Between 1916 and 1918 about 1.3 million men were conscripted into the armed forces. This resource draws on extremely rare records to examine cases where men applied for exemption from conscription. What were their motivations, and how were decisions made about who should go to war and who should stay at home? The resource includes activities working with documents and guides students through analysing data in a spreadsheet. This resource can be used to learn about: How conscription during WWI affected people’s lives How and why men or their employers applied for exemption from military service, and the reasons they gave How the needs of the local economy were balanced with the need for men in the army How historians can analyse large quantities of data The resource is based on rare surviving records from the Bury St Edmunds Local Tribunal. You can find out more in our online display.

These resources have been developed as part of the project Arrivals: Celebrating Migration to Suffolk. The project aims to more fully research and tell stories about people and communities who have arrived to live in Suffolk over time. You can find out more about the project at www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/arrivals The Arrivals project was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The resources can be used to learn about: The historical context of migration to Suffolk through time The factors which prompt people to migrate The challenges and benefits of migration The links between local, national, and international history You will find a selection of stories about individuals and communities who have migrated to Suffolk at different points in the past which can be used to explore these wider themes. There are four resources which can be used together or individually: Introduction to key concepts Medieval migration to Suffolk 19th C Italian migration to Ipswich 20th and 21st century migration to Suffolk

This resource uses primary sources to examine the witch hunts led by Mathew Hopkins and John Stearne in Suffolk in 1645-7. It can be used to discuss what people believed in the 17th century about witches and witchcraft and the complex factors which created the conditions for the witch hunts to occur.

This resource can be used to study the buildings and people of the Bury St Edmunds workhouse in the 1870s-1880s. It can be used as part of a study of poverty and some of its causes and effects in the nineteenth century. The first part of the resource focuses on the location and layout of the workhouse using maps, a detailed plan of the buildings, and photographs. Next it takes an overview of all of the people who were living at the workhouse at the time of the 1871 census. Finally, it looks in more detail at two cases studies – a family of four orphaned children and a former soldier. Students will use a variety of primary sources to make their own investigations, formulate questions, and draw conclusions.