Blog / Archives

Margaret Duncan’s diary: 11-20 March 1918

by Nicky Sugar, Archivist at Bristol Archives. In February 1918 Margaret Duncan, a Post Office clerk from Scotland, sailed to East Africa for a new job and new adventures. Her diary and photograph albums are now in the British Empire and Common…

Theatre Royal archives take centre stage with new online catalogue

by Anne Lovejoy, Bristol Old Vic project archivist The catalogue of archives relating to Bristol’s Theatre Royal (known as Bristol Old Vic today) is now available online on Bristol Archives’ online catalogue. As you may have read last summer, Bristol Ol…

Bristol and Nairobi – a new archives partnership

by Dr Liz Haines, University of Bristol At the beginning of April I travelled to Nairobi along with Dr Neil Carrier. Our visit was part of a project—funded by the University of Bristol—to begin exploring the potential for collaboration and research…

The first IVF mother: the Lesley Brown collection

by Allie Dillon and Nicky Sugar At Bristol Archives, we take in a large number of collections each year, and look after the memories of many notable Bristolians. But a first for us was receiving a donation of material from someone who was famous befo…

Margaret Duncan’s diary: 6-9 March 2018

by Nicky Sugar, Archivist at Bristol Archives. In February 1918 Margaret Duncan, a Post Office clerk from Scotland, sailed to East Africa for a new job and new adventures. Her diary and photograph albums are now in the British Empire and Common…

Vanbrugh letter returns to Bristol

By David Martyn, Chair of the Kings Weston Action Group Bristol Archives recently received an important new addition: a letter by the architect Sir John Vanbrugh (ref. 46048) detailing the construction of Kings Weston House. The archives already hold a na…

Miss Ralph celebrated

by Allie Dillon, senior archivist We’re very pleased to announce that Great Western Railway (GWR) have named a train in honour of our former City Archivist, Miss Elizabeth Ralph (1911-2000). She was chosen as a ‘Great Westerner’ after being nominated by …

Margaret Duncan’s diary: 3 March 1918

by Nicky Sugar, Archivist. In February 1918 Margaret Duncan, a Post Office clerk from Scotland, sailed to East Africa for a new job and new adventures. Her diary and photograph albums are now in the British Empire and Commonwealth Collection at Bris…

Working with the Robertsons and the Reillys

by Ella Roper, Bristol Archives volunteer While volunteering at the archives, working on the British Empire and Commonwealth material, I have had access to a myriad of handwritten sources within the collections I have been cataloguing. I have worked …

Margaret Duncan’s diary: 7-15 February 1918

by Nicky Sugar, Archivist. In February 1918 Margaret Duncan, a Post Office clerk from Scotland, sailed to East Africa for a new job and new adventures. Her diary and photograph albums are now in the British Empire and Commonwealth Collection at Bris…