Hampshire Voices

The Singing Landscape Project in Hampshire - Do you have a singing ancestor?

One of the most important projects of its kind ever undertaken in Hampshire to bring together the very essence of Hampshire's heritage has now been completed.

Using a list of details recorded over a century ago, by folk song collector Dr. George B. Gardiner, The Singing Landscape Project located and linked people directly to their hidden folk heritage and built up a picture of the county's singers.

The huge task of gathering information, music and photographs on the county's traditional folk songs and singers from the past formed the basis of this unique Hampshire Folk Map.

A couple of academics from Bournemouth University masterminded this Singing Landscape Project, which follows hard on the heels of a similar, highly successful, venture in Somerset which featured the work of one of England's best known folk song collectors, Cecil Sharp. You can view a PDF of the Somerset Folk Map here

Yvette Staelens, senior lecturer in Heritage and Museum Studies at the university, who, together with Chris Bearman, oversaw the folk map project, said:"Many of us will have singing ancestors and perhaps not even know it. This project gives people a chance to find out who they were, where they lived, what they sang, sometimes even what they looked like."

Names on the list include Moses Blake, a labourer who lived in Lyndhurst, Moses Mills, a farm labourer at Preston Candover, Thomas Cooper, a fisherman on the River Itchen, Richard Hall, head carpenter on Avington estate, George Macklin, a bricklayer in Basingstoke and William Alberry, taxidermist and hairdresser at Petersfield - all recorded during the 1901 census.

For a full list of the singers (PDF), compiled from the research of Yvette and Chris, click here.


Blacksmith and Farmer Thomas Hounsome, b.1858, pictured with his family outside his forge at The Dean, Alresford. Thomas sang Gardiner 1 song on his first visit to Alresford in 1905. Yvette and Chris want to find similar photographs of Gardiner's singers.		Moses Mills, b.1826, a farm labourer, of Preston Candover. Moses sang Gardiner 24 songs in July 1907.

Yvette said: "Chris and I are keen to learn anything at all about these singers. Maybe you have a family story, or a photograph, maybe a birth, marriage or death certificate. Anything you might be able to share that could help us understand these singers and their lives would be fantastic to receive."

The Hampshire Folk Map, brings together the many different elements that make up Hampshire's folk heritage. It was launched on February 26th. It uses Dr. Gardiner's collection as an integral part of the project, which aims to safeguard the rich vein of music and song that runs through the length and breadth of the county for future generations.

2010 is the centenary of Gardiner's death and to complement the publication of the Hampshire Folk Map there are other events and concerts to highlight his work.

Yvette and Chris would like to hear from anyone who can add to the biographical information on the singers. They are particularly keen to find photographs of the singers.