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...
HENRY JONES of Bristol, Baker & Biscuit maker, 36-37 Broadmead – Can you help?
HENRY JONES of Bristol, Baker & Biscuit maker, 36-37 Broadmead, On 27 Sept 1845 Bristol Times contains this advert re Letters Patent for making bread with the addition of water only. Dear Bristol History,...
The Linden Tree – The Lindegaard Family History
I wrote this a long time ago and refer to it as “my juvenelia”! I need to revisit it and improve it. It charts the story of how my husband’s family (by the name...
Futurology at the Museum of Totterdown
We are a family of fossil collectors, and though out of habit I look down at the ground if I go for a walk, I have never thought much of the detritus the filthy...
Bristol and The Haka – 1917
I hazard a guess the first time any Bristolian had ever seen the Haka was on Saturday the 29 December 1917. The Haka is synonymous as a precursor to rugby matches involving the New...
Domille Lucia James – A story of a black Bristol woman for Black History Month
Please Note: This post contains words which are no longer acceptable but were commonplace during the 2nd World War when these incidents occurred. I cannot say that DOMILLE LUCIA JAMES is inspirational; in fact,...
“Free Coloured Persons”: the ancestral story of Charles Walter Cumberbatch
“Going to Barbados” (a euphemism for being “under the influence”.) Benjamin Franklin, 1737. (attrib.) [1] “Barbados is the other place where I like to be.” Cliff Richard. Introduction This is the sequel to “Pamela...
My Pillinger Women: No. 4 – Martha Britton Pillinger and her daughter, Pamela Pillinger Cumberbatch
On 12th May 1850 when a baby girl was baptised at a small village in Somerset called Queen Charlton, her first name may have caused a slight flutter of interest, as it did to...
Charmouth Tales: “All he did was sell Monmouth some fish……”
Only a few days back from Charmouth in Dorset, so I’m still demob-happy, not yet ready to contemplate the list of historical ideas I’ve got for future blogs in the dark days and long...
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.
