Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
By Imogen Russell, Archives Assistant We all tend to have a favourite seat in places we visit frequently but invariably sit somewhere else when it's occupied. But what would happen if someone sat in a seat you legally purchased, and they refused to move when asked? Would you find somewhere else, or would you complain?…
Continue reading ➞ I believe you’re in my seat: a Horsham church pew scandal
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist Inspired by April's Explore Your Archive theme of crime, we have delved into a police charge register (POL/W/HQ/4/1) dated between March 1857–February 1866 from the headquarters of the West Sussex Constabulary. Many crimes that appear in this register were theft and the destruction of clothing provided by the workhouse to…
Continue reading ➞ A Victorian Crime in Washington, West Sussex
By Summer Parker, volunteer, and Alice Millard, archivist MGM 2/3, prospectuses, 1884-1891 In late 2024, the archive of the Marine and General Mutual Life Assurance Society was catalogued and made accessible to researchers. This project was made possible by a grant awarded by Lloyds Register Foundation. Known as MGM, the company was founded in London…
Continue reading ➞ Life and Death at Sea: Marine and General Mutual
By Louise Conway, Archives Assistant PH 32684/25 Over collection care fortnight 2025, the team added over 2000 new records to our collection database, many of these relating to the Uppark collection, in turn uncovering even more stories around the infamous estate. Situated in South Harting, West Sussex, Uppark, as it is recognised today, was built…
By Nick Corbo-Stewart, Archivist and Volunteer Coordinator In this series of blogs looking at new collections at West Sussex Record Office (WSRO), I will continue to guide you, the reader, through the variety of work undertaken by the volunteers. Through a culmination of sorting, listing, ordering, cataloguing and packaging, their completed collections are now open…
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist For this year’s International Women’s Day, the theme is ‘Give to Gain’. Throughout the Second World War, the women of Britain and beyond sacrificed a lot, and some their lives, to ensure that our nation maintained its freedom from the impending threat of Nazi invasion. Additionally, the acts of brave…
By Matthew Jones, Assistant County Archivist I was lucky enough to live in Midhurst for several years so I’m often drawn to old photographs of the town amongst the vast collections here at West Sussex Record Office. PH 6627 - Red Lion Street in 1944 with A A Holford (boot repairs), now Comestibles, and H…
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist Across West Sussex there are many historic pubs that are the cornerstone to village life and community. In this brief blog post we will be focusing in on and exploring two of the oldest in the county: The George and Dragon in Houghton. This pub dates to the 13th century,…
By Mia Curtis-Mays, Archives Assistant CPS 1780/2 The beginning of the Corn Exchange The Corn Exchange in East Street, Chichester, was erected in 1832 to be a marketplace for local farmers, corn merchants and millers. Due to the lack of interest in the corn market by the corporation, farmers and corn merchants took matters into…
Continue reading ➞ Chichester’s Cinematic History at The Corn Exchange
By Lois Bodie, Archives Assistant You can learn a great deal about a place and its history by focusing on one particular point and charting its change. For me, I have grown increasingly interested in the history of St Martin’s Street in Chichester, only a minute or two by foot from the medieval Market Cross.…
Continue reading ➞ In the Heart of Chichester: A Glimpse into the History of St Martin’s Street