Local History Talks

TRIO OF TALKS  

Saturday 2nd May 2026 at 10.30 - London Prisons, this talk will introduce you to the records that help us to trace and reconstruct the stories of those ancestors of ours who, for one reason or another, came into contact with the law.  We will see that they don’t just tell us about the people who committed the crimes, a whole host of other names appear in the records; witnesses, police officers, judges, jurors and, of course, the victims of the crimes. 

Saturday 30th May 2026 at 10.30  - By 1914 the Post Office employed over 250,000 people with a revenue of £32 million making it the biggest economic enterprise in Britain and the largest single employer of labour in the world. Find out how this service was crucial during the WW1

Saturday 27th June 2026 at 10.30 - Could your relative be a witch? Essex was the epicentre of witch-hunting in 16th and 17th-century England, with up to 1,000 people accused, particularly around Chelmsford, Colchester, and Manningtree. 

Please email vange.library@essex.gov.uk for any additional information.