Recent Posts
Slander and ‘witchcraft’ in Stuart England
The following examples of slander (and an allegation of witchcraft) were found in a manorial court book, and all come from 1691. Manor courts The manor was Inglewood (Forest), in Cumberland. Manor cou... Read More
Dating advice in the 1840s
The following dating advice was supplied by the Westmorland Gazette in 1841. Some 178 years later, we don’t need dating advice, do we? Because none of us would be daft enough to fall for the wrong ... Read More
Robert Sewell – a curious will
Robert Sewell was the man who told world-renowned astronomer William Herschel that he was wrong. Robert Sewell was right, but while history records that Herschel got it wrong when it came to lunar vol... Read More
Time for a short break
Cumbrian Characters is taking a short break for a short summer holiday. There are lots of lovely old posts to read to keep you going in that time 🙂 And here is an old postcard of Port Carlisle to l... Read More
Bicycle mania in Cumbria in 1869
The 2019 Tour de France is coming to an end, after 23 gruelling days. The winner on the Champs Elysées on Sunday will have completed around 2,000 miles, over 21 stages, and beaten almost 200 other co... Read More
The Moon and the Cumbrian who disagreed with William Herschel
A post for Saturday July 20, 2019: the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing. A trawl through local newspapers in the late 1700s show Cumbrians were interested in the heavens. And one Cumbrian Ch... Read More
Robert Lowther – the ‘tyrant of Barbados’
Robert Lowther (1681-1745) doesn’t count as a ‘Cumbrian Character’ in one sense. For sure, he was Cumbrian. As for ‘character’, the strict definition is ‘qualities that are interesting and... Read More
Bee mine, honey: a cautionary tale from Shap
Love can be sweet. But wooing someone with bees can end up with one of you being stung, as a Shap saddler learned to his cost. Before the courts Cumbrian Characters’ URL is ‘crimesofthecenturies.c... Read More