Registered Charity No. 288042
Helping to preserve Suffolk’s archival heritage
The Friends of Suffolk Archives (FOSA) was formed in 1983 as the Friends of Suffolk Record Office (FOSRO), when they played a key role in raising £250,000 to buy the Elveden manuscripts, now held at the Ipswich branch. As a registered charity, our twin aims are first, to promote the records service provided by the County Council and second, to facilitate the acquisition and conservation of archival material of relevance to the historic county of Suffolk.
Since our formation, the Friends have purchased many other fine archives for the Suffolk Archives (formerly the Suffolk Record Office). In many cases these might have been lost to the county without their action. For instance, we saved the Burrell collection of First World War military photographs, the manorial records of Waldringfield and the Shrubland Hall photographic collection. With others, we acquired the Joan Corder collection of East Anglian heraldic manuscripts and material from the Ickworth archives. We have also purchased many single items that have appeared on the market, such as the day book of a Layham blacksmith and a minute book of the Cosford Poor Law Union.
Please visit our acquisitions page to see images of some of the outstanding items we have secured for the county.
If you are passionate about preserving Suffolk’s archival heritage, please join us. Membership costs from just £12 per year.
LATEST NEWS
2024 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
This year’s AGM evening washeld on Thursday 3rd October at The Hold, 131 Fore Street, Ipswich, IP4 1LE.
Members were treated to a behind-
Paperwork for the AGM is still available here for those who were unable to attend.
After the AGM, the Project Archivist at Suffolk Archives, Denise Parkinson, will
give a talk entitled Seen, Secured and Saved for Suffolk. This talk showcased four
exciting collections recently purchased for the county by the Friends of Suffolk
Archives. The selection, dating from the seventeenth century through to the twentieth
century, reveals fascinating details about people and places across Suffolk, as well
as some surprising, far-
The collection of documents relating to the Unitarian Meeting House in Ipswich (HD4335). These were purchased by FOSA in 2023 and we heard Denise speak about the importance of these in her talk.