Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
By Bill Gage, Guest Speaker Add Mss 26499 - Poster for the opening of the Chichester and Midhurst Line, 1881 In the 1960s I would always listen to the Saturday morning radio programme “Childrens’ Favourites”. One song, featured regularly, was the “The Runaway Train went over the hill and she blew”. Yet I wonder how…
Continue reading ➞ Tuesday Talk: Rails to Midhurst – A tale of a Wild Iron Horse
By Abigail Hartley, Searchroom Archivist AM 70/1 - The first entry of 1870 AM 70/1 - Front cover of the diary Purchased for the record office in 2008, the diary of John Donald Warren covers 27 September 1869 to 3 June 1871. It’s a fantastic little diary which required some digging from staff in order…
By Georgia, Record Office Volunteer Spanning the years 1771 to 2003, the collection of deeds relating to The Midhurst Club tell the history of a long-standing property on Midhurst’s North Street. Although the collection is titled ‘Deeds relating to The Midhurst Club, Midhurst’, there is almost two hundred years of deed history before the Club…
Continue reading ➞ Finding stories in property deeds: A history of The Midhurst Club
Susie Duffin, Searchroom Assistant and former Midwife The National Health Service (NHS) was introduced by Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, on the ‘appointed day’ of 5 July 1948. It was born out of the ideal that good health care should be available to all, regardless of wealth. There were three core principles: that it should…
Chosen by Linda Bowen, volunteer I have been a volunteer at West Sussex Record Office for eight years and, during that time, have transcribed very many Petworth House records, amongst other things. I also took part in the Record Office's externally-funded 'Joining Up Our Heritage' project, which took place in 2009/2010, and it was during my research for this project…
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 Matthew Jones, member of staff We can get a very personal insight into someone’s life by looking through their probate records, and inventories can be the most fascinating of all. We have over 12,000 probate inventories and one of them relates to Mary Cooper, a widow of Midhurst who ran a brewhouse in…
Continue reading ➞ Probate inventory for Mary Cooper of Midhurst, 1743 (Ep/I/29/138/235)
West Sussex Record Office 