Richard Oyes, the dodgy overseer Richard Oyes, of Whitehaven, is the elephant in the room of an interesting court case, in 1796. For while he was the reason five magistrates strayed from the path of v...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
Cumbrian Characters doesn’t touch much on Georgian Cumbria. Mainly because it’s easier to find information on the 19th century. Births, marriages and deaths were standardised as a civil matter...Read More
Tragedies at sea, in this case on the SS West Cumberland, took their toll on loved ones at home. Charles Dickens described the room, in Great Expectations, where poor Miss Havisham’s wedding feast s...Read More
Flooding is topical after Storm Bella lashed the UK with roaring winds and heavy rain overnight last night (December 26, 2020). So this post is a look back at previous winter storms, flooding, damag...Read More
Today is the 119th anniversary of a dark day in Cumbrian history, for on May 11, 1910, at Wellington Pit, in Whitehaven, some 136 men and boys were to lose their lives in, or as a consequence, of an e...Read More
Invasion (or the threat of it) is no laughing matter at the time, but when the threat is long passed, it can have its humorous side. Generations of people in Britain have laughed out loud at the antic...Read More