1973-1974; card index of membership; and papers of the Society of Town Clerks Education and Research Trust comprising minutes, accounts, trust deeds and other material, 1975-1999 |
| Administrative History | The Society of Town Clerks was set up to confer on all matters affecting municipal administration where the status, duties, responsibilities and interests of Town Clerks and Deputy Town Clerks were concerned. It was also concerned, for example, to promote its members' professional knowledge and training, to improve the conditions of its members, and to protect their interests with their employing authorities.
During the consultation period prior to local government reorganisation in 1974, there were some discussions about the amalgamation of clerks' societies between representatives of this society and the Society of County Clerks. However, after local government reorganisation in 1974, the Society of Town Clerks ceased to exist and a new society, the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE) was created. This was established as the representative body for chief executives and senior managers of all UK local authorities and related organizations.
A trust fund was set up in 1974 with the remaining assets of the now defunct Society of Town Clerks and registered as a charitable trust under the name Society of Town Clerks Education and Research Trust. The objects of the trust were "the advancement of public education, the conducting of research in local government including travel scholarships and grants for research, the publications of that research and lectures and literature for that purpose, and the award of scholarships, grants or maintenance allowances to recent graduates in law from any University in Great Britain to enable them to travel abroad to pursue their education". This charity was wound up and the balance of its assets were transferred to the Trustees of the SOLACE Foundation (a similar, ongoing charity).
Reference: Records of the Society; and web site of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE) (www.SOLACE.org.uk ), accessed July 2002 |
| Custodial History | The records were formerly in the possession of A. L. Norton for his research purposes; in accordance with an agreement with the Society of Town Clerks, the records were transferred to the Special Collections Department by his executor. |