Roehampton University's rich history, and that of the surrounding area, has gone online, thanks to students who published their work.

People now have information at their fingertips about famous and infamous high society Georgian and Victorian characters, as well as intriguing information about the university's historical buildings.

Second year humanities students have dug up the stories of fascinating Roehampton residents such as Henrietta, Countess Bessborough, a Georgian socialite with incredible gambling debts, and Lady Jane Law, of Elm Grove, who married four times, became a social exile after a scandal and eventually married a Bedouin sheikh.

Spearheading the undertaking was Dr Sonya Nevin, who said: “People living in Roehampton have hundreds of years of social history on their doorsteps. Our students have enjoyed bringing order to it to create a website which residents can use to find out what happened right here over the last four centuries.

“I’d challenge anyone interested in local history to visit the website and find out something new and exciting about where they live.”

The pioneering project is part of a scheme to use the university campus itself as a learning resource.

John Horrocks, vice-chairman of the Roehampton Forum organisation, said: “This project is really interesting indeed, and now I want to learn more. This is really just the beginning of something very big and I'm looking forward to coming back in to the University and learning more about the Roehampton area.”