West Sussex Record Office
What's on at the Record Office
3 Orchard Street, Chichester, PO19 1DD
Find out about events coming up at the Record Office.
Tell me moreWe hold regular evening talks on Tuesdays and family history workshops on the first Wednesday of each month.
About our events
Talks on Tuesday
'Talks on Tuesday' cover a wide range of fascinating subjects presented by our experts. All talks start at 7.00pm and last 1 to 2 hours, including refreshments. Tickets cost £8.00 (non-refundable) for each talk and must be booked in advance from the Record Office.
See below for our current scheduled talks.
Coffee Time Workshops
Our Coffee Time Workshops are perfect if you want to research your family tree but don't know where to start. It doesn't matter if you are new to the subject, unsure of computers, or if you want to look beyond the obvious sources, you will be introduced to the incredible range of archive material available at the Record Office.
Sessions take place at 10.00am on the first Monday or Wednesday of the month, except July and December and run for 1-2 hours depending on the topic. Each session costs £7.50 (tickets non-refundable) and places are limited.
To book a place on any of the sessions please contact us. Workshops are subject to last-minute cancellation if there are insufficient bookings (we will notify you of any change at least the day before).
See below for our current scheduled workshops.
Talks on Tuesday
Priory Park 100 - Romans, Roundheads and the Rolling Stones
A talk by Richard Plowman.
This event will celebrate the centenary of Priory Park being gifted to the people of Chichester. It is part of a programme of events by the Friends of Priory Park.
Date: Tuesday 24 April 2018
Time: 7.00pm
Tickets: £8.00 (non-refundable) - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Bernstein, Hussey and the Chichester Psalms
An illustrated talk by Nigel Simeone.
The lively exchange of letters between Dean Walter Hussey and Leonard Bernstein about the commission of a choral work for the 1965 Southern Cathedral Choirs Festival in Chichester makes for fascinating reading.
Find out about the story behind the work and its surprising origins in the music for a Broadway show in an exploration of the history of the 'Chichester Psalms'. Nigel Simeone's talk will focus on the Hussey and Bernstein correspondences, as well as manuscripts and documents in the Library of Congress in Washington.
About the speaker
Nigel Simeone is a writer, broadcaster and teacher with a particular interest in Leonard Bernstein. He is editor of 'The Leonard Bernstein Letters' (Yale, 2013), described by Marin Alsop as "an incredible collection". This was launched at the Library of Congress where Nigel worked on the many thousand items of correspondence in Bernstein's personal archive.
Nigel is also the author of a book about the genesis of Bernstein's 'West Side Story' as well as acclaimed studies of Messiaen and Janácek, both of which have won international prizes. He is currently working on 'The Janácek Compendium' for Boydell Press.
Date: Tuesday 18 September 2018
Time: 7.00pm
Tickets: £8.00 (non-refundable) - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Returning home: Exploring the First World War's aftermath in West Sussex
Illustrated talks by Emma Worrall and Professor Keith Grieves, focusing on the experiences of soldiers returning home from the front and the sometimes, lively debates in local communities about the best way to honour the fallen.
Date: Tuesday 30 October 2018
Time: 7.00pm
Tickets: £8.00 (non-refundable) - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
West Sussex women: A centenary of suffrage
An illustrated talk by Lauren Clifton.
Date: Tuesday 27 November 2018
Time: 7.00pm
Tickets: £8.00 (non-refundable) - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Coffee time workshops
Researching the history of your house
Date: Wednesday 2 May 2018
Time: 10.00am
Tickets (non-refundable): £7.50 - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Beginners guide to Findmypast.co.uk
This workshop will incorporate a practical, hands-on session on the public access computers in the Searchroom, giving you the chance to try out this popular website under our guidance.
Date: Monday 4 June 2018
Time: 10.00am
Tickets (non-refundable): £7.50 - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Discovering wills and other probate records
Date: Wednesday 4 July 2018
Time: 10.00am
Tickets (non-refundable): £7.50 - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Beginners guide to Ancestry.co.uk
This workshop will incorporate a practical, hands-on session on the public access computers in the Searchroom, giving you the chance to try out this popular website under our guidance.
Date: Monday 3 September 2018
Time: 10.00am
Tickets (non-refundable): £7.50 - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
‘Granny was a pauper’: exploring poor law records
Date: Wednesday 3 October 2018
Time: 10.00am
Tickets (non-refundable): £7.50 - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Reading old handwriting
Date: Wednesday 7 November 2018
Time: 10.00am
Tickets (non-refundable): £7.50 - please book in advance by contacting the Record Office.
Record Office friends
A regular programme of events is also organised by the West Sussex Archives Society. For more information, visit their website.
Contact details
- Email record.office@westsussex.gov.uk
- Tel: 01243 753602
- Fax: 01243 533959
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Address
3 Orchard Street, Chichester, PO19 1DD -
Additional information
Our address for correspondence is: County Archivist, West Sussex Record Office, County Hall, Chichester, PO19 1RN
Find us
By car
We are based in the heart of Chichester, very near to County Hall. The A27 trunk road runs through Chichester for links to Brighton and Portsmouth, while links to London are provided by the A23 and A24. Chichester is approached from the north via the A286 from Midhurst; and the A285 from Petworth.
By train
We are about a 10 minute walk from Chichester train station, which is served by a regular train service from London Victoria. There are also services from Brighton and Portsmouth.
By bus
The closest bus stops are at Orchard Street, West Street (Cathedral) and Avenue de Chartres.