Archive

Since 1194 Coroners have existed to investigate unnatural, sudden or suspicious deaths, and of deaths in prisons. The function of Coroners, their status and relationship to the state has changed over time and this has affected the type and survivability of records which exist today. For instance, you are more likely to find a newspaper...

Mary Marchioness of Downshire and Baroness Sandys (1764-1836) was the middle child of Colonel Martin Sandys (1729-1768) and Mary Trumbull (1741-1769). Known as ‘the Little Marchioness’, she grew up as part of the extended royal circle – her father being an Equerry to the King’s uncle – yet her childhood was one of tragedy. An...

Born in 1764, Mary Marchioness of Downshire and Baroness Sandys (1764-1836) was the middle child of Colonel The Honourable Martin Sandys (1729-1768) and Mary Trumbell (1741-1769). Playmate to the Prince of Wales, she knew little of her parents as they died young. An orphan aged six, and with her maternal grandparents also deceased, Mary and...

Here, we explore how licensing files can assist research into how pubs, theatres and other entertainment venues in Worcestershire may have undergone changes through time. Like house history, you can understand the history of buildings and the people who lived or worked there by combining this with other documentary or archaeological evidence. We have done...

This blog contains a reference to slavery. The complex lineage of the Sandys family begins with Edwin Sandys born in 1518. A Protestant Cleric to King Edward VI, he later fled the country to avoid a sentence of death upon the Catholic Queen Mary’s accession to the throne. Under Elizabeth I, he served as Bishop...

This Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month, we look back at the lives, histories and culture of a community crucial to the development of our county. Established in June 2008, the month celebrates, educates and raises awareness of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community across wider society to tackle prejudice and challenge misconceptions. Nomadic peoples...

In recent years, documents relating to the business of the Bromsgrove Court Leet have been moved from dusty lofts and boxes under desks to the archive department at The Hive for permanent preservation. The Court Leet is a manorial court, which began when the manorial system was introduced by William the Conqueror in which the...

Within one of our large Commission for the New Town collections, there are c9500 photographs, reports and other items from the Development Corporation Technical Library. We just love showing them to you on our social media platforms. They bring the Redditch New Town collections to life, and capture the design characteristics of the period. One...

Attracting Industry Part of the Master Plan was to attract a variety of industry to the town. The set-up of large factories were negotiated together with land, and allocation of new houses to key workers. BKL Alloys is an example of this, a firm that moved one of it’s divisions from Birmingham. As a result,...

Recently catalogued deposits of books, family sketchbooks, music, testimonials and presentation volumes, as well as biographical texts, shed light on the English religious poet and hymnwriter, and her remarkable family. Born on 14th December 1836, Frances Ridley Havergal was raised in the Victorian English vicarage of Astley, Worcestershire. The youngest child of Reverend William Henry...