Among William Shakespeare’s almost countless famous lines is one from his will: ‘Item, I give unto my wife my second best bed with the furniture.” If you’re tracing your family history or...Read More
Carlisle Cathedral inside is, I once heard a visitor like: “like something out of Harry Potter.” And its walls inside and out tell the city’s history: inside, through memorial tablets; outside, ...Read More
Thomas Ollivant, ‘clerk’ (vicar) of Hesket-in-the-Forest, Cumberland, died in 1686. His will included an inventory with a lot of names – local people who owed him various sums of money. These de...Read More
Kirkoswald parish registers have a lot to tell family and social historians, even if your family have zero connection with this Cumbrian parish. Trawling through parish registers is a lot harder than ...Read More
Cumberland & Westmorland, Ancient and Modern, written in 1857, is still of interest today. Cumbrian Characters looks at its author, and Cumbrian place names. A fascinating read ‘Human sacrifices...Read More
Merchant Navy apprentices in the 1850s Like an eagle cag’d I pine On this dull unchanging shore Oh give me the flashing brine.. (The full lyrics are here). A life on the ocean wave may have been...Read More
‘Everyone’ knew Walker Tunstall in Penrith, even long after he died – but this Cumbrian Character didn’t leave much trace of his life for modern readers. ‘It could have been… but w...Read More
Samuel Ladyman was one of the best-known people in Keswick in his lifetime. Multi-talented and a real philanthropist, he also grew a mean potato! The name of Samuel Ladyman lives on through his Though...Read More
Legends and Historical Notes on Places of North Westmorland, published in 1887, remains a useful resource for family historians and local historians some 134 years later. But who was Thomas Gibson, ...Read More
Solway ships and the canal When the Carlisle Canal was officially opened, on March 12, 1823, a flotilla of eleven ships and several smaller vessels sailed its length into the city.The sight of sailing...Read More