Posts by venue: Social History

John Constable : Hampstead Heath with the House Called ‘The Salt Box’, about 1819

A bright patch of colour – a man wearing a red waistcoat – pulls our eyes out to the far right of this picture, ensuring that we don’t miss the full width of this airy panorama. It shows the view… Read more

Was your ancestor a Sunderland freemason?

Last year the Archives was delighted to receive on deposit the historical records of the Phoenix Lodge, Sunderland. The origins of this freemasons lodge date back to 1755, when the King George’s Lodge was constituted. The Lodge met in public… Read more

Insults and infighting in Seventeenth Century Newcastle

Last year I wrote a short blog about a new addition to the Tyne & Wear Archives collections – an apprenticeship register of the Incorporated Company of Tailors of Newcastle upon Tyne dating from the Tudor period. The register was… Read more

Bringing hope to Second World War prisoners

Tyne & Wear Archives acquired fourteen new collections last month and one in particular really caught my imagination. It’s a series of 24 letters sent to a young woman, Elsie Stothert, who worked at Shaws Biscuit factory on the Team… Read more

Remembering the shipyard workers

An earlier blog contained several images of the ship ‘Northern Star’ including an unusual one of workers preparing the slipway for the launch.  It reminded me of how rare and precious such images are. The Archives cares for tens of thousands… Read more