Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
By Alice Millard, Archivist Figure 1 Tommie (L) and Betty (R) planning a road trip, 1958. (AM 1768/2/2/3/86) In May 2023, we were delighted to take in the archive of two Worthing women, Myra ‘Tommie’ Thomas and Betty Hakesley. Known affectionately as ‘Tommie and Betty’, the couple lived together in Worthing from the 1980s until…
By Victoria Evans, Searchroom Archivist As the archivist in charge of our social media at WSRO, I am always trawling through documents and photographs to share with our following. This led me to stumble across a comprehensive photographic collection (PH 28906-29041) of a woman’s service in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). Her name was (Kathleen)…
Continue reading ➞ The Auxiliary Territorial Service in West Sussex – Part One
By Mia Curtis-Mays, Archives Assistant When the Second World War was declared, the protection of the children in targeted city areas, such as London and Portsmouth, was put into action. My great-uncle was a Portsmouth evacuee. Although not evacuated to West Sussex, my Nan’s recollections of her brother being evacuated inspired me to look more…
Continue reading ➞ Escape to the Country: The rural education of evacuees in West Sussex
By Lois Bodie, Archives Assistant The Battle of Quebec, also known as the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, took place on 13th September 1759 and, since reading about it several years ago, it has stayed stuck in my mind. Upon starting at the Record Office, I was excited to learn of a Sussex connection…
Continue reading ➞ ‘An Almost Perpendicular Ascent’: The Battle of Quebec and its Sussex Connections
By Mia Curtis-Mays, Searchroom Assistant CPS 1485/5 - 1 Nov 1962 The beloved department store is something that is sorely missed in the current climate of high street shopping. In Chichester, West Street lost House of Fraser in recent years. This was, surprisingly, not the only department store St George’s House hosted. Before House of…
Continue reading ➞ J D Morant Ltd – West Street’s forgotten department store
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 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…
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 Jenny Bettger, Research Assistant When researching genealogy, you often come across individuals or family groups that stand out. This was the case for me with the Glue family, who I discovered when I was looking at families with longstanding links to the Rogate area. The Glues, or Clues, as they were also known, were…
Back on the 29th of June a group of colleagues from the Record Office took a social trip to Standen House. This particular trip stemmed from two of us having a deep appreciation of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. We do also plan in the future to visit more historic sites that…
Continue reading ➞ The County Archive Squad visit Standen House
West Sussex Record Office 