{"id":1174,"date":"2019-12-16T09:39:52","date_gmt":"2019-12-16T09:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetforyou.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=1174"},"modified":"2019-12-16T08:33:58","modified_gmt":"2019-12-16T08:33:58","slug":"2019-a-review-of-our-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2019\/12\/16\/2019-a-review-of-our-year\/","title":{"rendered":"2019: A review of our year"},"content":{"rendered":"

As 2019 slowly draws to a close we thought we would take a look at some of the many things which have happened at DHC through the course of the year…<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

On the blog…<\/a><\/h3>\n

2019 has seen our blog grow in popularity, and we are delighted so many people are reading about our records, collections, and activities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The most read blog we have had this year was an effort from April, written by four Bournemouth University students<\/a> who were promoting their highly-successful event at the Priest’s House Museum in Wimborne. Their post, exploring some of the themes collected in the Bankes Archive-related Oral History recordings<\/a> we hold, was obviously a great appetiser for the main event itself!<\/p>\n

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D-DPA\/1\/BT\/256<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By far the most commented blog in 2019 was also from April, when we posted about the important work our Conservator has been doing on the railway plans<\/a> we hold at DHC. These plans are a valuable and informative source of information for railway enthusiasts and land-owners alike; and many of them are now much more accessible than they have been almost since creation.<\/p>\n

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William Herbert Poole<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our own favourite blog from this year has to be the blog produced by one of our work experience students Maddie<\/a>. In her post she looked at a handful of the many patients who passed through the walls of Herrison Hospital, and explored some of their illnesses and diagnoses. The post was full of pathos and charm, tackling what is a tricky subject. Thank-you to Maddie for her work in exploring these powerful records!<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

In the collections…<\/h3>\n

We have taken in nearly 300 accessions of material during 2019, ranging from the small one or two item deposits, to larger, multi-box collections of various materials. We take in material from private individuals as well as public bodies, and papers of the various councils, both before and after Local Government Reorganisation<\/a> in Dorset.<\/p>\n

Very occasionally we also purchase records at auction, and Dorset Archives Trust<\/a> help us with an emergency fund for just such a purpose. The following are just a couple of highlights that have come into us in 2019:<\/p>\n

Accession 11177<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thanks to generous support from Dorset Archives Trust<\/a> and a grant from the Friends of the National Libraries, Dorset History Centre was able to purchase some fascinating records and photographs relating to the naval and maritime history of Portland. Most significant within the material are a series of photographs, some of them in the form of original glass plate negatives showing the very busy naval harbour and its range of installations. In addition, and perhaps most interestingly, are the original specification and pricing for the Portland breakwater extension, dated 1897. The breakwater was required in part to protect the base against torpedo attack, which by that time was clearly regarded as a serious threat to the integrity of the fleet. The volume provides a detailed breakdown of materials and labour, with the total price quoted for the breakwater as \u00a3507,199, although the total cost of the two new breakwaters, which took some six years was reputedly \u00a3652,000. By contrast, according to the schedule of rates for employment on the project, a skilled labourer was paid the sum of 7d per hour.<\/p>\n

Accession 11145<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

An important letter by literary giant Thomas Hardy has been jointly purchased by Dorset Archives Trust<\/a> and the Thomas Hardy Society<\/a> for public benefit.\u00a0The handwritten letter, composed in June 1922, six years before the author\u2019s death was addressed to Sir Clifford\u00a0Allbutt,\u00a0Regius\u00a0Professor of Physic at Cambridge.\u00a0Hardy references the \u201cstrange experience\u201d of visiting a mental institution, Clerkenwell House with\u00a0Allbutt\u00a0and of his fascination with meeting the patients there.\u00a0Hardy had a keen interest in the work of asylum hospitals and their treatment of the individuals within, although it is not known if he ever visited Dorset\u2019s own\u00a0Herrison\u00a0Hospital.<\/p>\n

In the letter,\u00a0Hardy also alludes to his first meeting with\u00a0Allbutt\u00a0in 1893, and that given that so much\u00a0time\u00a0has elapsed\u00a0since then\u00a0and\u00a0because of\u00a0Hardy\u2019s own advanced years, refers to the two of them as \u201cthe remnants of the Victorians of that day\u201d.<\/p>\n

The letter, whilst one of thousands written by Thomas Hardy who was an energetic correspondent, represents an important part of our understanding and knowledge of this great Dorset writer.<\/p>\n

