80 years ago, World War Two wasn’t won. Nazi Germany occupied most of Western Europe, and was in full occupation of the French coast, just across the English Channel. British forces had been forced into an ignominious retreat from Dunkirk in N France in 1940. The struggle for aerial superiority had seen British and German… Read more Dorset D-Day: Part 1
Dorset History Centre acquired this album of beautiful albumen prints recently. Whilst the front cover is missing and there is some foxing to the pages, the prints are in remarkably good condition considering the age of them. Albumen prints date from 1850 when they were invented by Louis Désiré Blanquat-Evrard and were in regular use… Read more Albumen Prints of Bournemouth and Beyond
Let’s take a trip back 70 years to 1954, when The Pavilion Theatre on Weymouth Pier was destroyed in a devastating fire. History Sat in a prime position in Weymouth Harbour, The Pavilion opened on 21st December 1908, offering locals and tourists a go-to spot for performances. Over the years, it evolved from hosting lively… Read more Capturing the Blaze: Fire on Weymouth Seafront
Dorset History Centre has just acquired a set of records detailing the activities of the Blackmore Vale Hunt (BVH). Once again, we’re hugely grateful to the Purchase Fund of the Dorset Archives Trust which has supported this auction acquisition. DHC already held a small quantity of records relating the BVH but this new material (D-3383)… Read more Rural Pursuits – Hunt History of the Blackmore Vale
Welcome to our latest blog, The Frog Blog, where we are celebrating all things relating to our amphibian friends in Dorset! The idea for this blog actually began with the discovery of a ‘Toad Fair’ that was held in Lydlinch in the mid-19th century, but ‘The Toad Blog’ didn’t have quite the same ring to… Read more The Frog Blog
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. As we reach 2024, this project website is no longer functional in the way it originally was, and we have made the decision… Read more “The Hide of a Hippo”
It could be said that most people take their surnames for granted. Perhaps those of us who spend time looking at our family history are more familiar with them than others, as we are often to be found scouring through records for particular names, paying close attention to spelling and cursing incorrect transcriptions! But how… Read more What’s in a name?
Thanks to funding from Dorset Archives Trust, DHC acquired an interesting if rather battered item at auction in November 2023. This was The Old Kings Arms Hotel, Dorchester, a short historical sketch (D-3353). Written in 1914 by notable antiquarian Harry Pouncy in large format paper typescript, it provides a fascinating account of one of the… Read more Hotel History – The Kings Arms, Dorchester
Welcome to the tenth part of our series exploring the history of Icen Cottage, Fordington. In previous blogs, we have introduced you to the cottage, shown you some of the earliest documents relating to the cottage, discussed some of the problems when trying to identify the people who lived in the cottage, introduced George Cull as one of… Read more Icen Cottage – The Porter Family
In January 2024 Dorset History Centre will be undertaking two collections weeks and we will be closed to the public for this period. Whilst staff and volunteers will be getting on with the important work we have to do during this period, we have this two-part guest blog for our readers, from Martin Gething. On… Read more Queen v Frampton [Part 2]
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