Dudley archives journal
Issue 15 - June 2015
Welcome
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter,
packed with all the latest news from the service. Inside
you’ll find all our usual features including an update on
the wonderful work our volunteers have done for us.
It’s been an exciting year so far with new projects and
contributions from friends old and new. At the turn of
the New Year we sent our school admission registers
to be digitised by Worcestershire archives as part of a
nationwide project run by Find My Past to make this
wonderful resource available to the public online.
February saw a number of improvements to the building,
including the installation of our fabulous new touch
screen computer displays in the foyer, free for anyone
to use and giving access to our free Ancestry account
among other resources. March was a superb month,
bringing with it new faces to the building as the Black
Country Bugle opened its new offices here at the
archives; a warm welcome to them! March also saw the
excellent ‘Life and Times of Dud Dudley’ event given by
eminent local historian John Hemmingway. Celebrating
the life of one of Dudley’s most famous sons, Dud
Dudley, inventor of the method of smelting iron ore with
coke, a key development in the Industrial Revolution.
On the subject of new faces, April brought great news,
the appointment of our new Archivist, Richard Lewis,
who joins us from Bletchley Park archives. Richard joins
us at an auspicious time in the life of the service as we
look towards our next major development milestone,
accreditation from The National Archives.
the
archives
and local history service
Tipton Road, Dudley DY1 4SQ
At the time of writing we’re looking to two exciting
developments; the Zulu Dawn Hip Hop Heritage project
is nearing its close with a completed catalogue, and
Dudley looks towards its next major celebration with a
Magna Carta Day in June to commemorate the 800th
birthday of the world’s most famous archival document.
Tying in with this is our latest display in the foyer,
‘Democracy in Dudley’ celebrating Dudley’s developing
democratic institutions from the time of Domesday Book
to the present.
Keep your eyes peeled for us over the summer months
as we man displays at the Armed Forces Day at Himley
Hall on 28 June, Netherton Park Fun Day on 4 July and
remember to keep your diaries free for the annual Local
History Day to be held this year on Saturday 3rd October.
As we went to press we’d heard that our collaboration
with The Bridge FM on the ‘Diary of a Blackcountry
Mon’ to commemorate the outbreak of WWI had
been nominated as a finalist in the New York Festivals
International Radio Programming Awards, the radio
equivalent of the Oscars! We’re thrilled and hope that
we can continue to help put Dudley on the map in the
months ahead!
Best wishes
Rob Bennett
Archivist
Bugle welcome ceremony
The Black Country Bugle recently
became the newest residents in the
archives building after twenty six years
of operating out of their previous base
in Cradley Heath. The Bugle were
officially welcomed to the building with
a civic reception on 18 March 2015,
which was attended by Bugle directors
and journalists, the Mayor of Dudley,
Cllr Steve Waltho, council staff and
invited members of community groups.
The Bugle’s move sees a small team of staff working
upstairs, whilst the foyer now houses the Bugle shop
which contains publications and annuals, as well as
copies of the Bugle newspaper.
A very welcome addition to the building, the work of
the Bugle team complements the work we undertake
in the archives, whilst also contributing to the cultural
regeneration of the Castle Hill area. We look forward
to welcoming the new users of our service that this
connection will undoubtedly bring.
Civic reception for the new residents to the archives
Page l 2
John Butterworth of the
Black Country Bugle with
Cllr Steve Waltho, Mayor of Dudley
Staff profile Richard Lewis
It’s wonderful to be back in a local authority archive,
especially one as modern as this. It was whilst studying
history at Aberystwyth University I discovered the value
of archives. After a short interlude working in pubs I was
fortunate to be the Graduate Trainee at Gloucestershire
Archives before returning to Aberystwyth to complete
the Archive Administration course in 2009. Upon
qualifying I worked for Stafford Record Office followed
by West Yorkshire Archive Service before a year with the
Mercers’ Company cataloguing the Gresham Estate.
After a fantastic year in the City I enjoyed a great two
years at Bletchley Park before coming to work with the
fabulous collections, colleagues and public that makes
up Dudley archives and local history service.
