Catalogue of part of the Alf Tarry Collection
Alf Tarry was a Lightwater resident and local historian. He accumulated an eclectic collection of material of local history interest. Following his death the collection was donated to the Surrey Heath Museum..
The documents in this collection broadly split into two categories: copies of legal papers, and ‘other’.
Prior to the establishment of the Land Registry, when you sold property you had to prove that you owned it and thus had the right to sell it. Typically this would comprise the details of a string of preceding sales, often going back to the end of the 18th century, with each sale reciting its pedigree. Much of the material in this collection is, office copies of draft agreements containing all the detail of the original.
The material was catalogued by members of the Camberley & District U3A’s Family History group working as Museum Volunteers. Their objective being to record names of people, property and places and cross reference these to the source documents with the objective that
and enquiry to the museum staff may be easily addressed
an Internet search for a person’s name will identify that the museum holds documents containing that name.
The catalogue may be viewed at the museum and on their website
https://www.surreyheath.gov.uk/leisure-sports-and-culture/surrey-heath-museum
https://e-voice.org.uk/surreyheathmuseum/
https://e-voice.org.uk/surreyheathmuseum/our-history-and-collections/