Archive

Tea and Testimony:Discovering the extraordinary lives of ordinary people Worcestershire’s historic past is made up of multiple layers of the lives of its residents – sometimes dramatic, sometimes tragic, sometimes unacknowledged and occasionally even forgotten. Many of these people, though ordinary, actually had an extraordinary impact upon the world. Worcestershire Archive Service has a wealth of...

To mark the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt (25 October 1415), we wanted to show you a document in our collections issued by Henry V several months before the famous victory over the French. Worcestershire has long been associated with Agincourt.  Michael Drayton’s 17th-century poem The Battaile of Agincourt famously evoked the Worcestershire...

On 13th October WAAS Manager Victoria Bryant and User Services Manager Lisa Snook travelled to The Lowry in Salford Quays to attend the Discovering Communities Discovering Collections conference 2015.  In fact, they didn’t just attend – Lisa gave a paper on a project that we have been working on over the summer to learn more...

The Worcestershire Yeomanry took part in one of the final major British offensives of the Gallipoli campaign on 21 August 1915.  They were at Suvla  Bay, initially in reserve, but were then called upon to advance across a dry salt lake to Chocolate Hill and then to push on to take part in an attack...

For many World War II ended with VE Day in May 1945.  For others, such as the 2nd and 7th Battalions of the Worcestershire Regiment serving out in the Far East, the War would not be over until August 1945.  After some days of rumour and speculation the news broke that the Japanese had finally...

What’s the biggest document in the archives? What’s the longest? the oldest? These were some of the questions that we had to find the answers to when we offered to take part in The Big Stuff Activity Day at the Hive as part of this year’s Summer Reading Challenge. We also set ourselves the challenge...

Sarah is our Skills for the Future trainee on a 15 month placement here at Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service.  She is currently working on a joint project with her fellow trainees. This is a pop-up museum which will be open as part of the Worcester Festival to publicise the collections of Worcester’s museums, archives and historic...

One of the most frequently visited graves in Sanctuary Wood British Cemetery is that of Lieutenant Gilbert Talbot.  Gilbert served with the 7th Rifle Brigade and was killed at Hooge (Ypres Salient) 100 years ago, leading his men during a counter attack.  Gilbert Talbot his life in brief Picture of Gilbert Talbot from his mother’s...

Today we bring you another post inspired by the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. A story which has been picked up elsewhere is the somewhat grisly one about ‘Waterloo teeth’, which serves as a stark reminder of just how far we have come with dental practices today. The story goes that in response to...

Following on from our previous post about the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo we have come across a letter at the Hive from a soldier who was at the battle. Local man Henry Martin was an officer with the 2nd Battalion 44th Regiment of Foot (East Essex) and seems to have served in...