This collection is comprised mainly of letters dealing with the dissolved Benedictine priory of Little Malvern, subsequently home to the Russell family and their lineal descendents, the Beringtons. As well as estate papers and matters of family concern, they open up an account of the survival of Catholicism in the West Midlands, centred upon on a kinship network of Russells, Pakingtons, Throckmortons and, finally, Beringtons. These families took their natural part in local affairs as well as remaining staunchly Catholic. The selection of documents has been made from two major sources, the Berington Collection and the Letchmere manuscripts, both now lodged in the Worcestershire Record Office. Michael Hodgett's introduction outlines some of the problems in marshalling transcripts as well as original manuscripts, started in 1865/6 by Daniel Parsons of Oriel College, Oxford, surveyed by the second report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission in 1871 and eventually deposited as ‘Berington’ in 1947. In addition, in 1846, some three hundred items were taken from the collection by Sir Edmund Lechmere as material for a projected history of Little Malvern and were not returned on his death in 1894. Where these have been recovered they have also been deposited at the Worcestershire Record Office under the names of Lechmere Box, Lechmere for 899:169. The collections were bequeathed in 1955 to Oscott College, passing subsequently to the Birmingham Diocesan Archives and eventually to the Worcestershire Record Office. Much of the necessary listing was undertaken by Aileen Hodgson with the intention of completing the projected history of Little Malvern. This produced a typescript which she hoped to complement with a volume of documents. This proved to be too costly for the Catholic Record Society and in 1981 a series of eight articles was commissioned, incorporating some of the material and published in Worcester Recusant (1981–5). Since Aileen Hodgson's death in 1977 Michael Hodgetts has been at work, collating and sifting the existing material to produce this volume and also a projected further volume which will cover the years 1737–1862. From this wealth of material a judicious selection has been made to present a coherent account of the families who did so much to preserve energetic life in West Midlands Catholicism. The excellent footnotes in themselves provide a source for further exploration of the interplay of local activities and religious developments. The publication of volume ii is eagerly awaited.