Sunday 2 March 2014

National Archive Podcast (9)


I love history at a local, national and world levels. The National Archives contain some interesting records of British Imperialism around the world. There are also important records relating to life in the united kingdom. These records can also be used by anyone who is interested in genealogy. The documents come in all forms. I like to listen to the research outcomes in the form of lectures as the archives come under greater and greater scrutiny. The files are captured in MP3 format. There is obviously a bias towards history and family history in my choices.


Patents of invention cover a vast range of ideas, from the industrial and agricultural revolutions, to transport, domestic life and health. Many are bizarre, and some are even horrific, but they all have a fascinating story to tell. The specifications are the written descriptions of how the invention will work, with drawings where appropriate. This talk focuses particularly on the drawings, while explaining the process of enrolling the specifications themselves and exploring a remarkable range of inventiveness. Click Here to listen.
Over 162,000 British and Irish convicts were transported to Australia between 1787 and 1868. This talk explores the reasons behind the policy of transportation and looks at the experiences of the people who were shipped beyond the seas, using case studies from the archives. Click Here to listen.
This talk looks at some of the most famous railway accidents and disasters of the 19th and 20th centuries, in particular, the disaster at Quintinshill in 1915, in which 226 people died. The National Archives holds a wide range of documents which record details of accidents and collisions but the talk also considers other useful sources such as railway staff magazines. Click Here to listen.
The National Archives holds a wide range of documents which tell the story of the Gunpowder Plot and its investigation - but their meaning is hotly contested. James Travers selects some of the key documents and shows that beneath the noise of the ideological debate, we can hear the principal characters speaking in their own words - and a very different view of the plot emerges. Click Here to listen.



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