Spring Coffee and Cakes talks
These talks are only available by booking your
ticket in advance. Doors open 15 minutes before the start time
listed.
Talks include coffee, tea and cakes and cost £5.50 per
person.
Celebrating Tudor Suffolk: 2009 marks the 500th
Anniversary of the Accession of Henry VIII. His reign left a
lasting impact on Suffolk. Clive Paine continues his major
series of talks on the Tudor Dynasty.
Suffolk Life and Times: Over the
centuries Suffolk's people have been involved in many
amazing events. This series of talks sets out to
explore these events and the records containing them.
Death and Disease in Suffolk: Epidemics such as
the Black Death and the Plague left their mark on Suffolk.
Primitive medicine, amputations and 'cures' took their toll on
people too. This fascinating series of
talks investigates the impact of different diseases and
the medics who fought them.
Guided walks
Lowestoft Record Office are
offering two guided walks with local historian Ivan Bunn. The
first one explores the harbour area and includes a visit to
the Mincarlo, the other looks at the 'Gateway to the Broads'.
The Reign of Henry VIII in Suffolk - Celebrating
Tudors
Clive Paine
People and themes explored in this fascinating lecture include -
Cardinal Wolsey, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, Taxation Riots,
the local militia, religious changes, mansions and diet.
Saturday 17 January
2009 10.30am Bury
Saturday 17 January
2009 2.00pm Ipswich
Frolic, Fun and Fornication - Suffolk Life and
Times
Pip Wright
The registers and papers that once lay in the parish chests of
Suffolk villages contain all kinds of items that could so easily
have been thrown away or never written at all. The surprises
they reveal about the people of Suffolk in past centuries is
remarkable. This talk is all about the things you never
expected to find written in the parish records of Suffolk.
Saturday 24 January
2009 2.00pm Ipswich
The Dissolution of the Monasteries - Celebrating Tudor
Suffolk
Clive Paine
Between 1535 and 1539 all the monastic houses in Suffolk were
closed by Henry VIII. Why did it happen? How did it
happen? And what were the consequences?
Saturday 31 January
2009 10.30am
Bury
Saturday 31 January
2009 2.00pm Ipswich
Learning their letters: Charities and Education in Suffolk
1700-1900
Suffolk Life and Times
Nick Sign
Having assessed the extent of school provision in Suffolk in the
early eighteenth century, the talk will explore advances made in
educational opportunity by 1900.
Saturday 7 February
2009 10.00am
Ipswich
Kett's Rebellion in East Anglia - Celebrating Tudor
Suffolk
Clive Paine
Robert Kett led a protest over enclosure, common rights, rents and
the role of the clergy. This developed into a rebellion or
uprising, with vast numbers camping outside the main towns,
eventually capturing Norwich, the second city in the land.
Saturday 7 February
2009 10.30am Bury
Saturday 7 February
2009 2.00pm Ipswich
"Sloightly on the huh"
Charlie Haycock
An eccentric look at Suffolk, its dialect, characters, social
history and why Suffolk people are asked what part of Australia
they are from!
Saturday 21 February
2009 10.00am
Ipswich
Queen of Hearts v Bloody Mary - Celebrating Tudor
Suffolk
Clive Paine
Back by popular demand - a repeat of last year's talk. In
June 1553 the future direction of England hung in the
balance. The fate of Lady Jane Grey, the 'nine days Queen'
was settled in East Anglia. We investigate the role played by
local families, religious loyalties and local towns during the
crisis.
Saturday 21 February
2009 10.30am Bury
Images of Elizabeth - Celebrating Tudor
Suffolk
Clive Paine
Using a range of paintings, portraits, drawings and descriptions of
Elizabeth, we trace the development of 'image' and 'spin' that
created her almost goddess status.
Saturday 7 March
2009 10.30am Bury
Creating Theatre from Local Sources - Suffolk Life and
Times
Ivan Cutting
Ivan will be talking about documentary theatre (or verbatim theatre
as it's now called) and how local records and history can be used
to bring the past to life and recreate it on stage with a special
insight into the crafts and skills of a bygone age.
Saturday 7 March
2009 10.30am Ipswich
Queen Elizabeth's Progress in Suffolk - Celebrating Tudor
Suffolk
Clive Paine
Progresses were a feature of Elizabeth's reign and a means of
displaying 'majesty' to the subjects. Many houses claim
'Queen Elizabeth slept here' - but where did she sleep in
Suffolk?
