It is always hard to single out any particular collection as a favourite, but some are obviously outstanding due to the sheer scope and variety of their contents. One of the great treasures at Wiltshire and Swindon Archives is the archive of the Earls of Radnor, of Longford Castle, near Salisbury in Wiltshire. Part of the archive is an uncatalogued collection referenced 1946, which has recently been added to thanks to a very generous loan of archive material from the current Earl. This is the subject of a bid for funding to enable us to catalogue and make this fascinating archive more accessible to everyone.

This autograph letter of Elizabeth I forms part of the collection

The uncatalogued archives of the Earls of Radnor in collection 1946 supplement the earlier deposit 490 (see: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a). The material in 490 contained mainly estate material, and 1946 also includes some manorial and other estate records which will be of enormous importance for local history and will benefit the continuing production of the Victoria County History of Wiltshire. Importantly, however, 1946 broadens the scope of 490, as it also contains a lot of unique material relating to the building, maintenance and governance of Longford Castle and its household, which will be of great interest to anyone researching either the house or its contents, including its famous art collection. The records also include family and personal material. However, the records do not just shed light on nobility but will also be of interest to family historians wanting to find out about ancestors who were involved with the Radnor family. The records include wage books and accounts for both household servants and agricultural labourers, dating back to the early 19th century. Please 'read more' to find out which other interesting documents can be found in the collection...

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Bribery, corruption, intrigue, rotten boroughs and riots …oh dear, that will be Wiltshire’s parliamentary elections in eighteenth and nineteenth century! Present events always give us an opportunity to take the long-view and here at the History Centre we have a range of resources on the political history of the county and borough, from excellent accounts published in the Victoria County History for Wiltshire to election squibs, poll books and original documents.

'The Antiquities of Malmesbury', described as 'A parliamentary election, as lampooned in 1792' in VCH Wiltshire Vol. 14, opposite p.221 (our Ref: P41146).

Wiltshire’s early claim to political fame was the impressive size of its parliamentary representation. Until 1832 it elected two Knights of the Shire (representing the whole county), two MPs for Salisbury, and two burgesses for each of its 15 boroughs, a grand total of 34 seats. Only Cornwall had higher. This was especially impressive given that many of the boroughs were the size of a village, and few of their residents could vote.  The most notable, of course, was Old Sarum, which retuned two MPs and in 1768, it is claimed, had an electorate of, er…one, though usually could count on seven. Other small boroughs included Great Bedwyn, Cricklade, Downton, Heytesbury, Hindon, Ludgershall and Wootton Bassett. Yet other towns like Bradford on Avon, Corsham, Trowbridge, and Warminster could not send representatives to parliament. To find out about the great political contest of 1818 and Marlborough making the national news in 1832, please 'read more'...

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Just lately my work has taken me to Manor Farm, a mixed farm at Broadchalke, one of those tiny, out-of-the-way places in the south of Wiltshire that you wouldn’t go through unless you had business there. It nestles in the Ebble Valley roughly between Salisbury and Shaftesbury. Manor Farmhouse is one of those long, low, rambling buildings that started at one end and carried on ad infinitum until stopped by a tall, square dovecote; a sort of punctuation mark in stone.  Additional charm is supplied by the weathered grey church of All Saints nearby presiding with quiet dignity over the centre of the village.

 
Manor Farm, Broadchalke

Every building I see that is of any age has had alterations made, almost as a matter of course, for the varying needs of successive tenants and owners. Looking at Manor Farmhouse it is possible to see its origins in the core of the building at the front. This core consists of a heated hall, then a general living room where the occupants cooked and slept and gathered for warmth, and an unheated parlour; a posh but cold room with a fine quadripartite ceiling (divided into quarters by chamfered beams) which showed off its status as the main secular building of importance or capital messuage of the estate. From digging in the records it seems that in the early 17^th century the parlour was too cold for comfort. A big external chimney stack was added onto the side of the parlour probably by Richard Aubrey, father of the celebrated Wiltshire diarist John Aubrey, who was to succeed him as the tenant of the Earls of Pembroke at the farm. Richard had married Deborah, the daughter of Isaac Lyte of Easton Piercey in the north of Wiltshire, where John was born on March 12^th 1625. John was removed from Trinity College, Oxford in 1643 because of the Civil War and brought home to Broadchalke where he later carried on the farm after his father died. 'Read more' to find out about his time at the farm....

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