Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
Chosen by Janet Pennington, researcher Red herrings can be the bane of research and in the mid-1980s, searching for something else in the Wiston Archives Catalogue (1975), I glimpsed a reference to a late 17th century booklet of clinical prescriptions and receipts [recipes], author unknown. Many hundreds of Wiston documents have passed under my scrutiny…
Continue reading ➞ Booklet of clinical prescriptions, late 17th century (Wiston Ms 5423)
Chosen by Brian Short, President of the Sussex Record Society, text by Ruth Brown The Sussex Record Society decided that the school log book of Thomas Slatford was so good it should be published, and so proceeded to do so this year! All headteachers of Victorian elementary schools were required to keep…
Continue reading ➞ Littlehampton school logbook, 1889-1910 (E125/12/2)
Chosen by Alan Readman, former member of staff West Sussex Record Office has been the repository and conservation centre of Screen Archive South East since the inception of the regional film archive in 1992. Moving images offer a unique and evocative portrait of life in the 20th century and this documentary reflects many of the…
Continue reading ➞ An English Village. A view of South Harting in 1956 (Video 259; PH 22367)
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 John Godfrey, researcher In light of Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday this year, a Loyal Address was delivered by the Lord Lieutenant on behalf of the people of West Sussex. Celebrating the many occasions The Queen has visited the county, the book highlights her connection to West Sussex through the decades of…
Continue reading ➞ The Queen visits Chichester, West Sussex Gazette, 3/4/1986
Chosen by Emma O'Driscoll, House Steward, and Sarah Hughes, Research Assistant, West Dean College This vellum-bound manorial ledger is one of the earliest documents concerning West Dean House and Estate, and reflects the socio-political climate of 350 years ago. The left-hand page, written at the time of Oliver Cromwell’s death in 1658, is in English.…
Continue reading ➞ Manorial ledger, 1652-1726 and 1800-1820 (Acc 18218)
Chosen by Margaret Clark, volunteer Milton Mount College, a girls’ boarding school, was founded in 1871 in Gravesend for the daughters of Congregational ministers. Later it was opened to all girls aged 8-18. In 1920 the school moved to Worth Park, a large Victorian mansion on the outskirts of Crawley, previously owned by the Montefiore…
Continue reading ➞ Milton Mount College production of ‘The Boy with a Cart’, 1955 (MMC 1/9/7/87)
Chosen by David Barling, Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services, West Sussex County Council This fascinating minute book records the concerns and activities of local residents at a period that includes the First World War and its aftermath. It shows how the Parish Council dealt with a wide variety of issues and it is remarkable…
Continue reading ➞ Steyning Parish Council minute book, 1908-1927 (Par 183/49/1)
Chosen by the Guinea Pig Club (text by Sam Gallop, Chair of the Guinea Pig Club) The Archive of the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, which includes the patient case files and research records of Sir Archibald McIndoe and his teams, is of national and international importance. During the Second World War this hospital…
Continue reading ➞ Faces from the Fire: the biography of Sir Archibald McIndoe, 1962 (Lib 18911)
Chosen by Louise Goldsmith, Leader of West Sussex County Council One of my most favourite pleasures is visiting our Record Office. It never fails in providing interesting snippets of what was happening in the county at any one time and I naturally feel very proud of WS Record Office. As a local politician I…
West Sussex Record Office 