We recently had a donation of photographs to the Dorset History Centre, with little information. We knew they belonged to the Morrice Family who lived at the (now-demolished) Glebe House in Weymouth.
Included amongst the photographs were photos of the grand Glebe House:
Also included in the donation was a handwritten diary from 1856.
There were some clues as to the writer of the diary: ‘LBD’ written in the corner and occasional references to people and places, but difficult to decipher in the small, cursive script.
Having read a few excerpts, we could see that it belonged to a reverend or vicar – references to services, Holy Commn or christenings. In the photo, see ‘Baptised 2 childn Caroline Wheeler & G A Carpenter’.
Having noticed this, we passed the diary onto our family-history expert, and History Centre Assistant Nicola.
Nicola was able to find that ‘LBD’ was not Little Bredy in Dorset as we speculated, but in fact Longbridge Deverill in Wiltshire. The diary belonged to William David Morrice, a vicar for Longbridge Deverill, who later on became the vicar of Holy Trinity Weymouth.
With more research, Nicola identified the connection between the photo albums and the diary. Amongst the photographs of Dorset are photographs of a overseas trip onboard the SS Avondale Castle, with signatures from the passengers, as well as the photographs of St Helena in the early twentieth-century. William Morrice’s son Hugh Buller Morrice married a Grace Lucretia from St Helena, and they had a daughter called Sybil. This album belonged to them.
During archival accessioning, we appraise materials to assess their historical value. Having looked through all of the photographic material, we have decided to keep the photograph albums of Dorset and St Helena. We will be contacting Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre to offer them the diary relating to Longbridge Deverill. Other miscellaneous family photographs will be disposed of.
This is sometimes a hard reality of archives: as fascinating as historical materials are, we cannot possibly keep everything that is donated to us. However, we ensure that history connected to Dorset is preserved, and to keep good relationships with other archives, such as Wiltshire, to send material on to the appropriate custodians.
This small donation shows that there are so many stories within the archives to discover. If you would like to look at any records held at Dorset History Centre, please browse our catalogue, or get in touch about visiting us to see what you can discover!
I am an architectural historian, author of a monograph of William White F.S.A., architect and great-nephew of Gilbert White of Selborne. White’s first wife was Ellen Kestell Cornish, whose elder sister, Esther Anne, was first wife of William David Morrice, vicar of Longbridge Deverell. Morrice and his brother John inherited the Aberdeen Park (Highbury, London) from their uncle, George Morrice of St. Albans. W.D. Morrice commissioned William White to design the church of St. Saviour’s, Aberdeen Park (now listed Grade 1) 1863-69 at his sole expense.