Archives

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…

Tales of the Vales: Stories from A Forgotten Landscape

EXHIBITION: An exhibition and publication about the geology and rich natural resources of the extraordinary River Severn. The immense floodplain has been shaped over millennia, first by the Severn’s extraordinary tides and then by human activity.  

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…

Refusing to kill: Bristol’s World War I conscientious objectors

EXHIBITION: Using documents, photographs, artefacts and material from surviving relatives and archive collections, this exhibition explores the varied motivations of conscientious objectors and their experiences during World War I and afterwards.

Bristol women at war

EXHIBITION: This exhibition will take you back in time to follow how Bristol’s women contributed to the war effort and kept families running whilst husbands, brothers and sons were away on the front line.

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…