This extract of the Last Will and Testament of William Horsforde of Dorchester was first published in Genealogical gleanings in England By Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, on behalf of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in 1885.
William Horsforde of Dorchester
May 21, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, Genealogy)
Tags: Dorchester, Dorset, William Horsforde
St. Mary’s Church, Wootton Glanville
May 20, 2009 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Wootton Glanville
The following extract is from Notes & queries for Somerset and Dorset published printed by J. C. Satwell, 1907.
Somerset Voices: Les (b.1928) & Michael (b.1969) Musgrove
May 19, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, History)
Tags: Les Musgrove, Michael Musgrove, Somerset, Westonzoyland
Les and Michael Musgrove are willow growers from Westonzoyland. They own around fifty acres of willow beds near Langport. Ninety percent of the willow they grow is Black Maul. This variety is popular with basket-makers as its generally seen as being the best working willow. The men use a small machine to cut the willow, which was traditionally cut by hand. As long as willow baskets continue to be made, both men see a future in the industry.
Heart of the Vale, Soul of the Town
May 18, 2009 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Dorset, Farm Radio, Sturminster Newton
It is now more than ten years since the livestock market at Sturminster Newton closed down, bringing to an end 700 years of tradition. There was a project gathering views and ideas on video from the users of the market as part of the effort to keep it open. The realisation of what the closure meant to the people who used it was part of the inspiration behind the concept of “Farm Radio“.
The Great Escape: you’ve seen the film, now hear the truth
May 17, 2009 at 4:00 am (Genealogy, Podcast)
Tags: Great Escape, National Archives
During the night of 24 March 1944, 76 airmen escaped from the Prisoner of War camp Stalag Luft III. Only three made it home and, of the remainder, 50 were murdered on Hitler’s orders. This talk from the National Archives will explain what actually happened in the so-called Great Escape, one of the Second World War’s most infamous incidents.
Somerset Voices: Wallace Musgrave (b.1912)
May 16, 2009 at 4:00 am (History)
Tags: Aller Moor, Middlezoy, Somerset, Stoke St Gregory, Wallace Musgrave, Westonzoyland
Wallace Musgrave was a member of the Musgrave basket-making family of Stoke St Gregory, a village at the heart of the Somerset Levels. He made baskets and worked for the Drainage Board around Aller Moor, Middlezoy and Westonzoyland. Mr Musgrave attended Drainage Board meetings and collected rent from farmers; he was an expert on the history of drainage on the Levels.
Mary Godwyn of Lyme Regis
May 15, 2009 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Dorset, Lyme Regis, Mary Godwyn
This extract of the Last Will and Testament of Mary Godwyn of Lyme Regis was first published in Genealogical gleanings in England By Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters, on behalf of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in 1885.
A Long and Intimate Relationship
May 14, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, History)
Tags: Dorset, Frederick Whitehead
Paul C Ensom celebrates Frederick Whitehead, a naturalist painter with a fine eye for the landscapes of Dorset in all its moods
Read the full article in Dorset Life
Somerset Voices: Musgrave, Peter (b.1926) & Tony (b.1932)
May 13, 2009 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Peter Musgrave, Somerset, Tony Musgrave, Yeovil
Brothers Peter and Tony Musgrave worked in the family willow merchant’s and basket-making business, which was started by their grandfather and carried on by their father. The business peaked during World War II when they had a contract with the War Ministry to make baskets for dropping supplies by parachute into occupied Europe. Although the brothers would have liked to go into the business, their father was adamant that they should not do so as he thought it was a dying industry. When their father became too old to carry on he gave the business to the remaining workers, and it soon finished. Peter and Tony are sad that such a flourishing enterprise should have completely vanished. Peter became a company director and Tony was a draughtsman with Westlands, the leading helicopter company based in Yeovil.
Catching Victorian and Edwardian criminals on paper
May 12, 2009 at 4:00 am (Genealogy, History, Podcast)
Tags: National Archives
The problem of serious habitual criminals and how to keep track of them greatly exercised the minds of our Victorian and Edwardian forebears. This lecture from the National Archives focuses on the methods utilised by police and government to record and monitor such offenders, and how the surviving records can beused by present-day historians to investigate both historical and contemporary questions concerning serious and persistent crime.
