At Dorset History Centre, we are keen to encourage guest blogs from our readers detailing the research and work they are undertaking. In this blog, Michael Pitfield explains where fifty years of genealogical research have led him… — For some 50 years, my distant cousin Hugh Pitfield and I have been researching our Pitfield genealogy.… Read more The Pitfield Family of Dorset
We have seen in previous blogs how sewing structures, endbands and endpapers can all affect how a book functions as a mechanical object. In this blog we’re going to take a look at books from a slightly different angle to see what the shape of a spine can tell us about a binding. Look at… Read more Conservation tales: The shape of a spine
There is no doubt that Brits love to talk about the weather. From our records it seems this has been the case for centuries! Mentions of the weather can be found in our collections in diaries and letters, newspapers, agricultural records and perhaps more surprisingly in parish registers. As winter approaches spare a thought for… Read more Snow, storms and saturation
When women are storytellers, what narratives are told? This is the question Michele O’Brien and Alice Flynn of Valise Noire Storytelling Theatre explored with those who have experienced male violence against women in their latest project as part of BEAF Festival 2021. Over eight weeks the group met regularly, writing in response to archive materials… Read more Women of Words
Whilst recently searching our smaller collections, we found this archive of six postcards showing different location in Dorset. Though catalogued for the images on the front, it was the messages on the back that piqued our interest. “Dear Racheal. I expect you will be surprised to hear that I am married” starts the 1912 postcard… Read more A Research Rabbit-hole!
The idea of ‘Remembrance’ as a period of reflection on the atrocities of war, and the lives of those who have been asked or compelled to go and fight in them is one which continues to resonate with people. This may be because rather than the ‘war to end all wars’ actually ending all wars,… Read more The Change in Remembrance
Common Ground Archive With world leaders recently meeting in Glasgow to discuss climate change and the environment it seems fitting that DHC have accessioned the archives of Common Ground, a community project and charity set up in 1983. Its aims were to encourage people to be more aware of their immediate environment and the importance… Read more COP26: New milestones?
During World War I, there was a German Prisoner of War Camp on Blandford’s Milldown which opened in June 1917. It held nearly 200 internees who were accommodated initially in three huts and 30 large bell tents. Each tent was lit by lamps but there was no heating. The kitchen was in a shed and… Read more Milldown Prisoner of War Camp
In this guest blog, one of Dorset History Centre’s volunteers, Louise, has taken a look at a recent acquisition made by DHC, and what it tells us about Corfe Castle’s past… — In the parish of Corfe Castle lies a place called Bushey just north of the Studland Road. If you’re a keen walker or… Read more Bushey in Purbeck
A recent set of purchases at auction throw new light on our understanding on one of the most prominent figures in Dorset’s history. The purchases were funded by Friends of the National Libraries with a contribution from Dorset Archives Trust. DHC was delighted to be able to acquire these items which will now form part… Read more The life and death of Thomas Hardy
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