Welcome to our resources page. Here you will find a list of valuable sources to help you with your research. Whether you’re looking to understand Victorian vernacular, are interested in free and easily accessed online assets, or are interested in learning more about what support is available, this is the place for you.
If you’re looking to improve the way you research your ancestors, these tips are perfect to enable quicker, smarter and faster searching; we’ve made the mistakes, so you don’t have to.
About – Bringing together over 300 years and 33 million pages of British Newspaper history, this site is a Mecca for social historians looking to understand the sentiments and feelings of the times.
Link – https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
Aristocracy & Politicians
Title – History of Parliament
Author – History of Parliament
Source – Secondary
Years Covered – 1386 – 2019
About – A comprehensive list of autobiographies for members of parliament stretching back to the earliest of times.
Link – www.historyofparliamentonline.org
Crimes and Punishment
Title – Old Police Cells Museum
Author – Old Police Cells Museum
Source – Secondary
Years Covered – ? – 1987
About – An exploration of punishment through the centuries with a particular focus on police and constabularies in Brighton.
Link – https://www.oldpolicecellsmuseum.org.uk/
Title – Our Convicts: Their Riots And Their Causes
Author – W Thwaites
Source – Primary
Years Covered – 1861
About – Correspondence submitted to parliament .
Link – https://archive.org/details/ourconvictstheir00thwa/page/n6
Diarists
Title – The Apprenticeship of a Mountaineer: Edward Whymper’s London Diary, 1855-1859
Author – Edward Whymper
Source – Primary
Years Covered – 1855-1859
About – Edward Whymper was a mountaineer and writer, famous for being the first person to climb the Matterhorn. Opinionated, at times acerbic, but always honest, Whymper’s diaries provide us with a very personal insight of the goings on in and around London.
Link – www.british-history.ac.uk/london-record-soc/vol43
About – A compendium of some of the world’s greatest artworks with authorship and provenance information available.
Link – http://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/
Medical and Health
Title – A Dictionary of Medical Science
Author – Robley Dunglison
Source – Primary
Years Covered – 1860
About – A dictionary of various terms and treatments contemporary to 1860
Link – https://archive.org/details/101515262.nlm.nih.gov/page/n6
Military
Title – The Victorian Military Society
Author – The Victorian Military Society
Source – Secondary
Years Covered – 1837 – 1901
About – The VMS provide an in-depth examination of all things militaria from units, to weapons to punishments for insubordination.
Link – https://www.victorianmilitary.org/
Miscellany
Newspapers & Magazines
Title – The Gazette
Author – The Gazette
Source – Primary
Years Covered – 1665 – Present
About – The Gazette Is the oldest surviving and, indeed, longest continually printed newspaper in the UK containing a great deal of information regarding notices, commissions, insolvency and more.
Link – https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/notice?service=all-notices
Religious body
Title – English Heritage
Author – English Heritage
Source – Secondary
Years Covered – 1837 – 1901
About – The English Heritage have compiled a brief but fascinating overview of religious change in the Victorian Era and is well worth a read.
Link – https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/victorian/religion/
Sports
Title – Origins of the Boatrace
Author – The Boat Race
Source – Secondary
Years Covered – 1829 – 1835
About – A brief history of the Oxford v. Cambridge Boat Race.