Fast moving Friends spring into action!
The Friends of Gloucestershire Archives were delighted to be able to swing into action in March when they were alerted to a cache of material for sale on eBay – with just a few hours left until the auction closed.
The National Archives sales monitoring service had flagged up that, with just a few hours to go, there was a lot for sale on eBay that might be of interest to Gloucestershire Archives. It was an extensive collection material relating to the Davy family who owned Tracy Park, now in South Gloucestershire. Gloucestershire Archives already hold a set of deeds relating to the property (https://gloucestershire.epexio.com/records/D6623) but very little in the way of family and personal papers. This lot would fill that gap.
After a flurry of emails and calls, the Friends were delighted to be able to support Gloucestershire Archives by agreeing to bid for the lot. The price at the time was £48.00 so after setting a upper limit all that was left to do was for the bidder to hold their nerve and wait... Thankfully, the bidding didn’t rise too high, and in the end at £72.00 the Friends were successful in purchasing the lot!
Once the material has arrived, the Friends will donate it to Gloucestershire Archives and this unique insight into the life of the Davy Family in the mid 1800s will be permanently preserved for anyone to see.
If you’re interested in the work of the Friends, or would like to find out more about the purchases that have been made by them over the years, including this one, please join us on 20th April between 4.00 and 7.00 pm in the Dunrossil Room @ the Heritage Hub. Entry is free and you can stay as long or as little as you like! There is no need to book.
Visit Friends of Gloucestershire Archives drop in session
Talks and events
After a long break due to Covid the Friends have restarted their programme of talks and events.
At the end of February members came together to hear two short black history talks given by members of the Friends. The first talk explored the life of Gylman Ivie, an ‘Ethiopian’ who appeared in the Gloucestershire village of Dyrham in the 1570s. The talk also included a wider survey of Africans in Tudor England.
The second talk centred on John Hart, the son of a white slave owner and one of his black slaves. John was sent to Gloucestershire to be educated, stayed, and became a school master and a pillar of the community.
The next event will be on Wednesday 20 April. Members are invited to drop in at the Archives any time between 4pm and 7pm. There will be a display of documents and other items purchased by the Friends in recent years. Trustees and Archive staff will be on hand to talk about the documents and to answer questions.
Tea, coffee and cakes will be available. No need to book – just turn up at the time that suits you best. For more information visit FoGA drop in session
We are planning another afternoon talk in the summer and are making provisional arrangements for a mystery tour in the autumn. Watch out for further details in due course.
If you are not a Friend but would like to join, and support Gloucestershire Archives, a membership form can be found on the Friend’s website: www.foga.online/join
Clive Andrews, FoGA Chairman