Abstract
This article explores the recent history of a corpus of manuscripts known as ‘The Codrington Papers’. These relate to the administration of Sir Christopher Codrington, Governor of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, his lease from the British Crown of the island of Barbuda, and the subsequent administration of the Codrington estates in Antigua and Barbuda. Originally held by the family, but deposited with the most local county archives’ office, the manuscripts were sold by auction in December 1980, and they became embroiled within two dilemmas. The first of these was that the ownership of the physical documents became uncertain, and the second was that whilst the identity of the purchaser has still not been revealed, they are now housed within the National Archives of Antigua and Barbuda. The past 30 years have witnessed continued contestation of ‘ownership’ of the factual and intellectual content of the papers, and of permission to disseminate information, knowledge or analysis derived from them. The discussion is considered here through the focus of whether any individual or group is privileged or has primacy over the content of the Codrington Papers.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akmon D (2010) Only with your permission: how rights holders respond (or don’t respond) to requests to display archival materials online. Archiv Sci 10(1):45–64
Anon (1702) A copy of the articles exhibited by Mr. Freeman to the House of Commons against Col. Codrington.[n.p]
Antigua (1982) Laws of Antigua and Barbuda, Archives and Records Act, cap.35/4.2
Barber S (2011) “Not worth one groat”. The status, credit and gentility of Lawrence and Sarah Crabb of Antigua. J Early Am Hist 1(1):26–61
Bastian JA (2001) A question of custody: the colonial archives of the Unite States Virgin Islands. Am Archiv 64(1):96–114
Bastian JA (2003) Owning memory: how a Caribbean community lost its archives and found its history. Libraries Unlimited, Westport
Bastian JA (2006) Reading colonial records through an archival lens: the provenance of place, space and creation. Archiv Sci 6(3–4):267–284
BBC 1 (West) (2007) Inside Out West. Broadcast 18 March 2007; From Codrington to Codrington http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2007/03/16/io_codrington_feature.shtml. Accessed 23 April 2010
Benner K (2009) Temptation Island. Fortune 159 (5):16
Bristol Evening Post (1980) The Codrington’s Latin motto was translated as ‘Steadfastness is true strength’ by the Bristol Evening Post (daily, local), 6 Dec 1980
British Library, St Pancras, London:
BL RP2616: British Library. Codrington Papers Catalogue [This is almost the same as GA D1610]
BL Harris to Barber. Email: Frances Harris, Head of Modern Historical Manuscripts, British Library, to Sarah Barber, 20 January 2010. Recovered 05 May 2010
BL Hayes to Barber. Email: Dorian Hayes, Curator of Canadian and Caribbean Collections at the British Library to Sarah Barber, 26 February 2008. Recovered 05 May 2010
Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies (1697) 16:19–30: Archibald Hutcheson to the Council of Trade and Plantations, 12 November 1697
Caplan D (1980) Daniel Caplan, Independent review of the work of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. London: 1980
Carbica (2011) Caribbean Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives, http://www.carbica.org/index_eng.htm. Accessed 15 February 2011
Caswell M (2010) Khmer Rouge archives: accountability, truth, and memory in Cambodia. Archiv Sci 10: 25–44
Codrington RH (1898) Memoir of the family of Codrington of Codrington, Didmarton, Frampton-on-Severn, and Dodington. Trans Bristol Glou Archaeol Soc xxi: 301–345
Commonwealth Review Board (2000) Government memorandum to the Commonwealth Review Board on Barbuda, 17 July 2000, item 1.2
Dyde B (2000) A history of Antigua: the unsuspected Isle. Macmillan, London
Flannigan L (1844) Antigua and the Antiguans, vol 2. Saunders and Otley, London
Gaspar DB (1985) Bondmen and rebels: a study of master-slave relations in Antigua. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Gloucestershire Records Office (now Gloucestershire Archives): Codrington Papers are listed at D1610
GA D1610/T10 The grant of the manor to Christopher Codrington by William Herbert of Poole Castle, Montgomery
GA D1610-8 (1770) Watercolour sketch of the Elizabethan house in the title-page illustration of bound collection of maps, with page numbers, entitled ‘Maps of Dodington Manor’
GA Heath (2010) Email: Michael Heath on behalf of Gloucestershire Archives, to Sarah Barber, 25 February 2008, recovered 06 May 2010
Gordon W (1710) A Sermon Preach’d at the Funeral of the Honourable Colonel Christopher Codrington, London
Harlow VT (1928) Christopher Codrington, 1668–1710. Hurst and Co, London
Harvey PDA (1983) Archives in Britain: anarchy or policy? Am Archiv 46(1):22–30
House of Commons (1980) House of Commons Debate, vol 996. pp cc5–6 W. 15 Dec 1980
House of Commons (1981) Mr Peter Luce, Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, moving approval of the draft Antigua Termination of Association Order 1981. House of Commons debate, vol 8. pp cc514–31. 8 July 1981
House of Lords (1973) Debate: export of manuscripts and historical documents. The speech of Lord Sudeley 13 June 1973, vol 343. pp cc791–810; 792
