Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist PH 15815 - A chilly wintery scene of the cathedral from Westgate fields, c. 1900 The usual images that come to mind when thinking of workhouses will resemble that of Oliver Twist, and rightly so. The conditions for those who relied upon the unions would have been implacable, degrading, and cruel…
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, to the variety of work undertaken by the volunteers. Through a culmination of sorting, listing, ordering, cataloguing and packaging; with the ability to inform and…
By Katherine Slay, Archive Assistant The biggest collection of black and white railway photographs held at the Record Office is now available to search via our online catalogue. Bill Sumner was a very keen photographer, taking thousands of images, all of which came to the Record Office in 2009. William George 'Bill' Sumner was born…
In August 2024, the Record Office was awarded a grant by Lloyd's Register Foundation as part of their small grants scheme to fund the cataloguing of the Marine and General Mutual Life Assurance Society Archive, deposited at WSRO in 2015. The work has now been completed, and the collection is accessible to users in our…
By Bill Gage, Guest Speaker My first recollections of Bognor Station go back to the mid 1950s, when my family would travel down by train from Essex for holidays. As our electric train approached the station I would hope to see a steam locomotive on the local goods train, waiting in the sidings. Once on…
Continue reading ➞ Tuesday Talk: The Bognor Branch – 160 years of railways in Bognor
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist With it being the month of ghosts and ghouls, we thought it only right to write a short piece about the famed British ghost hunter and physical researcher, Harry Price. Harry Price, c.1930, creator: David Jackson, ©University of London Born on the 17th of January 1881 in Red Lion Square,…
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist The Rolling Stones in April 1967 (cropped from original) With the upcoming release of ‘Redlands’ at Chichester Festival Theatre (running 20th September to 18th October), we wanted to take this chance to delve deeper into the true story behind the stage adaptation. Looking to the records we hold at the…
By Nick Corbo-Stewart, Archivist and Volunteer Coordinator The volunteers at West Sussex Record Office (WSRO) work with a wide variety of collections. They sort, list, order, catalogue and package. Once ready, these are opened for use to our researchers. Within this, the first of a series of blogs, I will introduce you, the reader, to…
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist The joy of a holiday is a longstanding staple of British summertime. That feeling of the anticipation as the holiday grows closer and closer. And being to put aside any troubles for just a week or two allows for a moment to switch off your mind from the everyday routine…
By Alice Millard, New Jerusalems Project Archivist Crawley has been synonymous with Gatwick Airport for almost as long as the new town has been in existence. Residents of West Sussex are well aware of Crawley’s impact on the county, but for those outside of the county, many discover the town in relation to Gatwick as…
Continue reading ➞ Cataloguing Crawley New Town: Gatwick Airport
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