Summer 2026

Diss and the USA

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This collection celebrates the links between Diss and its neighbouring villages with the United States of America, which this year is marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

 

Thomas Paine, who was born in Thetford in 1737, spent his teenage years in Diss working in his father's corset making business. He became and author and philosopher, emigrated to America in 1774 and wrote works such as Common Sense (1776) that championed the cause of American independence. His death mask is one of the items on show.

 

Paine’s emigration to America was sponsored by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, whose ancestors came from Frenze Hall to the east of Diss. His great-grandparents left Norfolk for the Americas in the early 17th century.

 

The family home of British General Lord Cornwallis, whose surrender to George Washington’s forces at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 effectively ended hostilities in the War of Independence, was Brome Hall. Demolished in the 1950s, the hall was in the parish of Brome.

 

In the Second World War, several local air bases, including Thorpe Abbots and Eye, were manned by the US Air Force. This Friendly Invasion brought new cultural experiences, but also two tragic air disasters involving American B-17 aircraft. 

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If you have a collection which you think would look good in our community cabinet, please contact our collections manager.