Almost a year to the day, Gem and a rather haggard Daniel sat outside a café in Woking and made a decision which would change the course of our lives. That decision was to set up The Institutional History Society.
It seems natural that it would happen now, 12 months later and 12 months wiser, but at the time it seemed a far-off idea. Whilst we’d both always been fascinated by the past and, in our own ways, had pursued this passion, it was more the passive consumption of historical fiction, watching the history channel documentary or time team, rather than taking an active role in it ourselves. But, after that fateful day (cue Jaws music), we decided that it wasn’t enough to just enjoy history, to consume the ‘great figure’ narratives of Caesar, Churchill and Alex the Great and ignore the rest. No, we recognised that there was a tangible need for research into the lives of those who most resembled our own, who were most in need of someone telling their stories as oftentimes they could not. We speak of, and for, the illiterate, the ill-treated and the impoverished.
Thus, the Society was born.
It wasn’t the easiest of births mark you, 2019 to 2020 saw us experience collectively 2 house moves, 1 job move, ye olde testament floods in Feb, the current corona pandemic and more. We both hold down full time jobs, one for the NHS and the other working with care homes, and whilst this has been a really busy time, one thing we both can say with absolute certainty, is that the work we do with the Society and the support we’ve received in doing it, has got us through it all.
“But what is this work you speak of?” I hear you (my mother) cry.
Well (mother), perhaps the biggest thing of all is the website. We made it our mission from day 1 to make sure that everything we do is for the betterment of the public. Rather than stow away our research in mouldering archives or leave it hidden in an old shoebox in a museum, we wanted people to easily find, access and use for free all the information we have discovered. Likewise, we’ve done a number of outreach schemes in the community, providing history talks for local societies and were even due to have a display at the Lightbox in Woking before corona snookered that. But the key thing for us is that so long as the site remains, so long as people can pursue their passion for the past, then that is the most important thing.
“But you still haven’t mention what you do!” I hear you cry (mother!).
Well the biggest project has been the transcription of the Woking Registers and for which we’ve had fantastic help from Minty and Maria Jackson. We couldn’t have got half as far without the dedication and time of these transcribing stars. The registers are now nearing completion and we hope to have a full set by years end! Alongside this, for the more interesting inmates we have created biographies. We have The Beast of Breacon, The Ab-Duck-Tor, The Grieving Thief and many more. Whilst the main focus has been Woking, after all it was the first prison of its kind solely for disabled inmates, we’ve also dipped our history toes into Petworth Jail, Oxford Jail and half a dozen others.
Some of this has been purely academic, but the visits made to understand these settings have been illuminating and often indescribably emotive as we uncovered a life carved out in inhospitable settings. The overnight exploration of Bodmin Prison left us chilled, and time spent at the Spike casual workhouse ward highlighted the lives of the transient population on the very fringes of latter Victorian society.
A great deal of time has also been spent creating vast timelines of Victorian society as a whole in order to give relevant context to the lives and times of our inmates. There’s Crimes, Prisons and Punishment, Important Laws and Acts which affected institutions of the Victorian Period and Medicine, Health & Healing a Timeline of 19th Century England: have a gander if you fancy a fast track lesson in 19th century society.
The making of our podcasts, mad, bad and bizarre (the podcast, not us…probably) has been one of life’s great pleasure over the past year. We’ve covered cuckold symbols, the smell mob and Christmas time in a Victorian prison. It was utterly invigorating to take our research and share it in a new format; besides the bloopers were an utter joy to accidentally make.
We then made the Reading Nook, an area of the site where we review books, audio books and fiction pertaining to the Victorian era and other criminal and peripheral activity. If you’ve got 30 minutes we highly recommend listening to Sue Black’s All That Remains; A life in Death.
Lastly, we’ve been cataloguing all the things we’ve learned whilst researching and have shared them in handy guides. Getting into genealogy was a steep learning curved for us both and we really wanted to share all the quick tricks and tips we’d learned upon the way.
But the biggest discovery for us both for this year, was the utter kindness and welcome shown to us by the local and historical community. Richard and Rosemary Christophers for being the fonts of all Woking Knowledge, Barry Devonshire the tour guide tour de force at Brookwood Cemetery, David Rose at The Woking News and Mail for giving us a platform to share our passion, The Knaphill Residents Association and The Woking History Society for wanting us to speak at their AGMs, Brookwood Cemetery, our transcribers, our fans and our family.
Thank you all so, so, so much for your help, support and for being the driving force behind what is and will be, ultimately, our life’s work…it’s just a shame we’re not Buddhists.
Here’s to another year!