Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:13:04 +0000Exploring Surreys Past Newshttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.ukWed, 08 Feb 2012 18:13:04 +0000Orangeleaf Systems Ltd SiteSync 6en-gbhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001028.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001028.html2-3pm at Surrey History Centre, followed by book signing April 2012 sees the centenary of the most infamous voyage in sea-faring history. Recapture the unfolding drama, tragedy and chaos of that fateful night through the words of those who were there, with Nick Barratt, TV presenter, expert genealogist from Who Do You Think You Are? & author of Lost Voices from the Titanic: The Definitive Oral History. Drawn primarily from the material assembled by Walter Lord for his classic 1958 film 'A Night to Remember', Nick will revive the forgotten stories, told by those who worked and sailed on the ship. Signed copies of Nick's book can be purchased on the day. Tickets £5.00, refreshments included. Booking is essential. Places are limited. To book please call 01483 518737 To accompany this talk there will also be a small foyer display featuring sources for studying the Titanic held at the Surrey History Centre.  Surrey History Centre 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND 01483 518737 (Tues-Sat) Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001026.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001026.html2.30pm – 3.30pm at Surrey History Centre Enjoy stories and activities featuring your favourite storybook dog - and a chance to meet Kipper himself! £3 per child. Age 3 and above. All attending children must purchase a ticket. To book or for further information visit www.surreycc.gov.uk/childrensbookfestival Surrey History Centre 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND 01483 518737 (Tues-Sat) Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001025.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001025.html2pm - 3.30pm at Surrey History Centre Author and journalist, Josh Lacey will be talking about the world of newspapers and showing you how to be a journalist yourself. During the workshop, you will write news stories, interview celebrities and create your own newspaper. £4 per child. Age 7 and above. To book or for further information visit www.surreycc.gov.uk/childrensbookfestival Surrey History Centre 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND 01483 518737 (Tues-Sat) Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001027.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001027.htmlAt the Easter Family activities at Surrey History Centre. Join us to discover the heroes of Surrey and find out how they have made Surrey the great place it is today. Take part in some great hero related crafts while learning about the amazing people who helped shape Surrey’s history. There will be a range of activities from complex crafts to simple colouring activities. So why not come along and get creative. Available during normal opening hours. Parents/Guardians are responsible for supervising their children. Surrey History Centre Tuesday 3 April – Saturday 14 April 2012 (during normal opening times). Admission is free. Contact Surrey History Centre for more details: 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND 01483 518737 (Tues-Sat) Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001024.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001024.html Every April, Surrey Museums Month celebrates Surrey’s 44 amazing museums and galleries and their many fun events, exhibitions and activities for all ages and interests. For 2012, we are also showcasing people around the county who have played an important role in shaping Surrey’s history. We are calling these our Surrey Heroes. From the very well known to those less so, we hope to share different aspects of Surrey’s history and encourage visits to discover more about our ‘Stars’. Keep watch for updates on http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk from March, and for further details of the Surrey Museums Month: Surrey Heroes popular launch evening being held this year at the newly refurbished Watts Gallery. http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001023.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001023.html10.30am – 1pm at Surrey History Centre A fun family event for all ages with dance workshops, dressing up and refreshments. Learn your jive from your jitterbug with the London Swing Dance Society and try on some fabulous costumes at the same time. Get a feel for the 1950’s with our reminiscence collection - see the sights, smell the smells and play the games. So be prepared to put your glad rags on and enjoy the party! £4 per child. Ages 6 and above. Children must be accompanied by a participating adult. To book or for further information visit www.surreycc.gov.uk/childrensbookfestival Surrey History Centre 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND 01483 518737 (Tues-Sat) Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001022.