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The Possibly Impossible Research Project

Final Artifact

A Research Portfolio on

Mrs. William
Allbut
By: Bryce Smith
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Table of Contents

Research Narrative (pages 3 – 4)

Wikipedia article (pages 5 – 9)
Image Archive (pages 10 -15)
Email Archive (pages 16- 30)
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Research Narrative
The Beginning Stages
It all started with a tweet. Over a
month ago, I began my research on the
Possibly Impossible Research Project, a
journey that ended up being quite possible, but
difficult nevertheless. After selecting Mrs.
William Allbut as my author, I decided to
stick to familiar territory and search her name
on Google. This approach seemed to work at
first. I quickly found two copies of the book
that I was assigned (Much in Little: A
Compendium of Facts & Information).
However, using the basic Google search
method, that ended up being all I could find. I
needed a new approach.
After a day of brainstorming I came up
with an idea that seemed basic but ended up
being priceless throughout my research
process: a list. For each source that I found, I
recorded bullet points of important information
and the source’s reliability (using a color-coding
scheme) on Google Docs. This plan ended up
being extremely helpful for two reasons. First,
using the bullet points I could easily identify new
keywords to try in search engines and databases.
Second, after finishing all my research, it made
the creation of my Wikipedia article significantly
easier, because all of my information was in a
centralized location.

Hot Streak & Dead Ends

After employing this method and reading
Much in Little cover to cover, I had a streak of
luck and found a wide variety of advertisements for the book. However, shortly after finding all
this information, I hit a brick wall. While I had many theories, I still lacked any significant,
verifiable, bibliographical information. Nothing was appearing on Google and, due to the
prevalence of variations of the surname Allbut (e.g. Allbutt, Albutt, and Albut) and the fact that I
only had (what I assumed was) my author’s husband’s name (William Allbut), Ancestry.com
was not helpful. Many of the other pieces of information that I had found ended up being dead
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ends. The company that printed Much in Little was shut down in the 20th-century and the
publisher of the book only had records in a private collection at the University College London
(who I sent an email to, but never received a reply from). I was stuck.

The Rabbit Hole

Having exhausted all the leads that I had found in Much in Little, I had to think outside of
the box. As Much in Little was my largest source of information, I decided to scan over the book
again for any information that I might have missed in my first reading. Much in Little is a quasi-
textbook with a wealth of factual information targeted towards young ladies enrolled in school.
Due to subject manner and the amount of historical information contained in the book, it seemed
like a logical next step that Mrs. William Allbut was directly connected to the schooling of
young girls. Additionally, while it is not explicitly stated, the content of the book makes it
apparent that it was meant for an English audience. After a series of randomly combined
variations of the keywords “England”, “school”, “Mrs. William Allbut”, and other similar
keywords, I was descended a rabbit hole where I found the Bibliotheca Staffordiensis, a rare
book containing bibliographical information about a wide array of authors (including Mrs.
William Allbut, her husband, and many of her family members) in a specific area of 19th-century
England.

Smooth Sailing
The Bibliotheca Staffordiensis essentially defined the direction that the rest of my project
took. Using Mrs. William Allbut’s maiden name (Sophia Mort) that the book contained, I was
able to locate a wide variety of records on Ancestry.com. These records gave me the names of
her children, information about where she lived, and confirmed that she was involved in the field
of education working as a principal of a ladies’ school that she ran out of her various homes
throughout her life. Combining bibliographical information from the Bibliotheca Staffordiensis
and census data about where she lived, I was able to identify a
few historical societies that might have access to information
about Mrs. William Allbut’s life (see Email Archive). Two
people connected to these organizations, Mr. John Booth and
Dr. Richard Talbot, were particularly helpful throughout my
project. Mr. John Booth provided me with insight and pictures
(see Image Archive) from the Bethesda Methodist Chapel
(which both Sophia’s mother and her husband’s parents were
connected). Dr. Richard Talbot, through sources from his book
The Royal Manor of Penkhull (2008), was able to provide me
with a wealth of insight into the Mrs. William Allbut’s life at
“The Mount” (a mansion where she lived and ran a ladies’
school. Following leads from all this information took me to
the end of my time researching Mrs. William Allbut.
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Wikipedia Article
Mrs. William Allbut did not have a Wikipedia article before I began my research on her, so all the work done on the Wikipedia article
is entirely my own. It should be noted that I decided to publish the article under the name “Sophia Mort” (Mrs. William Allbut’s maiden name) to
avoid confusion with her husband or son. As of 10/2/2018 the Wikipedia article has not been approved or denied. The Wikipedia article is as
follows:
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Featured Photos: My Wikipedia article contains two, previously unpublished images given to
me by Mr. John Booth (who gave me explicit permission to publish the images on Wikipedia via
email). Although I found or was given other images in my research, many of these were
copyrighted or other researchers were uncomfortable with me putting the photos online. These
images can appear in this portfolio but should not be published publicly. I used Wikimedia
Commons to upload the photos featured in my Wikipedia Article. See the following screenshots
of the upload process:

