February 2020
Escape and Evasion: French Napoleonic Prisoners of War in Hampshire
During the Napoleonic Wars many thousands of French prisoners of war were held in Hampshire, on board the hulks in Portsmouth harbour, at Portchester Castle and Forton prisons, and in the parole depots such as Odiham and Alresford. But not all prisoners were content to wait for either exchange or the wars to end and escapes were planned and attempted. We are familiar with the escape stories from World War Two but these from two hundred years ago are just…
Find out more »March 2020
AGM at Billingshurst Community & Conference Centre
AGM is in the morning and in the afternoon our guest speaker is Elizabeth Williamson FSA, a co-author with Tim Hudson and Jeremy Musson of the new Sussex: West, in the Buildings of England series. Elizabeth’s talk is entitled ‘In the footsteps of Nairn and Pevsner: the buildings of West Sussex’. MEMBERS will receive AGM details including Booking Slips and Nomination Forms for positions on the committee during February. NON-MEMBERS are very welcome to attend the talk in the afternoon…
Find out more »April 2020
Stirring Times – West Sussex 1800 – 1850
To be held at West Sussex Record Office, 3 Orchard Street, Chichester PO19 1DD This workshop explores some of the major political changes of the period and their influence on the people of West Sussex. Original documents will show us the local involvement in these changing times. 10.00 – 10.30 Coffee 10.30 – 10.40 Introduction 10.40 - 11.30 The effect of the Napoleonic Wars 11.30 – 12.30 The Swing riots 12.30 – 1.45 Lunch 1.45 – 2.30 Changes in…
Find out more »May 2020
Safety at Sea: The History of Beachy Head Lighthouse & The History of Selsey Lifeboat Station
Christopher Whittick will reveal the stories of the building of both the original lighthouse, Belle Tout, and the current Beachy Head lighthouse. Christopher has recently retired from the East Sussex Record Office where he was County Archivist. For the second talk of the afternoon, we will hear from Dave Fotheringham about the establishment, 155 years ago, of the first lifeboat at Selsey and of the subsequent evolution of Chichester’s most local lifeboat station. Dave has been associated with the Selsey…
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