“Father came, in a great bustle for some slavery papers which he has to distribute,” wrote Rhoda Hack, from Chichester, in April 1824. This domestic update in her surroundings came as she penned the latest letter in her regular correspondence with her sister-in-law, Priscila Tuke (nee Hack). “What are you doing with this subject at…
Tag: west sussex
The Little Churches of Chichester
In the first Tuesday Talk of 2019, Alan Green will be talking about the fascinating histories of what became known as The Little Churches of Chichester. Chichester was once the most pious of cities. In Pre-Reformation times there were nine parish churches, three chapels, a cathedral and two friaries all within its walls. Of these…
Great War West Sussex: those who returned and those who were left behind
By Emma Worrall Men returning from the war faced many problems, financial, mental, and physical, issues which affected their families too. Others did not return at all, creating a new set of challenges for their wives, children, and parents. Some servicemen were fortunate enough to return to jobs kept open for them, such as International Stores’,…
Continue reading ➞ Great War West Sussex: those who returned and those who were left behind
Historic baking – Little almond cakes
Like most people I like baking and cooking, so when Lauren (our Searchroom Archivist) set the challenge to try some historic recipes from the archives, I jumped at the chance to have a go. One thing I noticed when going through the recipe books held at the Record Office was that over the centuries, there…
Historic baking – Spanish puffs
On hearing about Lauren’s idea for a blog series based on trying out historical recipes, I was keen to sign up – as a lover of both history (which rather comes with the territory as an archivist…) and, well, food in general it seemed right up my street. After a week or two of procrastination…
The NHS at 70
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…
The ‘Sussex Declaration’ of Independence held at West Sussex Record Office
Many of our followers will recall the news last year of the 'Sussex Declaration', an early copy of the US Declaration of Independence, and the only other ceremonial copy of the Declaration known to exist besides the signed 1776 copy now displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Although the manuscript has been catalogued and stored here at West Sussex Record…
Continue reading ➞ The ‘Sussex Declaration’ of Independence held at West Sussex Record Office
Historic Baking – Date and Walnut Cake
I decided to try the recipe from a pamphlet entitled ‘20th Century Cookery – how to cook by electricity’. As a recent convert at home from gas to electricity I was keen to give it a try. However the instructions were rather vague when it came to the temperature settings, referring to the initial oven…
Historic baking – 19th century cinnamon biscuits
When Lauren suggested a series of blogs based around historical recipes I went straight for this recipe for cinnamon biscuits from a book belonging to a Mrs Goacher of Jessops Farm, Ashurst, and dating from 1867 (Add Mss 14940). I love anything cinnamon flavoured and with only five ingredients this sounded like my kind of…
Continue reading ➞ Historic baking – 19th century cinnamon biscuits
A Call to Arms! – The Royal Sussex Regiment Heritage Project
West Sussex Record Office are developing an exciting new project to catalogue, digitise and provide access to the historic collections of The Royal Sussex Regiment dating back over 260 years. This will be a ground-breaking opportunity to use the combined collections to develop innovative ways for people of all ages across the UK and beyond…
Continue reading ➞ A Call to Arms! – The Royal Sussex Regiment Heritage Project
West Sussex Record Office 