Tony Fincham<\/strong>, Hon. Chair\u00a0of the Thomas Hardy Society said \u201cThe THS are very pleased to have been able to contribute to the acquisition of this important letter from Thomas Hardy\u00a0to a physician, whom he most admired \u2013 and for the letter now to be kept safe and available for scholarly inspection\u00a0at the Dorset History Centre.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Carola Campbell<\/strong>, Chair\u00a0of the Dorset Archives Trust said \u201cThe Dorset Archives Trust is delighted to have led the acquisition of this historic letter with the generous\u202fsupport of THS.\u202f Thomas Hardy\u2019s\u00a0novels\u00a0and poems reflect the social history of Dorset during his\u00a0life time\u00a0and are loved & admired across the globe.\u202f This correspondence provides another little window into the personal life of this iconic author<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

On Twitter…<\/a><\/h3>\n

Over on our social media feed, we have continued to highlight some of the fun, interesting, weird, or slightly strange things we find on a daily basis in our collections. We have engaged with local and national campaigns throughout the course of the year, including #Archive30<\/a> in April; #ExploreyourArchive in November, and #OurDay<\/a> which was also in November.<\/p>\n

The most popular tweet of the year was an offering from the #Archive30 tweets in April, which gained 189 likes and 31 retweets. It showed off a court roll from the Bankes Archive which, when fully unrolled, came in at about 48 feet in length (or about eight members of staff!)<\/p>\n

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People on Twitter also seemed to enjoy looking at the many eclectic things in the collections, such as locks of hair…<\/p>\n

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…or maps of Poole…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

…or even duck rescues (a story which somehow made it into the Dorset Echo!)<\/p>\n

\n

A family of ducks dropped by the #archives<\/a> yesterday, looking to research their family history! ?<\/p>\n

We herded them back to safety after they found themselves in the middle of a building site behind our building ?#AllinaDaysWork<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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They had a quacking day out at DHC!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

—<\/p>\n

In the Searchroom…<\/h3>\n

2019 has seen an increase in the number of visitors coming into DHC, and with them, an increase in the volume of material we have produced from our repositories. This, despite being closed for three weeks in November, is good news for us!<\/p>\n

In the searchroom thousands of people have looked at thousands of our documents. Inevitably some prove more popular than others. The following collections were the most requested in 2019:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. D-BKL (Bankes of Kingston Lacy<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  2. Q\/D\/E (Electoral registers<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  3. D-DCM (Collections held on behalf of Dorset County Museum, including papers of Thomas Hardy and William Barnes)<\/li>\n
  4. NG-HH\/CMR (Herrison Hospital<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  5. DC-PL (Borough of Poole<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Three of the top five collections have experienced some cataloguing work in the last five years, and this work has obviously made material that people want to see much more accessible than ever before. We hope that the work to catalogue the wonderful collection of Dame Elisabeth Frink<\/a> will encourage artists, scholars, or just people with a passing interest in 20th Century art history to visit in 2020 to view some of this newly catalogued material!<\/p>\n

    —<\/p>\n

    Behind the scenes…<\/h3>\n

    2019 has seen two large projects in our repositories occur.<\/p>\n

    In September of this year, a series of works began in the repositories to create a more energy- and space-efficient environment.<\/p>\n

    With funding from Low Carbon Dorset<\/a>, the first of these involved replacing the large air-conditioning units, that were in constant use to control the temperature and humidity levels in the repositories, with more passive measures. Blowerproof, a fibrous paint, was applied to the walls of the repositories making them air-tight and preventing cold or damp air seeping into the strongrooms. Radiators have been added to keep the temperature above 13\u00b0C in the winter and a small dehumidifier stops the air becoming too humid in the height of summer. Apart from these slight interventions, the strongrooms maintain a perfect environment for the storage of archives passively; saving the equivalent energy of a medium-sized primary school.<\/p>\n

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    New radiators help to regulate the temperature in the winter…<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    The second project, which caused the temporary closure of the History Centre in November, was replacing the shelving for \u2018over-sized\u2019 documents.\u00a0 The old shelving system was not an efficient use of space and some items were difficult to access.\u00a0 In its place now are mobile shelves with large A0 drawers and cantilever shelving to house long rolls.<\/p>\n

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    New shelves and drawers offer us more room to store larger documents…<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Both projects required a significant amount of work from our staff and patience from our visitors, but have vastly improved the efficiency and capacity of the History Centre and we are very pleased with the results!<\/p>\n

    —<\/p>\n

    2019 has been a busy year at DHC, and this blog is just a snapshot of some of the things we have been doing. We look forward to welcoming everyone to our search-rooms in 2020 for another year of exploration and discovery of some of the fascinating things we hold in our collections here at Dorset History Centre!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As 2019 slowly draws to a close we thought we would take a look at some of the many things which have happened at DHC through the course of the year… — On the blog… 2019 has seen our blog grow in popularity, and we are delighted so many people are reading about our records,… Read more 2019: A review of our year<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,11],"tags":[121,82,122],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1174"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1205,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1174\/revisions\/1205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}