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001022.htmlAt Olympia, London Come and see the Surrey History Centre stand at the world’s biggest family history event. Were your ancestors children in Surrey? Were they baptised here? Admitted to workhouses?  Were they in orphanages or sent to reform schools? Our experts can help you trace your young ancestors using the wide range of records that we hold and the growing number of name indexes to them. For more information and tickets visit: http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.co.uk/ http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001021.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001021.htmlDrop-in family activities FREE Surrey History Centre invites you to join us and find out about the rampaging Romans and their history in Surrey. Have fun with some Roman related craft activities including making a Roman mosaic, building your own Roman villa and much more. There will be a range of activities from complex crafts to simple colouring activities. Available during normal opening hours. Parents/Guardians are responsible for supervising their children. Surrey History Centre Tuesday 14 February– Saturday 18 February 2012 (during normal opening times). Admission is free. Contact Surrey History Centre for more details: 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND 01483 518737 (Tues-Sat) Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001020.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001020.html9.30am to 5pm Peace Memorial Hall, Woodfield Lane, Ashtead, KT21 2BE The annual Surrey Archaeological Society Symposium is a day of talks highlighting recent projects and progress in Surrey's exciting history and archaeology. This year's speakers include: Catherine Ferguson (University of Sussex) on the Loseley manuscripts and Tudor power. Robert Davies (Surrey Wildlife Trust) looking at the revised Ancient Woodland Survey for the county. Rob Poulton (Surrey County Archaeological Unit), Nick Branch (Reading University) and Richard Savage (Surrey Archaeological Society) are all presenting papers on Woking Palace from a historical, archaeological, geo and bio-archaeologcial viewpoint. Surrey Heritage is well represented with David Williams discussing recent Portable Antiquities Scheme finds, and representatives from Surrey County Archaeological Unit speaking about recent commercial and community archaeological projects.   To apply for tickets, please write to Emma Coburn, Surrey Archaeological Society, Castle Arch, Guildford, GU1 3SX, please enclose an SAE. Tickets are £8 in advance and £10 at the door. See http://www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/content/annual-symposium-0 for programme and booking form. http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001016.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001016.htmlFree display at Surrey History Centre, Woking. LGBT History Month takes place every year in February and celebrates the lives and achievements of the LGBT community. This is an opportunity to learn more about the histories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in Surrey and the UK. This year’s display features the finale of the ‘LGBT on Tour', project which has focused on the impact of World War II and the holocaust on the LGBT community in Europe. Come and see what they discovered! The display will also be featuring Hitler's notorious 'Black Book', which listed 2,800 prominent British citizens, many from the LGBT community, who were to be detained following Nazi invasion – find out who was on the hit list! Throughout 2012 Surrey Heritage will be celebrating the lives of Surrey Heroes and for LGBT History Month you can learn more about Surrey's Gay ‘heroes’ including Sir John Gielgud, Sir Terence Rattigan and Denholm Elliott. Come and find out more about Surrey’s LGBT past, present and future! Surrey History Centre foyer Tues 8 February – Sat 3 March 2012 (during normal opening times). Admission is free. Contact Surrey History Centre for more details: 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND 01483 518737 (Tues-Sat) Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre See more about LGBT on Tour and Surrey's LGBT history on our Exploring Surrey's Past website: http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/subjects/diversity http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001029.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001029.htmlDid your ancestor do time in the Surrey County Gaol? Was he or she tried for coining, conspiracy or criminal damage? Was he publicly whipped, sentenced to hard labour or transported to Australia?  