Recent Posts
Bonfire Night 1855, in Cumberland
Bonfire Night – a quick history Bonfire Night is two days away – although ‘Bonfire Night’ is always dragged out across at least ten days, when it comes to people letting off fireworks! For any... Read More
Kill or cure: Georgian medicine
Georgian medicine: introduction The best way to live a long and healthy life is stay away from doctors and never take medicine. Such was the philosophy of a relative of mine who made it to 94, before ... Read More
Georgian living: John Fawell’s worldly goods
Georgian living: 1791 In 1791, George III was on the throne. His son Frederick, Duke of York, married Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia. Composer Joseph Haydn arrived in England. And the Ordna... Read More
Conspiracy to marriage – the Anne Crellin case
It wasn’t a murder trial that gripped the nation in 1842, but a conspiracy to defraud a vulnerable middle-aged woman by tricking her into marriage. It’s definitely worthy of Crimes of the Centuri... Read More
Manorial records – long live the lord!
Manorial records can be an interesting resource if you’ve taken your family history back to the 1700s or even earlier. They aren’t an ‘easy’ resource to work with. You can spend a couple of ho... Read More
Jutland, Gibraltar, and Newbiggin Hall
Which Newbiggin Hall is this? There is more than one! Newbiggin Hall – the one at Newbiggin, near Temple Sowerby – became the home of the Crackenthorpe/Crackanthorpe family in the 1300s. Here ... Read More
The Will of the People – nothing new here!
‘The Will of the People’ is a slogan/cliché people in 2019 either love or hate, depending on their standpoint on Brexit. But it wasn’t coined in 2016 – and our present constitutio... Read More
Graffiti – the good, the bad and the ugly
Is graffiti art or vandalism? Down the centuries, it has always been in the eye of the beholder. And time does make a lot of difference. ‘Graffiti’ today conjures up images of spray-painted scrawl... Read More