Skip to main content

News

Upcoming Exploring Archives workshops – Duck thieves and naughty pupils

  • 15th April 2014

Duck thieves, secreted needles, stressed teachers and missing pupils are among the stories we’ll be bringing to light in the next two workshops in our Exploring Archives series on Quarter Sessions and School Records.

Quarter Sessions – Wed 14th May 10am-12pm

Quarter Sessions were a court and a forerunner of the County Council. As a court is stood between the Petty sessions, for the minor crimes, and the Assizes, for the most serious. They also dealt with all sorts of other matters, including removal orders, road maintenance, application to build railways and the running of the county. A wealth of stories are contained here, including Thomas Hemmings, duck thief, and two ladies convicted for stealing acorns. Despite their value and containing thousands of names, they are an underused resource, so we’ll be explaining how to use the indexes and make the most of these in your research as well as uncovering some fascinating stories.

School Records – Wed 18th June 10am-12pm

Schools have kept a wide range of records over the years to assist them in their running, and many people come to us to have a look for family history, investigating the history of their town/village or to help with other research. In this workshop we’ll explain the main types of sources, including logbooks, punishments books, photos, newspapers, plans and correspondence, and how to locate them.

Places cost £6 each, and to book your please ring us on 01905 766352, email explorethepast@worcestershire.gov.uk or call in at the Explore the Past desk on level 2.

Comments are closed.

Related news


  • 10th April 2026
Bickmarsh Hoard – Life in 9th century Bickmarsh

Imagine walking along a quiet country lane in rural Worcestershire. Fields stretch away on either side, and the landscape feels peaceful and timeless. Yet over 1,100 years ago this same landscape may have been a place of uncertainty, where someone buried a small collection of coins in the ground and never returned to reclaim them....

  • 8th April 2026
Bickmarsh Hoard -The Coins

This is the second post in a three-part series exploring the remarkable ninth-century Bickmarsh Hoard discovered in Worcestershire. Catch up on part one. The discovery of the Bickmarsh Hoard in 2022 revealed a small but remarkable collection of ninth-century coins buried in the Worcestershire countryside over 1,100 years ago. In this second blog in our...

  • 6th April 2026
Uncovering the Bickmarsh Hoard

A quiet field in south east Worcestershire. No visible traces of the past. No reason to expect what lay beneath. And then, a signal. Within hours, silver coins began to emerge from the soil, one after another, until it became clear that this was no isolated find, but part of a much larger story. By...