During the forthcoming Heritage Open Days, Hampshire’s history in all its richness is being showcased in the HCC headquarters by those who research its stories, writes Barry Shurlock…

 

BETWEEN September 6 and 15 heritage venues in Winchester and elsewhere will open their doors to the public in the ninth season of Heritage Open Days (HODs).  Nearly 200 sites will offer a mouth-watering feast for local historians, archaeologists, conservationists, and the general public.

HODs started in Europe in 1991 and a year later Hampshire became one of the first – if not the first – UK county to follow suit. Under the leadership of local historian Leslie Burton, it got underway in Gosport, “the little town with the big history”. A “dialogue” has ever since taken place with another early contender, Berwick-on-Tweed, about which town actually was the first.  

Winchester HODs (likely to be renamed Hampshire HODs next year) was rescued from near extinction and built to its present extent by director Nicky Gottlieb, who after nine years is handing over the helm. It is staffed by volunteers from another enduring legacy of hers, the Hampshire History Trust (HHT) with patrons explorer John Pilkington and TV historian Dan Snow.

A key event during HODs is Showcasing Hampshire History, an event run by The Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society (HFC). It will offer a day-long come-and-go programme of talks, with exhibits by HAT for archives, HGS for family history and HIAS for industrial archaeology, as well as the Southampton Record Series and the new VCH.

On show will be the work of local history groups from Alresford, Bitterne, Eastleigh, Micheldever, Petersfield, Romsey, Titchfield and the Worthys, and there will be a chance to pitch ideas for publication to editors of HFC publications and Southern History.

Former HFC president and editor of the Hampshire Papers, Dick Selwood, will outline the sorts of articles that fit the mould of various outlets –  from a short news item to a full-length monograph, with examples from HFC’s backlist, most of which is accessible online.

Advice on publishing with the county’s two flagship journals, Hampshire Studies (formerly the HFC Proceedings) and Southern History, will be given by Michael Hicks, a distinguished medieval historian and Emeritus Professor at the University of Winchester.

The HFC Celebrating Hampshire Historian project – covered in an ongoing series in the Chronicle – has fuelled studies by the present author and Dr Roger Ottewill, who will talk on the popularisation of local history, much of it pioneered by the local press.

Historians such as Thomas Shore (1840-1905), the loudest voice in the founding of the HFC in 1885, used the press not only to air their latest studies, but also to promote a study of local history. A journalistic example of this genre is Southern Daily Echo writer Edgar Mitchell (1887-1939), who wrote about Southampton under the pen-name ‘Townsman’.

Roger will show how local history – now reckoned to compete with fishing and football as leisure activities! – went from an interest of the privileged few to a popular hobby. He will chart the proliferation of local history societies and changes in their activities spurred by social media and digital technology.

It is often said that newspapers are the “first draft of history”.  Well-known local historian Phoebe Merrick, who has been studying the history of Romsey for 50 years, has taken this to heart by researching the Chronicle’s sister paper, the Romsey Advertiser, during World War II.

In her talk she will demonstrate how, by meticulously trawling the pages of the paper to which she frequently contributes, a detailed picture can be drawn of Romsey and surrounding villages during this troubled time.

Her week-by-week abstract of events, both shocking and banal – even with wartime censoring – show how much went on as normal, and how much changed for ever. There are rare insights, both tragic and amusing, that reveal how people lived during the hostilities.

A key presentation will be by Southampton historian Dr Cheryl Butler, who uses local archives to tell the many stories hidden there (she is also talking in the ARC on September 15 at 2 o’clock on Black history). Her talk will retell the fascinating life of a Hampshire adventurer, the chillingly-named William Ghost, “Elizabethan mariner, lodging housekeeper and privateer”.

Unlike the better-known seadogs and explorers, such as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh, Ghost was one of that huge number of lesser men who made a living by travelling to the New World, fighting with the Spanish and working for disreputable merchants.

Nuggets of local and county history from her Little Book of Hampshire will be the theme of a talk by author Erica Wheeler. She edits Worthy History – the journal of the Worthys Local History Group, is a Tour Guide for Winchester and a professional Blue Badge Tour Guide for Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight. 

Her book, written for Hampshire Hogs and visitors alike, presents a wealth of quirky, unusual, little-known aspects of the county, many drawn from the findings of local history groups.  She will explain how she researched and gathered a rich store of history, characters, landscapes and stories from the county.

“Digging” is usually in the hands of archaeologists, but Fiona Ranger will explain how to “dig up” ancestors from the wealth of sources now available. She is a professional genealogist and trustee of the charity, Hampshire Genealogical Society, as well as its bookstall manager and liaison officer.

Her talk will cover the full range of approaches to the subject, from the use of personal ephemera to official documents. This is not only an essential skill for family historians, but anyone who explores the past will sooner or later need to embrace it.  She hints: “You never know what you might dig up!”

History is said never to repeat itself, but recent riots show how it can get close. Under the heading “riots in British history” Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates, published in 1868, fills an entire page of small print with a list of such events. In the earliest, in 1221 in London, “the ringleader was hanged and rest had their hands and feet cut off” and nearly 650 years later it was the turn of Wigan miners to riot.

In Hampshire in 1830 the Captain Swing agricultural riots truly created mayhem, with fears of revolution. Discontent flared up and triggered the authorities under Lord Lieutenant Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington to take rapid action.

At Showcasing Hampshire History, plans for the forthcoming bicentenary commemoration of the riots in 2030 will be outlined by Bill Lucas, Professor of Learning at the University of Winchester and chair of the English Project, and law journalist Edward, founder of the Hyde900 project, who is coordinating the project.  

The aim is to spread awareness of what happened, village by village, to engage communities in local research and hopefully to re-enact the Grand Assize held in Winchester in the Great Hall in December 1830, when 300 men were tried, leading to mass-transportation and some executions.

Showcasing Hampshire History will be a free-entry event held on September 14, 10am-4pm, in the HCC Elizabeth II building off Sussex Street, Winchester.  For more information contact David Roberts: dgroberts67@gmail.com, 01962 810226.

 

CAPTIONS

Nicky Gottlieb, exiting HODs director

HHT patron, Dan Snow, and Liz King, incoming HODs executive

Romsey children celebrate VE Day

Edgar Mitchell, ‘Townsman’

William Ghost’s house, 43 Bugle Street, Southampton