Category: Stories from the Archives

Droxford Union workhouse and some occupants, 1891

Hampshire Poor Law Records

How best to support the poor and needy is at the heart all political thought in a civilised society. For local and family historians the process generates sources which give...

Alfred Oscroft and a fellow Royal Engineer in 1916.

Hampshire Place-Names-a Treat for Puzzle-Solvers

Most people at some time ask why the place they live in has acquired its name. Almost a century ago the English Place-Name Society set about publishing a series of...

Holy Trinity Church, Wonston

A Hampshire Parson’s Memories of The Battle of Waterloo

By the north side of the tower of Holy Trinity Church, Wonston, near Winchester, lies the red marble tombstone of the Rev. Alexander Robert Charles Dallas, who died on 12...

The Heir of Redclyffe

Hampshire’s Forgotten Author – Charlotte Yonge

Most classics have a barrier to surmount before the ‘go’ button is reached. Jane Austen, arguably Hampshire’s lead brand, is not to everyone’s taste. But if you can navigate the...

Buriton 1100 - 1700

Georeferencing an Example of How It Bought Buriton History to Life

The Buriton Village Association has been able to demonstrate how the village has grown between c.1100 and the present, by digitally overlaying information from maps and other sources. The aim...

Wesleyan Methodist Church opened 1905

The 1920 Golden Jubilee of Wesleyan Methodism in Basingstoke

1920 was a ‘red letter’ year for the Wesleyan Methodists of Basingstoke since it marked the golden jubilee of a permanent presence for their branch of Methodism in the town....

Eel House 2019

Fishing for Eels in the Archives

Archives can often yield the most elusive information about subjects that are generally little documented. So it was that I was looking for some material to bolster an article on...

SS Nagpore

The Fate of Convoy SL125

Finding the truth about my father being torpedoed twice during the war …. explained his annual trips to London, and why he was not in good shape as we met...

film and sound

How to Enliven History With Film and Sound

There is much to be discovered from huge collections of easily accessible moving images and sound recordings. One of the great challenges of telling modern history is that the nature...