| Admin_History | Ushaw College Library has always played a central role in the intellectual life of the college since its foundation in 1808. The books from Crook Hall were initially stored in a temporary room until they were transferred into a more prominent and spacious area in 1813. By 1827, the Catholic Miscellanyreported that there were upwards of 7,000 volumes as well as some rare documents of ancient date, and several illuminated manuscriptsand the library continued the tradition established at the English College in Douai where the holdings were not limited to theology but also embraced classics, literature and other subjects. The library has had many benefactors throughout its history, including Thomas Eyre and John Gilow (presidents), John Lingard and Michael Gibson (who served as vice - presidents), as well as smaller donations from other priests, John Bradley and Thomas Sherburne. Its main benefactor, however, was undoubtedly Thomas Wilkinson, who was an assiduous collector of books and determined to recreate a library at Ushaw similar to the one he had known at Douai. In 1832, he presented 6,000 volumes to Ushaw and, in the following decade, donated a further 6,000 books on various subjects including science, literature and art. Partly as a result of the growing number of acquisitions, Mgr Charles Newsham (Ushaw's fifth president), ordered the construction of a new library wing. A.W. Pugin submitted a plan for the new library but Wilkinson, who was financing most of the building, rejected it in favour of the present design by Charles and Joseph Hansom. Various abortive attempts were made to compile catalogues of the library holdings, notably by George Errington in the early 1840s and Josef Felton between 1877 - 1886. The present card catalogue of the Big Library, however, was begun by Arthur (later Cardinal) Hinsley in 1896 and completed in 1903 by Fr Edwin Bonney, with the help of students. Major revisions and improvement to this catalogue was carried out by Fr Bernard Payne, librarian from 1930 until 1977, with the assistance of others, notably Dr A. I. Doyle of Durham University Library. Ine the late 1980s, Fr. Michael Sharratt also compiled a card catalogue of some of the major archive collections in Ushaw College Library. Following an agreement between the college trustees and Durham University in 2011, online catalogues of the archive and printed collections are now being produced by Durham University Library staff with the intention of attracting a wider research audience. |