Somerset Archives Talks and Tours
Tours
We deliver behind-the-scenes, guided tours of the Somerset Heritage Centre for group visits of up to 15 people. Tours are available during the day or evening and include private viewing of a selection of our documents.
Tours are an hour long and can be tailored to the particular interest of the group. During your tour you will visit the archive strongrooms, the museum stores, the conservation workshop, and the searchroom.
Please see our Charges page for information and costs, and contact us at 01823 278805 or email somersetarchives@swheritage.org.uk if you are interested.
Talks
Staff are happy to provide talks on the work of the Somerset Archives and Local Studies service and the records it holds. We can either visit you in your usual venue, or you are welcome to come to the Somerset Heritage Centre. All of our talks include a PowerPoint presentation with images and complimentary text. A charge applies to talks, whether they are held in or out of the office. Please see our Charges page for more information.
Introduction to the Somerset Heritage Centre
This talk provides a brief introduction to the history of the Somerset Archives service. It provides an introduction to the main groups of records we hold (including Church records and the records of the very rich and the very poor), explains how we list and look after archives, and provides a summary of some of the other services we provide.
Research Your Somerset Family
Family historians make up the largest percentage of our users and with programmes such as Who Do You Think You Are and the availability of websites such as Ancestry and Find My Past, family history or genealogy continues to grow in popularity. This talk provides a brief introduction to the types of records that can help you put together your family tree.
How to Research the History of Your House
This talk covers some of the main sources available for house history research in the archives and suggests what information may be found in these sources.
Crime and Punishment
This talk includes information on documents from the history of crime prevention and crime punishment in Somerset. Topics include the Assize courts and the Quarter Sessions, Gaol records, and the police.
Somerset Women
A look at ordinary women who are represented in a range of documents held at the Somerset Heritage Centre, including parish registers and correspondence. Some notable examples are included and some interesting stories are uncovered.
Army Records and the Somerset Light Infantry
A talk detailing the history of the Somerset Light Infantry from 1685 - 1959, including its role in the 1st Afghan War, the 1st Burmese War, the two World Wars and the Malayan Emergency. This is followed by details on the main sources held at the Somerset Heritage Centre and nationally for researching the British Army and the Somerset Light Infantry.
Archaeology from Archives
This talk looks at documents useful in researching archaeology and local history, such as maps and records of archaeologists held in the archives.
Tales from the Quarter Sessions: Somerset's Criminal Past
The Quarter Sessions were the local court system in existence from 1363 - 1972, and heard all types of criminal and civil cases. Using examples from the Somerset session papers, typical crimes such as larceny, drunkenness, adultery, illegitimacy and witchcraft are discussed.
Slums, Sewage and Sickness: Public Health and Housing in Taunton Deane
This talk is about certain aspects of the history of Taunton, its public health and housing.
*PLEASE NOTE this talk is unavailable from late September 2018 until July 2019; and available during daytime only from July 2019 until March 2020*
Food in the Archives
Gathering and preparing food is obviously a topic that goes right back into the very beginnings of civilisation. Our earliest recipe is from the 1600s, and we have recipes going right up to almost the present day.
*PLEASE NOTE this talk is unavailable from late September 2018 until July 2019; and available during daytime only from July 2019 until March 2020*
Music in Somerset
The subject of music is vast, and one cannot hope to cover everything in an evening. Instead, what I am going to show you are glimpses into the history of music provided to us by records held at the Somerset Heritage Centre.
*PLEASE NOTE this talk is unavailable from late September 2018 until July 2019; and available during daytime only from July 2019 until March 2020*
The Poor Law
“The poor are always with us”, and in this talk we'll look at the ways that England dealt with its poor over the centuries.
*PLEASE NOTE this talk is unavailable from late September 2018 until July 2019; and available during daytime only from July 2019 until March 2020*
The Hyltons of Ammerdown
The Hylton estate archive is held at the Somerset Heritage Centre, and provides a fascinating insight into the lives of the people who owned and managed the estate, which has its seat at Ammerdown in Kilmersdon. This talk tells some of these stories, ranging from coal-mining to politics and from engineering to local history. It mainly concentrates on the 18th and 19th centuries.
Rural Somerset 1865 - 1914
Somerset is a very rural county, and this talk explores some of the challenges and changes taking place in the county during the period. It looks at themes including agriculture, education and housing, as well as wider impacts such as overseas competition and national trends. Find out how Somerset faired in the period up until the outbreak of the First World War.
Sources for Somerset Transport History
There has always been a need for people to get about and the geography of the large rural county of Somerset presented its own challenges. This talk explains some of the sources that are available to research transport in Somerset, particularly from the 18th century onwards.
Archives and the Weather
This talk examines instances of weather mentioned in documents held in Somerset Archives. The talk examines methods of predicting and recording weather, and uses the 1703 Great Storm as a case study for further research.
*PLEASE NOTE this talk is unavailable from late September 2018 until July 2019; and available during daytime only from July 2019 until March 2020*
More Information
To find out more, please see our Talks leaflet. We also offer behind-the-scenes tours of the Somerset Heritage Centre. Please contact us on 01823 278805 or somersetarchives@swheritage.org.uk or fill in the form to book your talk.