Temporary closure of the William Salt Library

A note from Staffordshire Archives…

The Trustees of the William Salt Library have agreed to close access temporarily to the Library’s collection from 1 December 2021. This is to enable preparatory work for the move of the collection from the Library building in early 2022. Due to the nature of the listed building the removal process will take several weeks. 

Staff and volunteers will be cleaning and packaging the collection prior to transfer to crates for removal. Where items are in a poor state of repair basic conservation work will be completed. This work is essential to ensure nothing is lost during the move and to limit transfer of dirt or pests into the new strongrooms at the Staffordshire History Centre.

Limited remote access to the collection will be introduced once the Archives and Heritage Service has moved to a temporary base. This is anticipated to be in place by late Spring. From Spring 2022 a remote service will be provided including copying/digital images from collections, answering enquiries about the collection and a limited research service.

The temporary closure is planned to last for 12-18 months dependent on the construction programme.

If you are interested in volunteering to help prepare the collection for the big move please contact Staffordshire Record Office: staffordshire.record.office@staffordshire.gov.uk

For further updates please visit the Planning a Visit to the William Salt Library page on our website. Further updates will also be available on our Staffordshire History Centre page, via this newsletter and through our social media channels.

Nantwich Museum Talks (on Zoom)

Beginning in early September, Nantwich museum will be starting a new series of talks. They’ll be on Wednesday evenings starting at 7pm. Tickets will be £5. Unfortunately there’s no relevant link to the museum site booking engine available at the moment.

Of particular local interest, on 6th October (1 hour)…
Made in the Old Medicine House: a century of patent medicine manufacture in an unlikely setting.
by Valerie White for the Blackden Trust
The talk will explore the kinds of medicines available to ordinary people who could not afford those prescribed by qualified practitioners. The family firm established by Samuel Johnson sold its products all over the country (and beyond) from the late 19th century until the 1960s from its “Factory” in Wrinehill. The business archive, now held by The Blackden Trust and examined by the speaker throws light on an era when most people would try a home remedy first, only calling the nurse, doctor or pharmacist when all else had failed.

Other talks include:

1st September 2021, 7 pm (1 hour)
Herbs and herbalism
Tracy Jones, Plant Heritage Co-coordinator Cheshire

8 September 2021, 7 pm (1.5 hours)
Pills, potions and poisons: an apothecary’s tale
Nicholas Wood, Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, Fabio Parmeggiani, Politecnico di Milano and Helen Cooke, Nantwich Museum

15 September 2021, 7 pm (1 hour)
Renaissance and Early modern medicine; changes in medical and surgical practice 1500-1700
Nick Coles, Historical medicine educational consultant

22 September 2021, 7 pm (1 hour)
Tales from Chester Asylum
Claire Chatterton. Visiting Professor at the University of Chester, a Staff Tutor at the Open University and former Chair of the Royal College of Nursing’s History of Nursing Society

29 September 2021, 7 pm (1 hour)
When cholera hit Nantwich
Keith Lawrence, Nantwich Museum

Staffordshire Archives - Index to Indictments in the Quarter Sessions Rolls, 1581-1733

Staffordshire Archives have added an index to Indictments in the Quarter Sessions Rolls, 1581-1733, to the Staffordshire Name Indexes website.  They are very grateful to Jim Sutton for the work that he has put in over several years creating this index – work made more difficult by the source material being in Latin.

Quarter Sessions Indictments - Staffordshire Name Indexes (staffsnameindexes.org.uk)

Indictments were formal legal complaints of wrongdoing made by a local official or private individual against one or more people.  The range of offences complained of is extraordinarily broad, within six general categories – violent offences, offences against property, agricultural offences, economic, social and religious offences.  A list of offences is available on the index homepage, linked above, but hopefully the following sample of one type of offence from each broad category hopefully gives a flavour of the whole: forced marriage; poaching; failing to scour a watercourse; selling unwholesome food or drink; fathering an illegitimate child and playing games during the time of divine service. 

This is an index that could be useful to family, local and social historians alike.

Nantwich Museum Webinars Next Month

Nantwich Museum have announced another series of webinars to be delivered during May & June:

Wednesday 19 May

Life During the Siege and Battle of Nantwich by Helen Cooke

Prior to the Battle of Nantwich in January 1644, the town (the last Parliamentarian stronghold in Cheshire) was besieged for around six weeks. This talk will explore what life would have been like at the time, and the impact on people of the events leading up to the Battle.

Wednesday 26 May

Worleston Dairy Institute by Bill Pearson

In the year that Reaseheath College celebrates its 100 anniversary, this talk goes back to 1886 (and beyond) to celebrate the people, and organisations, that started it all off. This is the remarkable, and largely untold, story of how a Cheshire farmer got together with a Manchester dairyman and created the UK's first ever Dairy School - shaping Agricultural Education for many years.

Wednesday 2 June

Crewe Hall at War by Graham Dodd

This talk will consider the involvement of the estate in wars from medieval times to the twentieth century including the Battle of Poitiers, the English Civil War and the Second World War. Particular attention will be given to the military occupation of the estate during the Second World War and its use as a prisoner of war camp.

Wednesday 9 June

Myths of the First War; Nantwich in focus by Keith Lawrence

There is a Grand Narrative of the Great War that we all know, but is it true? Examples of misunderstanding about what happened in Nantwich and nationally will be discussed.

Wednesday 16 June

Roman Nantwich by Bernie Strawson

Over the last 20 years there has been a seismic shift in our understanding of the importance of Nantwich to Roman Cheshire thanks to a handful of archaeological digs around the town. The talk will review the evidence to build an up-to-date image of the Roman town of Nantwich.

Tickets are £5 and can be purchased through the Nantwich Museum online shop here

How clocks work - The British Museum

If you were ever curious about how the mechanisms in old clocks worked and want to differentiate your mainspring from your escapement then take a look at this British Museum blog post. There are some lovely examples of 15th-18th century clocks together with a description of their insides.

If you prefer a video…voila! You can go here.

Lastly, here’s a short video explaining how if, in the 1600s, you woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to know the time, you could find out - How to Tell the Time in the Dark.

Reopening of Staffordshire Record Office

The Staffordshire Record Office plans to reopen on Tuesday 13 April 2021.

Visits will be strictly by appointment only, the number of available places will be very limited and documents must be ordered in advance. Social distancing and hygiene measures will continue to be in place and visitors will be required to wear a face covering during their visit.

Please visit our website to access all the information regarding visiting the Record Office.

Our opening hours will be:

  • Monday : closed

  • Tuesday-Friday : 10.00am - 4.00pm

  • Third Saturday of each month : 9.00am - 1.00pm

Full details about contacting the Record Office and making an appointment can be found here.

The Sandhurst Collection

Towards the end of last year, The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst completed their project of digitising and publishing their extensive archive of records and artefacts.

“The Sandhurst Collection exists to promote military tradition and ethos to the Officer Cadets and preserve the heritage of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

The collection of pictures, silver, decorative art, weaponry, and other objects, foster a sense of military pride and tradition through their display around the academy. Also, in practical terms, the collection supports training to cadet companies and departments, particularly by instruction or exhibition.

The Sandhurst Collection also preserves and manages the archives of the academy. The archives contain records of the academy and its predecessors; the Royal Military College Sandhurst 1799-1939 and the Royal Military Academy Woolwich 1741-1939. It also maintains the archive of the current academy which was established in 1947.”

You can click through to The Sandhurst Collection here.