Skip to main content

News

Top 10 Archives… No.5

  • 1st December 2011

Messrs. Marcy, Hemmingway & Sons of Bewdley.

This is a collection of over 155,000 solicitors’ papers that date from the 14th to the 20th century and cover the whole of Worcestershire. On the face of it this may seem quite stuffy, but it actually contains an Aladdin’s cave of information about property and families in Worcestershire and is used for all types of research.

From apprenticeships, marriage settlements and wills to dog, carriage and servants’ licences. The collection also includes turnpike gate toll accounts books, for such places as Dunley Scar Gate and Tinker’s Gate; accounts of the Queen’s own Worcestershire Hussars and Yeomanry and plans of watercourses, properties, farms and estates. It is easy to see why this is such a popular collection as the research opportunities are endless.

Come back soon to find out what is at number four!

Comments are closed.

Related news


  • 17th October 2026
Handel, Espionage and Gardens – Royal Accounts in the archive

One of the collections we’ve uncovered as part of our ongoing retroconversion project is this deposit of royal accounts, BA2252. These are an interesting and substantial collection of royal household papers, which you might not have expected would be held here in Worcester. What’s in the collection? This collection was created and kept by a...

  • 8th September 2026
Focus on Worcestershire’s Gloving Industry

Gloving in Worcester was a very important and lucrative trade. For hundreds of years the manufacture of gloves involved many thousands of employees both inside factories and working from home. Census returns show the different roles performed in the gloving industry. Many of these roles allowed women to work from home, combining work with childcare...

  • 27th August 2026
Finding fashion in the Sandys Archive

Records from the Sandys Archive reveal how fashion evolved across generations. Clothes tell us a lot about the past. They offer insights into changing tastes, social attitudes and everyday life. The Sandys family of Ombersley created and kept a wealth of records that today help us trace changes in style from the 18th to 20th...