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Wiltshire’s ‘Dad’s Army’

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Dec 1, 2011

 

Following the death in October of David Croft, co-creator of the much loved classic TV series Dad’s Army which was based on his own experiences as a member of the Home Guard, I was interested to find out how the Home Guard operated in Wiltshire.

 

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So, just what Do our visitors come to see?

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Oct 1, 2010

Tagged in: wool , Wiltshire Wills Project , Wiltshire , wills , William Small , Walter Long , wages account books , visitors , Victoria County History , Urban District Council Committee Minutes , trade , tithe awards , Swindon New Town , survey , student , strong rooms , servant , search rooms , samples , Salisbury , road , resignation , researchers , requests , records , quest , Quaker Meeting House , publication , production team , pre-order , pattern book , parish , papers , painter , original , ordnance survey , ordination , order , Methuen , material , marriage , maps , manorial , Maiden Bradley , Long family , Local Studies Assistant , letter , Julie Davis , Japanese , inventory , interest , household , history group , Helpdesk Team , glazier , genealogists , estate , Edward Seymour , documents , diary , curate , Corsham Court , correspondence , cloth , church goods , church , catalogues , Archivists , Archives , admissions registers

I thought it may be of interest to take a look on your behalf at the kind of original documents visitors order out when they visit our search rooms, to give you an idea of the wide range of requests we receive for documents each day. I chose a day last week at random, and got peeking!

 
Pattern Book, Ref: 947/1802

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The School Life of World War II Evacuees

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Aug 11, 2010

I was recently using the school log books of Heywood for our ongoing Community History project (http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/) and found that the earliest log books we held for the school were from 1938. It is unusual for us to took at the log books for this period, and I discovered that they gave an interesting insight into the lives of rural schoolchildren (including the evacuees) during wartime.

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Evacuees from Portsmouth in Kilmington, 1939.
Ref: P32983




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19th century photographs of Wiltshire come to light…

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Aug 3, 2010

Tagged in: Wiltshire Historic Photographic Collection , Wiltshire , Walter J Pearce , Victorian author , toll house , Stonehenge , St. Margaret’s Hospital , rock climbing , river bank , research , report , pilgrims’ , photography , photographs , Peter Maundrell , Paris Exhibition , paintwork , painting , Otterbourne , orphan , ornate , Modern Broods , metal work , metal fence , medieval times , Manchester , magic lantern slides , Lord Mayor of London , lock up , location , Local Studies Collection , Late 19th century , Julie Davis , James Muller orphanage , Howe , hobbies , Harold Fassnidege , Hampshire , Gregory How , grandson.climbed , grandfather’s , gilding , foundations , fell walking , enquiry , Eiffel Tower , edited , donating , delegation , decorating , David Pearce , cross pattern , craftsmen , Country Tracks’ , collection , Church restoration , church decoration , Charlotte Younge , Chard , chapel , Bristol , bridge , Bradford on Avon: a pictorial record , Bradford on Avon , Bradford in Avon in old Picture Postcards , blind house , apprenticed , ammunition store , Adrian Powell , 1889

Back in March we had an enquiry from a gentleman trying to establish the date of a couple of photographs of the bridge at Bradford on Avon. They were amongst his grandfather’s collection of 598 ‘magic lantern’ slides, many of which were unnamed. He had been unsure of the location of the photographs, but the bridge happened to be featured in a TV programme he was watching called ‘Country Tracks’, and it looked like a good candidate!
The first of two photographs of the bridge at Bradford On Avon
Our Ref: P53801  

Upon receipt of the images, it took just one look to realise that they were indeed of the bridge at Bradford. To try to date the images we used two books from our Local Studies Collection, ‘Bradford on Avon: a pictorial record’ edited by Harold Fassnidge and Peter Maundrell, and ‘Bradford in Avon in old Picture Postcards’ by Adrian Powell. Both included pictures of the bridge, one dated c. 1892 and the other 1900. Walter’s photograph showed some metal work in a cross pattern appearing on the blind house. The image of 1900 showed the cross in place but by about 1916 it had disappeared. The other image (taken in or before 1892) had been taken from a slightly different angle but showed the river bank without the ornate metal fence in the picture dated 1900. This fence was also missing in our photograph, suggesting a date of c.1890. 

His grandfather, Walter J Pearce, had been taking photographs from at least 1889, when he took some at the Paris Exhibition. He was part of a delegation of craftsmen sent by the Lord Mayor of London to report on his craft of painting, decorating and gilding. His grandson told us that Walter had actually climbed onto the outside of the Eiffel Tower to look at the paintwork; it had been painted lighter towards the top to make the tower appear slimmer! To discover more about the photographer and the bridge, please 'read more'...




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