Elizabeth Ralph, MA, DLitt

Miss Ralph, as she was always known except to a very favoured few, was born on 7 December 1911 in Bristol, though she came of Yorkshire clerical stock, both Anglican and Unitarian. She was proud of her roots and of the county’s reputation for outspokenness, a quality she had inherited in no small measure, and she was certainly no respecter of persons. Her father, an army officer, was frequently abroad and Ralph and her mother and sister lived at Henleaze in north Bristol. An aunt, an Oxford don, arranged for Ralph to go to Fairfield Grammar School and, on leaving, she joined the staff of the Bristol Reference Library, where she remained until 1937. Her interest in palaeography was noticed and, at the age of twenty-six, she was appointed Archives Clerk at Bristol Council House. To compensate for her lack of formal training, Ralph insisted that she gain experience at the Public Record Office, where she worked under David Evans and Hilary Jenkinson, FSA. No sooner was her position as City Archivist confirmed in 1939 than war broke out and she was faced with the task of safeguarding the unique civic documents, many of them dating from the Middle Ages. Along with the records of the Society of Merchant Venturers, for which she was also responsible, Ralph evacuated everything to the pier railway tunnel at Hotwells in the nick of time since Bristol city centre was devastated early in the blitz. The Merchants’ Hall was razed to the ground and Ralph’s house at Henleaze (one of 3000 destroyed) received a direct hit but fortunately she and her mother and sister were dug out of the ruins unhurt. Normal activities were resumed after the war though the railway tunnel remained in use as an overflow storage for many years. The city centre was rebuilt and in due course Ralph supervised the removal of the main archives to the newly purpose-built Council House on College Green with its large basement strongroom. By then, the documents in her care had increased enormously in volume, date and subject matter to include mortgages and title deeds, diocesan and parish records, dean and chapter documents, mercantile and business archives and family papers, most notably those of the Smyths of Ashton Court. Throughout her career as city archivist, and in retirement, Ralph was a valued member of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. She served as secretary of the Bristol section from 1943 and in 1948, having made her presence felt on the council, she was invited to become honorary general secretary at a factious time in the society’s history, but also one of great opportunity. Redevelopment after war damage was proceeding apace and the Society was consulted by planning authorities in Bristol and Gloucestershire to adjudicate on applications for the alteration or demolition of old buildings. This was a formidable undertaking, which Ralph discharged single-handedly for over thirty years, thereby vastly increasing the Society’s standing among conservationists. With the approval of the Town Clerk, she ran the Society from her office in the Council House and was allowed time, and a degree of secretarial help, to devote to its affairs. Ralph regarded the Transactions as the most important aspect of the Society’s work and her friendship with the Editor [Dame] Joan Evans, PSA, resulted in an ‘anonymous’ endowment to ensure the publications’ financial future. In 1976, the Society’s centenary year, Ralph was the undisputed choice for president. She was in her element organising visits to archaeological digs and historic sites, chairing meetings, hosting tea-parties, participating in cathedral services and, most of all, meeting the rank-and-file members who enjoyed the celebrations as much as she did. After thirty-nine years as general secretary, and having lost the facilities of the Council House on her retirement in 1971, Ralph resigned from office in 1986 but remained an ardent supporter of the Society’s activities. Her reputation as a scholar derives from her publications for the Bristol Record Society, of which she was appointed assistant general editor in 1946. She published The Deposition Books of Bristol, volume 2, 1650–4, with H E Nott in 1947; The Inhabitants of Bristol in 1696: assessments under the Marriage Act 1694, with Mary Williams, in 1968; The Great White Book of Bristol (1979) and Calendar of Bristol Apprentice Book, Part 2, 1542–52, and, with Nora M Hardwick, Part 3, 1552–65 (1992). She was a member of the Council of Bristol University, which awarded her an honorary MA in 1953 and an honorary doctorate in 1993; a trustee of the Bristol Theatre Royal; a member of the management committee of the National Trust property at Leigh Woods; a member of the Church Assembly (now replaced by the General Synod) and of the Diocesan Advisory and Pastoral Committees of the diocese of Bristol, at meetings of which she expressed particularly forthright opinions. Ralph’s sister, Jeanette, who had kept house for the two of them, died in 1993 and two years later Ralph moved into sheltered accommodation. After a series of minor strokes, she died on 10 January 2000 in her 89th year. A high Anglican, her funeral at All Saints, Clifton, took the form of a solemn requiem and was attended by tout le monde.