In chapter 6 of my book, Port Carlisle, a history built on hope, I tried to disentangle the various Carlisle manufacturers who backed the canal. Including Joseph Ferguson. I pondered that he might hav...Read More
Joseph Studholme – a Carlisle surveyor and land agent – got a fairly brief mention in this post about William Robinson Martindale & Port Carlisle: His will doesn’t tell us a great deal more ...Read More
William Robinson Martindale isn’t buried at St Cuthbert’s, Carlisle, but he is ‘name-checked’ on a gravestone. Which is how I came to take a photo of the latter and write a blog piece on the f...Read More
The Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II was celebrated from June 2-5, 2022. In June 1832, there were jubilee celebrations of a different kind – they marked a move to make Parliamentary elections ...Read More
Easter in Carlisle Easter in Carlisle has previously been mentioned on Cumbrian Characters, in a post on the public space by Carlisle Castle known as the Sorceries. The post covered the old tradition ...Read More
Handloom weavers – starvation in Carlisle In my previous post, I contrasted the ‘bright lights’ of Christmas 1854 in Carlisle with the plight of families who were dying from starvation and relat...Read More
Tea isn’t just a beverage in Britain, it’s a social institution, part of the very fabric of life. Tea time (and afternoon tea) may now seem quaint. But we still use it as a panacea for all ill...Read More
William Horsley of Penrith fell under the spell of his mother-in-law, Jane Davidson. And Jane Davidson was prepared to use magic, and ultimately murder (and a painful death herself) to keep him. The d...Read More
‘Carlisle 1810’ may sound a random date, but thanks to Jollie’s Cumberland Guide and Directory, we have a good (if partial!) idea of what the city was like then. The guide, published in two part...Read More
The Jacobite rising of 1745 greatly affected Cumberland and Westmorland. This is Carlisle’s story. In my post on the celebrations at the opening of the Carlisle Canal, in 1823, I mentioned that one...Read More