On the 26th December 1846 notice was sent from the Commissioners for General Purposes Act -Dorchester to one Thomas Hawkesworth Esquire of Melcombe Regis. The document was a tax assessment due for the year ending April 5th 1847 to the sum of £34.11.00, duty payable £1.0.1 for sums to be paid for profits on property. An… Read more Thomas Hawkesworth, taxes, and the Irish Famine
As we all make our final preparations for the big day, at Dorset History Centre we thought we’d take a moment of quiet and reflection and take a look at Christmases past. There are some fantastic photographs in the Herbert Collection showing Weymouth in the 1960s that capture the mood and anticipation of this festive… Read more A Very Weymouth Christmas
In this blog we will be looking at articles from two journals that were first published in the 1980s. The first is the short-lived publication ‘Dorset Tatler’. This magazine was only published between January and December 1988, but contains still contains some interesting articles alongside some adverts for very eighties fashions. These include an article… Read more The Journals of DHC: 1980s
What is an Icehouse? Icehouses, also known as ice wells, ice pits or ice mounds, were structures built fully or partially underground for the storage of ice and snow throughout the year, which in turn led to them being used for the preservation of food. In part one of this blog, we looked at how… Read more Dorset Ice Houses (part 2)
At Dorset History Centre, we are keen to encourage guest blogs from our readers detailing the research and work they are undertaking. In this blog, Michael Pitfield explains where fifty years of genealogical research have led him… — For some 50 years, my distant cousin Hugh Pitfield and I have been researching our Pitfield genealogy.… Read more The Pitfield Family of Dorset
There is no doubt that Brits love to talk about the weather. From our records it seems this has been the case for centuries! Mentions of the weather can be found in our collections in diaries and letters, newspapers, agricultural records and perhaps more surprisingly in parish registers. As winter approaches spare a thought for… Read more Snow, storms and saturation
Whilst recently searching our smaller collections, we found this archive of six postcards showing different location in Dorset. Though catalogued for the images on the front, it was the messages on the back that piqued our interest. “Dear Racheal. I expect you will be surprised to hear that I am married” starts the 1912 postcard… Read more A Research Rabbit-hole!
The idea of ‘Remembrance’ as a period of reflection on the atrocities of war, and the lives of those who have been asked or compelled to go and fight in them is one which continues to resonate with people. This may be because rather than the ‘war to end all wars’ actually ending all wars,… Read more The Change in Remembrance
Common Ground Archive With world leaders recently meeting in Glasgow to discuss climate change and the environment it seems fitting that DHC have accessioned the archives of Common Ground, a community project and charity set up in 1983. Its aims were to encourage people to be more aware of their immediate environment and the importance… Read more COP26: New milestones?
During World War I, there was a German Prisoner of War Camp on Blandford’s Milldown which opened in June 1917. It held nearly 200 internees who were accommodated initially in three huts and 30 large bell tents. Each tent was lit by lamps but there was no heating. The kitchen was in a shed and… Read more Milldown Prisoner of War Camp
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