Blog

…. John Norden. Norden was born in Somerset. He entered Hart Hall, Oxford, in 1564 and graduated BA in 1568 and MA in 1573. He subsequently led […]

….Measles. Generally a children’s disease, measles often led to pneumonia and death before it was controlled in the twentieth century. The illness is unpleasant, but most […]

…. Lighthouses…. amongst the most unusual structures in Britain. When man began to travel by sea, one of the earliest obstacles encountered was safe night time […]

…. Knocknobbler. Back in Victorian times, this wonderful title was given to a churchwarden who was in charge of turning unruly dogs out of church! The […]

….Justice. Crime, and how to deal with it, was one of the great issues of Victorian Britain. With an increase from about 5,000 recorded crimes per […]

…. illegitimacy. Back when we have only parish registers to rely on for our family and local history research, comments such as ‘base’, ‘bastard’, or simply […]

…. Hearth Tax. The hearth tax was introduced by the government of Charles II in 1662. Following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Parliament calculated […]

….grandparents and great-grandparents. Beginning with yourself, you have two parents, four grandparents and 8 great-grandparents…. whether you know who they were or not! Heading back into […]

….Fishing. It is fairly obvious from the title of my first publication that I have a keen interest in the West Country, particularly in Devon…. a […]