Staffordshire Appeals Project – First Six Months

We’re only six months into the Staffordshire Appeals Project, and thanks to the fantastic work of our volunteers, giving up over 1000 hours of their time, the Records office has been able to do much more with the records than originally intended and uncovered some unusual finds in the process.

Just some of the achievements to date include;

• Indexing approximately 5014 individual names covering the Appeal Tribunals and Local Tribunals between 1916 and 1918
• Repackaged nearly 2848 individual cases
• Digitised 500 cases
• Catalogued 400 entries relating to the war in school log books
• Catalogued 121 Sub-Committees for the Staffordshire Educational Committee Council Minute Books between for 1914 and 1915
• Conducted further research into 35 cases of conscience
• Documented articles relating to the War and Home Front from 10 newspapers between 1914 and 1918 across Staffordshire.
• Delved into the collections at Shugborough Hall Museum

The rarity of these records makes them an important historical source, not only as an insight into the workings of military bureaucracy, but also offering up a wealth of personal narratives, telling the story of WW1 on the home front in Staffordshire, helping us to understand the stresses and strains on work and family life during ‘the Great War’.

If you would like to get involved please contact Project Officer, Rachael Cooksey ([email protected]) for more information.