2019: A review of our year

As 2019 slowly draws to a close we thought we would take a look at some of the many things which have happened at DHC through the course of the year…

On the blog…

2019 has seen our blog grow in popularity, and we are delighted so many people are reading about our records, collections, and activities.

The most read blog we have had this year was an effort from April, written by four Bournemouth University students who were promoting their highly-successful event at the Priest’s House Museum in Wimborne. Their post, exploring some of the themes collected in the Bankes Archive-related Oral History recordings we hold, was obviously a great appetiser for the main event itself!

D-DPA/1/BT/256

By far the most commented blog in 2019 was also from April, when we posted about the important work our Conservator has been doing on the railway plans we hold at DHC. These plans are a valuable and informative source of information for railway enthusiasts and land-owners alike; and many of them are now much more accessible than they have been almost since creation.

William Herbert Poole

Our own favourite blog from this year has to be the blog produced by one of our work experience students Maddie. In her post she looked at a handful of the many patients who passed through the walls of Herrison Hospital, and explored some of their illnesses and diagnoses. The post was full of pathos and charm, tackling what is a tricky subject. Thank-you to Maddie for her work in exploring these powerful records!

In the collections…

We have taken in nearly 300 accessions of material during 2019, ranging from the small one or two item deposits, to larger, multi-box collections of various materials. We take in material from private individuals as well as public bodies, and papers of the various councils, both before and after Local Government Reorganisation in Dorset.

Very occasionally we also purchase records at auction, and Dorset Archives Trust help us with an emergency fund for just such a purpose. The following are just a couple of highlights that have come into us in 2019:

Accession 11177

Thanks to generous support from Dorset Archives Trust and a grant from the Friends of the National Libraries, Dorset History Centre was able to purchase some fascinating records and photographs relating to the naval and maritime history of Portland. Most significant within the material are a series of photographs, some of them in the form of original glass plate negatives showing the very busy naval harbour and its range of installations. In addition, and perhaps most interestingly, are the original specification and pricing for the Portland breakwater extension, dated 1897. The breakwater was required in part to protect the base against torpedo attack, which by that time was clearly regarded as a serious threat to the integrity of the fleet. The volume provides a detailed breakdown of materials and labour, with the total price quoted for the breakwater as £507,199, although the total cost of the two new breakwaters, which took some six years was reputedly £652,000. By contrast, according to the schedule of rates for employment on the project, a skilled labourer was paid the sum of 7d per hour.

Accession 11145

An important letter by literary giant Thomas Hardy has been jointly purchased by Dorset Archives Trust and the Thomas Hardy Society for public benefit. The handwritten letter, composed in June 1922, six years before the author’s death was addressed to Sir Clifford Allbutt, Regius Professor of Physic at Cambridge. Hardy references the “strange experience” of visiting a mental institution, Clerkenwell House with Allbutt and of his fascination with meeting the patients there. Hardy had a keen interest in the work of asylum hospitals and their treatment of the individuals within, although it is not known if he ever visited Dorset’s own Herrison Hospital.

In the letter, Hardy also alludes to his first meeting with Allbutt in 1893, and that given that so much time has elapsed since then and because of Hardy’s own advanced years, refers to the two of them as “the remnants of the Victorians of that day”.

The letter, whilst one of thousands written by Thomas Hardy who was an energetic correspondent, represents an important part of our understanding and knowledge of this great Dorset writer.

Tony Fincham, Hon. Chair of the Thomas Hardy Society said “The THS are very pleased to have been able to contribute to the acquisition of this important letter from Thomas Hardy to a physician, whom he most admired – and for the letter now to be kept safe and available for scholarly inspection at the Dorset History Centre.

Carola Campbell, Chair of the Dorset Archives Trust said “The Dorset Archives Trust is delighted to have led the acquisition of this historic letter with the generous support of THS.  Thomas Hardy’s novels and poems reflect the social history of Dorset during his life time and are loved & admired across the globe.  This correspondence provides another little window into the personal life of this iconic author”.

On Twitter…

Over on our social media feed, we have continued to highlight some of the fun, interesting, weird, or slightly strange things we find on a daily basis in our collections. We have engaged with local and national campaigns throughout the course of the year, including #Archive30 in April; #ExploreyourArchive in November, and #OurDay which was also in November.

