Archive Assistant Neil Wiffen writes:

Regular readers of this Blog will know how much we at the Record Office enjoy using our venerable 1933 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, and recently I had cause to consult it once more to check a meaning.

One of the joys (there are so many!) of working at ERO is the instances of serendipity occurring – be it the documents being looked at or the happy coincidence (serendipity) of working in the Searchoom on a particular day and meeting new researchers. The summer brings all sorts of exotic things across the globe to our own shores; often they will have drifted here via the Gulf Stream or blown over the ocean by contrary winds. Some visitors though, have a premeditated reason to travel thousands of miles to reach us, and quite often, even here, in the Searchroom we have our own long-distance travellers descending on us. The reasons can be legion: perhaps they are here from the other side of the world tracing their Essex family history containing an ancestor who might have been given free passage to Australia, against their will, for some nefarious crime. Or maybe it is tracing the medieval history of one of our villages or the treatment of the aged in early-modern Essex. We never know who will be walking through our door and what they will want to look at.

A month or two ago we had just one such visitor who came to us from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (which according to the ‘measure’ tool in Google maps is about 3,970 miles away!), Dr Emily Spunaugle. Emily was over here researching early nineteenth century Wanstead, which was once in the historic county of Essex. After almost a day with us and having looked at many documents, Emily came across a book from our library that she had been waiting a long time to see: Rambles in Waltham Forest: a stranger’s contribution to the triennial sale for the benefit of the Wanstead Lying-in Charity from 1827.

Our particular copy of the book also, entirely unexpectedly, answered an important question for which Dr Spunaugle had long been seeking an answer.

There was much excitement and a photo was demanded

It is lovely to be able to help researchers to make the most of their visits and being a regular using of archives myself, I know what it feels like to have that ‘moment’ when your research falls into place. Emily has subsequently contacted us to say that

As an academic, I’ve conducted research in countless libraries, local museums, and record offices around the United Kingdom during my career, and none have been so welcoming and helpful as the Essex Record Office. During my visit, workers expressed appropriate and genuine interest in researchers’ topics, including my own, and consulted with their colleagues for additional expertise when needed. From the wayfinding information on the website to the friendly service of the in-person visit itself, it’s apparent that the ERO wants researchers to come and use their collections, and actively sees this as their mission. Here’s hoping my next research project also involves Essex!

So, whether you are planning on visiting us from near or far (and we do want you to visit to look at the documents we car for), we look forward to seeing you and hope that you have as successful a visit as Emily did. Thinking about it, Emily experienced some serendipity in the Searchroom, as much as we did in being able to help her: serendipity squared – now that’s something powerful in this day and age!