Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
Many of our modern-day Christmas traditions are famously attributed to the Victorian period and the influence of Prince Albert, who bought German customs and festive celebrations to the UK. This new way of marking the Christmas period saw the introduction of many festive traditions we continue to enjoy today, from elaborate decorations to gingerbread, lavish Christmas menus,…
Continue reading ➞ Victorian Christmas Traditions in the Archive
Chosen by Frances Lansley, much missed late member of staff This is a map of Wick Farm in Woodmancote and Albourne , part of the estate of Sir Merrick Burrell of West Grinstead Place. The map, dated 1768, is painted in oil. As well as being a map it is a work of art. There…
Continue reading ➞ 1768 Map of Woodmancote and Albourne (Add Mss 17101)
Chosen by Richard Childs, former member of staff My favourite document is the map of the Manors of East Dean, Graffham and East Lavington, 1597 (Add Mss 48838). My reason for choosing it is not simply because it is the oldest manuscript estate map in the Record Office, nor that being drawn on paper, it…
Continue reading ➞ Map of the Manors of East Dean, Graffham and East Lavington, 1597 (Add Mss 48838)
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 Peter Wilkinson, former member of staff The records of the diocesan courts, particularly in the period from Queen Elizabeth’s reign to the start of the Civil War, give us a unique picture of local life in Sussex. On the one hand we see the bishop and his officials trying to keep a…
Chosen by Christine Chowne, volunteer John Holland Ballet Fletcher was a local man, born in 1879 in Worthing. He was the only surviving child of William H. B. Fletcher, former mayor of Worthing and later Lord of the Manor at Aldwick, now Hotham Park House, and his wife, Agnes. John read law at St…
Continue reading ➞ The Spread Eagle, Midhurst, 1902 (PH 26114/51)
Chosen by Matt Dell, member of staff Although our oldest record here at West Sussex Record Office dates to 780AD, you would be mistaken in thinking that only historic records live under our roof. In addition to the collections of religious records, military records, estate papers and more, we are also home to the Records Management Service, which manages the County…
Continue reading ➞ Chichester – Parking of Cars in the Highway, 1936 (WDC/CL28/1)
Chosen by Lady Emma Barnard This remarkable notebook was kept by my great-aunt Veronica, the daughter of Clive and Alicia Pearson, who lived at Parham. Veronica deposited it with West Sussex Record Office before her death in 1993; it is a moving record of wartime life on the estate, a vignette of an extraordinary time.…
Continue reading ➞ ‘Parham in the War’, 1940-1947 (Parham 1/4/10/3/3)
Chosen by Joyce Sleight, researcher Some years ago I attended a talk on the work of WSRO at Worthing Library given by a member of the Searchroom staff. In the informal chat that followed I mentioned that as a history teacher and librarian at Steyning Grammar School I had charge of some of the school archive. He…
Continue reading ➞ Steyning School Register, 1840-1876 (Acc 10206)
Chosen by Andrew Rackley, member of staff Archives aren’t all about paper. Technology has changed significantly over the last 70 years and the Record Office has been changing with it. As records are increasingly produced solely in a digital format (‘born-digital’), the content held here increasingly goes beyond what you might think of as traditional…
Continue reading ➞ Billingshurst Oral History Project collection, 2015 (Acc 18164)
West Sussex Record Office 