The most popular tweet of the year was an offering from the #Archive30 tweets in April, which gained 189 likes and 31 retweets. It showed off a court roll from the Bankes Archive which, when fully unrolled, came in at about 48 feet in length (or about eight members of staff!)

People on Twitter also seemed to enjoy looking at the many eclectic things in the collections, such as locks of hair…

…or maps of Poole…

…or even duck rescues (a story which somehow made it into the Dorset Echo!)

They had a quacking day out at DHC!

In the Searchroom…

2019 has seen an increase in the number of visitors coming into DHC, and with them, an increase in the volume of material we have produced from our repositories. This, despite being closed for three weeks in November, is good news for us!

In the searchroom thousands of people have looked at thousands of our documents. Inevitably some prove more popular than others. The following collections were the most requested in 2019:

  1. D-BKL (Bankes of Kingston Lacy)
  2. Q/D/E (Electoral registers)
  3. D-DCM (Collections held on behalf of Dorset County Museum, including papers of Thomas Hardy and William Barnes)
  4. NG-HH/CMR (Herrison Hospital)
  5. DC-PL (Borough of Poole)

Three of the top five collections have experienced some cataloguing work in the last five years, and this work has obviously made material that people want to see much more accessible than ever before. We hope that the work to catalogue the wonderful collection of Dame Elisabeth Frink will encourage artists, scholars, or just people with a passing interest in 20th Century art history to visit in 2020 to view some of this newly catalogued material!

Behind the scenes…

2019 has seen two large projects in our repositories occur.

In September of this year, a series of works began in the repositories to create a more energy- and space-efficient environment.

With funding from Low Carbon Dorset, the first of these involved replacing the large air-conditioning units, that were in constant use to control the temperature and humidity levels in the repositories, with more passive measures. Blowerproof, a fibrous paint, was applied to the walls of the repositories making them air-tight and preventing cold or damp air seeping into the strongrooms. Radiators have been added to keep the temperature above 13°C in the winter and a small dehumidifier stops the air becoming too humid in the height of summer. Apart from these slight interventions, the strongrooms maintain a perfect environment for the storage of archives passively; saving the equivalent energy of a medium-sized primary school.

New radiators help to regulate the temperature in the winter…

The second project, which caused the temporary closure of the History Centre in November, was replacing the shelving for ‘over-sized’ documents.  The old shelving system was not an efficient use of space and some items were difficult to access.  In its place now are mobile shelves with large A0 drawers and cantilever shelving to house long rolls.

New shelves and drawers offer us more room to store larger documents…

Both projects required a significant amount of work from our staff and patience from our visitors, but have vastly improved the efficiency and capacity of the History Centre and we are very pleased with the results!

2019 has been a busy year at DHC, and this blog is just a snapshot of some of the things we have been doing. We look forward to welcoming everyone to our search-rooms in 2020 for another year of exploration and discovery of some of the fascinating things we hold in our collections here at Dorset History Centre!

2 thoughts on “2019: A review of our year


  1. I am aware that many Photographs are held within your Archives, but one in particular MAY be held, it being a group photo taken of the HOUSE Family at Ansty/ Melcombe Bingham. William House was the Builder of Wagons, as well as being a Wheelwright. My uncle was his son who had a copy of this photo but chose to place into the care of the Parish. Having visited the parish and calling at the Village Hall I saw a print of one of the Brewery Drays and staff but there was nothing known by the people using the Hall that day.

    The Photo my uncle showed me was of ALL the ladies and gents in the House Family and must have been taken at the turn of the 19th/20th Centuries and may have been taken by a ‘travelling Photographer’ as it was not common practice for the average person or Tradesman, to have the equipment.

    I realise that it is a vague possibility that such a photo is within your archives, but one never knows.


    1. Thank-you for your comment Mr House. We have had a look through our catalogue, we’re afraid that we cannot obviously see any evidence of such a photo, and whilst there are a few William House’s mentioned, most of these are 18th Century. There also doesn’t appear to be any sign of the photo in our Melcombe Horsey (alias Melcombe Bingham) parish records. You are welcome to search our online catalogue to see if you can spot anything that might be what you are looking for – https://dc.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/calmview/.

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