Hidden Treasures: Three Wells House/Eastfield documents (D16629)

It is utterly amazing what can be found in an archive. Proof of this was recently brought to my attention when I looked at one of our accessions. Accessions are groups of records/documents that come to an archives and we then carry out initial processing of them, which we as archivists call accessioning. 

The accession was simply listed as Bourton OTW house-listed building Deeds, conveyances, research plans. The name Bourton immediately aroused my curiosity as it was where I spent the first 19 years of my life and where I still have family. So, I examined the accession more closely. It turned out to be for Three Wells House otherwise known as Eastfield. This sent even more alarm bells ringing as I knew the name Eastfield. Eastfield was owned by the Morris family who also owned the model village (a major tourist attraction in the village) and were publicans of the Old New Inn pub, hotel and restaurant. My grandmother had worked at the Old New Inn for many years as indeed did my sister and myself. 

Gloucestershire Archives accessions, October – December 2023

Amongst the records placed onto the online catalogue in the last quarter was a long-distance traveller, all the way from Australia! A register of cases at the Cotswold Maternity Hospital for the years 1937-1945, it emigrated post-War with one of the former midwives. Recently her daughter contacted the Archives (through Gloucestershire Family History Society) offering to return the register. We are very grateful to her for this initiative, and for offering to pay a fair sum in postage.

Clocking up the air miles…

Vermin!

Churchwardens are lay officials who oversaw the routine running of parishes. They were elected to their positions by other members of the laity (a body of people not in orders as opposed to the clergy) and usually served a single term. Their primary job was to procure and disburse funds from parishioners for the maintenance of the parish church and other parish buildings. To keep track of all this, churchwardens created account books which recorded their income and expenditure. All manner of things are represented including incomes and expenses of parish officials, church repairs (to doors, gates, pews and graveyard walls), plus sundry items such as washing surpluses, brooms, bell ropes and communion bread and wine.  

However, another, more tragic aspect of these records is that they usually list bounties paid for catching ‘vermin’. By the mid-1500s, the population of Britain had recovered from the Black Death and was starting to rise rapidly. However, agriculture didn’t keep pace and frequently harvests were poor – the harvests of 1527, 1528 and 1529 were particularly dreadful. In just over three years, most food prices doubled in England. A further abysmal harvest in 1532 was the final straw and concerned least this cause major civil unrest, Henry VIII passed ‘An Act made and ordained to destroy Choughs Crows and Rooks, 1532’. This Act was specially aimed at reducing the number of rooks, crows, and choughs [jackdaws], in the hope of protecting grain harvests and it stated that:

Cataloguing The Barnwood House Hospital Collection

Barnwood House Hospital was established around the early 1800s and operated as a private mental asylum until its closure in 1968. The impact of the hospital on the community of the City of Gloucester and indeed it’s national reputation over many years at the forefront of the treatment of mental illness cannot be underestimated. The ethos of the hospital can be demonstrated by the hospital’s rule book stating that “Because they are insane, the patients are not to be treated with less respect than they would be entitled to if they were of sound mind and at liberty” and “They are not the less ladies and gentlemen because they are unsound in mind”. 

D3725/1/167/4: Photograph of Barnwood House and grounds, including a few staff and patients [late 19th century].

Gloucestershire Archives accessions, July-December 2022

Happy New Year from all at Gloucestershire Archives and our Heritage Hub partners.

This blog details accessions received at Gloucestershire Archives during the second half of 2022. These can be from any place, person or organisation in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.

In that time we added 226 new accessions onto our online catalogue. This includes oral reminiscence recordings with members of different communities in Gloucester; documents concerning the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the Proclamation of King Charles III; research papers of local historians; Gloucester Rugby Football Club matchday programmes; cinema and theatre programmes; short films and other material concerning the Kindertransport hostel in Gloucester; records of the Ducarel family of Newland House; and Witts family papers, including correspondence and papers relating to the army and estate and finance, 20th century.

Innovations in Gloucester

On Friday September 9^th why not attend part or all of our History Festival/Voices Gloucester event, Innovations in Gloucester, in the Dunrossil Centre at Gloucestershire Heritage Hub?

It’s all free, although donations to Voices Gloucester are welcomed.  Bring a picnic to enjoy in the Hub’s community garden.  The building is fully accessible.  There is some on-site parking (£3) – we’re also close to NCP car parks.   For further details and to book a place see https://voicesgloucester.org.uk/events/innovations-in-gloucester/.     

Gloucester’s Bishops Court records unlocked, Or All human life is there…, by Judy Kimber

On the 5th December 1628 George Beard made his way to Gloucester from his home in Whaddon. A dispute had arisen concerning the will of his friend John Copp and he was going to give his testimony at the Bishop’s Court. There he was asked how old he was and he told them that he was 90.  Yes, 90! Just think about that for a minute. He had lived through the reigns of six monarchs from Henry VIII to Charles 1. He was alive when the Spanish Armada threatened England. He was in his sixties when Guy Fawkes and his gang had tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. And now he was mentally and physically fit enough to give evidence in court. So much for the notion that no-one lived past sixty in “olden times”.

An example of a Bishop’s Court case book (GDR/168)

The Story of one woman, throughout the census

The census can be a great tool for tracking your family history through the years. Our January Passport to the Past event focused on what the census could tell us about one women. The full event is available on our YouTube channel here!

Gloucester City Council and the City War Memorial, by Jonathan Hoad

As Remembrance Day approaches, I thought I would share my findings in the Gloucester Borough Records (GBR/L6/23/B5018), on how the names of World War Two fallen on the Gloucester City War Memorial, in Gloucester Park, were collected by the Council using official sources and a public appeal.

Maligned, Marginalised and Misunderstood Blog #5

In our fifth and final blog post we look at what makes up the most cases in the Quarter Sessions: theft. Theft of sheep, ducks, waistcoat, shirts, porridge bowls and just about any household item you can think of.