History begins at home

The Gloucestershire Heritage Hub & Gloucestershire Archives websites give access to a wealth of resources. You can find:

• general research advice,
• research “mini guides” on a wide range of documents
• in depth guides on topics such as military history, resources for South Gloucestershire and Black & Ethnic communities
• online exhibitions
• blogs on our activities and aspects of our collections including a new series of blogs focussing on how you can care for your family or community archive

Gloucestershire Archives online catalogue - browse to explore our holdings and identify interesting documents for future perusal.  Not sure how to use it?  Watch our 3 short YouTube tutorials: The Basics, Search Smarter and Discover More  

Gloucestershire Heritage Hub e-newsletter- issued each quarter with contributions from Gloucestershire Archives, and Hub partners is a great way to keep up to date with local and family history in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire.  You can download the most recent edition from our website and subscribe to our emailing list to get future editions sent to your in-box.

Gloucestershire Heritage Hub social media posts - @GlosHeritageHub

Follow us on Facebook and twitter for regular, informative and/or entertaining archive & heritage related posts. Test your local knowledge with our #TriviaTuesday - answers the next day!

Watch out for the #HistoryBeginsAtHome social media campaign, a united response by local government archivists to the COVID-19 crisis- (and which provided the title for this article and for our new web page)

And here are some other excellent heritage-based websites & resources to explore:

Know Your Place-West of England  - an award winning digital mapping resource which covers Gloucestershire and surrounding counties. You can layer digital maps from different eras to see what your street or neighbourhood would have looked like in times gone by.  Plus photos and information are “pinned” to specific addresses via the community layers.  There are extensive pins relating to World War 1 and for women’s suffrage.  And you can add to the layers.  Got an old family photo showing your house? Scan it and add to the resource.

Gloucestershire Police Archives - capturing and sharing Gloucestershire’s police history and heritage

Fielding & Platt History - gathering & sharing memories of Gloucester’s great engineering firm

Dowty Heritage - the history of Gloucestershire’s global engineering group

Barton & Tredworth Community History - recording and celebrating Barton & Tredworth’s past and present

Gloucester Rugby Heritage - preserving and sharing the history of Gloucester Rugby Club

 

Victoria County History Gloucestershire - the “big red books“ have gone online!

Gloucestershire Traditions - one stop website for songs and tunes collected in Gloucestershire

The Institute of Historical research have produced this neat round-up of online historic resources, including original sources

(For further reading also see the article in the Local History section)

And finally, be sure to keep an eye on the new 'Lockdown resources and activities' page on the Heritage Hub website where we will share the latest “lockdown” ideas and links with you.