Archive accessions
We’re happy to report that 2014 saw a grand total of 79
accessions, a huge increase on the previous year and a
great reflection on the presence in the community that
our brand new building gives us. We’ve had a further
20 accessions since then, with some absolute gems
such as ACC 9810, records of St John’s Cricket Club,
Dudley, ACC 9817, a large deposit of records for Holy
Trinity Amblecote parish, and Acc 9821 records relating
to John Jones undertaker’s business in Halesowen
which came to us with some fantastic supporting
documentation detailing the history of the firm. As ever
our accessions reflect the sheer variety of life in this
wonderful borough of ours, and they represent a range
of treasures preserved for future generations.
Local studies accessions
In the last 6 months we have added another 130 items
to the local studies collection. As well as a series of
printed transcripts of local parish registers produced by
the Friends of DALHS there are a wide variety of items
relating to the social history of the region including the
following items:
•Aston, Robert. Jack O’Beans, a tale of medieval
adventure set in and around Dudley castle. LD A
ASTON
•Higginbotham, Peter. The workhouse encyclopedia.
LD 362
•Newby, Jennifer. Women’s lives, researching women’s
social history, 1800-1939. LD 305.4
•Gough, Graham. The Black Country album, 50 years
of events, people & places. LD 942.091
•Collins, Paul. By tram from Dudley. LD 388.4
•Pearson, Michael. The Black Country in the Great War.
LD 940.3
•Hawthorne, Brendan. Black Country & Birmingham
Ghost Stories. LD 133.1
•Weston, Jean and Marlene Price. Lost Twenty Nine
LD 940.3
•Tristram, Geoff. JB’s, The Story of Dudley’s Legendary
Live Music Venue LD 781
•Jenkinson, Tim. Toll-Houses of Staffordshire LD 388.1
All these items, and more, can be viewed in our search
room
A selection of comments received April to June 2015
Comment received via our Talkback form
“Having travelled from Saffron Walden Essex, we really appreciate the record office being open all day on a
Saturday. A super service!”
Comment received via Talkback form
“A very efficient service from staff. A great facility in a superb building.”
Comment received via Talkback form
“It is always a pleasure to come to Dudley archives. The staff are very helpful and pleasant; the office is very
well laid out and conducive to research. Most importantly, the long opening hours and facility to come all day on
Saturday is extremely helpful.”
Chris Ha mpson
“An excellent day. Fitted in big gaps in the history of my house. Thank you to all the staff who helped for their
knowledge, patience and enthusiasm.”
Page l 3
The Great War: 1915
By the spring of 1915, the idea that the war would be ‘over by Christmas’ had
been firmly put to bed. Instead the ‘race-to-the-sea’ in the autumn of 1914 had
established trench warfare in Western Europe. For the local troops this meant the
beginning of four long years of rotation into and out of the front lines.
The 1st Worcestershires found themselves located near to Neuve-Chapelle in Northern France. Involved in the
first British planned offensive on the small village, they lost 370 men over the course of the battle, amongst them
Lieutenant Colonel E.C.F. Wodehouse, whose “courage, kindliness and resource had been the mainstay of the
Battalion”.
The failure at Neuve-Chapelle to achieve a breakthrough of the German lines led to the planning of a larger
offensive at Aubers Ridge in May 1915, with the 1st Worcestershire’s forming part of the reserve forces. This
offensive was one dogged by difficulties, with the problems of the initial bombardment on the German lines
described by Stacke:
“Almost at once it was apparent that all was not going well. The German defences had been scarcely damaged by
the bombardment, their protecting wire entanglements had not been cut, and from concealed embrasures in the
parapet their rifles and machine-guns opened an annihilating fire.”
The Worcestershires lost over 200 men in this offensive.
Whilst fighting was happening in France, the 4th Worcestershires found themselves
in Turkey, fighting in the Gallipoli campaign. It was during this campaign, in July 1915,
that Lieutenant H. James became the first man from the Worcestershire Regiment to be
awarded a Victoria Cross.
Lt. Herbert James, VC
“With two rifles and a sack of bombs, Lieut.
James held the trench single handed, alternately
lying behind his barricade to fire and then rising to
bomb the Turks after his rifle fire had driven them
back behind cover . . . he held his ground until the
arrival of reinforcements.”
