Archives - Hampshire County Council

Archives - Hampshire County Council Free access to historical material covering over 1000 years of Hampshire history. Welcome to the Archives and Local Studies service at Hampshire Record Office.

We collect archives relating to Hampshire and Hampshire families, and film and sound archives relating to central southern England. We also house Hampshire's local studies library. You are very welcome to visit us online or in person. No appointment necessary! Our entire holdings have been Designated by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council as an outstanding collection of national and intern

ational importance, providing an unparalleled resource for the knowledge and understanding of the history of the geographical area of Hampshire. Before you visit us we advise checking our online catalogue or list of popular records to check whether we have what you are looking for. http://www3.hants.gov.uk/archives/catalog.htm

Researchers need a CARN (County Archive Research Network) ticket. These are free and can be issued immediately if you have proof of name, address and signature. One-day temporary tickets are also available. You will need to show your ticket each time you enter and exit the search room. At Wessex Film and Sound Archive you can see and hear history, from late Victorian times to the present day, through moving images and sound recordings. The Archive contains over 35,000 film and sound recordings relating to central southern England, including film and tapes of local TV and radio, to study and enjoy.

Would you like some tips on reading ?If you would like to find out how to read the handwritten documents you may encoun...
30/05/2026

Would you like some tips on reading ?

If you would like to find out how to read the handwritten documents you may encounter when researching family or local history, why not come along to our next on-site 'Reading Old ' session, on Monday 15th June, 6pm-7.30pm?

This time we will focus on parish records, such as parish registers and account books kept by parish officials including the churchwardens and the overseers of the poor. We will look at some typical formats of document that you may find from the 16th to 19th century, and we will see common ways of writing particular letters, standard abbreviations, and typical phrases.

No experience needed! There will be a chance to try reading some extracts; you are very welcome to take a turn or not as you prefer. Cracking the code can be great fun and very rewarding, and we will make this an informal and, we hope, enjoyable session.

Booking required, £15 per person: https://www.hants.gov.uk/librariesandarchives/archives/events/reading-old-handwriting-150626.

The illustration shows part of the accounts of the Chawton churchwardens for 1715 (1M70/PW1).

One of the most interesting groups of records that has arrived this month relates to Bedhampton School, which was opened...
29/05/2026

One of the most interesting groups of records that has arrived this month relates to Bedhampton School, which was opened in 1868 and closed in 1985, by which time it had become Bedhampton First School.

The records (ref 37A26) include log books kept by successive Headteachers dating back to 1868, and an album of reminiscences, photographs etc (our catalogue entry can be seen at https://archivescatalogue.hants.gov.uk/records/A26037).

This photograph from the album shows a knitting class outside the school during the Second World War, and is understood to have been taken by an American soldier (37A26/A8).

25/05/2026

The past 12 months we’ve been exploring Basingstoke archive from the 30s to the 90s, through our BFI funded Access and Amplification project. (Shots from AV50/1, AV18/134, AV1104/1)

May is , a month when you may want to start exploring the history of your local area. At Hampshire Record Office you ca...
14/05/2026

May is , a month when you may want to start exploring the history of your local area. At Hampshire Record Office you can find a wealth of sources for local history research, and our website includes a page with suggestions on how to get started https://www.hants.gov.uk/librariesandarchives/archives.

Maps and postcards are a key source, and our images show a couple of examples, a map of the Little Posbrook Estate, Titchfield, 1807 (8A00/A15/50) and a postcard of the Horse and Jockey Public House, Curdridge, c1910 (25A23/1)

Today is , celebrated around the world on the 12th May, the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale Our featur...
12/05/2026

Today is , celebrated around the world on the 12th May, the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale

Our featured photograph is of Mary Mocatta, matron of the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Wi******er, 1895-1900. Florence Nightingale advised on the new site and building design for this hospital in the early 1860's, having close ties to the area as her father was a hospital Governor (5M63/L3/1)

Over the past year, Wessex Film and Sound Archive have been working on a project to document the experiences of disabled...
05/05/2026

Over the past year, Wessex Film and Sound Archive have been working on a project to document the experiences of disabled, neurodiverse and LGBTQIA+ people in Basingstoke. These interviews, films and objects offer a new perspective on both the experiences of marginalised people and the wider history of Basingstoke as a town.

Come and see the stories of these people in both text and audio in our exhibition in Basingstoke Discovery Centre between 12th – 22nd May. (Admission free)

05/05/2026

Mid-1930s colour beach scenes from Southsea (AV108/9)

Today is May Day, an ancient festival marking the start of summer, associated with traditions like dancing round a maypo...
01/05/2026

Today is May Day, an ancient festival marking the start of summer, associated with traditions like dancing round a maypole and crowning a May Queen

The photograph shown is of Otterbourne children dressed for May Day, c1900 (82A04/12)

Our 'accession of the month' for April is a small group of title deeds which we recently received relating to a house in...
30/04/2026

Our 'accession of the month' for April is a small group of title deeds which we recently received relating to a house in Steep near , 1906-1909 (30A26).

They appear to relate to the house formerly known as Hither Northfield, but by the time of the 1971 Ordnance Survey revision as Pennyfold, which according to 'The Buildings of England' (2010) was designed in 1905 by the architects Parker and Unwin.

According to 'Steep Buildings and Monuments' (2012, available at https://legacy.steepvillage.com/files/Steep-Buildings-Monuments-2012.pdf), it was the retirement home of Canon James Maurice Wilson, mathematician and clergyman, Canon of Worcester Cathedral, and President of the Mathematical Association from 1921.

One of his sons, who also lived there, Sir Steuart Wilson, was a singer and music teacher at nearby Bedales, and later Principal of the Birmingham School of Music.

The first deed relates to the sale in 1906 of the plot of land on which the house was built, by Oswald Byron Powell who lived at nearby Little Hawsted. Mr Powell was Second Master of Bedales School, and we hold a group of glass plate negatives taken by his son Roger Powell OBE, a notable bookbinder, including some taken at Steep. You can see our catalogue entry for the whole series at https://archivescatalogue.hants.gov.uk/records/A00074 and digital copies of some of these by following the links at https://archivescatalogue.hants.gov.uk/search/all:records/0_50/digitised%3Atrue/score_desc/74a00

Today is , and 10th March this year was celebrated as the 150th anniversary of the world’s first phone call.We hold a ...
25/04/2026

Today is , and 10th March this year was celebrated as the 150th anniversary of the world’s first phone call.

We hold a journal of a visit to the United States of America in 1876 by a member of the Bonham-Carter, family, perhaps John Bonham-Carter, principally to the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, the first international trade fair in the USA. This diary contains descriptions of exhibits at the show, including a multiple-telephone, Edison's automatic morse sender and receiver, Grey's electrophone and Bell's electrophone (110M92/12)

A description of the journal can be seen on our online catalogue at https://archivescatalogue.hants.gov.uk/records/92110/12

Address

Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street
Wi******er
SO238TH

Telephone

+441962846154

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