Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
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 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 Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist At the end of this blog, please find an update containing my thoughts on the film and comparisons to the real-life case. With the upcoming release of ‘Wicked Little Letters’ set for the 23rd of February; we thought it best to delve into the true backstory of this poison-pen case…
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist Sunset over Cavendish Street, taken by author Having moved to Chichester recently to take up the role of Searchroom Archivist at the West Sussex Record Office, I have been developing my different branches of research that our researchers utilise. Although doing such exercises enables me to provide a better service,…
Continue reading ➞ A Brief History of Cavendish Street – using maps
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist In the 1940s two sisters, Amy and Nellie Scaddan, evacuated to the safety of the Petworth countryside from Portsmouth. Although it was more commonplace for children to be evacuated, these sisters were most likely in their 40s during this time and also wanted to take refuge somewhere that would not…
Continue reading ➞ A Wartime Christmas in the Petworth Countryside
Please note that this blog post contains some graphic descriptions of injury. By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist Working in an archive allows you the opportunity to stumble upon unexpected pieces of history and how it was recorded. As we answer enquiries on all manner of subjects it is sometimes too easy to fall down a…
Continue reading ➞ Murder, They Wrote…in the register of baptisms
West Sussex Record Office 