Schools Learning Pack 2017/18 Preface The Bankes family lived in Dorset since the 17th Century and owned 16,000 acres of east Dorset and Purbeck, including Studland. During this time the Bankes family were often considered one of the most powerful families in England, owning both the estates of Corfe Castle and Kingston Lacy. In 1981, when Ralph Bankes died, he left the 16,000 acre estate to the National Trust. Corfe Castle The Bankes Estate Collection was placed for safe keeping at the Dorset History Centre. The archive is stored in 800 boxes and is made up of approximately 25,000 individual items, containing a rich collection of documents that date from the 13th Century right through to the present day. Opening up the Archive Until 2015, the Bankes Collection had only ever been partially opened up and catalogued. The boxes of documents needed examination, cataloguing and conserving. With the aid of grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other generous donors, the Dorset History Centre is now exploring this wonderful collection and making the contents of the collection more accessible to the public. Archives are full of stories of people, places and events. The Bankes Archive is no exception, containing manorial, legal and estate records alongside numerous personal documents (including letters, diaries, photographs and drawings). These allow us to gain a fascinating insight into the lives of the Bankes family and the people who worked for them and lived on their estates, particularly from the 17th Century onwards. The archive also contains records of the travels and Middle Eastern explorations of William John Bankes, one of the most prominent members of the family. How can I find out more? Take a look at the Bankes Project website and follow the project blog and Twitter account to keep up-to-date with project news. If you would like to volunteer for the project then please take a look at any available positions on Dorset History Centre’s volunteer’s page. Introduction Welcome to the ‘Unlocking the Bankes Archive’ Schools Learning Pack! This pack has been created as an e-learning resource for schools, providing ‘inspiring opportunities for schools, colleges, universities and other learners’ to work with the collection. As such, the aim of this pack is to be as versatile and useful as possible to a range of Education Institutions, whilst offering an introduction to the Bankes Family Collection. The Lesson Activity Plans are organised into school subject within the pack, with each activity plan then being further categorised into one of the following topic areas: • Life on the Bankes Estate • Sir John Bankes (MP,CP) and Mary Hawtrey (1689-1661) • William John Bankes (MP) (1786-1855) • Henry John Ralph Bankes (1902-1981) • Women of the Bankes Family These subcategories allow the user the ability to choose specific lessons relating to a particular character and an associated topic, such as the English Civil War (in the case of Sir John Bankes). More information on these characters and their topics is given later in the pack. Another use of the pack could be as a termly, or even yearly theme of ‘the Bankes family’ in a primary school, with the cross-curricular lessons providing ideas and resources for a variety of topics and resources. As mentioned previously, this pack provides an introduction to the Bankes family and resources available within an archive, so we would be happy to assist in any wider scale investigations you may be interested in, such as the homosexuality of William John Bankes (who had to exile himself to Venice or be put to death due to his sexuality), or the reliability of sources (such as the untrustworthy accounts of Lady Mary’s defence of Corfe Castle). Curriculum Links The cross-curricular links within the pack are wide reaching, with topics such as the suitability of materials (Science), map work (Geography), and letter and diary writing (Literacy) present within the pack. For obvious reasons, each lesson has a tie to the History curriculum, with the ‘local history study’ connection present throughout. However there are other, more defined topics available within the packs, such as the English Civil War (Sir John and Lady Mary), Egypt and the Middle East (William John Bankes) and WWII (Henry John Ralph Bankes). We do value any feedback (positive or negative) regarding the pack, so please do contact us. Please note, we can also provide higher quality digital copies of the resources within the pack. Please see the ‘Use of Resources’ page for more details. Use of Resources Whilst the Bankes Archive is primarily housed and maintained at the Dorset History Centre, it is a collection ultimately owned by the National Trust, and unless stated otherwise, the copyright used is ‘© National Trust: Bankes of Kingston Lacy family and estate archive, deposited with Dorset History Centre’. In using this pack, you acknowledge that all resources are to be used for non-commercial educational purposes or private study and that you will not supply copies of it for any other use. Furthermore, if you do wish to use this material in anything other than an educational setting, or would like further clarification on copyright use, please contact the Dorset History Centre and we would be happy to advise you. Due to the digital size of some of the resources, the quality has unfortunately had to be reduced to keep the data to a manageable size. However, if you require use of any the original high resolution images available within the pack, please contact the Dorset History Centre and state that you are using the Bankes Learning Resource Pack, before quoting the Resource Number and reference number (D-BKL/etc.). We will endeavour to supply you with the high resolution image free of charge, where possible. However, due to the large size of some of the digital images, there may be a small cost attached if alternative formatting is required. Acknowledgements The production of this pack has been made possible through the assistance and feedback of a number of people and organisations: Teachers and former teachers who provided feedback and helped in its creation. Partner Organisations Dorset History Centre staff. Bankes Project staff members and volunteers. Staff and volunteers at Kingston Lacy and Priest’s House Museum. Other Organisations The National Archives. The London Metropolitan Archives. Poole Museum. With additional thanks to Bankes Project Supporters. Dorset History Centre can help you by… Providing copies of original source material in paper, electronic or CD format to support your lessons. The material will be made accessible before being supplied to the school, and we can supply extracts of complete or incomplete documents within a variety of different types of sessions. These include (but are not limited to): o World War 1 o World War 2 o Ancient Egypt o Local Art and Design o Development of local Towns, Schools and general local history o Source Analysis, Archive Skills, and Research Sessions Visiting your school and delivering workshop sessions based around copies of original source material, for a variety of ages and topics. Hosting a full class or group of pupils at DHC, giving pupils the chance to work with original documents. This also comes with the optional extra of a ‘behind the scenes’ tour, a chance to see how DHC works and how archive documents are preserved. Supplementing your visits to any of the local Dorset museums with additional resources to help prepare for, or follow up on, your school trips. Working with small groups of students to study their own family history or other larger projects around local history (such as Extended Projects). Please visit our website for more information about the types of sessions that we run and for our searchable catalogue. Please note that there is a charge attached to centre activities, which may vary depending on what you require. For further details, please contact the centre. Elliott Bailey- Archive Learning Officer Dorset History Centre Bridport Road Dorchester Dorset DT1 1RP Website: www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/dorsethistorycentre Phone: 01305 250550 The Priest’s House Museum, Wimborne Schools Education Programme The Priest’s House Museum has a varied and flexible programme of formal and informal lifelong learning opportunities for everyone – from children in Early Years to adults. We specialise in creative and hands-on learning using the museum building and its collections as inspiration for fun, active and memorable activities. We ensure all our provision is of the highest quality, offers excellent value for money and is an experience for everyone to remember. We have been awarded the Heritage Education Trust’s Sandford Award for Excellence in Heritage Education four times (most recently in 2013), which recognises our high standards. The Learning service covers a wide range of curriculum linked topics and provides hands-on sessions and resources which we can provide in the museum or in your setting as outreach. Groups rotate around three or four 30 minute sessions which are mostly led by our museum learning assistants, with some sessions self-directed. All activities are fully risk assessed. Our topics include Toys Old and New where you can hear the stories of some of our most popular old toys in the museum. Hold them in your hands and compare them to the toys we own today. Create your own Peg dolls, visit the Childhood Gallery and complete a quiz or discover Traditional Indoor and Outdoor Games. The topic Houses and Homes explores how home life has changed within living memory by Handling Domestic Objects, taking part in our Washday and bake in our Victorian Kitchen. You can also discover Life in Ancient Dorset including a Stone Age to the Iron Age activities and discover the Romans through hands-on activities including an ‘indoor archaeological dig’.