All talks are £5.50 per person.
January to May 2012
The treatment of juvenile delinquents in Victorian
Suffolk
Clive Paine
Saturday 11 February
2012
2.00pm Bury
Saturday 10 March
2012 2.00pm Ipswich
This talk is linked to the recent BBC ‘Who Do You Think You Are’
programme featuring Tracey Emin - whose ancestor spent time in
Kerrison Reformatory in Suffolk. We examine the origins of
reformatories, the inmates and their treatment, and follow the
‘careers’ of two Bury female delinquents.
Raking up the past: Garden antiques
David Holmes
Saturday 18
February 2012 10.00am Bury
Come and look at old gardening tools and learn about their history
and development. Everything is covered from Regency benches
to garden gnomes. Bring along a photograph of your own garden
antique to share with the audience.
Pub games in Suffolk
Stuart Bowell
Saturday 25
February 2012 10.30am Ipswich
Stuart Bowell will entertain you by talking about pub games popular
from the 18th century, these include darts, shove ha’penny,
dominoes, twister and caves. Illustrated with a selection of
Ipswich Record Office’s archives.
The Plague in Suffolk
Clive Paine
Saturday 25
February 2012 10.00am Bury
Saturday 3 March
2012 2.00pm Ipswich
There were at least five major plague epidemics between 1604 and
1665. In this talk, Clive examines the impact on local
communities, families and individuals. He uses parish
registers, wills, briefs and court records to tell the tragic
stories of these desperate events.
M R James and his tales of the imagination
Clive Paine
Saturday 10 March
2012 10.00am Bury
M R James, antiquarian, biblical scholar and author of ‘short
stories’, grew up at Great Livermere, where his father was the
Rector. This talk reveals how he used local history and the
local landscape in his ‘Ghost Stories of an Antiquary’.
Long Melford Church during the Reformation
Clive Paine
Saturday 24 March
2012 10.00am Bury
Long Melford will be featured in Michael Wood’s latest BBC TV
series: ‘Great British Story’. The church has the most
complete set of records of the Reformation in Suffolk. We
trace the changes in belief, worship, furnishings and the buildings
during this turbulent period in English History.
Shuffling off this mortal coil: Death sources for family
historians
Viv Aldous
Saturday 24 March
2012 10.30am Ipswich
Records relating to death are often more plentiful than those which
document other life events. They can also enrich our
appreciation of the lives of our ancestors, and be a goldmine for
the family historian. This talk will describe some of the
most useful sources relating to death, where and how you can find
them, and how you can use them to further your family history
research.
By the sword divided: The D’Ewes brothers and the English
Civil War
John Sutton
Saturday 21 April
2012 10.00am Bury
The internecine strife of the 1640’s was one of the most
heartrending in English history, literally dividing brother against
brother. This especially applied to the two D’Ewes brothers
of gentle stock from Stowlangtoft in Suffolk. Sir Symonds
D’Ewes was a staunch Puritan who as MP for Sudbury espoused the
Roundhead side on the outbreak of hostilities. His younger
brother Richard stood foursquare for the King and tragically lost
his life fighting for his royal master at the siege of
Reading. The lecture will explore their differing lives with
special emphasis being given to the time they spent as boys at Bury
Grammar School before the onset of the ‘Brother-killing days’
cruelly tore them apart.
Victorian Royalty in Suffolk
Clive Paine
Saturday 28 April
2012 10.00am Bury
Saturday 28
April 2012 2.00pm
Ipswich
Although Queen Victoria did not visit Suffolk, many members of her
family did, including the Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales and
the Duke of York. Royals who lived in Suffolk included
Victoria’s little Maharajah at Elveden and a Russian Prince at
Newmarket. Clive will also explore what attracted the German
Empress and her children to take a holiday at Felixstowe.
Medieval and Tudor sports
Clive Paine
Saturday 12 May
2012 10.00am Bury
Saturday 12
May 2012 2.00pm Ipswich
As the Olympic Flame passes through Suffolk on its journey to
London, we look back to sporting prowess of an earlier age.
The sports fields were usually churchyards, camping closes, open
air theatres and fairsteads. The sports included a variety of
ball games, played with bats, hands or feet; unarmed combat; trials
of strength; running; walking and dancing marathons.
Celebrating Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in the Empire,
England and Bury St Edmunds
Clive Paine
Saturday 26 May
2012 10.00am Bury
As we prepare to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, we look back to the
preparations, celebrations and commemorations of Victoria’s Jubilee
in 1897; especially the events in Bury St Edmunds and the
surrounding villages.
Fire fighting from Tudor to Victorian times
Clive Paine
Saturday 26 May
2012 2.00pm Ipswich
This talk traces the development of fire-fighting equipment and
methods over time. We also examine the impact of fires on
Suffolk towns and villages, including Bury, Bungay, Norton and
Brandon.
Bookings should be made on the booking form
and sent to the relevant branch of the
Suffolk Record Office.