Dorset History Centre
Encyclopedia
Introduction
The Dorset History Centre (formerly Dorset Record Office) is the archive serviceArchive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
for the county of Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It collects, stores, preserves and makes available historical documents relating to the history of Dorset
History of Dorset
Dorset is a rural county in south west England. Its archaeology documents much of the history of southern England.-Pre-Roman:The first known settlement of Dorset was by Mesolithic hunters, who returned to Britain at a time when it was still attached to Europe by a land-bridge, around 12,500 BC...
.
The oldest document in the archives is from 965 AD.
Like all UK local authority record offices, the Dorset History Centre is open to all, free of charge. Researchers must register on their first visit, providing proof of name, address and signature.
It is a local authority archive service, run by Dorset County Council
Dorset County Council
Dorset County Council is the county council of the Dorset in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils...
and jointly funded by Dorset County Council, Bournemouth Borough Council and the Borough of Poole, serving all three authorities.
The Dorset History Centre has scored consistently well in The National Archives Self Assessment programme, which evaluates local authority archive services on a number of key indicators. It received a 4* rating in 2010 – the highest rating which can be awarded.
History
Dorset Record Office was founded in 1955, and based at the County Hall in DorchesterDorchester
-England:*Dorchester, Dorset, the county town of Dorset; central to the organisation of the emigration of Puritans to North America during the 17th century*Dorchester, Oxfordshire, also known as Dorchester-on-Thames-Canada:...
. It expanded through the remainder of the 1950s by taking in the archives stored at the Dorset County Museum
Dorset County Museum
The Dorset County Museum is located in Dorchester, Dorset, England. Founded in 1846, the museum covers the county of Dorset's history and environment. The current building was built in 1881 on the former site of the George Inn...
, and becoming the Diocesan Record Office
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
in 1959.
The Record Office continued to be based at County Hall through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, with a new research room being added in 1971. In 1991 a new purpose-built office was opened on Bridport Road in Dorchester, with approximately 6 miles of shelving capacity in environmentally controlled repositories, including a special storage area for modern media.
In 1997, the Record Office became the joint archives service for Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole councils. The county’s Local Studies Library was moved into the record office building in 2005, at which point it became the Dorset History Centre.
Collections
The Dorset History Centre holds a wide range of archive collections created by organisations, families or businesses based in Dorset.The History Centre holds records for the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
parishes in Dorset, including parish registers
Parish register
A parish register is a handwritten volume, normally kept in a parish church or deposited within a county record office or alternative archive repository, in which details of baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded.-History:...
of baptisms, marriages and burials. It also holds some records for other denominations
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
.
The Centre also holds the historical records of the County Council, the district and borough councils and predecessor bodies. Other such public bodies represented in the collections include the local courts, prisons and hospitals.
Business archives include:
- Poole PotteryPoole PotteryPoole Pottery is a pottery manufacturer, originally based in Poole, Dorset, England. The company was founded in 1873 on Poole quayside, where it continued to produce pottery by hand before moving its factory operations away from the quay in 1999. Production continued at the new site in Sopers Lane...
- Gundry of BridportBridportBridport is a market town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the River Brit and its Asker and Simene tributaries, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre...
, rope makers - Stewards of FerndownFerndownFerndown is a town and civil parish in the East Dorset district of Dorset in southern England, situated immediately to the north of unitary authorities of Poole and Bournemouth. The parish, which until 1972 was called Hampreston, includes the communities of Hampreston, Longham, Stapehill and...
, plantsmen and garden centre - Eldridge PopeEldridge PopeEldridge Pope was a traditional brewery situated in Dorchester, Dorset in England. The brewery opened in 1881. Royal Oak and Hardy's were amongst the beers brewed there. Following a series of calamitous business decisions, the brewery closed in July 2003...
of Dorchester, brewers - Cosens of WeymouthWeymouthWeymouth is a seaside town in Dorset, England, situated on a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Wey on the English Channel coast. The town is south of Dorchester and north of the Isle of Portland. The town's population is 52,950 ....
, paddle steamer operator
Family and estate collections include:
- BankesBankesThe Bankeses were an important aristocratic family in Dorset, England for over 400 years. They owned large portions of land throughout Dorset and made significant contributions to the political history and development of the country.-Buildings:...
family of Kingston Lacy, including the travel papers of William John BankesWilliam John BankesWilliam John Bankes , the second, but first surviving son of Henry Bankes, was a notable explorer, Egyptologist and adventurer. He was a member of the Bankes family of Dorset and he had Sir Charles Barry recase Kingston Lacy in stone as it is today... - Fox-Strangways family, Earls of IlchesterEarl of IlchesterEarl of Ilchester, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1756 for Stephen Fox, 1st Baron Ilchester, who had previously represented Shaftesbury in Parliament. He had already been created Baron Ilchester, of Ilchester in the County of Somerset in 1741, and Baron Ilchester and...
- Weld familyWeld-Blundell familyThe Weld family, which became in its main branch the Weld-Blundell family, is an old English family that claims descent from Eadric the Wild and has branches in several parts of England and America. The main branch are descended from Humphrey Weld, Lord Mayor of London, whose grandson of the same...
of Lulworth CastleLulworth CastleLulworth Castle, in East Lulworth, Dorset, situated south of Wool, is an early 17th century mock castle. The stone building has now been re-built as a museum....
The oldest document in the collection is a charter from the Saxon king Edgar granting land in Cheselbourne. It dates from 965 AD.
Additionally it holds two library collections. The first is the Local Studies Library, which includes books, magazines and journals on the history of the county on the region. The other is the Dorset Authors Collection – books by (and about) Dorset writers including Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, William Barnes
William Barnes
William Barnes was an English writer, poet, minister, and philologist. He wrote over 800 poems, some in Dorset dialect and much other work including a comprehensive English grammar quoting from more than 70 different languages.-Life:He was born at Rushay in the parish of Bagber, Dorset, the son of...
and the Powys
Powys (surname)
Powys is a Welsh surname and may refer to:*John Cowper Powys, writer, lecturer and philosopher*Llewelyn Powys, essayist, brother of John Cowper, Philippa and T.F.*Philippa Powys, novelist and poet, sister of John Cowper, Llewelyn and T.F....
brothers.
Services
The History Centre is open to visitors five days a week, Tuesdays to Saturdays. There is a searchroom for requesting and viewing original documents, a microfilm room, library and study areas and computers for public use.The Dorset History Centre was one of the first archive services to go into partnership with a commercial organisation in order to digitise a significant percentage of its records and make these available online. The first set of Dorset records were released by Ancestry in summer 2011.
Aside from its enquiry service, the History Centre also offer talks and group visits, learning sessions for schools or further and higher education bodies, copying of documents and a paid research service for people unable to visit in person.
The History Centre also has a conservation lab which supports its preservation objectives.