Come and Visit Us at Bygone Borderlands This Weekend (18 & 19 May)

This weekend, 18 and 19 May, there’s a local and family history weekend organised by Berwick Record Office celebrating the heritage of the Scottish and English Borders and commemorating the battle of Flodden in 1513. 

The weekend event is called Bygone Borderlands and takes place in the Guildhall, Berwick on Tweed, England. 

On Saturday it runs from 10am to 4pm and on Sunday from 11am to 4pm. 

This is a very popular event with displays about the history of North Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, talks and exhibitors. 

Saturday’s talks are: 

• 10.15    An Introduction to the Battle of Flodden     Chris Burgess
• 11.00    Rebuilding Berwick’s Town Hall – recent discoveries    Jim Herbert 
• 12.00    A Glimpse into the Archives at Paxton House     Martha Andrews and Chris Pawson
• 1.00    Wilson’s Tales of the Borders : Berwick’s Forgotten Heritage. The Tales; The Man and their historic context    Andrew Ayre
• 2.00    James IV – who was he?     Matthew Rooke 
• 3.00    Family History Resources in the Berwick Record Office and the Heritage Hub at Hawick    Linda Bankier and Paul Brough

Sunday’s talks are: 

• 11.15    An Introduction to the Battle of Flodden     Chris Burgess
• 12.00    Women and the Battle of Flodden    Clive Hallam Baker
• 1.00      Berwick’s  Medieval Walls    Jim Herbert
• 2.00      Mauchlineware and Flodden    Jane Bowen
• 3.00      The Alnwick Muster Roll, February 1514    Chris Hunwick, Archivist to the Duke of Northumberland

There'll be an archaeological tour of the jail area of the Town Hall, led by Jim Herbert at 12 noon on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday.

 Exhibitors include:

• Borders Family History Society
• Glendale Local History Society 
• Lowick Heritage Group 
• Northumberland and Durham Family History Society 
• Norham and Ladykirk Local History Society 
• Old Parish of Bamburgh

Entry is free and tasty refreshments will be available.

Paxton House Exhibition

Servants – emerging from the Shadows”

Paxton House 21^st April to 31^st October 2013.

Stories of Drunken Butlers, Fat Cooks and Wayward Dairymaids

My attention has been drawn to what looks like a most interesting exhibition at  Paxton House near Berwick (below)

Paxton House

In Country House like Paxton there is usually ample evidence of the lives of the owners and their families. The lives of their servants are less well documented. However in the writings, wages books and household account ledgers of the Home family there are valuable fragments of information. When these are put together, the working lives and characters those who served the Home family in their various houses, begin to emerge from the shadows.

As well as hard facts such as rates of pay, terms of employment, cost of uniforms and servants perks, there are more personal glimpses of the people themselves; the butler who struggled with alcoholism was given a second chance after stealing his masters whisky but finally “let go” after drinking the “spirits of wine” or “ meths” for the lamps; the coachman who fared better, avoiding the sack by joining the Temperance Society and was still in the Home’s employment 10 years later. 

Several of the servants stayed with the family for many years, rising from footman to butler or housemaid to housekeeper. Mrs Robb, the Housekeeper eventually left to marry an elderly potato merchant from Fife. “He’s no much to look at” but “he will leave me very comfortable.”

Some of the most exciting finds were photographs although usually the servants are on the sidelines of a photograph in the family album. There are grooms holding horses, a coachman seated on the carriage and nursemaids and governesses with the children. The Paxton gamekeeper is pictured with his dog, and the rather homely dairymaid with a bucket and her ginger cat. In some cases the names are known but sadly, most are anonymous.

An exhibition well worth a visit.

Ronald Morrison

Members might be interested in the following event;

 

 

FRIENDS of BERWICK MUSEUM

   

AUTUMN LECTURE

“FROM PRUSSIA WITH LOVE”

Talk on 18^th century costume and the archives at Paxton House
 

by

Martha Andrews and Chris Pawson

 

Friday 19^TH October 7.00pm

In the Parish Centre, Berwick

ALL WELCOME

 

In the June edition of the magazine I mentioned the on-going work regarding the transcription of the Milne Graden papers at Paxton House. I am aware that work has been going on over the summer and that some interesting  information being unearthed.  A chance to learn exactly what has been discovered as well as learn  something about 18th. century costume

 

Ronald Morrison

 

 

 

 

Paxton Before the House Community Research Project

This is a new community interest project that has been set up to investigate the history and archaeology of Paxton and the surrounding landscape.

It aims to investigate the landscape to locate some of the early settlements that existed in the parish of Hutton.  Archaeologists from Bamburgh Research Project and Edinburgh University will be working with local organisations and volunteers to uncover new evidence of this important historical setting. Members of the community are invited to participate in various aspects of the work including 'hands on archaeology', digging a variety of sites from prehistoric promontory forts to traces of the early origins of 'Fermtouns'. They hope to be able to show continuity between the prehistoric landscape and the present farmland.

A public meeting will be held at Paxton House at the Hayloft on Monday 27th September at 7.30 pm. All welcome !

They are looking for volunteers to get involved in every aspect of the archaeological research at Paxton. If you would like to take part please contact them on 01289 386291 or via the Paxton House website.

Having taken part in archaeological digs before, my experience was that this is often a very exciting way to spend a few days. Not only does one learn about the generalities of archaeology, there's usually lots of opportunity to learn about the objects found. It's very exciting to unearth historic artefacts, and wonder whether your ancestors made, dropped or sold them.