Family historians can discover a popular collection of local military records at an archive talk later this month.
The Durham County Record Office event will explore the Durham Light Infantry Archive, which includes official regimental records, together with thousands of photographs and items of personal correspondence, which tell the stories of individual soldiers.
As well as introducing the collection, and explaining how to find documents within it, the talk will look at some of its highlights, including the story of Jimmy Durham a Sudanese boy adopted by the DLI in the 1880s.
The talk is one of a series of regular Branching Out courses for people who are familiar with the basics of family history and want to find out more about specific subjects.
After the hour-long talk, participants can spend the second half of the session using the Record Office’s research facilities, with support from an archivist.
Dawn Layland, education and outreach archivist, said: “Since it was transferred to us in 1998, the DLI Archive has become one of the Record Office’s most searched collections.
“It is an amazing collection, containing both official records and personal documents of soldiers, including photographs, diaries and letters.”
The talk runs twice on Thursday 25 April, from 10am to 12 noon and from 6pm to 8pm.
Places, priced at £10 per person, must be booked in advance from the Record Office’s online shop https://recordofficeshop.durham.gov.uk/pgHome or by telephone on 03000 267 619.
