This is the first in a series of three blogs about document D1-PH/1, a fascinating book that has been filled with notes by a family from Wareham. We came across this intriguing document whilst researching Thomas Chaplyn for a previous blog. It is a copy of the book “Merlini Anglici Ephermis or Astrological Judgments for… Read more The Chaplyn Family of Wareham and the Merlini Anglici Ephermis
It’s been several months since our last postcard blog. So far, we’ve covered the tourist hotspots of Weymouth and Bournemouth. This month, we’re focusing on some of the older postcards from one of Dorset’s smaller settlements: West Lulworth. As the gateway to the famous geological sites of Lulworth Cove, Stair Hole and Durdle Door, it’s… Read more The Dorset Postcard Collection – Lulworth
Dorset history is filled with remarkable women. To celebrate Women’s History Month this March, we wanted to take a look at just a few of the types of records we hold here at Dorset History Centre that reveal something of their lives. Industry: Dorset Buttons The Dorset Button was an object of beauty, created with… Read more Women’s History Month
Whilst looking for information in the index for the Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries about Shaftesbury, the eyes of staff here at Dorset History Centre were taken by an entry just above those for the town, which intriguingly read, in all-caps ‘”SHACKLE-EGG” DAY’. With our interest piqued, we had to know more and headed… Read more Shackle-Egg Day!
No one can resist doodling in the margins while sat in a dull meeting, and it seems this has been true for time immemorial. Here are some examples of sketches in parish records – some functional, but most are just for fun! Sticker Book The fantastically morbid doodles in this parish register are in fact… Read more Doodles Through Time
Between 2015 and 2018 Dorset History Centre undertook the ‘Unlocking the Bankes archive‘ project. During the life of this project, staff and volunteers contributed well over 100 blogs to the project website. By 2024, this project website was no longer functional in the way it originally was, and we made the decision to close the… Read more Smallpox and the Bankes Family
It’s that season where we start to think about whether we will get snow for Christmas. We thought we’d look back through the archives at snow in Dorset over the years. Weymouth bay saw ice in 1963, cars being dug out, picturesque Dorset cottages and fields covered in a gentle white sprinkling like icing sugar… Read more Dreaming of a White Christmas…
Brownsea Island was acquired by the National Trust in 1962 and opened to the public in 1963. Since then it has served as a valuable nature reserve and a popular scenic retreat for holiday makers. Its success as a significant Dorset landmark is owed in no small part to the efforts of the volunteers that… Read more The Early Days of the Brownsea Island Volunteer Wardens
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Barbary corsairs – pirates from the Barbary Coast of North Africa – regularly attacked the ships and coastlines of European countries. Not only that, but they took thousands of men, women and children as captives, holding them to ransom or forcing them into slavery. While the existence of… Read more The Barbary Pirates in Dorset
This week we thought we would lean into the spirit of Halloween by looking at evidence of witches and witchcraft in Dorset from a selection of records held here at DHC. Witchcraft and Superstition The superstitious belief in witchcraft was a widespread phenomenon throughout Britain, particularly during the height of the witch trails in the… Read more Witchcraft and Witches in Dorset
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