Category Archives: Snapshots from the Archive

Great Thorpe Railway Disaster 1874 on its 150th Anniversary

Posted on 19 July 2024 by victoriadraper24

The tenth of September 2024 will mark the 150th anniversary of The Great Thorpe Railway Disaster.  This Victorian railway collision was described by Captain Tyler, Inspecting Officer for Railways, when presiding over the Board of Trade Inquiry, as: “….. the … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, NRO Research Bloggers, Snapshots from the Archive | 3 Comments

‘Wilfully Destroying a Geranium’ and other Crimes in 19th Century Great Yarmouth

Posted on 9 July 2024 by victoriadraper24

Great Yarmouth gaol was housed in the twelfth century Tolhouse for several hundred years until its closure in 1875. In 1819 the Borough Council purchased adjacent buildings and converted them into a House of Correction (aka the Bridewell) which was … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, NRO Research Bloggers, Snapshots from the Archive | 2 Comments

Vaccination in the Archives

Posted on 18 June 2024 by cbolsterNRO

An interesting and under-used resource, which is perhaps unexpectedly helpful for family historians, are the series of vaccination registers (1882-1948) from Norwich City Council’s Health Department (reference NRO, N/HE 12).  Compulsory smallpox vaccination legislation was introduced in 1853 for England … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, Snapshots from the Archive | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Parson Woodforde and his diary: a new website 

Posted on 28 May 2024 by victoriadraper24

The famous diarist, the Revd James Woodforde (1740–1803), lived for 27 years at Weston Longville, twelve miles northwest of Norwich. He began his daily diary at the age of nineteen while at Oxford, continued it as a young curate in … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, Snapshots from the Archive | 3 Comments

Colonel William Roy and Burgh Castle Fort

Posted on 1 May 2024 by victoriadraper24

This blog will focus on how one of the most important mapmakers in British history has a link to Norfolk. William Roy was a key figure in the development of the Ordnance Survey (OS), Great Britain’s national mapping agency (so-named … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, Snapshots from the Archive | 2 Comments

Great Yarmouth court rolls

Posted on 16 April 2024 by cbolsterNRO

The Norfolk Record Office holds the Great Yarmouth Borough court rolls (NRO, Y/C 4), which, between the 1260s and the 1670s, are the main, and, during the medieval period, the only surviving administrative records of the borough. They record the … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, Snapshots from the Archive | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Black Beauty in the White House

Posted on 29 February 2024 by jumpyspiders

This is the story of a child from a coastal town in Norfolk, who would go on to influence life around the world and who is just as famous today. Not Horatio Nelson, but rather Anna Sewell, the author of … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, NRO Research Bloggers, Snapshots from the Archive | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Wooing of Elizabeth Browne- Part Two

Posted on 14 February 2024 by victoriadraper24

As a sub-plot, there is within the letters a story of unrequited affection. In the only letter from John Browne, he writes to Sir Henry Gawdy in response to a letter (sadly not in this bundle) informing him that Henry’s … Continue reading →

Posted in All Posts, NRO Research Bloggers, Snapshots from the Archive | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment