More News

• North East Ancient Egypt Society have published their latest newsletter, to keep members up to date with our lectures which were held via Zoom, news and an exclusive report by Prof. Ayman Wahby & Hakim el Saghir. If you would like to join NEAES or see the newsletter, send them an e-mail.

  • A historical review by The Lancet’s psychiatry offshoot has been published, comparing the tactics of protecting the public against threats in World War II (with bombing) and today (with Covid-19).
  • Rome and the Invention of the Papacy is the title of an online lecture by Professor Rosamond McKitterick, to coincide with the publication of a new book by her with the same title (Cambridge University Press). A 30% discount on the cover price is available to the end of September using the discount code HISTFEST20 at the checkout.
  • The Northumbrian magazine’s June 2020 issue contains a lengthy article by our member Diana Whaley, about the Name Books project which she and many other members have been engaged in, transcribing documents from the Ordnance Survey mapping exercise in Northumberland in the 1860s. Available on subscription or in newsagents.
  • What Happened to West End Schools during Wartime? is the title of a new factsheet from St James Heritage and Environment Group. It includes a copy of a letter from the King to all schoolchildren; another of these was included among the Blair Papers bought at auction by the Antiquaries in 2019.
  • The Co-operative College, chaired by July 2020 speaker Nigel Todd, has assembled a resource ‘bank’ of materials as part of their response to Black Lives Matter. It includes a link to a series of short films presented for the BBC in 2019 by historian David Olusoga exploring critical moments in Black British history from 1919 that have been forgotten or rarely discussed. There is also an article by Nigel himself, first published in 1987, on Black people on Tyneside in the 1860s
• Congratulations to our member John Poulter on being elected as a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a (slightly) more prestigious body than our own. John is a retired systems analyst who has made an important contribution to understanding the planning of Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall, publishing journal articles on the topic, writing two British Archaeological Reports, and speaking at the Arbeia Conference among other places.
• Our member Jennifer DuCane has most generously donated Carrawburgh Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall to the nation. The fort had been cared for by her and her family since 1950, but, she says, "it has been a great privilege, but also a serious responsibility, to own Carrawburgh Roman Fort. The time has come to pass on this amazing site as a gift to the nation." Follow this link for Historic England's press release, and this one for a note by David Breeze and Lindsay Allason-Jones on the excavation and the stones found at Carrawburgh.
• On 27 November 2019 we bid successfully at auction for the 1813 membership certificate of Bridget Atkinson, the Society's first woman member, along with a number of other papers that probably came from our secretary Robert Blair. Many thanks to Les Jessop, of the Natural History Society of Northumbria, for alerting us to the item in the auction catalogue. A small group of transcribers has been assembled, and in due course digitised photos, and transcripts, will appear on our website.
• Northumberland Archives at Woodhorn has been successful in its Heritage Lottery Fund bid for a project around its holdings of manorial records. The project is programmed to start in spring 2020. Further details will be available shortly.
• Hexham Local History Society have releases the first version of their Photo Archive on their website, with over 500 images from the postcard collection of Colin Dallison. There are around 2000 slides also to come.
• RIB Online, the digital library of Roman inscriptions from Britain, has been relaunched in a much expanded form. Much of the hard work involved has been done by our member Scott Vanderbilt (in far-away California). Congratulations to Scott and his colleagues!
• Capital Newcastle; A Walk through Newcastle's Architectural Orders is a new publication from Newcastle Antiquaries, a fold-out pamphlet with a detailed explanation of the classical 'orders' of architecture on one side, and a map showing a walking route round Newcastle's city centre on the other, featuring eighteenth- to twentieth-century buildings that illustrate each element. Copies are free. If you would like some to distribute to local groups, schools, or your friends, please send an e-mail to author Alan Beale

• Our Data Protection Policy is now available on this website. As required under the General Data Protection Regulations, we are no longer sending e-circulars or electronic copies of the News Bulletin to those from whom we have not received specific consent to do so. Members who have not consented default to receiving items by post only. You can of course resubscribe to our e-mail lists at any time; simply send us an e-mail, including your name and (if known) your membership number.

• North East Labour History Society has published transcripts of the personal memories of 60 people who have been involved in the labour movement from the North East, and are asking anyone with transcripts or notes of further oral history reviews to get in touch