We get a great many visitors passing through our doors, honing in on those invaluable parish registers, wills, non-conformist records etc. Some venture further, taking a look at what else the History Centre has to offer, but for many, little do they realise that they are missing out on some essential information – the contextual evidence that brings life to those ancestors they are searching so long and hard to find.

The Wiltshire Local Studies Collection is a unique resource available at the History Centre which can do just that. I have searched the shelves to give you just a taste of what is on offer if you have a little extra time to look whilst you are here. If not, many of our books are available to loan via your local library, all you need to do is put in a request.

Memoirs

I have looked at Potterne myself, as my grandfather was born there. There are two wonderful books written by Potterne inhabitants, one covering the late 19^th/early 20^th century and the other the 1920s to 1930s. They give an idea of the day to day life of those living in the village; how they worked, how they spent their recreation time, religious life, education, mentioning many names and also include some images. In fact, I do try to alert family historians to the books’ presence if they are interested in Potterne. One lady even found a reference to an ancestor of hers in one!

 
P43098 The King’s Arms Inn, High Street, C. 1910

Material by Local History Societies and Individuals

These can hold a wealth of information for family historians. For instance ‘About Blunsdon: A North Wiltshire Village’ gives road names, house names and details of life in the village eg. ‘Kingsdown Lane is a little off shoot of Blunsdon from Ermin Street by the junction to Swindon and Consists largely of market Gardens…[Jim Lancaster] was a baker who moved to “Woodbine Cottage”, Kingsdown Lane in 1880’.

‘Down Poulshot’ by Nora Dixon draws on the long term studies of the Poulshot Village Trust. It also includes the memories of local inhabitants, images of buildings and details about themselves and previous inhabitants from 1900 onwards.

Statements such as “Purtonians were justifiably proud of the Workmen’s Institute which stood, newly opened, in the lower square and which continues today as the public library” in ‘Purton in 1885’ give a real feel for how the villagers felt about the changes occurring around them at the time.

Some Societies have worked tremendously hard, producing volumes of historical matter, such as ‘Wroughton History’ and ‘Remember Warminster’. Other titles have been produced to mark a special event, such as ‘Turleigh 2000: Portrait of a Wiltshire Village’. This includes house histories and even a family tree going back to 1559.

‘The Book of Wilton’ looks at the problems encountered by flooding “residents were determined not to be put off celebrating Christmas, despite many of them being forced to live upstairs” in 1910. Also mentioned in detail is the visit of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1908, which must have been of great excitement to Wilton residents.

 
P5263 Floods in Wilton during the General Election of 1910

The Women’s Institute has done some tremendous work producing scrapbooks full of interesting and useful information. We hold some of them on microfiche here at the History Centre. The Wiltshire Federation of Women Women’s Institutes compiled a book of WI members’ memories from the turn of the 20^th century, called ‘Wiltshire Within Living Memory’. It is indexed by parish and covers aspects such as ‘house and home’, ‘the world of work’, ‘highdays and holdiays’ etc. I recommend you take a look.

There are also books which specialise in certain topics, for example Richard Broadhead’s study of Wiltshire soldiers who died in service during WW1. The reader is told the war time story chronologically as it unfolds for each area covered. ‘Where possible it is told in the manner in which the people would have been informed; with unusual stories and fascinating facts revealed along the way’. The Districts covered so far include Chippenham, Calne, Devizes, Trowbridge and Salisbury.

You can also learn more about the history of Wiltshire towns, villages, churches and schools by taking a look at http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/.

 Old Photographs

 
P2573 View along Corsham High Street, 1910

These are a useful and fascinating resource, especially when combined with a visit to the town or village itself. Many photographs have been published and include historical information too. ‘Around Corsham and Box in Old Photographs’ is one example, giving details of houses, groups and individuals and includes many names. We hold a collection of over 46,000 prints and images, which can be viewed at www.wiltshiretreasures.org alongside other Wiltshire Museum collections. We recently received a very grateful email from a user of the site who had discovered photographs of one of her ancestors from Compton Bassett.

P54221 Haymaking in Compton Bassett, 1935

Social History

You can dip into books that give a general idea of what life was like for the working classes in the past.

The rural poor, the country diet, the working life of labourers and ‘the decline of rural isolation’ are topics worth looking at in ‘The Victorian Countryside’, edited by G.E. Mingay. Pamela Horn with ‘Labouring Life in the Victorian Countryside’ gives a great insight into working lives, recreation, influence of religion, sickness and poverty. ‘Victorian Village Life’ by Neil Philip is a wonderful read and really brings to home the way of life for the majority of the rural population at that time.

P31640 Pea Picking in Bromham, late 19^th century

Museums

Don’t forget that local museums hold a wealth of information for family historians, including personal memorabilia, photographs as well as exhibitions which look at the life of those in their collecting area. We have a list of the collecting area of each Wiltshire Museum and can provide location details on request.

Our ancestors are but names on a page unless we take the time to delve deeper using both archival and local studies sources to help get a glimmer of what life could have been like for them. Maybe by doing this we can gain a deeper understanding of them and ourselves...

The books I have mentioned in here can be borrowed via inter library loan – just ask at your local library.

If you’d like to see our holdings for the area/parish you are interested in, take a look at our Wiltshire Studies online catalogue. As you have already seen, some of our books are available to loan, so if there are any you are interested in please contact us with the details at localstudies@wiltshire.gov.uk or your local library and we can advise.

I have considered just a few resources from our Local Studies collection. Look out for more in part two!

Julie Davis

Local Studies Assistant

Sources

‘About Blunsdon: A North Wiltshire Village’ by E.M. Levington & R.S.Radway, 1976, Ref: BLU.940

‘Around Corsham and Box in Old Photographs’ by Annette and Mike Wilson, 1990, Ref: COR.771

‘Down Poulshot’ by Nora Dixon, 2002, Ref: POU.949

‘In a Wiltshire Village’ by T. Smith, Ref: POT.948

‘Labouring Life in the Victorian Countryside’ by Pamela Horn,1987, Ref: 941.081

‘Memories of Old Potterne’ by R. Brinkworth, Ref: POT.949

‘Purton in 1885’ by the Purton Historical Society, 1985 Ref: PUR.948

‘Remember Warminster Vols 1-3’ ed. By Danny Howell, 1993, Ref: WAR.949

‘The Book of Wilton: A Former Capital of Wessex’ by Chris Rousell, 2006, Ref: WIL.940

‘The Victorian Countryside Vols 1 & 2’ by G.E. Mingay, 1981, Ref: 941.08

 ‘Turleigh 200: Portrait of a Wiltshire Village’ ed. By Derek Heap, 2000, Ref: WIS.720

 ‘Victorian Village life’ by Neil Philip, 1993, Ref: 941.081

‘Wiltshire within Living Memory’ by the Wiltshire Federation of Women’s Institutes, 1993, Ref: AAA.949

‘Wroughton History: Part 1’ by the Wroughton History Group, 1982, Ref: WRO.940

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