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Talks and events
Oliver House: The story of a 16th century cottage. A talk by Sarah Pettyfer
Wednesday 15 January, 5.30pm to 6.45pm on Zoom
Oliver House, High Street, Cranleigh, was built in the winter of 1559/60. Through a series of deeds and other documents, the history of this 16th century cottage is uncovered, providing details of its owners and occupiers from within 70 years of it being built to the property being converted to a coffee shop in the 1960's.
Sarah Pettyfer is originally from Yorkshire but is now based in Surrey. She is a professional family and house historian and holds the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS) Diploma in Genealogy. She is the current Vice Chair of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA). She is also a member of the Register of Qualified Genealogists (RQG). Sarah's background is in law. Her previous occupation was a family law solicitor, and although no longer practising she remains a member of the Law Society. Drawing on her legal background, Sarah's particular areas of interest are legal records, in particular deeds, Manorial court and Chancery court records.
The talk will take place on Zoom. Once payment has been received, the Zoom link will be sent shortly (next working day if booked in the evening or weekend). All Zoom talks have subtitles and a recording is sent the following day, for you to download and keep.
- Tickets: £6.
- Please book a place online.
Finding Ivy: A Life Worthy of Life. The story of the British-born victims of the Nazi war on disabled people. A talk by Dr. Helen Atherton and Dr. Simon Jarrett
Wednesday 29 January, 5.30pm to 6.45pm on Zoom
From 1940 to 1941 around 70,000 adults with mental and physical disabilities living in institutions across Germany and Austria were systematically killed under a Nazi state-led programme called Aktion T4. The victims were deemed to have 'lives unworthy of life'.
'Finding Ivy: A Life Worthy of Life' tells the previously unknown story of the 13 British-born victims of this murderous assault on disabled people. Most of them were from the families of German and Austrian immigrants who moved to Britain to work in the early twentieth century before fatefully returning to Germany before the Second World War. Others were from mixed marriages between British and German or Austrian nationals.
This online event will feature presentations from Dr Helen Atherton (University of Leeds) and Dr Simon Jarrett (Open University) the curators of the exhibition. Both speakers will discuss the T4 programme and the meticulous research that has unearthed these 13 life stories.
This online event accompanies the exhibition 'Finding Ivy – A Life Worthy of Life' which is on display at Surrey History Centre throughout January 2025.
Helen Atherton is a lecturer in nursing in the School of Healthcare at Leeds University. She initiated the Finding Ivy project after a chance discovery 14 years ago and has been working on it, in her own time, ever since. She now leads the international team of researchers who have put the exhibition together.
Simon Jarrett is a visiting Fellow at the Open University and a member of the Finding Ivy research team. He is the author of two books on the history of disabled people.
The talk will take place on Zoom. Once payment has been received, the Zoom link will be sent shortly (next working day if booked in the evening or weekend). All Zoom talks have subtitles and a recording is sent the following day, for you to download and keep.
- Tickets: £6.
- Please book a place online.
Wet and Windy. Free Drop-in Family Activities
Tuesday 18 February to Thursday 20 February during normal opening hours at Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND.
Join us this half term to discover the ways we have used wind and water for energy throughout the years with our free arts and crafts family drop-in activities. Make your own windmill and kite, take the quiz, colour in and much more!
Parents/Guardians are responsible for supervising their children. Free parking and baby changing facilities. Donations welcome.
The Princess Mary Village Homes in the 20th Century. A talk by Dr. Jessamy Carlson
Wednesday 26 February, 5.30pm to 6.45pm on Zoom
In her recent book, Jessamy used the archives of three approved schools to understand how these schools worked, and begin to understand the experiences and events that lead to girls (and boys) being committed to them. She worked extensively on the Princess Mary Village Homes records, and will use anonymised examples of the children in the schools to demonstrate more about how the children came to be in Addlestone, and their lives after.
Dr. Jessamy Carlson is a historian and archivist who lives and works in West London. She has worked at The National Archives since 2008, and has taught at the Centre for Archives & Information Studies at the University of Dundee since 2019. Her research focuses on social and moral welfare records in the 20th century, and she is particularly interested in the experiences of girls and young women in the juvenile secure estate. She has recently published a monograph on Approved Schools for Girls in England, 1933-1973.
The talk will take place on Zoom. Once payment has been received, the Zoom link will be sent shortly (next working day if booked in the evening or weekend). All Zoom talks have subtitles and a recording is sent the following day, for you to download and keep.
- Tickets: £6.
- Please book a place online.
Surrey History Centre Open Day
Saturday 8 March, 10.30am to 3pm at Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND
Join us for our 2025 Open Day. Discover the fascinating collections, resources, and behind-the-scenes work that make Surrey's history come alive. Whether you're a history buff or simply curious about our work, this day will offer something for everyone. From maps to photographs, letters and archaeological finds there will be a whole array of Surrey gems on show. Take a behind the scenes tour where you will discover the 6 miles of shelving in our strongrooms, housing documents dating back to the 12th Century and more! There will be 2 free talks (to be confirmed) as well as family activities.
Behind the scenes tours take place at 11.15am, 1.30pm, 2pm and 2.30pm and are £5 per person, pre booking is essential as spaces are limited.
- Tours: £5
- Please book a place online.
Arsenic and Old Lace
Wednesday 23 April, 5.30pm to 6.45pm on Zoom
Join our Conservator, Rachel Marsh as she discusses some of the many pigments and inks found within our Archive. This talk will include tales of their history and production, and will also consider some of the challenges faced by Conservators when preserving and carrying out conservation treatments. From arsenic green book cloth to corrosive iron gall inks, this talk will provide an entertaining overview of some of the many colours found on documents held at Surrey History Centre.
The talk will take place on Zoom. Once payment has been received, the Zoom link will be sent shortly (next working day if booked in the evening or weekend). All Zoom talks have subtitles and a recording is sent the following day, for you to download and keep.
- Tickets: £6.
- Please book a place online.
Exhibitions and displays
Who was Ann Elizabeth Epitaux? How a Victorian girl's needlework sampler inspired the search for her life story
Tuesday 5 November to Thursday 19 December during normal opening hours at Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND.
In 1853, Ann Elizabeth Epitaux, aged nine, embroidered a large sampler. 170 years later, it was purchased at a local auction and became the focus of a year long project for Woking's u3a Genealogy Group. This display shows how group members traced Ann's life, as well as those of her siblings and their families. Their lives proved fascinating beyond expectations. A mixture of great successes and luxurious living contrasting with struggles to survive and tragic family events.
Finding Ivy: A Life Worthy of Life. The story of the British-born victims of the Nazi war on disabled people
Tuesday 2 January to Thursday 30 January during normal opening hours at Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, GU21 6ND.
Find Ivy: A Life Worthy of Life sheds light on the untold stories of British-born victims of Aktion T4, the Nazi extermination program responsible for the deaths of approximately 70,000 adults with mental and physical disabilities. The exhibition features 16 panels, including 13 that detail the lives of individual victims, with photographs of eight of them providing a poignant glimpse into their story. This exhibition accompanies a Zoom talk on Wednesday 29 January, see above for details.
We regularly showcase free exhibitions and displays inspired by our collection in our foyer. We also host external displays by groups and organisations and would welcome any displays with a Surrey history connection. If you would like to exhibit at Surrey History Centre please contact us.
Recorded talks to purchase
If you missed one of our online talks, why not purchase the talk recording to view in your own time?
The talks available are:
- A Burden on the Parish: sources for the history of Poor Relief in Surrey
- A 'Great' amongst Victorian Architects? Royal Holloway's W H Crossland
- A Snark Celebration: celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll's poem 'The Hunting of the Snark'
- Aladdin's Cave: Some Major Family and Estate Archives in Surrey History Centre
- Artists, Antiquaries and Collectors: illustrations of Georgian Surrey collected by Robert Barclay of Bury Hill, Dorking, circa.1800 to 1825
- Bananas: How a Surrey Garden Played a Pivotal Role in the History of the World's Favourite Fruit
- Behind the Scenes in Conservation - repairing posters, maps and plans
- Behind the Scenes in Conservation - Tithe Maps
- Corsets and Cameras
- Fashion and Folly
- From Patient to Professor
- From Punishment to Pride: LGBTQ+ archives at Surrey History Centre
- Gertrude Jekyll, Gardener and Craftswoman
- In the Shadow of the Great War: Surrey 1914 to 1918
- James Henry Pullen (1835 to 1916) and the Royal Earlswood Asylum for Idiots, Redhill
- John Evelyn in Surrey
- Land of my Father's Fathers: Tracing your Welsh ancestors
- Let the Road Rise to Meet You: Tracing Your Irish Ancestors
- Life and Labour in a County Village - or learn to love your Ag Labs!
- Magna Carta, Runnymede and all that
- Maps for Family Historians
- 'Michael Field' in Reigate: Queer Women Writers and Surrey in the 1890s
- Netherne circa 1955: A Surrey Psychiatric Hospital in Focus
- Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Sources for the History of Surrey's Mental Hospitals, 1700 to circa.1990
- Planting Ideas: Sources for the History of Gardening in Surrey.
- Portrait of a Surrey Town between the Wars: the photographic archive of Sidney Francis
- Reflections on the Lewis Carroll archives, on the 150th anniversary of 'Alice through the Looking Glass'
- Researching in Archives
- Richard III: A Drama in Three Acts
- Sir William More of Loseley
- Surrey Writers
- Terror from the sky: mapping air raids on Surrey in World War Two
- The Book That Changed My Life
- The Changing Face of Nursing: Black Nurses in Surrey Hospitals
- The Gentleman's Magazine: A Panorama of Georgian Surrey for Family and Local Historians
- The Most Wretched Man in the World: The Life and Loves of the 5th Viscount Midleton
- The Portable Antiquities Scheme in Surrey
- To the Manor Born: An Introduction to Manorial Records for Family Historians
- What did you do after the war, Grandad? – 1918 to 1925: de-mob, jobs, pensions, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the British Legion
- Where There's a Will
- Who Do You Think They Were? Discovering the lives and experiences of our ancestors
Most talk descriptions can be found on our Talks and Tours page. Each talk consists of a 45 minute to an hour illustrated presentation followed by questions asked during the live talk. You can also email us with any questions you may have after the talk and we will pass them on to the speaker to answer. Price £6. To purchase a recording please visit the Surrey Heritage Shop. Please note talks may contain references to historical legal terminology, sexual practices and crimes, used in the historical context but which some viewers may find offensive.
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