Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
To mark the centenary of the end of the First World War, staff at West Sussex Record Office have shared their stories of family members who were caught up in the conflict. My great grandfather James (Jim) Horace Wright was born in Hackney on 22nd April 1891, the son of James and Esther Wright, and…
Continue reading ➞ WW1 Centenary: Staff Stories, James Horace Wright
The letters of Miss Dorothy Hartley - AM 1192 In the countdown to my departure from the Record Office, I have been busying myself with cataloguing lots of small accessions, in an attempt to ‘do my bit’ and decrease the ever-growing list of archives that are deposited at the Record Office every year. It was therefore…
2017 marks not one, but two very special anniversaries for West Sussex Constabulary. They were formed on 4th April 1857 as a result of the County and Police Act 1856 which made it compulsory for counties to have their own police force. The earlier County Police Act of 1839 enabled Justices of the Peace to…
Continue reading ➞ ‘On The Beat’ – The History and Archive of West Sussex Constabulary (1857-1967)
AM 991 – Walking Journals (1931-1932) Simply titled ‘Rambles’, these 2 walking journals were deposited at the Record Office in 2016. They were written by Miss Lillian Ash who worked as a clerk at the Portsmouth Dockyard in the 1930s and handed to me as one of the many items the staff are given to…
Chosen by West Sussex Federation of Women’s Institutes (text by Holly Wright) This sugar thermometer, deposited by Singleton WI, is certainly an object which embodies the traditional (and stereotypical) ‘Jam and Jerusalem’ image of the Women’s Institute. However, current members of the WI would no doubt be quick to emphasise that it is so much…
Continue reading ➞ Sugar thermometer, early 20th century (AM 930/3/1)
Chosen by Simon Barker, Head of Department, English and Creative Writing, University of Chichester (text by Holly Wright) This 1818 watercolour of the house in Bayeux is poignant and significant. Bray was newly married to her first husband Charles Alfred Stothard who had been commissioned by the Society of Antiquaries to undertake drawings of…
Chosen by Holly Wright, member of staff These Ministry of Food recipe leaflets were produced during World War 2 to help the nation make the most of their food in spite of rationing, a necessary measure first enforced on 8th January 1940 as a result of the enemy bombing or blockading of the supply ships heading for…
Continue reading ➞ World War 2 Ministry of Food recipe leaflets (Add Mss 54,872)
West Sussex Record Office 