‘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 …
Sources in focus: Diaries
October 31, 2014
Knee-deep in diaries Many of the documents that we’ve been consulting in the archives over the last few months have been diaries, indeed Marie-Jeanne recently said that she was “knee-deep in diaries”, a feeling that I can empathise with! Some are meteorological registers – diaries specifically of the weather – but many are diaries that …
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 …
Extreme weather at the WCEH, Guimaraes, Portugal
July 14, 2014
World Congress on Environmental History (WCEH) This week Georgina and I were lucky enough to be able to attend the 2nd World Congress on Environmental History (WCEH) in Guimaraes, Portugal. Although this trip wasn’t an official part of the Weather Extremes project, the conference included lots of talks on extreme weather events from a variety …
Sources in focus – Parish Registers
June 20, 2014
Parish Registers as a source of information on extreme weather On a recent visit to The Hive, the new home of Worcestershire Archives, several of the items on my list of documents to consult were Parish Registers. Parish Registers primarily contain lists of baptisms, marriages and burials making them a popular source of information for …
Getting into the archive: Eighteenth-century weather diaries in Devon
May 16, 2014
Devon Heritage Centre and the National Meteorological Archive The Devon Heritage Centre is housed in an unprepossessing building amidst a jumble of light industrial units, car parks, supermarkets and arterial roads on the edge of the city of Exeter in Devon. It holds archival and local study material relating to that county. Contained within the …
Historical perspectives on extreme weather
May 8, 2014
This week I wanted to use my blog post to explore historical perspectives on extreme weather whilst also publicising a couple of activities and events involving members of the project team. Our project aims to build up a database of information relating to extreme weather events of the past that we hope will be of …
Getting into the archive – Pies, snowball fights and blazing chimney pots? Must be the diary of a Victorian lady
March 20, 2014
Elizabeth Nutt Harwood I spent a fulfilling day in Nottinghamshire Archives last week. Among the documents I requested was the diary of one Elizabeth Nutt Harwood of Beeston Meadow, Nottinghamshire. This covers a period from 1838 to 1842 and is rich in detail about the daily life of this educated young woman and her well …
Frost Fairs at the Museum of London
March 4, 2014
Last week I visited a small display at the Museum of London about frost fairs on the Thames. Frost fairs had a carnival like atmosphere and combined market stalls with street entertainments set upon the river near London Bridge. They took place on the Thames in years where the depth of ice was sufficiently thick …
What is an extreme weather event?
February 23, 2014
This question, although it might seem simple, is actually harder to answer than could be imagined. If we take the definition of the American Meteorological Society, weather is “the state of the atmosphere, mainly with respect to its effects upon life and human activities.” Weather measurements usually include temperature, humidity, precipitation (e.g. rainfall, snowfall) and …
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