British History

17 posts

Protecting the ‘unknown’

Protecting the ‘unknown’

Since auction websites like eBay entered the online arena the success of moneymaking ventures by some has in a way caused serious social and devastating historic damage. I am referring here to the thousands who have unwittingly taken advantage of these websites by selling off literally tons of “family junk”, […]

Emily Cave 1892

Emily Cave 1892

Whilst doing more family research I sadly discovered that my great, great grandmother (Emily Cave (nee Windebank)) committed suicide in 1892 after drinking the contents of a bottle of Carbolic Acid. I found out about this after conducting routine research through the London newspapers. London Evening Standard – Wednesday 14 […]

Running London’s tramway – 1886

Running London’s tramway – 1886

The expense of operating a horse driven tramway system in London was exposed in the Worcester Journal on Saturday 31 July 1886: “The cost of horsing the tramway cars in London forms, as maybe imagined, a heavy item in the accounts of several companies. The largest of these is the […]

Frank Edward Wright in 1842

In 1842 a man called H. Wright Esquire received a letter from his proud and excited son, Frank Edward Wright: “Southampton September 17, 1842 My dear Papa, We went to London in the holidays with mamma and stayed there three weeks. I hope you are quite well and I send […]

The Torquay missing Victorian trowel

The Torquay missing Victorian trowel

This is a very long story about a valuable 1867 silver commemoration trowel used in the laying of the foundation stone of Torquay’s Haldon Pier, that was later used to weed a driveway, lost during late 1800’s, then found in the rubbish on Rainham Marshes by an Edwardian Chatham bricklayer, acquired […]

Collecting Archive

Collecting Archive

Over the last 20 or 25 years I have been involved in a significant amount of historic research and this has led me to look into the lives of a great many people long since dead. As a result I have amassed a sizable collection of ephemera, including personal letters, […]

The Edwardians – Peace or Turmoil?

The Edwardians – Peace or Turmoil?

The Edwardian era that characteristically did not begin and end with the reign of Edward VII is generally regarded as Britain’s calm before the storm. I would say that this much lauded brief spell began a few years before Queen Victoria’s death and ended abruptly at the outbreak of the […]

Protecting those who were here before us

Protecting those who were here before us

Since auction websites like eBay entered the online arena the success of moneymaking ventures by some has in a way caused serious social and devastating historic damage. I am referring here to the thousands who have unwittingly taken advantage of these websites by selling off literally tons of “family junk”, […]

His Majesty King Richard III

His Majesty King Richard III

Now that the body found under a car-park in Leicester has definitely been identified, the fact that the circumstances surrounding the last moments of life have been ascertained, that Shakespeare, his fellow writers and certain historians should posthumously eat humble pie, there is a discussion underway regarding a potential state […]