A new CD will provide the answer. For the past few years Surrey History Trust has been working with Surrey Heritage to record on a database the details of the 20,000 or so cases relating to people hauled up before the magistrates of the Surrey Court of Quarter Sessions for a very wide range of offences between 1780 and 1820. The data is now available on CD with an introduction to the work of the court and a name index of the 54208 defendants (and aliases), accusers, victims and witnesses. The project has been entirely carried out by volunteers who have worked with great dedication and enthusiasm on very complicated records in their own homes. All human life will be found on the CD. Searching through this index will introduce William Baker, aged only 15, who was sentenced to transportation to Australia for 7 years in 1820 for stealing a pair of stockings, or the quartet of Aram Ball, Jeremiah Mahoney, John Rice Lewis and John Collings who in 1816 were all fined for exposing themselves naked and in an indecent posture on the public highway in Camberwell. Then there is William Winter, a particularly zealous magistrate, who in 1783 committed 13 women for being 'common night walkers and picking up men and committing other acts of lewdness'. And it is not just crime and indecent behaviour. There are men who refuse to maintain their illegitimate offspring, fraudsters and hucksters playing confidence tricks on their neighbours, workers striking for better wages, people endeavouring to supply prisoners with gin and even body snatchers. At a time when France had fallen into revolutionary turmoil and the Surrey magistrates were fretting that the contagion might spread to England you can see them coming down hard on Giles Barratt in 1790 for playing the role of Henry du Bois in a play called the Triumph of Liberty or the Destruction of the Bastille. The Surrey Quarter Sessions 1780-1820 CD is produced by the Surrey History Trust and can be purchased from the Surrey Heritage online shop or from Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND. Price £10 plus £2.40 postage and handling or £4.00 for overseas. Click here to find out more about the CD and for a link to the Surrey Heritage on-line shop. Click here to find out more about the Quarter Sessions records held at the Surrey History Centre. http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001018.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001018.htmlEvery Wednesday from 11 January until 8 February, 10.30am – 12pm at Surrey History Centre Discover what life in Roman Britain was like through a series of interactive workshops using real archaeological resources! The five-week course will cover topics such as food and drink, warfare, Roman professions, leisure and games. These workshops will be suitable for children aged 6 - 14. Sessions are £5 each. Please note that places must be booked in advance and that payment for all sessions (£25) will be expected in the first workshop on Wednesday 11 January. Payment can be made by cash or cheque payable to Surrey County Council. For more information and to book please contact Laura Joyner on 01483 518 241 Surrey History Centre 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey GU21 6ND 01483 518737 (Tues-Sat) Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyhistorycentre http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001013.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001013.html Featuring watercolours by prolific father and son artists, this exhibition, in partnership with Surrey County Council’s Surrey History Centre, captures a picturesque view of Surrey almost two centuries ago. Image: Byfleet Church, (1823) John Hassell, reproduced by permission of Surrey History Centre. The Lightbox gallery and museum, Woking, Surrey Free entry, donations welcome A talk will accompany the exhibition. Join Curator Julian Pooley on 19 January at 7.00pm as he discusses the 18th Century craze for collecting illustrations. Advance booking required. Tickets £6 adults, £5 concessions. For more information visit www.thelightbox.org.uk or call 01483 737800. Find out more about John and Edward Hassell's work and the collection at the Surrey History Centre. http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001010.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001010.htmlFind out more about the Inspire Mark programme. Surrey Heritage is very pleased to announce that the Surrey's Sporting Life 2012 programme of events and the Our Sporting Life display have been awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark. The Surrey's Sporting Life 2011 programme of events and the Our Sporting Life display were also awarded the Inspire Mark and it is fantastic to have the continuing recognition. The programme of events and displays is close to being finalised. Surrey’s Sporting Life 2012 Re-enactments of historic sporting events. The Olympic torch route and the cycling race through Surrey are once-in-a-lifetime events. This programme of events will connect with and build on these historic events. The public will be inspired by, enjoy and learn about Surrey’s rich and diverse sporting heritage. The events will focus on locally and nationally significant sporting firsts and events, and famous or forgotten sporting heroes. The