In the final instalment of our American-themed blogs to celebrate Independence Day, we are looking at the many and varied connections between famous faces in America’s history and the county of Sussex. Founded in the 17th and 18th centuries, thirteen British colonies on the east coast of North America declared independence in 1776 and formed the United States of…
Author
Chichester’s Admiral: Sir George Murray and the American War of Independence
Continuing our week of themed blog posts focussing on West Sussex links with America, today’s focus is on Royal Naval Officer (later Vice-Admiral) Sir George Murray, a Chichester local who saw service throughout the American War of Independence, as well as the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. A few days prior to the signing of…
Continue reading ➞ Chichester’s Admiral: Sir George Murray and the American War of Independence
The US Declaration of Independence and West Sussex Record Office
Many of you may have read about the ‘Sussex Declaration’ in the past few months. You may have heard about the record on the radio, you may have even seen it broadcast to millions on morning television! The story behind how this parchment copy of the US Declaration of Independence ended up in Chichester is…
Continue reading ➞ The US Declaration of Independence and West Sussex Record Office
Record of the Month
Chichester City Treat Committee (ChiCity/CAL1) On Tuesday 21st June 1887, the nation celebrated Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. Events were held up and down the country to mark the occasion, and Chichester was no exception. The archives of Chichester City Council – held at the Record Office – feature a beautifully illustrated and detailed minute book…
One Year Blogging!
Last Sussex Day, 16th June 2016, West Sussex Record Office launched our 70th anniversary celebrations with our very first blog post. We asked our users, depositors, volunteers, supporters and staff to explore the archive and nominate their favourite document. Over the following months, 70 of these unique records featured on this blog, each with its own story…
Project Book Launch: Military Voices Past and Present
A two year oral history project, Military Voices Past and Present, organised by West Sussex CC Library Service and supported by the Record Office, has seen some 95 audio interviews recorded with West Sussex veterans from World War One, World War Two and Post 1945 conflicts to the 1990s, published in a new book Military…
Continue reading ➞ Project Book Launch: Military Voices Past and Present
Record of the Month
Aerial Photography of Chichester (APH 126, 1904) A type of record not mentioned in our 70th Anniversary booklet or previously on this blog is aerial photography; In particular early aerial photographs, like this one from 1904. According to the caption it was taken at 1500ft in a hot air balloon by Aeronaut Percival Spencer on 4th…
‘On The Beat’ – The History and Archive of West Sussex Constabulary (1857-1967)
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)
Record of the Month
Par 193/7/2 West Tarring Market Charter (11 June 1444) The West Tarring market charter is the oldest document that I have had the pleasure of cataloguing in my twenty seven years at West Sussex Record Office so, as I am retiring at the end of the month, I thought that it deserved a mention as…
Sense or Insensibility : Chichester in the 1960’s
Alan Green ‘If you can remember the 1960s you weren’t there” runs a well-known maxim. Whether you were there or not, it was a decade irredeemably associated with permissive attitudes and the ripping out of the hearts of so many towns and cities in the name of modernisation, often as a result of dodgy dealings…
Continue reading ➞ Sense or Insensibility : Chichester in the 1960’s
West Sussex Record Office 