Our intern has been working on digitising photographic negatives from the Herbert Collection, supported by Creative Dorset. She shares some highlights which allow us to peek through the keyhole into some of Weymouth’s popular hotels and businesses. The following are all pictures taken of interiors, mainly for businesses in the Weymouth area in 1963 and… Read more Through the keyhole: a historic view of Weymouth interiors
Ed Bristow shares an unexpected trace of the Titanic in an unlikely collection. I was five years old when the wreck of the Titanic was found in 1985; it had been sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic for 73 years by that point. I was having difficulty learning to read at Primary School a… Read more A Tragic Reminder of the Unsinkable Ship
A collection of nearly 1000 negatives from the Hibbs Collection has recently been digitised, providing a fascinating glimpse into Dorset life from 1910-1920 and World War One. Dorset History Centre holds a fascinating series of photographs depicting Swanage life, taken between 1870 and 1950 by HR Hibbs (reference: D-1330). Within this collection are a series of… Read more Portraits and Poses: Early Twentieth Century Photography
Ever wondered what it’s like working in the Public Access rooms at the Dorset History Centre? From drains to ancient manuscripts, a Dorset History Centre Assistant shares their account of a typical day. Enquiries from near and far It’s a busy start to the day with lots of telephone messages to follow up from when… Read more A day in the life of a History Centre Assistant
Find out what our Archive Collections Manager gets up to on a ‘typical’ day. As the Collections Manager at the Dorset History Centre I have many different jobs which mean that I never have a ‘typical’ day. Most of my duties revolve around taking in new documents, listing them and making them accessible in our… Read more A day in the life of an archivist
There is a lot of science involved in the continuing care of our archives. Our conservator reveals what she gets up to in the collections care room. Prevention and cure As the Conservator at the Dorset History Centre my job is to take care of the collections that are housed here. I do this firstly through… Read more A day in the life of an archive conservator
Explore Poole’s role in the Civil War through the Poole Borough Archive The Civil Wars The English Civil Wars were a series of conflicts which raged from 1642 to 1651, revolving around the struggle between the Royalists on one side and the forces of Parliament and its allies on the other. Parliament saw the King’s… Read more Poole at War
A newly catalogued letter reveals the desperate measures employed by King Charles I to raise much needed funds in the years leading up to the Civil War. Royal connections One of the best known events to take place in Dorset during the Civil War was the siege at Corfe Castle. The castle had been purchased… Read more Cash Flow Problems and the Civil War
It seems very modern to have women leading political parties in the twenty-first century, but women holding public office may not have been considered so revolutionary by our medieval and Tudor ancestors. In 1532 Joan (Latin form Joanna) Bedford was elected to be the head of Longflete tithing (decennarius), an office equivalent to a modern… Read more Election of Women to Public Office
The name of ‘the Somme’ remains a highly-charged and hugely evocative one. The first day on the Somme saw almost 60,000 British casualties and almost 20,000 men killed. Conceived out of the failure of 1915’s autumn offensives, and pulled forward due to the French struggles at Verdun, the battle was not one the British Generals… Read more Dorset Regiments on the first day on the Somme
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