Wigan & Leigh Archives & Local Studies

With the World Cup well underway, anyone for cricket this weekend? This shot is of Tyldesley Cricket Club, circa 1903. You can find more archive images from the area at https://archives.wigan.gov.uk

Just a few days lefty to apply for anyone interested in the Customer Services Assistant – Culture, Arts and Heritage roles working with the Culture Team, across museums and archives, including the new Fire Within exhibition and performance space in Wigan town centre: https://www.greater.jobs/search-and-a…/ job-details/WG-28916/

Past Forward 81 is still in the shops for local history fans and you still have a few weeks to get your articles and submissions in for the next edition - the deadline is Friday 21st June 2019.

Every so often customers bring in material to the Archives to ask for our help in locating an family. The image here shows some papers relating to the Mayall and Derbyshire families of Leigh and Lowton.
We would be delighted if any members of those families are able to get in touch as the donor of the papers is interested in passing on records concerning the families. If these papers might relate to your ancestors, please email us at archives@wigan.gov.uk

Look out for this event at Wigan Youth Zone this weekend!

'Carry on Cleaning' will be taking place at Wigan Local Studies on Wednesdays from 10am - 12pm. We will be cleaning the local studies books using specialist equipment and care. This is an informal, drop-in session and full training will be given to anyone who wants to drop in and give it a go! There is no need to book and the session is absolutely free.

Check out this opportunity from Peterloo 2019 GMArtivists. They are looking for artists and creative practitioners to undertake a short residency in one of ten archives including Wigan and Leigh Archives & Local Studies!!! Please note there is a tight deadline. #Peterloo2019 http://ow.ly/sDED50ofDWG https://manchesterhistories.co.uk/getinvo lved/artivists

Big thanks to volunteer Susan for delivering another successful family history workshop. Today's tree took us to the Overseers of the Poor in Pennington in the 1800s and Westwood Hall, Ince.
To book your place on a family history workshop at archives & local studies (currently based in Leigh Library) please email archives@wigan.gov.uk or phone 01942 404430. Workshops cost £5.

Wigan Local Studies welcomed students from Bickershaw CE Primary School today. The students are researching the First World War in partnership with Bickershaw Village Residents Association. They investigated the men listed on the Bickershaw war memorial using the newspaper cuttings and discovered that the memorial was unveiled in 1920 after being financed by local people. Pupils also researched the home front and looked through images and records of local munition workers and the 1918 zeppelin air raid on Wigan.

Local sketchers came down to Wigan Local Studies today and found inspiration in the library's architecture. Here they are at work!

We have been asked to share this call-out from student Emma Brown who is currently researching Drumcroon. Emma is researching the Education Arts Centre in Wigan and is interested in hearing from artists who worked there or who participated in the Artists in Wigan School scheme. Please share and if you would like to talk to Emma please contact her directly.

This summer a dramatic interpretation of the stories surrounding the visit of the suffragettes to Leigh in 1909 will take place in Leigh Parish Church on Saturday 6 July at 2pm. 'How to Be WomanLeigh', written by Julie McKiernan and directed by Martin Green, will be performed inside the church and there will be the opportunity for a question & answer session afterwards. Archival newspaper cuttings will also be on display on the day as well. Tickets cost £7 / Concessions £5 and are available from The Coffee Stop Shop in Railway Road, Leigh and at Wigan Archives & Leigh Local Studies (currently inside Leigh Library). Please be aware that the archives opening hours are Mon-Wed 9am -2pm and Thu-Fri 12pm-5pm. For more information please email contactus@healthyarts.org.uk

On the 16th of August 1819 St Peter's Square, Manchester, played host to an outrage against over 60,000 peaceful pro-democracy and anti-poverty protesters; an event which became known as The Peterloo Massacre.
18 people, including four women and a child, are believed to have died from being crushed and sabre cuts. Over 600 received injuries. The Massacre occurred during a period of political tension and mass protests. Fewer people had the vote, and hunger and poverty was rif...e.
Yvonne Eckerlsey will be telling the story of radicals of Leigh and Wigan as they protested in narrow Leigh Streets and the wide open space of Amberswood Common in the days leading and following Peterloo.
Yvonne’s talk will take place in the Derby Room on Monday 12 August at 1pm. To book a place please contact archives@wigan.gov.uk or phone 01942 404430.
Tickets cost £3 each and booking is essential.
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Westleigh High School pupils and staff have visited the archives today to research a ballet dancer from Leigh known as Flora. Flora joined ENSA in the 1940s and performed in post-World War II Germany, possibly in the displaced persons camps. Using archives & local studies material the pupils have so far uncovered Flora's marriage and obituary. They also listened to an audio recording kindly loaned by the Wiener Library, London. The recording, made in 2015, reveals Flora's memories of her time in Germany with ENSA.

Thanks to Archives Volunteer, Rosalind, for this spot in the Wigan Board of Guardians minutes from the 1830s...the extract describes a cheque being made to Mr Charles Ashurst for, '...his Bill for leeches applied to paupers in the Union...'. The Board of Guardians were responsible for administering the Poor Law in the Wigan area, including the operation of the workhouses. Rosalind and several other volunteers at the Archives & Local Studies are creating an index of the Guardian minutes to make research easier for anyone searching for their ancestors who found themselves in the care of the Guardians or the workhouses.

Something a little different for a Tuesday morning: an advertisement for Wigan's 'Premier Toilet Saloon...20 Standishgate...Good workmanship and moderate charges, Proprietor: L. Farnworth'.

An interesting new project from the Department of History at the University of Wolverhampton, 'On Behalf of the People', looking for people with connections to Bickershaw Colliery to take part in an oral history interview to record their memories.
Contact details are on the image for anyone interested.