{"id":2021,"date":"2020-11-23T09:30:20","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T09:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=2021"},"modified":"2020-11-19T13:46:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T13:46:05","slug":"explore-your-archive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2020\/11\/23\/explore-your-archive\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore Your Archive!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Explore Your Archive launch week<\/span>! This is a national campaign highlighting the work of\u00a0<\/span>archives and all the wonderful\u00a0<\/span>things we hold in the collections.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Each day\u00a0<\/span>this week\u00a0<\/span>has\u00a0<\/span>a theme<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2013<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from communication to celebration to light.<\/span>\u00a0You can follow along with the hashtags<\/span>\u00a0daily<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>on\u00a0<\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>Here we will look in slightly more detail at\u00a0<\/span>Sunday\u2019s theme of home.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Home<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Home will mean different things to different people depending on their circumstances. We are fortunate to hold in our collections the diaries of WW1 soldier RSM George Beck.\u00a0<\/span>As well as\u00a0<\/span>detailing<\/span>\u00a0events in the trenches, Beck described what he got up to when home<\/span>\u00a0on leave<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with his family<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>on Portland.\u00a0<\/span>A<\/span>n instance which is all too relatable today occurs in December 1917 when Beck\u2019s home leave is unexpectedly extend<\/span>ed.\u00a0<\/span>On 17 December, he writes:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fine morning, get a shock early, Mama comes up & tells me Dolly has measles. Doctor comes about 12.30pm & confirms it, puts me in quarantine for 21 days & sends cert[ificate]\u00a0to\u00a0Bttn\u00a0[battalion]. I go to Lodge at night & have a very good time.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Over the\u00a0<\/span>next few weeks Beck records his activities<\/span>\u00a0which include lots of walks<\/span>, catching up with his parents<\/span>\u00a0and socialising with friends.\u00a0<\/span>Quarantine meant something\u00a0<\/span>a little<\/span>\u00a0different 100 years ago!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Sgt. Beck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Christmas is a quiet affair spent at home with the children and George\u2019s parents<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>New Year\u2019s Eve<\/span>\u00a0sees the Becks go out to a dance<\/span>\u00a0in the evening.\u00a0<\/span>On 2 January George Beck\u00a0<\/span>cleans his souvenirs to take to the bazaar and makes 33<\/span>\u00a0shillings!\u00a0<\/span>On 5 January Beck records<\/span>\u00a0that<\/span>\u00a0his wife is \u201cvery pleased\u201d when\u00a0<\/span>their<\/span>\u00a0son Claude also contracts measles and the doctor\u00a0<\/span>extends his quarantine<\/span>\u00a0further<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>After another three weeks of walks, teas<\/span>\u00a0and theatre trips, Beck depart<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0for the Western front on 26 January<\/span>\u00a01918<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can read all of George Beck\u2019s diary entries<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 f<\/span>rom his first deployment in August\u00a0<\/span>1914 until he returned home in March 1919 \u2013\u00a0<\/span>on<\/span>line<\/span><\/a>\u00a0thanks to a volunteer transcription project.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ready to delve deeper?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

While only a small percentage of material held in archives is available online, there is now the ability to sit in your home and do basic searching \u2013 particularly of \u2018births, marriages and deaths\u2019.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Many of the Dorset records relating to family history are available via\u00a0<\/span>A<\/span>ncestry.co.uk.\u00a0<\/span>You can access these for free if you have a Dorset Libraries card until the end of the year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Read more about\u00a0<\/span>using Ancestry to\u00a0<\/span>explor<\/span>e<\/span>\u00a0your family history<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on our blog<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>And we look forward to welcoming you to Dorset History Centre to touch and smell\u00a0<\/span>history for yourself in due course<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Share what you find<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

This week is a great opportunity for you to share with us, your family or friends what you have discovered\u00a0<\/span>in archives.\u00a0<\/span>Sharing your stories of discovery will help others to understand the importance of archives to all of u<\/span>s.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Explore Your Archive launch week! This is a national campaign highlighting the work of\u00a0archives and all the wonderful\u00a0things we hold in the collections.\u00a0\u00a0 Each day\u00a0this week\u00a0has\u00a0a theme\u00a0\u2013\u00a0from communication to celebration to light.\u00a0You can follow along with the hashtags\u00a0daily\u00a0on\u00a0Twitter.\u00a0Here we will look in slightly more detail at\u00a0Sunday\u2019s theme of home.\u00a0 Home\u00a0 Home will mean different… Read more Explore Your Archive!<\/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":[10,36],"tags":[82,253,109],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021"}],"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=2021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2024,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021\/revisions\/2024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}