Francis Creswicke, an old friend: visiting Hanham Court Gardens Open Day, 9 June 2024.
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 of Brislington – revisited
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...
“Come Out with Me”, Then and Now.
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...
“A Negro” to the rescue
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...
Concealed/Reveal – exhibition at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
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...
Home Thoughts From Abroad
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...
A “shaggy heifer” tale, or “One thing leads to another”
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...
Connections – Sappho and Jonathan Dove’s Odyssey
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...
The Master of the last Sappho
“The Master of the last Sappho” is a sequel to “Sappho and her sisters” about the little steamships with the fancy classical (recycled) names which belonged to the Bristol Steam Navigation Company. In a...
The Life & Sea-faring Times of Richard Hendy, Mariner
Richard Hendy is a Bristol man who spent much of his life at sea, starting as a galley boy (aged 14) in Atlantic Convoys (oil tankers) with the Norwegian Merchant Fleet. After the war...
About Me
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.
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