Lieutenant James had been born in Birmingham, and taught in Smethwick
before joining up with the army in 1909. He survived the war, despite
participating in other major offensives such as the Battle of the Somme,
earning himself numerous other war medals for his gallantry.
Census entry for Herbert James (one
from the bottom), and his family, living in
76 Oak Road, Smethwick in 1901.
1st Battalion Worcestershire Voluntary Regiment, machine gun section in training during the War
Page l 4
Photo in focus
The nature of photographs is that they capture a very specific moment in time. Sometimes, if you’re lucky,
this occurs at the very moment something is changing, when new is replacing old. This is the case in a series
of photographs, between p7/483 and p7/490, which show the scenes before, during and after the dramatic
felling of a chimney stack at Nagersfield Colliery, Brierley Hill, in 1951. The colliery manufactured firebricks,
and mined coal and clay from the area.
The first of the two images shown here show the moment that the stack is falling through the air (p7/484),
watched by onlookers both young and old. The small crowd tells you something of the nature of the
occasion, a changing point in history where the old industry was being removed to make way for new housing
developments.
The second of the two pictures (p7/488) shows the aftermath. The bottom of the stack had failed to be
destroyed, and plans had to be put in place to remove the base of the tower.
The crowd gathered towards the right of the picture are part of the party discussing how to best remove this
part of the chimney. However, your eye is drawn to the man in black on the left of the image. His head is in his
hands; it is as though he is mourning the loss of the industry, the development of the area, and the end of an
era.
Page l 5
Volunteer update
Our volunteers continue to turn out a truly prodigious amount of work for the
service. Since the last newsletter was written they have put in a total of 1043 hours
of work, a really remarkable achievement! Our search room buddying and computer
buddying services continue to be very popular, enabling members of the public
to get to grips with the huge wealth of records we hold and get started on their
research projects.
documents for the future and making them ever more
easily accessible to our users.
We couldn’t possibly fail to mention the continuing
sterling work done by the tireless Friends of Dudley
Archives Refreshments Team, who continually
give up their free time to support our events with a
wonderful array of cakes, biscuits and hot drinks, and
welcoming all of our visitors with a cheerful smile!
We are truly indebted to all of our volunteers for the
constant efforts they make on our behalf.
As our volunteers will tell you, volunteering at Dudley
archives can be enormously rewarding, and we have a
wide range of tasks available to suit everyone.
Volunteers are continuing to help with all the hard
work involved in commemorating the borough’s
contribution to the First World War, while essential
tasks such as box-listing, repackaging, and
transcription continue to be carried out, protecting our
If you are interested in joining our growing family of
volunteers, please contact us at
[email protected] and our staff will
be happy to guide you further.
Pictured: Friends of the Archives and volunteer computer
buddies Sylvia Butler and Keith Poole hard at work
Volunteer spotlight - Lynne Gilbert
Lynne began volunteering with Dudley archives after her recent
retirement and really has become a stalwart in the search room.
With a lifelong interest in history, retirement has given her the
opportunity to get involved and try her hand at new tasks.
Lynne joined us as a computer buddy after doing extensive
personal family history research and research for friends, and has
been guiding our users with how to get started using Ancestry
and Find My Past for a number of months. Lynne has also used
quiet moments in the search room to get to grips with our CALM
cataloguing software and box-listing some of our recent accessions.
This has allowed her to see a variety of collections including the
records of acclaimed Black Country author Frances Brett Young,
whose collection she especially enjoyed getting to grips with.
Lynne enjoys a great many things about her work with us but especially loves “the calm environment of the search
room: I love being able to browse the local studies shelves when I’m working here.” Besides her work supporting
us as a volunteer Lynne can often be seen at the Friends of the Archives talks and at our special events, always
with a cheerful word for everyone.
Thanks for all the hard work Lynne!
Page l 6
2015 Exhibitions at the archives
June - August Democracy in Dudley
Visit us and discover Dudley’s democratic heritage in our exciting new
exhibition, “Democracy in Dudley”.
