Recently, we received an email from a member of the public enquiring about an ancestor of theirs who was a non-conformist Reverend in Dorchester for some years, James McClune Uffen. We found some papers and a photograph within the Dorchester Congregational Church collection (NP.5), which included a fascinating journal detailing a journey he took from… Read more Reverend Uffen’s Leaving Dorset!
Weymouth, for obvious reasons has a close and varied relationship with the sea, whether that be through trade, fishing, naval activity or the attractiveness of the town and its beaches to tourists. Whilst the sea appeals to us for the aforementioned reasons, it also presents very real dangers. The Dorset coastline either side of Weymouth become the final resting place of hundreds of vessels, many of which resulted… Read more Weymouth lifeboat – stories of heroism at sea
In the local studies library at the Dorset History Centre you can find a large collection of journals. These journals are packed with fascinating articles and are often an underused resource. In this new series of blogs we will be highlighting some of the interesting articles within them! This is the third in our series… Read more The Journals of DHC: 1920s
Working on digitally preserving photographs in the Cyril Diver Collection has uncovered some interesting insights into Cyril Diver’s early conservation work. Diver’s fascination with nature began as a young soldier during the First World War; he studied snails in the trenches as a distraction from the horrors that unfolded around him. Forerunner During the 1930s,… Read more Revisiting the Cyril Diver Collection
Athelhampton House, just outside Puddletown, dates from around 1485. Although much altered and expanded, the core of the house and the surrounding gardens have seen out the Tudors, Stuarts, the English Civil War and the changing fortunes of the landed gentry. Perhaps then it is unsurprising that Athelhampton has long been supposed to house a wide variety of non-corporeal residents. These encompass all the usual favourites such as a ‘Grey Lady’… Read more A Dorset House and its Ghosts…
Working in an archive you never know where your enquiries will take you, just like the question about an estate agent from Ferndown, which led to a box of records concerning one of Britain’s best magicians. William Stickland, known as Bill, ran an estate agents on Victoria Road, Ferndown, but he was also an entertainer… Read more The Wessex Wizard
We are sharing a monthly look at the farm diary of John Foss, written from his dairy farm in Kingston Russell in 1851. October 1851 A trip to London We last left John as he arrived in London to visit the Great Exhibition. He wakes up the next day “not very well very sick & Poorley” – a bad… Read more The Diary of John Foss: October 1851
The Big Church Project, launched in 2018, focuses on the future use and development of Blandford Forum parish church. A central aim of the project is to engage with diverse communities and to record their contribution to the history of Blandford Church and its surrounding area. Using parish registers and other records such as censuses… Read more The Big Church Project: History and Diversity
Burial registers are an incredibly useful resource for those researching family history. Most entries record the name, age and place of abode of the person who has died, but sometimes extra notes are included in the margins. This is the third of three blogs about burial registers, you can read part one here, and part… Read more What Do Burial Registers Tell Us? Part Three
Please be aware that the following blog contains quotes from an audio recording which includes racial language as reported from past experiences. Dorset History Centre does not condone the use of such language, but recognises that such terms were used in the past and are reflected in historical records. — The Dorset Sound Archive, cared for… Read more Black History Month: John Stockley
Recent Comments