Hello! My name is Kate and I started working at the Dorset History Centre in early June. For anyone wondering what it’s like to work in an archive, here are some of the things I’ve got up to in my first few weeks as a History Centre Assistant.
Much of my time has been spent answering enquiries from researchers all over the country. I’ve been struck by the range of enquiries we receive, from people wanting to pinpoint the locations of buildings in old photographs, to questions about a 1936 motorcycle accident in which the pillion passenger was saved by a blackberry bush! One of the most interesting I have looked at so far related to patients at Herrison Hospital in the early 20th century. The records of their illnesses and experiences at the hospital are both fascinating and tragic. And some of the books they are contained in are ENORMOUS!
I have come across many weird and wonderful records already, and no doubt there are many more yet to be discovered! One of my jobs has been to sort through our collection of rare books (which is very exciting, as I have previously worked in a library and LOVE books, especially old ones!) There are some beautiful volumes covering really interesting subjects, but one of the gems for me is a book entitled Adultery Anatomized: In a Select Collection of Tryals for Criminal Conversation. If you’re wondering what criminal conversation is (I was too!) you can find out here. Written in 1761, the book details some of the highest-profile trials for criminal conversation brought to the English courts, including one involving people residing in Dorset.
In all, there are over 800 books within the rare books collection. They may be ‘rare’ because they’re first editions, limited in number or even the only surviving copies. You can search the rare books collection using the list in our Local Studies Library or have a look on the LibrariesWest online catalogue.
Of course, a lot of people who visit the Dorset History Centre do so to learn more about the history of their families. I’ve not done much family history research myself, but hearing colleagues’ and visitors’ family history stories inspired me to look into my own. I had a go with Ancestry, but after much confusion surrounding the disappearance of my great-great-grandfather’s wife Ethel and the appearance of an older woman he had – apparently – been married to for ten years, I became very stuck! Still, I’m told the difficult stories are the most rewarding when you eventually do unravel them, so I’m planning to persevere.
I couldn’t finish without saying how exciting it has been walking through the repositories looking for documents. To me they seem like Aladdin’s Cave, full of treasures waiting to be discovered! Sometimes, searching for a particular record has been frustrating (it turns out not all the documents the History Centre holds are catalogued – there are just so many records and lorry-loads of boxes have been arriving just in the short amount of time I’ve been here!) But at least every time I go looking for a document I get to use the roller racking. I mean, who doesn’t want to do that?!