All history ultimately depends on archives of some kind – documents, film, sound recordings and increasingly digital files. There is a huge range of such archives of all sizes and levels of sophistication. Often, to properly research a subject, it is necessary to “roam around” sources. This often comes up with some surprising finds. In this podcast, specially recorded for Heritage Open Days 2021, local historian Barry Shurlock will attempt to show the richness of archives, with particular reference to Hampshire, but also more broadly.
BARRY SHURLOCK read Natural Sciences at Cambridge and after a research career spent the rest of his working life as a medical journalist. He has a long interest in local history, is a founder of the Worthys Local History Group, a trustee of the Hampshire Archives Trust and contributes regularly to the Hampshire Chronicle, the Southern Evening Echo and other newspapers. His published works include The Speaker’s Chaplain & The Master’s Daughter: A Georgian Family & Friends (2014) and most recently, in the Hampshire Industrial Archaeology Society Journal (2021, No. 29, 3-19): ‘Bertram Hutchings, the Winchester pioneer who built “houses on wheels” (1911-1959)’. He also recently presented a Zoom talk on Thomas Burberry (1835-1926), the Basingstoke draper and international fashion icon, for the The British Association for Local History.
You can still enjoy many of our other Heritage Open Days events including our Edible England Exhibition and some of the festival films, interviews and tour. Click here to visit our YouTube channel.