Category: Victorian life
Brunswick Square school Penrith
My post on the young men of Brunswick Square, Penrith, who went off to fight in the First World War brought an inquiry from a reader. “I’m looking for information about a ladies school run at 6 B... Read More
Christmas in Penrith – in 1853
‘Christmas in Penrith’ as an historical search left Cumbrian Characters rather spoiled for choice of material. The year 1853 is totally random – but as good as any other, perhaps. Charle... Read More
Quack medicines and ‘miracle cures’
A further look at the discomforting world of Victorian ‘cures’ for illness In July 1863, a former Carlisle weaver named Thomas Hetherington was fined £5 by magistrates in Hartlepool for selling q... Read More
Scarlet fever in the 1800s
Scarlet fever in the 1800s was a common disease among children – and a deadly one. And sadly, cleanliness and ventilation were either a luxury for poorer households, or maybe not appreciated as impo... Read More
Cumbrian lodging houses – dens of disease
If you imagine Cumbrian lodging houses in the 1800s were in any way better than those in the big industrial cities elsewhere in England, you’d be wrong. Conditions for those forced to live in th... Read More
Ann Little – driven to a terrible act
On July 11, 1881, Ann Little, 45, who couldn’t read or write, was charged with attempting to drown herself and her two youngest children, Annie and Joseph, in the River Caldew, near Hutton Roof. It ... Read More
Victorian Botcherby – and a load of old rubbish!
Botcherby has been part of Carlisle for just over 100 years. It’s not an area I know, really. It seems it gets its name from a Flemish man called Bochard (the Norman version of his name) who was... Read More