East Riding Archives

Can you read cross-writing? This challenging method of correspondence was often used in the 1700s and 1800s as a way of saving postage costs by using less paper. After filling a page, the writer turned it 90 degrees and wrote across the existing text. Sometimes the writer used a different colour ink for the second layer. This example is from the Chichester-Constable collection. 📜DDCC/144/31, letter to Eliza Chichester, 1824. #EYAHandwriting

This June we will be hosting the REMEMBERING HUMBERSIDE exhibition at the Champney Treasure House, Beverley. This thought-provoking exhibition looks at the Humberside vision, its achievements, and how it was perceived by its residents. Remembering Humberside is a free, touring exhibition which marks the 30th anniversary of the abolition of Humberside County Council and sets the shared history of the Humber region within a longer historical and cultural perspective. 📅 3 June 2026 until 25 June 2026 📍 Ground floor corridor, Champney Treasure House, Beverley 🎟️ Free entry 🕰️ Available during Champney Treasure House usual opening hours

📰 Our Spring 2026 Archives e-newsletter has just been published! Read and subscribe for East Riding local history stories- such as rugby football, fish, and influential people- every three months: 🔗 /accounts/UKERYC/bulletins/4140a7c

Today, 21 April 2026, would have marked the 100th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest‑reigning monarch in British history. To mark the centenary of her birth, we have selected a small number of documents from the Archives that record her visits to Beverley to celebrate the Silver Jubilee (1977) and Golden Jubilee (2002). You can view these documents on display in our Archives Research Room at the Champney Treasure House, Beverley during April and May. #QEII100

We have had such a busy morning at the U3A Community Information Fair at Bridlington Spa. Thank you to all who popped by to find out more about the work of the East Riding Archives! 📜

✨ Monday 13th April ✨ Just a reminder that we will be supporting the Community Information Fair at Bridlington Spa alongside 50+ local organisations. Join us for a chat to find out how we can help you with your historical research. 📍 Bridlington Spa 🗓️ Monday 13th April 2026 ⏰ 10am - 12 noon 🎟️ Free entry ☕ Refreshments will be available from the cafe. This event is hosted by Bridlington U3A. See you there!

🛍️ Once upon a time department stores ruled the high street. For the discerning customer, they were the shop of choice for those that felt that being able to shop for good quality clothes and house furnishings under one roof was an experience to be savoured. Bridlington was home to one of these stores and it was called Carltons. The Archive Service has recently received some records from a descendent of the Carlton family which reminds us of the importance of this shop for Bridlington and the surrounding area. Browse the extensive catalogue for this collection under the reference DDX2578. 📜 DDX2578/5 - Christmas party for Carltons' staff at the Promenade Cafe, Robert Hall Carlton and John Carlton were in attendance with the Mayor, nd. [1920s] 📜 DDX2578/7 - Carltons 'Sewing Week' advertisement, nd. [20th century] 📜 DDX2578/8 - Drawing of the fabric and upholstery department of Norman Jones (later Carltons Ltd) by Frederick Schultz Smith, nd. [early 1900s] #Bridlington #Carltons #Shopping

We will be supporting the Community Information Fair at Bridlington Spa alongside 50+ local organisations. Join us for a chat to find out how we can help you with your historical research. 📍 Bridlington Spa 🗓️ Monday 13th April 2026 ⏰ 10am - 12 noon Free entry, and refreshments will be available from the cafe. This event is hosted by Bridlington U3A.

It is #SchoolArchivesDay ✏️ Did you know that we care for over 260 official collections for Hull and East Riding schools historic and present? These may contain admission registers, headteachers log books, staff records, punishment books, photographs, prospectuses, and building plans.* We also have an additional 200+ collections, such as those of families, that contain education-related records, such as personal exercise books and achievement certificates. Type a school name into our online catalogue to start your research: 🔗 /2DNAS 📜 PO/1/142/2 Walkington Board School near the Dog and Duck, Walkington c.1910 📜 PH/4/7 Blue Coat School, Highgate, Beverley c.1890 📜 PH/1/79 Spencer Street School, Beverley 1914 📜 DDX1688/1/3 Dunswell School pupils, 1895 *please note that some school records are closed for public consultation as the records contain personal information.

These detailed illustrations are from Alderman James Elwell’s insect collection catalogue which he compiled in 1906. Mr Elwell created it by using cuttings from a book that was published in Nuremburg, Germany, during 1790-1795. These cuttings had formerly been the property of Dr Thomas Sandwith of Beverley. Alongside the handdrawn illustrations, the insect names are written in Latin, for example Libellua depressa = Broad-bodied Chaser (Dragonfly), and the catalogue descriptions are in German. Alderman James Elwell presented the entire volume of illustrations to the Beverley Public Library in 1906. 📜 DDX1668/1, Alderman James Elwell insect collection catalogue, 1906. #EYAWildlife #ExploreYourArchive

It's #InternationalWomensDay! Our collections share the stories of women from all areas of society- from the Poor Law collections of the workhouse and encounters with the law in the Quarter Sessions, to the estate records of the grand country houses. We also care for the records of women's groups and societies, such as the historical records of the various East Riding Women's Institute branches, Girl Guides and Townswomen's Guild. Our local studies collections hold some informative books into pioneering women with connections to the East Riding, including 'Extraordinary Women of Beverley' edited by Barbara English. This book contains chapters on St Hilda of Whitby (614-680); Johanna Crossley (c.1520-1524) who paid towards the restoration of St Mary's Church; Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) author of 'A vindication of the rights of women'; Elisabeth Lambert (1791-1830) an artist; Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915) actress and writer, Mary D Elwell (1874-1952) artist, Eva Collet Reckitt (1890-1976) social radical and daughter of Hull industrialist Arthur B Reckitt, Nellie Collinson (1895-1975) ran 'The White Horse' public house, Hilda Lyon (1896-1946) mathematician and engineer, Winifred Holtby (1898-1935) author, Margaret Powell (1923-2014) councillor and campaigner against proposed road widening scheme of Beverley in 1960s and Pat Albeck (1930-2017) a designer. 📜Y/BC/ENG/BEV, 'Extraordinary Women of Beverley', edited by Barbara English, 2019 📜 Books in the East Riding Archives local studies collections on Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley 📜 DDX2180/1/522, Photograph of Women's Rights meeting, Wednesday Market Methodist Church, Beverley, c.1909 📜 WL/16/37, Muriel Popple, of Beverley, of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) 📜 DDX5/5, Pamphlet, 'Women in the Nation' by Mrs Charlotte Despard, President of the Women's Freedom League and late of the Women's Social and Political Union, 1909 #IWD2026 #WomensRights

✨ Photo Finish is open NOW until Saturday 06 June 2026, Champney Treasure House, Beverley ✨ Content from East Riding Archives features in the new Champney Treasure House Museum exhibition 'Photo Finish: A Year at Beverley Race's. One of the documents on display dates from 1793 and announces that a race will be run on Beverley Westwood with prize money of fifty pounds (around £6000 in today’s money). The exhibition focuses on the work of seven regional photographers known as The People who in 2024 set out to record a year of action at Beverley Racecourse. The images capture the excitement of the crowds, the behind-the-scenes work of the stewards, vets and caterers and the stars of the show - the horses and jockeys. As well as archive and museum documents, the exhibition is complemented by a playlist of historic horse racing film footage from Yorkshire Film Archive. Pop in and take a look! Entry to the Champney Treasure House is free. @ermuseums