Records in the Borough of Poole archive reveal details of the first policemen to be employed in the town, including their uniforms, expected conduct and rewards. A paid police force Organised crime prevention has existed for centuries, beginning with the early night watchmen and parish constables appointed by Justices of the Peace and other town… Read more Law and order in Poole
A generous grant means that Poole’s historic archive of more than 1,600 boxes of parchment and paper covering 800 years can be catalogued.
The National Archives and contributions from a range of other supporters has resulted in funding of £34,867. The archive contains written records of the town’s history ranging from its founding charter in 1246 to the current unitary authority.
One January morning in 1599, the bodies of two women were discovered in a house in Poole. Newly catalogued records from the Poole Borough Archive shed light on a murder case which dragged on for over 40 years and led to the execution of one man and suspicion cast on a number of possible accomplices.… Read more Revisiting the ‘High Street Murders’ of 1599
With the help of volunteers, thousands of photographs from the Poole Borough Archive are currently being catalogued. Mostly originating from Poole’s planning department, the photographs range from the mundane (photographs of drainpipes, shop fronts and cracks in walls!) to fascinating images capturing Poole’s recent history. A picture is worth a thousand words…. The images provide… Read more A Snapshot of Poole’s Past
As a coastal town, Poole has always been vulnerable to attack by sea – from the Roman invasion, through the burning of the town by the Spanish in 1405, right up to the Second World War. ‘All my thoughts are directed towards England’ In the early months of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), the whole country… Read more The Napoleonic Invasion Threat
For hundreds of years, Poole was one of the few English ports to have its own admiralty court. Newly catalogued records in the Poole Borough Archive give an insight into the town’s maritime heritage. From time immemorial, Poole had its own admiralty jurisdiction. The Winchelsea Certificate of 1364 is the oldest surviving document in the… Read more Poole’s Admiralty Court
Explore Poole’s role in the Civil War through the Poole Borough Archive The Civil Wars The English Civil Wars were a series of conflicts which raged from 1642 to 1651, revolving around the struggle between the Royalists on one side and the forces of Parliament and its allies on the other. Parliament saw the King’s… Read more Poole at War
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