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Suffolk Archives

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We look after over 900 years' worth of Suffolk's history. Are resources are packed with amazing finds from our archives to bring history to life.

We look after over 900 years' worth of Suffolk's history. Are resources are packed with amazing finds from our archives to bring history to life.
Using the Census
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Using the Census

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Census returns provide a fantastic snapshot into the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and make a brilliant starting point for any local history study. You can also use them for a whole range of activities with your class – not only History, but Maths and creative writing. Census returns are essentially big lists of everyone in the country, recording where they were living, how old they were, what their job was, and where they were born. They have been taken every 10 years since 1841, and the latest available is 1911 (the next one will be in 2021). These teachers’ notes include: Background information on the census Ideas for using the census with your class How you can find your local census returns Sample worksheet for a simple statistics activity
Top Secret: First World War Tank Trials in West Suffolk
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Top Secret: First World War Tank Trials in West Suffolk

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This pack could be used with students from Key Stage 2 onwards. It includes photographs of the site in West Suffolk used for top secret testing of the new weapon the British military hoped would break the deadlock on the Western Front – tanks. You could use this resource to link local events with international events, and to investigate the development of technology during the First World War.
Suffolk’s Victorian weatherman – Orlando Whistlecraft
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Suffolk’s Victorian weatherman – Orlando Whistlecraft

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This resource is aimed at KS1 pupils for learning about significant people from their own locality. It can be used as a standalone resource or as part of wider topics on local history, science, geography, or art. Orlando Whistlecraft (1810-1893) was a pioneering meteorologist who for several decades kept a detailed record of the weather in his garden in Thwaite in mid-Suffolk. He published annual almanacs with his predictions for the year’s weather, and notes on what plants and animals you could expect to see at different times of year. The presentation tells a biographical story about Whistlecraft, and compares present-day weather recording with Victorian weather recording.
How does climate change affect birds in Suffolk?
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How does climate change affect birds in Suffolk?

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This resource has been designed for use with students in KS2 upwards. It is fully editable, so you can tailor it to your class. You could use it as part of a Science or Geography topic to explore the real world effects of climate change in Suffolk, as well as for students to learn more about birds that they can see around them.
Victorian seaside holidays in Suffolk
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Victorian seaside holidays in Suffolk

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This resource is for KS1 and KS2 and is packed with archive images. It takes your pupils through planning an imaginary day out at the Victorian seaside, and includes local history, Victorian history, Maths, literacy, and art and design. Find out what the Victorians did at the seaside, make your own bathing hut, write a postcard home, and more.
John Foxe's Book of Martyrs
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John Foxe's Book of Martyrs

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This resource takes you on a deep-dive into John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which is best known for its vivid accounts of the persecution and execution of Protestants during the reign of Mary I. The materials in this resource can be used with students from KS2 up to A Level. The resource will provide students with an overall impression of the shape, size and content of the book, and contains selected extracts which focus on Suffolk martyrs.
Jone Bysco – Looking for Clues in a Tudor will
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Jone Bysco – Looking for Clues in a Tudor will

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This resource gives students the opportunity to try out reading a real Tudor document for themselves – the will of Jone Bysco of Harksted, dating from 1564. The will lists all of Jone’s worldly possessions, almost allowing us to have a look around inside her house (and her wardrobe!). The resource can be modified to be used with all ages from KS2 to A Level and provides a real insight into the skills that historians need.
Photographs of VE Day in Suffolk
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Photographs of VE Day in Suffolk

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This image resource is for any age group studying VE Day celebrations in Suffolk in 1945. The resource consists of a PowerPoint containing historic photographs of VE Day celebrations around the county. The resource is fully editable, so you can use the images most relevant to your class.
Victorian Crime and Punishment: Suffolk’s Reform School
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Victorian Crime and Punishment: Suffolk’s Reform School

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This resource uses primary sources from Kerrison Reform School to explore crime and punishment in Victorian Suffolk. The pack includes background information about the Reform School which can be taught in class, and suggested activities. Kerrison’s Reform School opened in 1856. Boys as young as 9 were sent there by the courts in an attempt to deter them from committing further crimes. The History activity gives your pupils the opportunity to explore the primary sources for themselves. Statistics activities give them the chance to extract and analyse data, and draw their own conclusions. Your pupils will: Develop historical enquiry skills using a primary source Develop a sense of place by understanding the Reform School was part of Victorian life in Suffolk Explore the links between crime and poverty in Victorian England Make judgements and draw conclusions Select key information from a source Try reading old handwriting Compare and contrast the lives they lead today with the lives of the boys in the Reform School To consider how wider social conditions during the Victorian period affected the lives of individuals
Remembrance of the First World War in Suffolk
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Remembrance of the First World War in Suffolk

