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In this blog we will consider those applicants to the Redditch Military Service Tribunals who we know of as primarily employees, either because they held exemption certificate for the whole of the war due to their jobs, or because we have not located military records. We will also look at who employed them.  We have...

In this series we look at the Worcestershire people who sailed on RMS Titanic, and the stories we can tell through the records. We start with Francis Millet, First Class Passenger. He was an internationally famous painter born in the United States and part of a group of artists based at Broadway in Worcestershire where his had most recently lived with his family. A letter he sent to a friend from the Titanic is part of the archives here.

The famously ill-fated Titanic sank in April 1912. 2,208 people sailed on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, and the ensuing disaster on 15 April 1912 sadly resulted in the deaths of 1,503 people. It may be surprising to know some of the people aboard came from land-locked Worcestershire. An exhibition about the Titanic will be...

Private George Fredrick Irish (27465) 14th Gloucestershire Regiment (1891- 1916) George was born in 1891, according to the Census, in Redditch to Joseph and Elizabeth Irish, he had an older brother John, and a sister Alice. Joseph Irish was a labourer; his father, Joseph Irish, had been a Blacksmith on Church Green in 1875. George’s mother...

We are delighted to announce that The National Archives have awarded us £3,000 towards collecting and conserving important archives from Worcestershire County Cricket Club, as part of their Covid Recovery Funding. Worcestershire County Cricket Club is an important part of our county’s heritage. Based a short distance from The Hive, it has been a focal...

With the 2021 census due for completing on Sunday 21st March, we thought we would take a closer look at the census through the years. What is the census?   The census was the brainchild of statistician John Rickman. He originally gave twelve reasons census information should be collected, including to find the number of...

A discovery in our archive reveals how a local scientist contributed not only to popularising horticulture in the 19th century but significantly during his life to the people and town of Bromsgrove. In fact, held in such high esteem, he later earnt his ‘Majesty’s admiration’ from the King of Prussia.

Today we hear from one of the Redditch Military Service Tribunals Project Volunteers, Derek Coombes, who provides us with his perspective of records and the history of the Redditch Tribunals revealed through the research he undertook as part of our National Lottery Heritage funded project.

  Hidden and often forgotten, yet crucial. This is the story of many women who worked on market gardens in the Vale of Evesham – women who helped feed the nation and support their families. Small plots growing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers for national markets covered the southeast corner of Worcestershire during the 19th...

Find out more about the Redditch Military Service Tribunal Project, the records we have and the kind of resources we have produced for you to use at home.