Miss Harriette Evelyn Bendy (1877 – 1961) was, for around 20 years in the mid 20th century, a member of the community founded just outside Burton Bradstock by Miss Adela Marion Curtis. She was known as Sister Evelyn and she and other members of the Christian Contemplatives Charity (CCC) were nicknamed ‘The White Ladies’ because… Read more Evelyn Bendy: A ‘White Lady’ at Burton Bradstock
**This blog post was edited on 30 May 2022 to give the answers at the end of the competition. The competition is now closed. Thank-you to everyone who took part!** — Subscribers to our newsletter may recognise the feature ‘where was this photograph taken?‘ through which we have sent snapshots of Dorset to our readers… Read more Where was this photograph taken?
The Dorset County Constabulary was formed in 1856 and at the Dorset History Centre we hold the general order books dating back to the very beginning of the force. These handwritten books are small handwritten volumes that would take a long time to look through, but on our searchroom shelves is a transcript of the… Read more The First Dorset Policemen
WHO’S AFEAR’D is not just the motto on the Dorset Coat of Arms but also the name of a Spitfire which crashed near Meopham, Kent on 23rd June 1942. This fighter aircraft had been funded by local contributions from Blandford & Sturminster Newton District people and paid for in a manner which today would be… Read more Who’s Afear’d
In 1924 Mabel Lucy Matthews and Caroline Haslett electrical engineers and champion of women’s rights set out to popularize the domestic use of electricity. They, along with other leading female figures from the world of engineering, politics and business, established the Electrical Association for Women. The EAW set out to educate women on the range… Read more ‘Emancipation from Drudgery for Women’
In June 1904 Col. W. F. Cody, aka ‘Buffalo Bill’ and his Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders Show appeared in Dorchester for one day only. The advert, shown below, appeared in the Southern Times on 28th May 1904 advertising the forthcoming show. It details the many attractions of the show, such as; ‘An… Read more The Wild West Comes to Dorchester! (Part 1)
Are you a budding gardener with some CD cases lying around your house? Before she left us, our Digital Archives Trainee got very creative with a fun project to turn CD cases into a DIY greenhouse! — At Dorset History Centre, I have been working to preserve all the CD-Rs in the DHC collection by… Read more Build your own CD greenhouse!
Easter is a time to celebrate new life. The dormant cold of winter has given way to the burst of colour that we so gratefully cherish every spring from the gorgeous daffodils, snowdrops and tulips to the bouncing lambs seen in the fields and the iconic emblem of the Easter Bunny- a beloved creature leaving… Read more An Easter Tail
Hello! My name’s Eimear and I started working at the Dorset History Centre at the beginning of 2021 as a Digital Archives Trainee. I’ve been here thanks to The National Archives Bridging the Digital Gap Programme which aims to increase digital skills in the archives sector but sadly my fifteen-month traineeship has come to an… Read more Goodbye from our Digital Archives Trainee
Could you imagine the song of French birds in Cattistock? The estate-name Chantmarle is formed of a surname deriving from a French place-name ‘sing blackbird’. Brog Street in Sleight, Corfe Mullen, was found to be on the line of a Roman road or strǣt – a demonstration that place-names can be significant for archaeology. Cancer… Read more The Survey of English Place-Names: Dorset – congratulations are in order!
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