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This pack could be used with students from Key Stage 2 onwards. It includes background information about the Armistice, Peace Day celebrations and the origins of First World War memorials in Suffolk. You will find photographs and documents which record the way people at home responded to the end of the war, how they celebrated peace and how they chose to commemorate those who were lost. The resource consists of a PowerPoint which you can edit to tailor it to your students.
Photographs of Suffolk in WWI
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Photographs of Suffolk in WWI

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The historic photographs in this pack come from the collections of Suffolk Archives. These images show the effects of the First World War on the Suffolk ‘Home Front’, from the arrival of troops, to the creation of military hospitals, to the dedication of memorials at the end of the war. The topics covered are: Military training in Suffolk Soldiers off-duty Soldiers from different countries The importance of horses Zeppelin raids Hospitals Prisoners of War New technology War memorials
How to build a war memorial
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How to build a war memorial

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This resource investigates how communities created First World War memorials, from the end of the war through to the Centenary in 2014-2018. Students are invited to think about the things they would need to consider if designing a war memorial themselves.
Lowestoft Fishing Industry
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Lowestoft Fishing Industry

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This image resource is for any age group studying the history of the Fishing industry in Lowestoft. The resource consists of a PowerPoint containing historic photographs and contextual information including: Development of the Lowestoft Port The Fishing Industry Through Time The Beach Village The Herring Trade Scottish Fisher Girls The Prunier Trophy The resource is fully editable, so you can use the images most relevant to your class.
Lowestoft Seaside Holidays
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Lowestoft Seaside Holidays

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This image resource is for any age group studying Seaside holidays in Lowestoft. The resource consists of a PowerPoint containing historic photographs of the history of Lowestoft as a seaside holiday resort from the Victorian Era to Modern Day. This also includes some contextual historical information and includes: Samuel Morton Peto’s plan for Lowestoft Arrival of the railway The atrraction of the sea for visitors Soldiers holidaying after WW1 Activities undertaken on the beach The resource is fully editable, so you can use the images most relevant to your class.
History of Beccles
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History of Beccles

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This image resource is for any age group studying the history of Beccles, Suffolk. The resource consists of a PowerPoint containing historic photographs of the town of Beccles from it’s early history through to the Word Wars. This also includes some contextual historical information and the following themes: Early History The New & Old Market Beccles Quay & River Waveney Floods Beccles St. Michael’s Church World War One & Two The resource is fully editable, so you can use the images most relevant to your class.
History of Somerleyton Hall and Estate
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History of Somerleyton Hall and Estate

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This image resource is for any age group studying the local history of Somerleyton Hall and Estate in Suffolk. The resource consists of a PowerPoint containing historic photographs of Somerleyton Hall and Estate, detailing the history from being mentioned in the Doomsday book to modern day. This also includes some contextual historical information and incorporates: Somerleyton Village Somerleyton Estate Estate Owners Hovercraft The resource is fully editable, so you can use the images most relevant to your class.
First World War Letters by George and Albert Stopher
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First World War Letters by George and Albert Stopher

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This pack includes background information about two Suffolk soldiers, George and Albert Stopher, and examples of the letters they exchanged with their family during the First World War. This pack can be used as part of a First World War history project and/or a local history topic. It can also be used as part of a creative writing task or as inspiration for art projects.
Victorian Crime and Punishment: Murder in Halesworth
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Victorian Crime and Punishment: Murder in Halesworth

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This pack will enable to you to take your class through the story of the murder of PC Ebenezer Tye in 1862, and the subsequent trial and execution of John Ducker. Ducker was the last man to be publicly hanged in Suffolk. It is all based on primary source material, particularly newspaper records. The resource provides everything you need to run a history/drama session where you act as a narrator, guiding your class through the investigation. You could use the content to explore questions such as: Did John Ducker get a fair trial? Could the police have done more to keep their officers safe? Why do you think people went to see public executions?
The campaign for women’s suffrage in Suffolk
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The campaign for women’s suffrage in Suffolk

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This resource includes a Word document and a PowerPoint which explore several key primary sources relating to the history of the women’s suffrage campaign in Suffolk. You can use the sources to immerse your students in the stories of the women who fought for the right to vote, hearing their words and discovering the risks they took. Sources include photographs, census records, and newspaper articles which will give your students a ring-side seat at dramatic moments in the campaign. You can use this resource with your students to explore local links with the national campaign for votes for women. The pack includes detailed background information about each source and suggested activities to spark curiosity and actively investigate the sources.
Thomas Clarkson, Anti-Slavery Campaigner
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Thomas Clarkson, Anti-Slavery Campaigner

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This resource uses primary sources from Suffolk Archives collections to explore the life and ideas of the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846), and endeavours to place him within wider context of abolition movements. Sources include: extracts from Clarkson’s ‘Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species’, illustrations from Clarkson’s publication of the Brookes slave ship, extracts from public letters between Clarkson and Benjamin Greene, who was a slave owner, and an advert from a Haverhill grocer who was boycotting West Indian sugar.