Wikimedia Commons Homepage:

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Upload of Photo #1:

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Upload of Photo #2:

Link to Draft of Wikipedia Article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Sophia_Mort
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Image Archive
Advertisments for Much in Little by Mrs. William Allbut from The Bookseller.
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Sketch before the January 1849 edition of the Youth’s Magazine in which the first chapter of
Mrs. William Allbut’s short story “Look to the End.” was published. Almost every monthly
release of the magazine was accompinied with one or more sketches like this.
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Memorial inscriptions relating to the burial vaults in Bethesda Methodist Chapel of Thomas &
Sydney Allbut as well as Dorothy Mort. These photos were provided to me by Mr. John Booth,
who gave me clearance to publish them online.
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Advertisements for Mrs. William Allbut’s ladies’ school published the Potteries Mercury, her
husband’s newspaper, over a wide range of dates. These images are from The Royal Manor of
Penkhull (2008) were provided to me by Dr. Richard Talbot, who owns them and does not want
them published online.
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Maps of the “The Mount” provided to me by Dr. Richard Talbot. Again, he owns these photos
and does not want them published online. The images are from The Royal Manor of Penkhull
(2008).
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A photo of the front of “The Mount,” an advertisement for the lease of “The Mount,” and a
sketch of “The Mount”. These photos were provided to me by Dr. Richard Talbot, who owns
them and does not want them published online. The images are from The Royal Manor of
Penkhull (2008).
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Email Archive
Email Chain #1 – University College London’s Special Collections

After discovering the name of the publisher of Mrs. William Allbut’s publication Much in Little: A
Compendium of Facts & Information, I was able to determine that the University College London’s
Special Collections department has publication records, sales contracts, and other information relating
to the publisher. As of 10/2/2018 I have only received an automated reply.
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Email Chain #2 – Historic Chapels Trust

The second organization I decided to email was the Historic Chapels Trust (an organization that
cares for and takes over non-Anglican places of worship in England that are no longer in use) due to the
Allbut family involvement with the Bethesda Methodist Chapel (a Methodist New Connexion chapel that
does not appear to be actively being used). The Historic Chapels Trust has a web page detailing the
Bethesda Methodist Chapel. As of 10/2/2018 I have not received a reply.
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Email Chain #3- The Chapels Society

The third organization that I emailed was The Chapels Society (an organization that works
alongside the Historic Chapels Trust to preserve the history of Nonconformist places of worship in
England) due to the Allbut family involvement with the Bethesda Methodist Chapel. I received a
response saying that my request for information was being circulated the Chapel Society council.
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Email Chain #4- Mr. John Booth

Due to the emails that I sent to The Chapels Society, I received many emails from Mr. John
Booth giving me census records, original photographs, and general information relating to Mrs. William
Allbut. It should be noted that I plan to response to Mr. John Booth’s final email with my thanks, a copy
of this portfolio, and a link to my Wikipedia article.
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Email Chain #5- City of Stoke-on-Trent Archives

Due advice in the first email that I received from Mr. John Booth, I decided to email the Stoke-
on-Trent City Archive Service. As of 10/2/2018 I have not received a reply.
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Email Chain #6- Penkhull History Society & Dr. Richard Talbot

After discovering William & Sophia Allbut’s connection to “The Mount” (a mansion located in
Penkhull), I decided to reach out to a local historical society and request more information about the
Allbut’s time in Penkhull. I received many emails from Dr. Richard Talbot giving me valuable information
about Mrs. William Allbut and her time at “The Mount”. It should be noted that I plan to response to Dr.
Richard Talbot’s final email with my thanks, a copy of this portfolio, and a link to my Wikipedia article.
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