Category: Cumbria history
Penrith brothers in arms: the Pilkingtons
Henry and Jane Ann Pilkington, of Penrith, lost three sons to war. This is their story. Penrith Congregational Church unveiled a memorial table on September 26, 1920, ‘in grateful memory of the men ... Read More
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
Thomas Martindale: saved by a sheep
Thomas Martindale was a few days short of his tenth birthday when he got lost on the Cumbrian fells in 1907. The search for a drowned pony was to lead to his name appearing in newspapers the length of... Read More
Brunswick Square Penrith – and the First World War
Brunswick Square, Penrith, isn’t famous, or remarkable. On the Penrith Town Trail, it is described as: Brunswick Square, a Victorian housing development commenced about 1850 and built around an ... Read More
Brig Robert Burns – 51 years before Titanic
This painting of the brig Robert Burns, at Port Carlisle, is fairly well-known. I suspect most people who are aware of it like it because it shows Port Carlisle in its heyday as a busy port. The house... Read More
Mary Pears: a painful calamity
The story of poor Mary Pears is a tragic one. And while it may be unkind to use it as an illustration for family historians, it does show you should never take anything for granted. It also ties in wi... Read More
Attitudes to suicide down the centuries
Attitudes to suicide is a tricky topic to cover. I have seen the impact it can have on those ‘left behind,’ and witnessed reactions and attitudes in modern Britain. This piece on attitudes to su... Read More