Many documents can be found on line and it is a great way to begin research, but to add flesh to these bones, nothing beats a visit to an archive.
One of my more memorable visits was when I discovered the order book for Fricour's Hotel. This french hotel and restaurant was located in the building now occupied by Brown's Brasserie on St Martin's Lane in London. The owner, Augustine Fricour was the father of Augustus Fricour, the flamboyant first manager of the Scarborough Grand Hotel. The detail in the book was thrilling; in french, food requests were noted and each client had their own page. At the back of one of the books were the millinery orders and notes of Julia Fricour, Augustus' mother, showing how she worked for the upper classes before having her family. None of this was available online and I believe I was the first person to look at it since it had been deposited in the archives.
At another archive I could look at the inquest of an army officer who committed suicide at the Eastbourne Grand Hotel; making the online record of his death less clinical and more personal. The poor man had become too ill to continue in the army and faced with enforced retirement from the "family" of his regiment and the drop in income which would come with this, he took the only way he could see out. Without this archive visit his death would have merely been a date in the BMD register, instead I was able to read his suicide note.
On a lighter note; leaving an archive with filthy hands is a sure sign it was a fruitful visit.
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