With the 75th anniversary of VE Day upon us, we asked The Keep Military Museum to write a short piece about how Dorset celebrated the end of the war in 1945… — When post-war generations think of V.E. Day, images of street parties, celebrations in London, and the famous story of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret… Read more VE Day in Dorset
Gerardus Mercator (1512 – 1594) never travelled very far. Apparently, he was a bit of an armchair traveller, which is most relevant today as, due to the lockdown, none of us can go very far. However, in 1569 he designed the map of the world that we all still recognise today. His principle known as… Read more Armchair Travellers – Maps in a time of lockdown
At the end of March (which feels a long time ago now), our project to catalogue the records of the Herrison Hospital collection ended. Before she left, our Project Archivist, Sophie Smith, gave us her thoughts on the project and the collection… — Working with a collection as complex and varied as the Herrison Hospital… Read more Herrison Hospital Collection: A Year in Review
Manorial documents are a rich and under-used source for both local and family historians and are key to understanding life in early-modern England. Contrary to popular belief most manorial documents are post-medieval and written in English, although the medieval Latin documents often get more attention. Stewards, acting for manorial lords, produced a wide range of… Read more Archival Types – Manorial Documents
‘Royal Weymouth’ is a four-volume book that we hold within our collection. Like ‘The Extra Illustrated Edition of Hutchins’, it has been put together by A.M. Broadley, but instead of grangerising one book, these volumes are based around several accounts of the Royal visits to Weymouth by King George III and his family. — Much… Read more Royal Weymouth Volume 2 – Devonshire and Dialect
The Ancestry website is usually available free of charge at Dorset History Centre and in Dorset Libraries. During the current situation, when these centres are closed, Dorset Libraries are offering free access to Ancestry to anyone with a Dorset Library card. Other library services often offer this, and you may wish to check for services… Read more How to find Dorset records on Ancestry…
When the Dame Elisabeth Frink archive arrived at the Dorset History Centre, it came with some unusual items. Along with a number of bronzes are eight small groups of plaster maquettes, the largest of these measuring no more than 30cm high. Maquettes are preparatory models that sculptors make to help them visualise the final piece… Read more Protecting the work of Dame Elisabeth Frink
It’s fair to say I didn’t expect my first three months at Dorset History Centre to turn out quite like this… I’m Owen and I’m the new Collections Archivist at Dorset History Centre. I joined the team at the end of January, having previously worked as a Records Manager at the European Central Bank in… Read more Welcome to DHC!
‘…I have scrawled with my pencil a sort of view…’ D-BKL/H/J/1/1357 — In recent times, and particularly during this period, our means of communication has become largely ephemeral and digital; including text messaging, video and audio. But for centuries it was not so. Until the advent of the telephone in the latter part of the… Read more Archival Types – Letters and Correspondence
Whilst the Coronavirus lockdown continues, we have asked our Conservator for some bookbinding activities you can try at home. This is the third of three blogs in which she will show you how to do some book-binding at home… — A part of my job that I always look forward to is running bookbinding sessions. … Read more Bookbinding DIY – Piano hinge binding
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