Treasures from the collections are on show as we celebrate the anniversary
of two major milestones in history: the 800th anniversary of the signing
of the Magna Carta and the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of the
borough of Dudley.
This exhibition tells the story of the borough and its development from the
Norman Conquest through the era of Magna Carta, the first reference to
Dudley as a borough in 1275, to the Civil War.
Continuing throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the display will explain the steady momentum towards
improvements in sanitary and civic conditions that accompanied the rapid industrialisation of the borough.
These changes prompted calls tor increasingly comprehensive and effective local government which led to the
incorporation in April 1865.
Pop in and see the original Charter of Incorporation (complete with seal), a Victorian copy of the Magna Carta,
four 17th century letters about Dudley Castle in the Civil War, together with a facsimile of the Domesday Book and
much more.
The exhibition also showcases examples
of original sources held in the archives for
researching house, family and local history and
also on display is a selection of photographs of
Dudley Market Place, dating from 1867 to 2002.
Left: An original of Magna Carta held by the
British Library
The Magna Carta was signed by King John in
June 1215: the document was drawn up after
his barons rebelled and forced him to agree
to limitations on his power, because he had
demanded heavy taxes to fund his unsuccessful
wars in France. It promised the protection of the
rights and privileges of the clergy, protection for
the barons from illegal imprisonment and placed
limits on the power of the crown.
Right and below: Charter of Incorporation, 1865
Dudley’s Charter of Incorporation was granted on 3
April, 1865 and on 20 June 1865 the old local Board of
Health was wound up. Their last formal act on 20 June
1865 was to transfer all powers, muniments etc. to the
new Council of the borough.
At 12 noon the councillors,
elected by the burgesses,
arrived at the Mechanics
Institute and sat for the
first time as a Council. The
Charter gave the councillors
a mandate to improve living
conditions for its people.
September - December Returning exhibitions
Returning in September is The Great War exhibition, bigger and better than ever, followed in December by our
annual festive offering for Christmas.
Page l 7
Volunteer’s Week 2015!
What’s On:
STOP PRESS!!
July to October 2015
As the Journal was going to press we held its annual
celebration of volunteering as part of National Volunteers Week
2015! Every year we like to put aside some time just for our
volunteers, who contribute tirelessly every day to augment
the work we do. Our volunteers are drawn from all over the
borough, from all ages and from all walks of life, and the
celebration allows many of our volunteers who may work with
us on different days to one another, to meet each other and
find out about other areas of the work that’s being done.
As a token of our appreciation, all of our volunteers will be
sent a certificate to say thank you for their achievements in the
past year, and those able to join us on the day were presented
with their certificates by Annette Templar, Stourbridge Locality
Librarian and Operations Manager for Dudley Archives and
Local History Service. Copious quantities of cake and tea were
of course on hand for all, and as is always the case, it was a
thoroughly enjoyable event; a chance to reflect on a year of
achievements and to look forward to the future. Thank you to
everyone who has taken the time to volunteer with us, and if
you would like to get involved, please don’t hesitate to contact
us at [email protected]
Volunteers and archives staff celebrate
Friends of Dudley Archives:
Local History Talks
2 July: Members Evening
Members are invited to join in the fun of a
get together including quiz, refreshments
and entertainment.
3 September: Bob Bennett Archivist at Dudley Archives
Magna Carta.
1 October: Max Keen
King Richard III: Murderer or loyal brother.
5 November: David Howe
“What’s in a name”
Facts on the origins of British surnames
The talks always begin at 7.30 pm and
take place at The Archives. All talks are
free to members, £2 for non-members.
Current exhibition at The archives
Democracy in Dudley, June - August
2015
Celebrating the Magna Carta’s 800th
anniversary and the 150th anniversary of
the Dudley Corporation.
Upcoming exhibitions
The Great War
September - December 2015
Christmas Exhibition
December 2015 - January 2016
Upcoming events at The archives
20 June, 2015: Magna Carta Day with
John Hunt. A medieval themed day, with
a talk, storytelling and family crafts!
3 October 2015: Local History Day.
Please also see our website for
forthcoming activities and other
events taking place through 2015
at The Archives
the
archives
and local history centre
Tipton Road, Dudley DY1 4SQ