Contact Us
By email:
info@one-place-studies.org
By post:
Society for One-Place Studies,
28 St Ronan’s Avenue,
Southsea, Hampshire, PO4 0QE
United Kingdom
For this topic I have deliberately chosen the month in which Christmas falls, but you can use this as a prompt to write about celebrations of any kind in your one-place study. A festival, a birth, a royal jubilee, a wedding, a coming-of-age – how, when and by whom were these or other happy events celebrated? You could even choose to celebrate one-place studies! Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceInCelebrations
This prompt coincides with Armistice Day / Veterans Day and Remembrance Sunday, but your responses to it need not be limited to World War One or those who served in that conflict. This is an opportunity to write or post about the impact of any period of wartime on your place and its people: those who fought, those who served in other ways, those who refused to take part, and those who remained behind and ‘kept the home fires burning’. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceInWartime
How and by whom was your place and affairs within it governed, particularly at a local level? Manorial courts, parish vestries, parish / town / city / county councils, local boards, officials representing the crown or national government – these and more have played their part in creating or administering rules and regulations, and keeping records which can tell us about people at all levels of society. Find and share the facts and the stories for your place. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceGovernance
Wills and related documents such as inventories and letters of administration can provide valuable information about the people of our places. Explore the wills of people from your one-place study and tell us about the secrets, the stories, the generosity (or otherwise), the treasured possessions, or the previously unknown friends or family members they have revealed. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceWills
A topic which you can interpret very broadly is the environment of your one-place study. You could write or post about aspects of the natural or built environment and the changes to them, positive and negative, which have taken place over time; the working environment of those engaged in particular occupations; or the smells and sounds of your place in times past as part of the broader experience of your place by its people. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceEnvironment
This prompt focuses on one of the most varied and ubiquitous occupations found within our one-place studies: servants. They worked in rural and urban places and within a range of domestic and business premises, where they washed, cleaned or cooked; acted as butler, maid or housekeeper; took care of children, horses or gardens; worked as apprentices, assistants or labourers to farmers or tradespeople, or performed one or more other duties. Tell us about the servants of your place, what they did, and any changes you have observed in their numbers and duties over time. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceServants
There’s nothing quite like a good map to show the lie of the land, and maps over time can show changes both subtle and drastic. A prompt for you to talk about maps covering your Places – Ordnance Survey maps, geological maps, land use maps, estate maps, tithe maps etc – and what they can tell us about the features and overall character of the areas they cover. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceMaps
The influence of religion on our Places and their people cannot be underestimated, and there are many avenues for investigating this. What places of worship existed in our Places over time? What was the impact of the clergy (or others who ministered to people’s spiritual needs) in the community – and did they practice what they preached? How did non-conformists or other religious minorities fare? These are just a few of the questions which could be addressed in tweets, blog posts or articles. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceWorship
Public houses, inns, taverns and alehouses: establishments selling alcohol were popular places. Some were frequented by the working classes while others catered for landowners and professional people; some were largely respectable while others were associated with crime and disorderly conduct; and some were managed by the same landlord for years while others changed hands more frequently. All of them have stories to be shared. Social media hashtag: #OnePlacePubs
To tie in with Women’s History Month, this is an opportunity to blog, write an article or post to social media about the women in our one-place studies. The focus can be on one or more individual female figures, ordinary or extraordinary, or on women’s lives more generally. Plus, for our members there’s another way to get involved: our March 2021 webinar, Women in our Places, will feature member contributions on this topic! A recording of the event will be made available for all to view on our YouTube channel afterwards. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceWomen
Tragic deaths in our Places, caused by accidents or illness: in each case there was a victim (possibly more than one), a story of how their sad demise came about, perhaps a guilty party, and impacts on surviving family members, friends and the wider community. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceTragedies For part 1 of our round-up of blog posts about Tragedies – with some Joys mixed in – see #OnePlaceTragedies and #OnePlaceJoys.
A prompt for you to look at a physical element of your OPS, a landmark, which could be a building (for example a mill, a prominent institution, a ‘stately home’, or a church – in the latter case be aware of possible overlap with the Worship prompt in May), some other feature created by people (such as a canal, a bridge, an ancient earthwork) or a natural feature (which could be a hill, a river, a cliff or a wood). What is its history and significance? Which people or events are connected to it, and how? You can of course choose more than one landmark, especially if you are joining in by posting to social media. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceLandmarks For the first batch of blog posts about Landmarks, see #OnePlaceLandmarks – the stories so far. For the second batch of blog posts about Landmarks, see More #OnePlaceLandmarks blog posts.
Our second ‘bonus prompt’, this can be used at any time during the period from July to December 2021. It is deliberately broad in scope – you can write or post about connections of any kind between people in your one-place study, between your place’s people and interesting events, incidents or inventions, or connections between your one-place study and your one-name study or someone else’s OPS. You could also explore your own connections with your study place. Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceConnections
This bonus prompt has been introduced as an ‘antidote’ to the #OnePlaceTragedies prompt, but it can be used as an alternative to any of our existing themes – for example, those for which you have little or no material. It can also be used in addition to the other prompts if you wish, and can be interpreted broadly – joyful events in your OPS, or the joys you experience in carrying out your study! Social media hashtag: #OnePlaceJoys
By email:
info@one-place-studies.org
By post:
Society for One-Place Studies,
28 St Ronan’s Avenue,
Southsea, Hampshire, PO4 0QE
United Kingdom
© The Society for One-Place Studies