Founded in 1899, the Victoria County History (so named because of its dedication to Queen Victoria) aspires to create a scholarly history of every parish in every County in England. It is organised on a County basis and the first Gloucestershire volume was published in 1907. There was then a gap in production until the 1960s, but volumes have since been produced on a regular basis.
The ‘List of Electors’ booklet mentioned below was discovered by members of Cheltenham Local History Society as part of their project to catalogue the archive of Ticehurst and Wyatt, solicitors of Cheltenham, for Gloucestershire Archives. The cataloguing is also helpful to the compilers of the Victoria County History of Gloucestershire Cheltenham volume, who are making good use of the work.
We’re constantly amazed by the dedication, time and energy our volunteers bring to helping us gather, keep and share the documented heritage of Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, and often by the things they find too!
One group from Cheltenham have been visiting us regularly, for more than a year. They’re steadily working their way through a collection of solicitors’ papers, adding information to enhance our catalogue. We asked two of the group’s members what they get from this role: Continue reading
Dry, dusty, dull and just not at all interesting.
If that is what you think about elections take a look at the Parliamentary election and by- elections in 1847 and 1848 for the Cheltenham constituency. There was no shortage of excitement leading up to and at, both events. Continue reading
As the trainee archivist here at Gloucestershire Archives I have helped many customers carry out their own research. I recently went to view a flat in a house called The Hendre on Overton Park Road in Cheltenham. Very little was known about the history of the building, and I offered to utilise some of the skills I have learned in my time here and look through the archives. Continue reading
The Scene: A heaving unsettled sea, and away over to the western horizon an angry yellow sun is setting clearly below a forbidding bank of the blackest of wind charged clouds.
Extract from Whispers From The Fleet by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, KCVO, CB. 1908
The above words almost describe the prelude to the Battle of Coronel, a naval battle fought between British and German forces on 1st November 1914 off the coast of Chile. This has a link to a previous blog – about HMS Gloucester and her involvement in the pursuit of the German warships Goeben and Breslau. Although these incidents may appear unrelated, they are not, for the first actually had a direct bearing on the latter.
Rear Admiral Sir Christopher ‘Kit’ Cradock
Britain’s decision to declare war against Germany in August 1914 would have an impact on every aspect of life in Gloucestershire, including its iconic sports.
In 1914 W G Grace was 64 years old and in July he played his last game of cricket, scoring 69 not out for Eltham. A month later he sent a letter to the Sportsman suggesting that the county cricket season should be closed: “it is not fitting at a time like this that able-bodied men should be playing day after day, and pleasure-seekers look on…I should like to see all first-class cricketers of suitable age set a good example, and come to the aid of their country in its hour of need.” The letter was published on 27 August, and had its desired effect.
Gloucestershire Archives 