HorsePower Museum launches on The Ogilby Muster
We are delighted to announce that the HorsePower collection has launched on The Ogilby Muster, a ground-breaking platform which has made publicly accessible thousands of First World War archives held in Regimental museums across the UK.
The Army Museums Ogilby Trust launched The Ogilby Muster in November 2021 following a four-year project, funded by a LIBOR grant from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Around 75 military museums from across the UK have taken part, resulting in around 1.7 million digitised images being made publicly accessible, some for the first time ever. More collections will be added in 2022 and there are plans to extend the scope much further in the future.
The HorsePower collection alone comprises around 12,000 images of our archives from the First World War period including photograph albums, diaries, orders, books and much more. Our collection includes archives from all five of the regiments that existed in this period:
- The 10th Hussars (PWO)
- The 11th Hussars (PAO)
- The 14th King’s Hussars
- The 20th Hussars
- The 14/20th King’s Hussars
The scope of the project is material between 1899-1929 which also covers the Second-Anglo Boer War, and the interwar period, where great changes took place across the British Army in response to the war. We have even discovered, buried deep in scrapbooks, references and photographs of Crimean and Ramnuggur veterans.
Start your journey into our Archives here: https://www.theogilbymuster.com/the_kings_royal_hussars_museum
AMOT supports military museums across the UK and has supported HorsePower most recently with a grant for the newly launched website, that has been a huge benefit and allowed the launch of our online shop in time for Christmas.
TOM is an essential tool for anyone interested in military, social or family history. You can use it from the comfort of your own home, exploring material which is held across the UK while staying in one location. With all material digitised, users can search knowing that there is a visual copy available to see. If you need any extra direction, you will be able to contact the relevant museums directly and speak to their expert Archivists and Curators.
Through creating an account on the platform you will be able to browse all of the images from every museums which has made them public. This includes large collections from Corps museums down to smaller Yeomanry and Volunteer collections. Copies of images can be purchased for a small fee which supports the Museum, the project and preserving the archives for future generations
Discover our archives
Left: An example of the archives TOM has brought to light is a poignant sketch of the grave marker for Major the Hon. Clement Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford DSO by his brother John ‘Jack’ Mitford, an officer in the Life Guards.
‘Clem’ Mitford was Killed in Action on 13 May 1915 during the Second battle of Ypres. On this day the 10th Hussars led a gallant counter attack but suffered around 138 casualties including the Commanding Officer Colonel Shearman, Major Mitford and Captain Gerald Stewart.
Clement and Jack’s nieces were the famous Mitford sisters; six siblings who were famous for their stylish and, at times, controversial lives!
As the sketch is dated 28 May 1918 it is not known if Jack was either passing through Vlamertinghe or had made a special visit to his older brother’s grave.
How you can help
While the digitisation itself is a huge step there remains a large amount of continuing work to be done by the Museum. An Archive is only as useful as its catalogue and while all our material on TOM has a description, there is huge room for improvement. Many archives are albums, scrapbooks, or bundles of documents that contain a wealth of information which cannot be captured in a brief description.
As one of our volunteer roles, the Museum is looking for volunteers to help populate and improve the metadata on the HorsePower collection on TOM.
This could be proof reading the transcriptions, adding locations or dates or identifying individuals. The platform allows for annotation on the image itself, geolocation and many more useful tools to enhance research possibilities.
The better our cataloguing is the higher chance someone may discover an ancestor, or researchers may come across a reference they would never have thought would be in our archives!
The work can be done remotely, although may be easier for those within range of the Museum due to access to the archive and in person training. However, basic training can be done (via zoom/teams) and more advanced training sessions are offered by AMOT. If you would like to find out more email or ring the Assistant Curator who will be happy to discuss.
