Like to the lark at break of day arising, (from sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate Sonnet 29, Shakespeare It is not strictly true to say I had never seen the Chalk Horses of Wiltshire, but I had only barely glimpsed one or other when travelling in cars, on other routes, to other destinations, or, as in the mid-1980s, when out sleuthing for any sign of the Pillinger family, I came to near proximity of the Cherhill Horse. My visit to...
After an afternoon spent in the sunny gardens, musing on the misadventures of Francis Creswicke, it was an unexpected bonus to find that St George, Hanham Abbots, which is attached to Hanham Court, was...
When I was a stripling of about 40, I first came across Francis Creswicke aged eighty-nine on a gravestone at Bitton, my paternal home parish.[1] Now I am rapidly catching up with him, though...
The Willoughby family, Roman Catholic gentry, at “Wick”, Brislington, 1787 – 1824. When my friend sent me a cutting of an oldish article from a family tree magazine she did so because it covered...
A glorious late spring day in 2024, one to anticipate sumer is acumin in, luhde sing cuc-cu, wrong on both counts (at least so far – I’m writing in mid-July – not much summer...
I have just come across a report of 24 October 1791 which I copied in pencil possibly 20 or 30 years ago. I was drawn to it, but not necessarily for the crime itself...
I am late in drawing attention to the above exhibition, “Concealed/Reveal”, currently running at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery until 21 April 2024. I have been to see it twice, first because I was...
The two letters partially reproduced for this article were sent in 1859 by a Brislington man, Richard Turner, to his widowed mother, Mary, and the family back home. He and his wife Liz had...
Going off in tangents, so I’ve been told, is a symptom of ADHD. A few days ago, (January 2024) I was merrily researching steamships to complete another project, “The Life and Sea-Faring Times of...
I told my son, “I’d like to go to a concert one of these days.” He pounced at once. My Dad would have said, “like a dog on a rabbit.” He, my son, is...
I have been researching the social history of the West Country for 45 years. During this time I have collated information on a wide range of people living and working in the West Country including miners, ethnic minorities, petty criminals, sailors, tommies, benefactors, brassmakers and many more. The thing that I find amazing is that ordinary people always lived extraordinary lives. I hope you like my blog that brings together my lifetime of research.
