IN THE 1930s, across England and Wales, local authorities were becoming concerned about the rapid loss of written heritage.

Bedfordshire had shown the way by creating a county record office. Hugh Walton spent three months there, learning the basics of the new archive science, before becoming the first county archivist of Oxfordshire.

He was one of the first graduates employed by Oxfordshire County Council, and his duties began in 1934. Soon he and a handful of peers were laying the basis for the methods that record offices still employ.

He went on to negotiate the acquisition of numerous collections of national importance, including the Jersey and the Dashwood papers.

He was asked to take on the post of clerk to quarter sessions in conjunction with his role as county archivist, subsequently qualifying as a solicitor.

He was deputy clerk of the peace for Oxfordshire until the office was abolished at the end of 1971.

As his legal experience informed his archive work he became an acknowledged authority on court records, particularly the historic records of quarter sessions.

Mr Walton retired with the coming of the new counties in 1974.

However, he continued to take an active and valuable interest in historical matters, from his position on the executive committee of the Record Society to his continuing involvement with the Oxford Civic Society and the Oxford Preservation Trust, in which he was instrumental in protecting the architectural heritage of the city.

He never married.

Mr Walton was born on June 11, 1912. He died on May 17, 2006, aged 93.

His funeral was held at Oxford Crematorium earlier this month and was followed by a reception at County Hall.