Introducing the Rainer Archive Dear Editor
| Author | Shani Cassady |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455050104800128 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
72
Introducing
the
Rainer
Archive
Dear
Editor,
Many
criminal
justice
agencies
are
able
to
trace
their
ongms
back
to
the
growth
of
philanthropy
m
the
mneteenth
century.
The
modem
Probation
Service
is
said
to
have
been
founded
m
1876
when
a
journeyman
printer
named
Frederick
Rainer
donated
5/-
to
the
Church
of
England
Temperance
Society
(CETS)
to
arrest
the
inevitable
downward
spiral
of
those
&dquo;...
whose
foot
has
once
slipped&dquo;.
By
all
accounts
the
CETS
responded
admirably
and
appointed
missionaries
and
mission
women
to
the
Police
Courts
who
would
befriend
and
assist
those
m
need.
By
the
end
of
the
century
every
Police
Court
m
London
and
Middlesex
was
so
served,
and
in
1907
the
first
Probation
Act
was
inaugurated,
formally
creatmg
the
modem
day
Probation
Service.
The
founding
society
continued,
but
m
1923
the
London
Police
Court
Mission
separated
from
the
CETS,
and
by
1961
it
was
clear
that
the
terms
Police
Court
and
missionary
were
no
longer
appropriate
and
so
the
society
changed
its
name
to
the
Rainer
Foundation.
Today
it
is
still
concerned
with
the
welfare
of
those
m
need,
although
its
remit
has
changed,
and
during
the
latter
part
of
the
twentieth
century
the
charity
began
to
concentrate
its
efforts
on
projects
for
young
people.
Fortunately
the
story
of
the
evolution
of
this
foundation
(and
others
associated
with
it)
has
been
preserved,
and
the
collection
has
come
to
be
known
as
the
Rainer
archive.
The
archive
is
currently
bemg
held
at
the
Galleries
of
Justice
m
Nottmgham,
and
is
presently
undergomg
an
extensive
research
and
cataloguing
process,
made
possible
by
the
partnership
that
has
been
developed
between
the
Galleries
and
Nottmgham
Trent
University.
The
collection
is
at
first
glance
merely
a
set
of
boxes
contammg
an
apparently
disparate
set
of
notes,
books,
photographs
and
records
between
the
periods
1820
to
1997.
However,
it
has
quickly
become
evident
that
the
archive
is
not
only
extensive
but
also
exceptional,
and
once
the
research
and
catalogumg
process
is
complete
it
will
be
a
highly
sigmficant
resource
with
national
appeal
and
widespread
accessibility
(possibly
as
an
internet
resource).
It
should
be
noted
though
that
the
development
of
the
Probation
Service
is
only
one
facet
of
the
archive,
although
it
appears
that
all
of
the
organisations
represented
m
the
collection
have
m
some
way
contributed
to
the
evolution
of
philanthropic
endeavour:
the
School
of
Disciple,
the
London
Female
Preventive
and
Reformatory
Institution,
various
boys’
homes,
Associated
Societies for the
Protection
of
Women
and
Children,
the
Midmght
Meetmg
Movement,
and
numerous
Christian
associations.
The
first
official
presentation
of
archive
material
will
take
place
this
September
at
the
’Behaving
Badly’
conference
due
to
be
held
at
the Galleries
of
Justice.
Further
mformation
may
be
obtained
from
me
at
the
Galleries
of
Justice,
High
Pavement,
Nottmgham,
telephone
0115 9520555
or
email
at
cass(a~btmternet.com
or
from
the
SOLON
website
http://www.ntu.ac.uk/solon
Shani
Cassady
Research
Assistant,
Nottingham
Trent
University/
Galleries
of Justice
Partnership
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