Of the eight Dorchester men killed on or around D-Day, five were in the Dorsetshire Regiment, including Privates George Adams and Robert Rogers and Sergeant George Ernest Cheffey. George Adams George’s parents, Thomas and Rebecca Jane Frampton, married in Dorchester in 1904, and George was one of their eight children. His siblings were Henry, William,… Read more Dorset D-Day: Part 2
80 years ago, World War Two wasn’t won. Nazi Germany occupied most of Western Europe, and was in full occupation of the French coast, just across the English Channel. British forces had been forced into an ignominious retreat from Dunkirk in N France in 1940. The struggle for aerial superiority had seen British and German… Read more Dorset D-Day: Part 1
History students from Bournemouth University have been working with local volunteers, Talbot Village Trust, and Dorset History Centre to explore Talbot Village’s hidden past. Final year History students from Bournemouth University have been working with grant-giving charity Talbot Village Trust and a group of local volunteers to create a new exhibition celebrating Talbot Village’s unique… Read more Talbot Village’s hidden history explored in new Bournemouth University exhibition
Hello, I’m Ruth and I began working as the Thomas Hardy Project Archivist in mid-March. I have moved down to Dorset from West Yorkshire, where I was working at Special Collections and Galleries in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. Over the next sixteen months I will be creating a detailed catalogue of… Read more The Thomas Hardy Cataloguing Project is Underway!
Dorset History Centre acquired this album of beautiful albumen prints recently. Whilst the front cover is missing and there is some foxing to the pages, the prints are in remarkably good condition considering the age of them. Albumen prints date from 1850 when they were invented by Louis Désiré Blanquat-Evrard and were in regular use… Read more Albumen Prints of Bournemouth and Beyond
At the start of the year, one of our team left on maternity leave (and has recently had a happy and healthy daughter for which we all send our hearty congratulations!) For the duration of her maternity leave, we have a new Digital Archivist, who has spent the first three months of her post picking… Read more Meet Our New Digital Archivist!
Let’s take a trip back 70 years to 1954, when The Pavilion Theatre on Weymouth Pier was destroyed in a devastating fire. History Sat in a prime position in Weymouth Harbour, The Pavilion opened on 21st December 1908, offering locals and tourists a go-to spot for performances. Over the years, it evolved from hosting lively… Read more Capturing the Blaze: Fire on Weymouth Seafront
Dorset History Centre has just acquired a set of records detailing the activities of the Blackmore Vale Hunt (BVH). Once again, we’re hugely grateful to the Purchase Fund of the Dorset Archives Trust which has supported this auction acquisition. DHC already held a small quantity of records relating the BVH but this new material (D-3383)… Read more Rural Pursuits – Hunt History of the Blackmore Vale
During the pandemic, we published a blog about online maps, noting three different sources of information and how you might use each of them to help you with your research. This blog has proven to be one of our most-read blogs ever, and hopefully it has acted as a useful guide to many people. Whilst… Read more Exploring Dorset through Dorset Explorer
Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust was set up in 2014 as a renovation project to save the old Methodist Chapel that was built in 1818 in Tolpuddle by some of the men who later became known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs. The Chapel was listed as a Grade II* building at risk. Following extensive building works and… Read more Tolpuddle Old Chapel Trust
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