What does the Herbert Collection tell us?

The Herbert collection preserves over three decades of history in Weymouth, Portland and the surrounding areas. The area has evolved a great deal since the 1950s as culture, economy and politics change.  Whether you are looking for family or business history, educational research or simply for nostalgia, the collection has a lot to offer.

How has Weymouth town changed?

• The Pier Bandstand was a popular entertainment venue in 1960, but due to high maintenance costs was demolished in 1986 (D-HBT/4362a)
• Shops in the town centre have evolved since 1960, as nationwide chains began to takeover. W.H. Smith’s provides some continuity (D-HBT/4237a)
• The Quayside used to be a hub of trade with cranes along the harbour side to load/unload goods (D-HBT/4318c). Changes to the town industry over the following decades rendered them obsolete
  

  

  

  

What was the transport like?

• The decades of rapid development in commercial car manufacturing and design leading up to the present day makes the vehicles of 1960 look very basic (D-HBT/4642b), although many prefer the vintage style!
• A vintage car rally show from 1960 (D-HBT/4326b) provides us with examples of some of the earliest commercial cars, demonstrating the evolution of the vehicles over the past 100 years
• You may have preferred travelling by steam train (D-HBT/4193b). This image features the last train to run between Weymouth and Portland in 1965

  

  

  

Have social values and culture changed?

• Now criticised for promoting sexism, Bathing Beauty competitions were regular events held on Weymouth seafront (D-HBT/3912f)
• Health and Safety may be accused of ruining fun but looking at the fireworks show at Weymouth Carnival in 1959 (D-HBT/3910a) you can see why stricter regulations have been introduced since!
• 1950s and 1960s fashion is still a popular style in women’s clothing (D-HBT/4469b) (D-HBT/4769). However if you look at the bland and logo-less men’s fashion in the collection they are a world away from today’s styles.
  

  

  

  

  

How did people spend their leisure time?

• To quote my Nan “going out in the evenings to the cinema, dance halls and pubs often beat staying in and listening to the radio”. Here’s a swing band performing in Weymouth in 1962 (D-HBT/4509a)
• How about a trip to the animal circus (D-HBT/3899l)?
• One tradition that hasn’t changed is the annual Weymouth Carnival (D-HBT/3910b).
• Related collection: Cosens & Co paddle steamers were an iconic part of the seaside scenery in Dorset for nearly 150 years, taking tourists on leisurely pleasure cruises along the south coast. The Cosens archive (D-COS) is a fantastic collection of photographs, advertising material and business records, all relating to the Weymouth paddle steamer company.

  

  

  

Family History

Identifying people in the photographs is difficult given the lack of names provided with the collection. However the Herbert Collection has numerous photos of businesses, leisure groups, social events and schools. If you are very lucky you might be able to pick out yourself or a relative at an event or in a school photograph (D-HBT/4303a).

Links with other collections

No collection at Dorset History Centre should be seen in isolation – the millions of documents we hold are all tiny pieces of a puzzle which together reveal the history of the people and places of Dorset over the past thousand years. Our  Weymouth sources guide (pdf, 346kb) lists some other collections that shed light on Weymouth’s past, and our local studies library contains a wealth of secondary sources on the town.

This selection is just the tip of the iceberg – if you would like to explore the collection further or would like advice on your own research please contact us.

Steve, Digital Resources Intern