Shropshire Routes to Roots

3. Social history sources

Introduction

Political and economic sources gives us basic evidence such as where a road was built or who lived in a place. However, it is sometimes harder to get a 'feel' for how ordinary people felt and how they were affected by events at a particular time. For this, we can read letters, descriptions, newspapers and old pictures, which help us to imagine what life must have been like. These sorts of commentary sources require more interpretation, and may more subjective than fact-based sources.

Diaries, letters and personal sources

Letters and diaries record emotions and the impact of events on a family or personal level. Over the years, people have deposited documents from their family at Shropshire Archives or in local studies collections in libraries. There is therefore a wealth of information about the ordinary people of Shropshire. For example, Thomas Boycott's diary notes how he felt when he heard that Admiral Nelson had been killed at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

A page from Thomas Boycott's diary recording the battle of Trafalgar Larger image, in a new window [44kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: 245/14]

For advice on how to interpret and put personal sources into a broader historical context, explore:

• Industrial development: Exploring industrialisation: Personal sources
• The story of writing: The Civil War

Newspapers

The stories you read in today's newspaper will become tomorrow's history. Newspapers record events almost as they occurred, and are therefore very important sources. For example, without the Shrewsbury Chronicle's reporting of the events of 1868, we would have little idea of what happened in the case of Murderous Mapp.

Extract from the Chronicle report on the trial of John Mapp Larger image, in a new window [12kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: Shrewsbury Chronicle, 23rd March, 1868]

The Shrewsbury Chronicle was the first paper to be published in Shropshire, in 1772. Shropshire Archives holds copies of the Chronicle from then to the present day, in addition to many other local newspapers in both original and microfilm format. The Oswestry and Border Counties Advertiser has been extensively catalogued and is available on microfilm at Oswestry Library.

Newspapers are secondary evidence. When reading newspapers, be aware that they may not be completely objective in the way they report events. Writers sometimes 'spin' the truth in order to make a more interesting story. Editors may also choose (or be forced through censorship) to leave out reporting of events which were actually very important. This is especially true at times of war.

For an example of spin and bias at work during World War One, see:

• World Wars: Changing Face of Shropshire

Photographs, Postcards and Portraits

Although descriptions and plans of a place can let us imagine what it was like, there is nothing like seeing a photograph, drawing or painting to revive the atmosphere of the time. Be aware, however, that the phrase 'the camera never lies' is simply not true. For example, at one extreme, in Soviet Russia, Trotsky was air brushed out of photos in which he stood side by side with Lenin. In the age of digital photography, such manipulation is even easier to achieve on any picture. More generally, photographs capture a single instant in time. A single photograph cannot show the wider context, such as what happened before or after it was taken, or in another place. For example, in this 1892 photograph of Shrewsbury's Pride Hill, it looks as if the place is a ghost-town, derelict and boarded up. But how do we know that the photograph wasn't taken on the day of a special event, when everybody who would have been shopping in a normally busy street was somewhere else?

Shrewsbury Pride Hill in 1892 Larger image, in a new window [26kb] [Shropshire Archive reference: PH/S/13/5/34/B3077]

Shropshire Archives has collections of images catalogued by place or subject, including sorted photographs (references beginning with PH), postcards (references beginning with PC), catalogued portraits and miscellaneous albums. Oswestry Library also has an extensive photograph collection, as well as invaluable etchings of Sweeney Estate over the years.

Two themes which use photographs to show the changes which occurred in an area are:

• Transport and communication: Abbey Station: Photographs
• Changes in people and landscape: A tale of two towns

Continue

Return to top of page