House of Lords (1981) Debate: Lord Peter Carrington’s (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) written answer to Lord Brockway, vol 419. pp c858WA. 13 Apr 1981
House of Lords (1981) Debate Antigua Termination of Association Order 14 July 1981, vol. 422. pp cc1171–1183; 1174–1175
Knightbridge AAH (1983) National archives. Policy J Soc Archiv 7(4):213–223
Lowe Robson (1951) The Codrington correspondence 1743–1851: being a study of a recently discovered dossier of letters from the West Indian islands of Antigua and Barbuda (publisher unknown)
Lowenthal D (1995) The past is a foreign country. CUP, Cambridge
Lowenthal D (1997) Possessed by the past: the heritage crusade and the spoils of history. Free Press, USA, Viking, London
NAAB: National Archives of Antigua and Barbuda, Rappaport Centre, St John’s, Antigua
NAAB Blair to Barber (2007) Letter from Dr Marion Blair, Director of the National Archives of Antigua and Barbuda to Sarah Barber, 26 September 2007
NAAB Leaflet (2004) ‘The National Archives of Antigua & Barbuda’, an information leaflet about the Archives’ office and its holdings, acquired by the author March 2004
NAAB ROE Box 187, (1676–1739) Microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1993
Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (1980) Comments of the Commission on Mr D. Caplan’s independent review of its functions. Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, London, April 1980
Simmons RC (1976) The American colonies from settlement to independence. Longman, London
The Observer (1980) Peter Deeley, Observer (London, national, Sundays), 14 Dec 1980 a lengthy article
The Times (1980) Caroline Blaazer letter to The Times (London, national). ‘The slave trade was the host, and the parasite cannot be separated from it’. 23 December 1980
The Times (1980) D[aniel] Caplan letter to The Times. 18 Dec 1980
The Times (1980) Stephen Carter and David Hamilton letter to The Times. 13 Dec 1980
The Times (1980) Sir Simon Codrington letter to The Times. 23 Dec 1980
The Times (1980) Editorial: An auction of Antiguan papers, The Times. 13 Dec 1980
The Times (1980) Victor W. Gray (Essex Record Office, Association of County Archivists) letter to The Times. 13 Dec 1980
The Times (1980) Robson Lowe Limited letter to The Times. 19 Dec 1980
The Times (1980) David Lowenthal, W.H. Morris Jones, C.G. Clarke, Richard Simmons, Gad Heuman and Richard Hoggart letter to The Times. 29 Nov 1980
The Times (1980) Adrian L. Ray letter to The Times. 13 Dec 1980
The Times (1980) Milton Samuel letter to The Times. 24 Dec 1980
The Times (1980) Dr Claudius Thomas, High Commissioner for the Eastern Caribbean, quoted in The Times. 16 Dec 1980
UNESCO Bird to Ridley (1980) Vere C. Bird, Snr., London, to Hon. Nicholas Ridley, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 4 Dec 1980
UNESCO Bird to da Silva (1980) Vere C. Bird, London, to Alfonso da Silva, Paris, 4 December 1980 enclosing a copy of the former. Received 10 Dec
UNESCO da Silva (1980) Memo from Alfonso da Silva, London, to the Director of the Office of the Director General. 27 Dec 1980
UNESCO da Silva (1980) Memo from Alfonso da Silva: Appeal to UNESCO by Antigua re return of historical documents. 11 Dec 1980
UNESCO Mackay to M’Bow (1980) Letter of UK Deputy Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, H. Mackay, Paris to Amadou Mahtar M’Bow, 23 Dec 1980
UNESCO Najman to Bird (1980) UNESCO Archives: [copy] cable sent from [Dragoljub] Najman, detailing the response of the Director-General, to Vere Bird, London. 12 Dec 1980
UNESCO Records (1979) Records of the General Conference, 20th session, Paris 24 October-28 November 1978. Vol.1: Resolutions. Paris: UNESCO. Statutes of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation. pp 93–100
United States of America Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, Case history No. 8, 111 pp
United States of America Senate (2001) ‘Minority staff of the permanent subcommittee on investigations report on correspondent banking: a gateway for money laundering’, US Senate Report, 5 February 2001 http://hsgac.senate.gov/psi_finalreport.pdf. Accessed 06 May 2010
University of Oxford (1702) Bodleian Library, Rawlinson MSS. C.983, ff.157-58: The will of Christopher Codrington dated 22 February 1702
Western Daily Press (1980) Quote from Mr Nigel Wratten, Senior Assistant County Archivist: ‘selling off a slice of history’. Western Daily Press (regional), 23 Dec 1980
Zacek N (2010) Settler society in the English Leeward Islands, 1670–1776. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Acknowledgments
All correspondence concerning the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation are archived at UNESCO Archives, Paris, AG8 Secretariat Records, Bureau of External Relations, BRX/LAC/119, Antigua and Barbuda 1980–1982. I am grateful to Adele Torrance at UNESCO for her help in unearthing these documents.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Barber, S. Who owns knowledge? Heritage, intellectual property and access in and to the history of Antigua and Barbuda. Arch Sci 12, 1–17 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-011-9141-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-011-9141-6