A quarter-century of my dedicated research unveils the narrative of one of the most renowned and painstakingly rediscovered incidents in British Victorian history. This story centres on a man whose existence dangled on the precipice—the individual who encountered the gallows not once, not twice, but thrice.This work delves into the […]
History
14 posts
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 […]
John Witton was transported in 1834 for stealing from a grocer. John asked if the Court could do him a favour. Cambridge Chronicle and Journal – Friday 10 January 1834 reports the following: John Witton, of Wisbech St. Peter, was convicted of stealing a cheese, on the 1st November last, […]
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 […]
On 25 September 1907 two police inspectors were witness to statements and certain letters at the offices of Buck & Dicksons, 17, Winckley Street, Preston, Lancashire, England. These were written by George Douglas Clementson aged 27 of Ashton Under Lyne to Ernest Leslie Bassett Dixon aged 22 of Bushell Place, […]
Richard Bettison was my great great grandfather. He was born and brought up just outside Liskeard in Cornwall where, apart from a brief spell in the 1870s when he was in the Durham area, he spent the best part of his long life. My great grandmother Lily was his daughter […]
I have been researching and building my family tree for about 25 years. In that time I have have discovered that most of my blood (and first generation married) relatives were generally regular working and lower class folk. Some of them aspired to really get on in life, many remained […]
In the course of doing historic research I generally find I can usually detach myself even from the most appalling events and situations frequently reported over the centuries. It’s only when a direct blood relative suddenly appears in the Victorian news that I get a feeling of genuine sadness. This […]
Raymond Mitchell Heaselden (1897-1997), was the son of an engine fitter, Walter Heaselden(1865-1954) and Mary Ellen MITCHELL (1868-1965). Raymond, an only child, was born on 19 May 1897 in Dartford, Kent. In 1901 he was living in Crayford, Kent. By 1956 he had moved to in Worthing, Sussex. He died […]
My three times great grandmother really did not have much of an existence although she survived into her sixties. She spent all her life, like so many Victorian women at the bottom of the social and economic scale, cleaning other people’s houses and clothes. In death her body was used […]
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 […]
I’ve been working on my genealogy for about twenty years now. When I started out there was no internet and therefore no online data, so the only way to build verified information was to visit record offices and libraries. As my mobility became worse by lucky coincidence internet access improved […]
I love the Internet. Indeed without the World Wide Web that was invented or should I say evolved by some horrible coincidence in my life I think from a personal point of view my existence would be totally different. Just as I was beginning to lose the use of my […]