{"id":4821,"date":"2025-10-24T08:30:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T08:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=4821"},"modified":"2025-09-15T11:12:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:12:18","slug":"welcoming-chris-to-dorset-history-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2025\/10\/24\/welcoming-chris-to-dorset-history-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcoming Chris to Dorset History Centre!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the summer we were joined by our new Collections Assistant Chris who is working on the Wessex Water archive<\/a> alongside Project Archivist Emma. We wanted to introduce readers to Chris on today’s blog…<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Hello everyone.\u00a0 My name\u2019s Chris and I joined the Dorset History Centre as a Collections Assistant in July 2025.\u00a0 Previously, I\u2019d led a somewhat eclectic professional life having worked as an English teacher (in Greece and Indonesia as well as the UK), run a care company and spent many years in roles supporting vulnerable people.\u00a0 Immediately prior to my current role, I worked for Children\u2019s Services but a change in direction seemed prudent due to some health-related issues.<\/p>\n

DHC is a great environment for me as I have a keen recreational interest in history, particularly the Medieval period from the Norman Conquest until the Battle of Bosworth.\u00a0 I can\u2019t decide whether I think Henry II or Edward III was the better king.\u00a0 Which do you think?\u00a0 This means that I love the old castles we have here in Dorset, particularly Corfe Castle, which played a significant role during the Norman and Plantagenet periods.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also a 19th<\/sup> century literature enthusiast so I\u2019m excited to be working in the building that houses the Thomas Hardy collection.\u00a0 The increased popularity of the novel during this period means it\u2019s possible to get a real sense of what life was actually like from reading the fiction of the time as opposed to needing to delve into a history book.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Quietly encroaching on the Thomas Hardy project work…<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In terms of day-to-day business, I am currently cataloguing the Wessex Water archive under the esteemed tutelage of our archivist, Emma Blowers. Wessex Water have preserved many of the records of predecessor water boards and we\u2019re cataloguing records that date way back to the late eighteenth century. It\u2019s crazy to think how recently we were carrying water uphill in buckets or needing to use a public standpipe in the street due to shortages in domestic supply. Things change and the Wessex Water collection gives me a real feel for that. There are definitely some advantages to living in the modern age!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Contemplating past water shortages!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What with my English teaching background, I also love the use of language in some of our older documents. I think we should take a leaf out of the past\u2019s book and replace our use of \u2018regards\u2019 with \u2018I remain, as ever, your most obedient servant\u2019. It has a nicer ring to it, don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the summer we were joined by our new Collections Assistant Chris who is working on the Wessex Water archive alongside Project Archivist Emma. We wanted to introduce readers to Chris on today’s blog… — Hello everyone.\u00a0 My name\u2019s Chris and I joined the Dorset History Centre as a Collections Assistant in July 2025.\u00a0 Previously,… Read more Welcoming Chris to Dorset History Centre!<\/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],"tags":[82,109,163,702],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4821"}],"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=4821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4824,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4821\/revisions\/4824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}