aim is to build a sense of pride in, and community around the County’s sporting achievements, heritage and culture. Opportunities to try sports will run in parallel with re-enactments and talks. Exhibitions. At least ten venues will host the Our Sporting Life exhibition. This will link to, and give more information about the events to further inspire and strengthen the sense of pride and community and encourage exploration of Surrey’s heritage. In April, Surrey’s museums will focus on Local Heroes, including sporting personalities. This will be a combination of exhibitions, talks, workshops and other activities, in particular there is a planned collaboration with Go Surrey at the Albert Hall event Sports on-line. Linked pages on the Exploring Surrey’s Past website will provide access to museums and archives with more information about the County’s sporting heritage and provide opportunities for involvement. Events The programme of events is being finalised but is expected to include: Torch festival, Guildford, 20 July 2012 including the re enactment of the 1755 baseball match in Guildford Re-enactment of the Caesars’ cricket match in Godalming Dorking, Cotmandene, re-enactment cricket match. Golfing re-enactment in Elmbridge. Cycling re-enactments at various locations including Go Surrey, Surrey Arts Festival, Royal Albert Hall, 29th May 2012 Woking Party in the Park, 7 July 2012 Surrey Hills Road Cycle Race Festival 2012, 27-29th July 2012; Brooklands Cycle Festival, 16th September 2012. Gypsy vardos as part of, and along the route of the Olympic torch run. Exhibitions Camberley Library, 13-19th February 2012 Banstead Library, 3rd-18th March 2012 Caterham Valley Library, 2nd-8th April 2012 Godalming Library, 7th-13th May 2012 Cranleigh Library, 15-20th May 2012 Guildford Library, 21st-27th May 2012 Go Surrey, Surrey Arts Festival, Royal Albert Hall, 29th May 2012 Surrey County Show, 4th June 2012 Banstead Library, 11-17th June 2012 Haslemere Educational Museum, 1st-26th, 30th, 31st July, 1-31st August 2012 Woking Party in the Park, 7 July 2012 Torch festival, Guildford, 20 July 2012 Surrey Hills Road Cycle Race Festival 2012, 27-29th July 2012 http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001009.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001009.htmlA rare and unique photograph of John Springfield, a Zanzibar slave and later resident of Guildford (1847-1891), is one the winners in the 100 Images of Migration competition organised by The Guardian newspaper and The Migration Museum. The John Springfield collection is part of the Surrey History Centre archive (Ref.1714) and his story was researched and digitised for display on the Exploring Surrey's Past and Surrey History Centre websites as part of ongoing work into Surrey's diverse communities. A selection of winners will be published some time soon in the Guardian Weekend magazine (no precise date yet) and the image is featured on the winners' gallery on the museum website (about half way down page 2). It is hoped there will also be an exhibiton of all the winning entries. However, if you can't wait to discover John Springfield's story you can find out how the Surrey History Centre researchers became history detectives to unearth his extraordinary story by visiting the websites: Exploring Surrey's Past - John Springfield – From Zanzibar to Guildford Surrey History Centre - John Springfield a Guildford cobbler from Zanzibar http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/000997.htmlhttp://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/000997.html Transcripts of the Surrey Recruitment Registers (1908-1933) are now available to search on-line through Find My Past. Click here to go to the search page. To view records on Find My Past it is necessary to purchase a subscription or  “Pay As You Go” credits. To see details visit the Find My Past home page. Access to Find My Past records is free from any Surrey Library public computer via the “Adult Online Reference Shelf”, click here for more details. Surrey Recruitment Registers 1908-1933. This record set comprises details of approximately 85,000 men who attested (signed up) for service with a variety of regiments in Surrey between 1908 and 1933. Volunteers lining up outside the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment depot at Kingston-upon-Thames in August or September 1914 Surviving recruitment registers for the World War I period are extremely rare indeed and the Surrey Recruitment Registers offer a fascinating snapshot of the men of Surrey who served for King and Country. Transcripts of the registers are published on Find My Past with the kind permission of The Surrey History Trust which retains all copyrights in the database. The Surrey History Centre holds the original registers. The register transcripts can be searched by name. For more details of the arrangement of the records of the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment visit the regiment page on the Exploring Surrey’s Past website (click here).