Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
By Tim Hudson (guest blogger) What types of historic documents do architectural historians use? Over the next few months the once Editor of the Sussex Victoria County History and co author of the updated Pevsner guide to West Sussex, Tim Hudson, will be exploring the types of records used when researching built heritage. Each blog,…
Continue reading ➞ Historic records and architectural histories: Arundel Castle
In 2017 the Sussex Record Society published a fascinating volume of church court proceedings taken from the Diocesan Archives held at the Record Office. Depositions, which can be found in the Ep/I/11 series, are the accounts of cases held at the Bishop of Chichester’s Consistory Court. These courts covered a plethora of local issues and disputes including quarrels over wills, tithe disputes, matrimonial disagreements, and the ever amusing defamation cases. However they can be difficult to read and interpret for the modern reader, which is where the Sussex Record Society and Peter Wilkinson got involved.
By Alan Readman “Okay, we'll go!” With these words, spoken to his Chiefs of Staff at Southwick House, near Portsmouth, at 4.15 on the morning of 5 June 1944, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, set in motion the greatest armada the world had ever seen. The day following…
“Father came, in a great bustle for some slavery papers which he has to distribute,” wrote Rhoda Hack, from Chichester, in April 1824. This domestic update in her surroundings came as she penned the latest letter in her regular correspondence with her sister-in-law, Priscila Tuke (nee Hack). “What are you doing with this subject at…
By Dr John Godfrey DL Caroline Nicholls, the current High Sheriff of West Sussex, and I are giving a talk at the Record Office on 26th February on The High Sheriffs of Sussex. I shall be talking about the history of the office, using materials from the Record Office’s collections, and Caroline will be speaking…
In the first Tuesday Talk of 2019, Alan Green will be talking about the fascinating histories of what became known as The Little Churches of Chichester. Chichester was once the most pious of cities. In Pre-Reformation times there were nine parish churches, three chapels, a cathedral and two friaries all within its walls. Of these…
By Emma Worrall Men returning from the war faced many problems, financial, mental, and physical, issues which affected their families too. Others did not return at all, creating a new set of challenges for their wives, children, and parents. Some servicemen were fortunate enough to return to jobs kept open for them, such as International Stores’,…
Continue reading ➞ Great War West Sussex: those who returned and those who were left behind
My name is Lucy Maguire, and I worked on the Queen Victoria Hospital Archive Project as a Preservation and Digitisation Assistant between August 2016 and September 2017. As the title suggests, my job was broken up into two main parts but within each there was a wealth of surprises, which made every day its own unique…
Today's post is a guest blog from Katie Kettle, a volunteer at East Grinstead Museum, who provides us with a special insight into the relationship between the Guinea Pig Club and the town of East Grinstead. Archibald McIndoe was one of Britain’s few plastic surgeons at the beginning of the Second…
We're very pleased to introduce this guest post which has been written by distinguished plastic surgeon, Mr Tom Cochrane, who was not only consultant plastic surgeon at Queen Victoria Hospital for many years, but also honorary plastic surgeon to the Guinea Pig Club. Throughout this time, he has supported the Guinea Pigs in many other ways, giving his time selflessly…
Continue reading ➞ Queen Victoria Hospital Archive Project: treatment of burns
West Sussex Record Office 