Published in Windlesora 07 (1988)
© WLHG
It was not until 1858 that the history of Windsor was given the attention it had previously lacked, when Robert Richard Tighe and James Edward Davis published their Annals of Windsor. In view of the fact that Windsor Castle had been the residence of the sovereigns of England from the eleventh century, and many historic events had taken place in the castle and surrounding area, it is strange that there had been no attempt to write an adequate history of Windsor.
Two centuries previously, in 1672, Elias Ashmole had devoted part of his Order of the Garter to a brief account of St. George’s Chapel, and in 1749 an Eton bookseller, Joseph Pote, in his History and Antiquities of Windsor Castle made use of material originally published by Ashmole. Joseph Pote was established in Eton by 1730, and had published many books for Eton College before The History and Antiquities of Windsor Castle was published in 1749. The list of subscribers in Pote’s book includes many well-known local residents of the Castle at the time. The imprint of the publisher shows J & T Pote, the T. Pote being Joseph’s son who had recently completed his apprenticeship to his father. What must surely be one of the earliest guide books was published by J & T Pote in 1755 and was entitled Les Delices de Windsor or a description of Windsor Castle. This pocket guide was clearly intended for tourists and was priced at two shillings. After Joseph Pote’s death in 1787 the name of T. Pote appeared alone on the publications.
Around this time also the name of Charles Knight Snr appeared as an author-publisher, when he opened his first bookshop and printing office at No. 2 Castle Hill, Windsor. His first Windsor Guide with a brief account of Eton was published in 1785. Other editions followed at regular intervals, and by 1825 it was entitled The visitants Guide to Windsor Castle and its vicinity. So numerous were these guides that a separate article would be required to describe them adequately. By 1832 the Windsor guides had been taken over by J. B. Brown and the title changed to The Royal Windsor Guide.
Apart from these guides the only other attempt at a history of Windsor was made by James Hakewill in 1813. The History of Windsor and its Neighbourhood by James Hakewill, Architect, can be ignored as an original history as it is based largely on Pote’s work. Acknowledgements are also made to the work of Mr Lysons the author of Architectural Antiquities. However, it is a wonderful example of early nineteenth century book production, being large folio and containing over twenty full page steel engravings of local buildings and views, plus many vignettes in the text. Only eighty subscribers are listed, which normally indicates a limited print run for what was obviously a very expensive book.
It was therefore 1858 before the first adequate history of Windsor was published and it is to Robert Tighe and his collaborator James Davis that credit is due. Robert Tighe was manager of the Bank and Breweries in Windsor and, as a prominent local citizen, he had some years previously decided that the history of the Royal Borough was inadequately covered. As early as 1844 he had organised a local campaign to divert main roads away from the Castle, and replan much of the town. These plans included the construction of new roads in the town and the pulling down of the Thames Street houses, in addition to the building of an atmospheric railway from Slough to Windsor. Though the campaign came to naught he wrote a letter on the subject which was included in the appendix of his book.
Tighe’s co-author was his friend of some years standing, James Davis, a Welsh lawyer, who did most of the research.
After about thirteen years work, The Annals of Windsor appeared in 1858. The main edition was in two large octavo volumes and there was also a special edition of 25 copies in large folio. Norden’s maps of the forest and Little Park and Collier’s map of 1742 were included together with many woodcuts mainly by Folkard, but others from sketches by Davis. The Annals ranks among the best of local histories of the period, and is still the most sought after of the Windsor books.
After this very little of importance was published until 1913 when the next major work, St. John Hope’s Windsor Castle: An Architectural History, was published.
Mention should be made, however, of two other titles which appeared in the intervening years. The Revd. John Stoughton, author of Windsor: A History and Description of the Castle and the Town, published in 1862, was for many years the Minister of Windsor Congregational Church and had in fact written one other book which was published in 1844, entitled Windsor in the Olden Times.
In 1886 W. J. Loftie, who wrote many topographical books on London, chose Windsor for one of his titles: Windsor, A Description of the Castle, Park, Town and Neighbourhood. This book eventually went into many editions, including a Jubilee edition in 1887 dedicated to Queen Victoria. The various editions are well illustrated by well known illustrators of the period and are much sought after.
Windsor Castle: An Architectural History by W. St. John Hope was the result of many years work, and was acclaimed as the definitive work on Windsor Castle. The two folio volumes and a portfolio of plans were issued as a limited edition of 1050 copies and it is now extremely difficult to obtain. This book earned St. John Hope a knighthood and other honours.
When the Victoria County History series appeared in 1923 the Windsor section was based on the work of St. John Hope and Tighe and Davis. There also appeared in the 1920s what was perhaps the last Windsor book of any importance prior to the 1939-45 War. In 1929, Dr. Eustace Harwood, the son of a former Vicar of Old Windsor, wrote his Windsor Old and New. Published as a limited edition of only 400 copies, the work has been criticised on a number of counts, not least for its lack of footnotes and bibliography. I must say that, as an enthuiastic amateur, I find it one of the most interesting, dealing as it does with all aspects of the development of Windsor including the river, a subject largely ignored by many other authors.
Since the war we have been fortunate in having a number of distinguished local authors who have added much to our knowledge of local history, particularly the late Maurice Bond and also Raymond South who has dealt with specific subjects such as the coming of the railways, the Labour Party, the Great Park and the Civil War.
David Hedges
Windsor Local History Group 