WSHC blog

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Conservators reunited with an old friend...

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Mar 29, 2011

Archive conservation staff are to be reunited with an ‘old friend’ with their latest project.

 

The letters of John Russell in the Eyre-Matcham archive document his career as a naval administrator at Woolwich, then Deptford, as Consul General in Lisbon and Consul in Morocco.



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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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A Jewel in Wiltshire and Swindon Archives’ Crown…

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Jul 17, 2010

Tagged in: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a , Wiltshire and Swindon Archives , wage books , Victoria County History of Wiltshire , Tobago , Thomas Cromwell , student , Sir William Young , Second Earl of Radnor , Salisbury , politics , political history , parliamentary reform , parliamentary diaries , paintings , naval historians , military historians , manorial , Longford Castle , London , local history , Levant Company , Kent , Jewel , international trade , international , household servants , History of Parliament , Governor of Tobago , George Washington , funding , estate records , Elizabeth I , Earls of Radnor , Crown , correspondence , community , collection archive , Cobbett , business historians , black and minority ethnic history , bid , Berkshire , autograph letters , art collection , agricultural labourers , accounts , 18th century

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

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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