On 18th November, 8 members of the Avenue 2020 project team visited the Special Collections Archive at The Hartley Library. We spent the afternoon looking at items from the MS52 and Cope
Collections, relating to Isaac Watts. The archive items included an original bible owned by the Watts family, books written by Watts, and information on the inauguration of the commemorative statue, which is now in Watts Park, Southampton. This visit was important to the project as it contributed to our research on the life and works of Watts, the so-called ‘Father of English hymnody’ and whose father was minister in one of Avenue St Andrew’s URC’s parent congregations.
Archivists from the Special Collections have written a very interesting blog post about Isaac Watts, which also refers to some of the material they have on him, to take a look go to: https://specialcollectionsuniversityofsouthampton.wordpress.com/2018/07/17/isaac-watts-1674- 1748-son-of-southampton-father-of-english
