‘Foaming rivers of snow’ and lost sovereigns: sampling William Parsons’ diaries
November 18, 2014
In the previous blog post, Lucy highlighted the value of diaries in our extreme weather research and pointed to the richness of these sources, whether they were produced specifically as weather diaries or as more general records of everyday events and activities in which weather features. In both cases, compilation demanded quite a particular kind …
Extreme weather events in focus: Aurora borealis
October 10, 2014
Aurora borealis from the UK Following recent sightings of the aurora borealis from the UK, in this week’s blog I thought I would share some of the parallel appearances they have made in some archival materials that I’ve been looking at. In putting the post together I’ve been able to utilise the summary reporting tools that Richard …
Extreme weather events in focus: “Hail as hazard”
July 24, 2014
Hailstorms as extreme weather events Although last weekend’s storms didn’t include any hail (at least not in Nottingham), they did get me thinking more about the impacts of extreme storm events in the UK. This post is the first of a series that will focus on different types of extreme weather event, their impacts, and …
Getting into the archive: Joseph Woolley’s diaries
May 23, 2014
Joseph Woolley This week I thought I would detail another source that I’ve been working on in Nottinghamshire Archives. Born c. 1773, Joseph Woolley was a framework knitter and stocking maker from Clifton, Nottinghamshire. There are 6 surviving volumes of diaries, for the years 1801, 1803, 1804-05, 1809, 1813, and 1815. The series record personal …
Getting into the Archive – The Hingham Town Book (part 1)
April 24, 2014
A trip to Norfolk Record Office A few weeks ago I began exploring the collections of Norfolk Record Office (NRO), looking for information on extreme weather events experienced in the East Anglia region, another of our case study areas. I went equipped with a list of material of interest, generated with the help of searches …
Getting into the archive – Shrewsbury in ‘The Great Frost’ of 1739
March 10, 2014
‘The Great Frost’ of 1739 Whilst the frost fairs held on the River Thames, London in the years 1608, 1683-4, 1789 and 1814 are well recorded in both documentary evidence and artistic representations, little is known about comparable events in provincial town and urban settings throughout England. The engraving by an unknown artist shows a panoramic …
Getting into the archive – H.R. Potter
February 3, 2014
Although we’re still in the early stages of the project and very much finding our way through numerous ideas, technologies, and archive catalogues… I have managed to complete a few days of work in the archives. Deciding to start local, these days have been spent over at the Kings Meadow Campus of the University of …
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