We welcomed our speaker Allie Dillon our first speaker in 2021. She started by describing the purpose and importance of the archives which are based at the Create Centre in B Bond Warehouse close to Cumberland Basin.
The team of 19 maintain the archives of the City of Bristol and surrounding areas, as well as the British Empire and Commonwealth Collection. Some are stored as hard copy and some have been digitised. It is both an historic and cultural resource.
The public have access free of charge and the records are used for many reasons including accessing records for public enquiries. Bristol Archives was established in 1924 and it was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom and holds documents going back to the 12th century. There are many valuable documents such as the Royal Charter circa 1190 (this is still a valid document) and the County Charter circa 1373.
The city archives reflect many different aspects of Bristol’s history in the form of photographs, maps, films and more. The many records they hold cover every aspect of the city’s history including SI Bristol’s records since its inception in 1920. This huge resource is accessed by all age groups and the staff welcome visitors to engage them in the city’s history.
We would like to thank Allie for her amazing knowledge of our City’s archives and enabling the people of Bristol and beyond to learn about our history.
We would also like to say how pleased we were that 6 members of SI Weston Super Mare joined us and we hope they will come to many more events.