Baines's four-volume History of Lancashire (1836) is widely recognised as one of the earliest and most significant county histories. The papers he collected during the course of his research over more than a decade were deposited in 1851 after his death in the Harris (then the Shepherd) Library at Preston, his home town. This project has catalogued the 17 boxes of papers and letters in the collection and reassessed the notebooks on every parish in the county which Edwin Butterworth compiled between 1831 and 1836 and which are included in the collection.

This project, undertaken by Dr Robert Poole (St Martin's College), Dr Michael Winstanley (Lancaster University) and Leonard MacDonald (archivist), has catalogued the 17 boxes of papers and letters in the collection and reassessed the notebooks on every parish in the county which Edwin Butterworth compiled between 1831 and 1836 and which are included in the collection. These provide a unique insight into the methods adopted by a major county historian and have enabled a fuller understanding of the process by which he undertook his work, and particularly his relationships with his collaborators and associates. The nature of his relationship with Edwin Butterworth had already been documented from Butterworth MSS in Oldham Local Studies Centre, but it is now possible to assess the nature of the significant contributions made by his amanuensis, R T Hampson, Dr R N Whatton from whom he commissioned a series of biographies, and numerous associates with whom he corresponded. The letters and transcriptions of sources identify how they obtained information, how Baines marketed his work, and how he chose the illustrations. The papers contain both rare original sources relating to the North West (such as the prospectus and plans for a Manchester Ship Canal from the River Dee in 1825), and verbatim copies of originals held elsewhere, particularly in London. As such it is clear that it is also an important archive of materials in its own right which ought to be more widely publicised and resorted to in the region.

The Butterworth archives in Oldham and Manchester have also enabled a fuller picture of the historical writings of James and Edwin Butterworth to be compiled, including a comparison of the different methods, sources, and motivations of father and son. Although their publications are less well known they were important and significant contributors in their day to the development of local identities in the region, as well as being classic, but different cases of the autodidactic writers who characterised the period.

For a detailed exploration of Edwin Butterworth's relationship with Baines and the value of the parish notebooks see Michael Winstanley, 'Researching a County History: Edwin Butterworth, Edward Baines and the History of Lancashire (1836)', Northern History, vol. xxxii, 1996. James Butterworth, A History of Saddleworth (reprint of 1828 edition), will be re-published in early 2006 with introduction by Robert Poole. Robert Poole and Michael Winstanley, are currently writing a biographical survey of James and Edwin Butterworth (Manchester Centre for Regional History).