As part of Pride in Surrey 2020, Di Stiff, Collections Development Archivist at Surrey History Centre in Woking, talks about Harry Daley of Dorking and his memoirs: This Small Cloud. Harry's original manuscript is part of the archive at Surrey History Centre.

For a transcript of the video see: [ Ссылка ]

Harry realised he was gay at an early age but in 1925 he joined the Metropolitan Police, not an obvious choice of career given that homosexual activity was illegal at the time. He never denied being gay and there is true irony in the fact that he was a gay man, and a policeman enforcing the law, but was never himself arrested.

Through the gay author J R Ackerley Harry was introduced to the Bloomsbury Set, which included Surrey author E M Forster, with whom he had a relationship.

At the end of his police career he wrote his memoirs and these were published posthumously in 1987. It is the only existing manuscript memoir of a gay man amongst the millennia of records held at Surrey History Centre. Without it much of Harry’s life would simply be invisible and we are richer for it, for the unique insight it gives us into life as a gay man at a time when being so was dangerous and illegal.

So much of the county’s LGBTQ+ history is lost or undetectable but we are committed to making it more visible and accessible. We want to add more biographical stories and research pages to our Exploring Surrey’s Past website. Working with LGBTQ+ organisations and individuals and encouraging them to contribute to the archive is vital in helping us grow our collections and make them relevant to a wider audience. In preserving these records we can ensure that Surrey’s LGBTQ+ history is not forgotten or lost. If you have material relating to the LGBTQ+ people or organisations in Surrey, or would like to add a story of your own to the archive, we would be delighted to hear from you.

You can discover stories from Surrey’s fascinating LGBTQ+ past and present on our Exploring Surrey’s Past website: [ Ссылка ]

Learn about the LGBTQ+ archives held at Surrey History Centre and the sources to help you research LGBTQ+ history in Surrey.

For further information please contact:
Surrey History Centre
130 Goldsworth Road
Woking, Surrey, GU21 6ND
Tel: 01483 518737
Email: shs@surreycc.gov.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/surreyheritage
Facebook: www.facebook.com/surreyheritage
Web: www.surreycc.gov.uk/culture-and-leisure/history-centre/

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