A quick search of the catalogue reveals that we hold over 4,000 records relating to Kings or Queens, which is a rather large figure given Dorset’s relative removal from Royal life!
As with everything though, you can scratch away at the surface and find that this figure is swollen by the ‘other’ records, ones which mention the terms ‘King’ or ‘Queen’, but not in any Royal context. The following are just a few examples of the sorts of things we have in our collections…
What’s in a name?
King is a reasonably common surname, and we hold countless records relating to people with the name. In particular, we can highlight the King Collection, which has a series of photographs of Corfe Castle, and 19th Century Sri Lanka. There is also an another King collection, this time of the King Family of Sherborne, which contains a wonderful book of blacksmith’s accounts from the 1780s.
Where are you?
Of course, you frequently find roads named after monarchs, or locations which bear some significance. We know that King Charles II, whilst fleeing the Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War spent time in Dorset, and we have pictures of the stone commemorating one of his escapes through Lea Lane in Bridport in the collection.
In Marnhull, there is also King’s Mill, which is the remnants of an old wooden water mill sat alongside the river. It’s now a Grade II* listed building, and, given the photo below, which was taken in the 1980s, is considerably more overgrown than it would have been in its prime!
And of course, this is before we consider the various “Kingston” places across the county…
Popping down the local…
No discussion of things named after monarchs would be complete without looking at some of the numerous pubs which bear specific names, or more general references. As a general example there is The King’s Arms, Puddletown:
…and The King’s Arms in Dorchester:
…as well as many others across the county!
All the World’s a Stage
Kings and Queens crop up in more high-brow locations as well. Shakespeare’s works have been performed and adapted countless times, including by the Marnhull Village Players, who put on a performance of King Henry VIII in 1913:
There are also examples of plays about other monarchs. Sherborne Pageant features a portrayal of the Death of King Ethelbald, who died in 860, and was buried in Sherborne.
Life Lessons
And finally, we should acknowledge some of the ‘royal’ schools in county. In particular there is Queen Elizabeth’s in Wimborne, and Sherborne School (also known as King Edward’s School).
What other interesting ‘king’ or ‘queen’ related documents can you find in our catalogue?