Provenance of Diary

After James’s death in 1907 the diary was presumably held by his wife Mary. On her death it would have been held by their daughter Lucy Eleanor. After her death in 1954 the diary was found in her home, Rose Cottage, Porthcawl, by local historian Leonard Higgins who secured it and other family papers because of their local historical significance. He deposited them at the National Library of Wales in a collection known as the Picton papers.

Andrew Hillier was a friend of Leonard Higgins and a keen local historian. After reading Leonard Higgins’s paper in the National Library of Wales Journal, I attempted to speak to him. I discovered that he had died but was introduced to Mr Hillier. It was he who made me aware of the Brogden papers at the National Library of Wales.

Since no family members have claimed the documents, including this diary, it seems reasonable to regard them as in the public domain. However in any academic publication the National Library of Wales should be acknowledged as custodians of the manuscript and the Victoria University Of Wellington’s New Zealand Electronic Text Centre should be acknowledged as first publishers. Both bodies should be consulted before any commercial publication is made.