Saturday 21 March
2009 10.30am Bury
Saturday 21 March
2009 2.00pm Ipswich
Charity Education - Suffolk Life and
Times
Clive Paine
Using the records of local schools we will investigate the
motivation for establishing free charity schools for poor children,
the curriculum, rules, text books and the career prospects for the
pupils.
Saturday 4 April
2009 10.30am Bury
Saturday 4
April 2009 2.00pm Ipswich
The Great Rising of 1381:- The Peasants' Revolt
Suffolk Life and Times
Dr John Ridgard
The Great Rising of 1381 has been compared with the Civil War
1642-1660 for its importance to the development of English
Society. Suffolk was one of the counties most involved in
this rebellion. This talk sets out to examine the background,
issues, organisation and principal events in June 1381. Who
were the rebel leaders? What were the long term effects of
the rebellion?
Saturday 18 April
2009 10.30am Ipswich
Black Death - Death and Disease in
Suffolk
Clive Paine
Using manorial court rolls and records of the induction of parish
clergy, we will trace the spread, impact and consequences of the
disease in the Spring and Summer of 1349.
Saturday 18 April
2009 10.30am
Bury
Saturday 18 April
2009 2.00pm Ipswich
The little red money box and its predecessors
Suffolk Life and Times
Dr Pat Murrell
The tale of Savings Bank House, Bury St Edmunds designed by one of
the country's leading Tudor Gothic revivalist architects: Lewis
Nockalls Cottingham. This lecture charts the 18th and 19th
century history of the site on the edge of the Great
Churchyard.
Wednesday 22 April
2009 10.20am Bury
Rise and Fall of Lowestoft Harbour - Guided
Walk
Ivan Bunn
A walk exploring the enthralling history of the growth and decline
of Lowestoft harbour, culminating with a visit to the Mincarlo
(last surviving fishing vessel built in Lowestoft) for a
tour.
Sunday 26
April 2009 11.00am Lowestoft
Hawstead, Hardwick and Horticulture - Suffolk Life and
Times
Dr Pat Murrell
Some of the fine specimen trees remaining today on Hardwick heath
in Bury St Edmunds were planted during the eighteenth century by
successive generations of the Cullum Family. This
lecture is a rare opportunity to learn more about these
green-fingered Cullums whose interest in horticulture also involved
them in correspondence with John Evelyn, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir
James Smith and other leading botanists of the day.
Wednesday 6 May
2009 10.30am Bury
Kill or Cure - Suffolk's Age of Agony; medicine
1660-1830
Death and Disease in Suffolk
Dr Pat Murrell
In an age before anaesthetics, antiseptics or antibiotics, this
lecture considers quackery, home curers, local epidemics, the
medical fraternity and the County's first General Hospital.
Saturday 9 May 2009
2.30pm Bury
Tuesday 12 May
2009 2.00pm Ipswich
Anatomists and Body Snatchers - Death and Disease in
Suffolk
Dr Pat Murrell
As Georgian surgeons' demands for bodies to study outstripped
the supply available, the 'Resurrection Men' performed their
sinister work in churchyards throughout the country. This talk
draws together the local evidence for such 'goings-on' in East
Anglia. It will also consider the first, legitimately obtained,
body dissected in the newly funded county hospital - that of
William Corder of Red Barn fame!
Saturday 16 May
2009 2.30pm Bury
The Plague - Death and Disease in
Suffolk
Clive Paine
There were at least five major plague epidemics between 1604 and
1666. We will examine the impact on local communities,
families and individuals, using Parish Registers, Wills, Briefs and
Court Records.
Saturday 30 May
2009 10.30am Bury
Saturday 30 May
2009 2.00pm Ipswich
Oulton Broad - from common land to tourism - Guided
Walk
Ivan Bunn
Join this popular walk with local historian Ivan Bunn, exploring
the fascinating history of Oulton Broad, the Gateway to the Broads.
The starting point for this walk will be Oulton Broad
Library. Booking to be made through Lowestoft Record
Office.
Saturday 13 June
2009 11.00am Lowestoft
Bookings should be made on the booking form and sent to the
relevant branch of the
Suffolk Record Office.