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 […]
m’Blog
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I am somewhat confused with the British Broadcasting Corporation. When is it okay to use colourful language? At one end of the BBC the use of any words very slightly offensive or indeed with sexual references are banned before 2100 hours on television. Meanwhile at the other end of the […]
I think I have a fairly strong constitution. But there is one aspect of television presentation that really does make me heave. I cannot stand watching people eating or tasting food on camera. To be honest it makes me feel so uncomfortable and even a little nauseous. I quite enjoy […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Friends of mine who smoke/smoked were always careful in my company and for that I (as a non-smoker) am/was very always grateful. They care and they are friends of mine. In the workplace it was a different story, many who were smokers refused to refrain from smoking, especially in closed […]
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 […]
Here is a plan. All clothes retailers and importers across the EU pay a three per cent levy at the point of import on all clothing sourced from Asian and third world countries. Importers and retailers will be required NOT to pass on this extra charge to the consumer. 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 […]
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”, […]
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 […]
Is ‘radio local’ still the audience grabber when it comes to bad weather, emergencies and localised disaster? I have been following a debate online and a user had this to say: “Weather? I can look at my iPhone home screen or check the web. Or, given the detail you often […]
I for one am extremely proud of my country. A lot is published today regarding the closing of the single greatest event this nation has experienced in modern history. As an overall happening London 2012 showcased the capital and nation in way that was calm, cool and British. It made […]
12 months ago to the day the immediate world around here turned into a war zone. And that’s the truth. War had broken out in South London. I was way too concerned with my personal safety to post anything online on the 8th August. As the day progressed the unrest […]
Up until very recently the fact that listeners and viewers in Malta have, since the 1930’s, been capable of receiving radio and television transmissions from Italy has been a ‘technical coincidence’. Radio transmission from Italy before the war was in fact ‘boosted’ to enable Italian broadcasts to be heard in […]
This post was written before the last phase and completion of building works in Valletta. Oh! How an image can create such controversy. There’s a really interesting ‘group’ on Facebook called ‘Malta Once Upon A Time‘. I highly recommend it. From my point of view as a part-time amateur historian […]
London Underground is to go entirely commercial, meaning all stations are to be renamed and linked to branding. London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, says he had the idea in bed in the middle of the night on Tuesday, phoned his commercial director at 3.30am with the plan. It’s hoped the new […]