Romsey Local History Society

The society has a substantial collection of material of local interest which is accessible to view at no charge* to members and visitors alike during our twice-weekly history workshops. The collection is regularly updated as new material becomes available. Much material has been digitised and is accessible via our four networked computers.

*Donations are welcome and there is a charge for printed copies.

 

Photographs and other images

Our image collection comprises more than 30,000 photographs, paintings and engravings, the majority as digital copies.

 

Databases

Our image collection (see above) has a database which is searchable by subject, location and date. The burial registers for Romsey’s Botley Road cemetery have been completely transcribed and incorporated into a fully searchable database with transcriptions of obituaries, photographs of memorials and transcriptions of the inscriptions.

 

Library

There is an extensive collection of published books relating to the history of Romsey and more generally to Hampshire and the society’s research interests; in addition we have runs of a number of relevant serial publications.

 

Manuscript documents

Over the years the society has accumulated a number legal and other documents (wills, deeds, leases, etc), either as originals or as transcripts, relating to Romsey the surrounding villages , and their people.

 

Maps

We hold a complete collection of digital copies of the tithe maps for our area of interest as well as a wide variety of OS and estate maps; most are incorporated into a Geographical Information System (GIS) accessible from all our computers.

 

Newspapers

Our collection of newspapers includes Romsey’s first, the Romsey Register, published from 1859 to 1889 as well as an almost complete collection of copies of the Romsey Advertiser from its first publication in 1896 to 2017 (some gaps); they are accessible as either hard copy or as digital images, depending on date. Although the majority are not indexed copies of the Romsey Advertiser from 1952-1969 are fully searchable by key word.

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Archaeological Surveys

The archive holds a range of reports of the many archaeological surveys that have been carried out in Romsey and its vicinity, many carried out by past and present members of the society.

 

Research Files

We maintain files on prominent Romsey people and families, buildings, streets, farms, charities, schools and businesses as well as some material on the surrounding villages