Hilary Townsend remembers Irene Jones, a model for anyone interested in Dorset’s local history.
Stalbridge’s historian
July 1, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, Location)
Tags: Dorset, Hilary Townsend, Irene Jones, Stalbridge
Somerset Voices: Cuthbert Rose (b1907) Part 4
June 20, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, History)
Tags: Cocklake, Cuthbert Rose, Teddy Thomas, Wedmore
Cider-maker Cuthbert Rose of Cocklake, Wedmore recalls the local cooper, Teddy Thomas, who made and repaired the barrels used during cider-making.
Jacob William Wheeler Ashley (1833-1912)
June 16, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, Genealogy)
Tags: Ashley, Bray, Watts
Jacob William Wheeler Ashley was born on March 18, 1833 at Laverton, Somerset, England the eldest son of James Ashley and Joanna Wheeler. The family moved to Hemington where younger brother James was born and the family are to be found in the 1841 and 1851 census returns.
Titanic Lives: The Crew of RMS Titanic
June 14, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, Genealogy, History)
Tags: National Archives
Much has been written about RMS Titanic, but this has tended to concentrate on the ship and its passengers. Using sources such as crew lists, local newspapers, Titanic Fund minute books and the newly released 1911 census, this podcast from the National Archives traces the lives of a crewmen and his family and seeks to answer the question: What was life like for families in Southampton in the aftermath of the tragedy?
Somerset Voices: Bill Redding (b.1908)
June 6, 2009 at 5:49 am (Biography, History, Location)
Tags: Bill Redding, Nether Stowey
Bill Redding ran a blacksmiths shop in Lime Street, Nether Stowey, a village on the northern edge of the Quantocks. He and his father did the metal work for gates, bonded wheels for the wheelwright, repaired ovens, shoed carthorses, and looked after the local hunt’s horses. Bill Redding retired in 1976 after working in the shop for 53 years. At the time this recording was made the blacksmith’s in Nether Stowey was still operating.
Edward Tompkins
June 5, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, Genealogy)
Tags: Edward Tomkins
Whilst not my own family line , readers may be interest in A record of the ancestry and kindred of the children of Edward Tomkins, sr: late of Oakland, California (deceased), by Edward Tompkins. Published by and printed for the compiler, 1893. This 65 pages booklet was digitized by Google on Jan 17, 2008.
Somerset Voices: Dennis & Isobel Puddy
June 3, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, History)
Tags: Bristol, Dennis Puddy, Isobel Puddy, Westlands
Dennis Puddy began as an apprentice at Westlands and stayed with the company all his working life. He became an aircraft assembly fitter working on aeroplanes during the war and afterwards on helicopters, for which Westlands became famous. His was a reserved occupation, so he was unable to join the army. Isobel Puddy worked in the Bristol Post Office telephone exchange from 1940 to 1955, the year she married Dennis. During the bombing of Bristol in 1940, her family sheltered under the stairs rather than in an air raid shelter, because her father was frightened of being buried alive.
Charles Darwin and the Beagle
June 2, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, History)
Tags: Charles Darwin, National Archives, Robert FitzRoy
This podcast from the National Archives is an investigation into the real reasons behind the celebrated voyage of HMS Beagle (1831-1836) and the momentous decision by Captain Robert FitzRoy to choose Charles Darwin to accompany him.
Somerset Voices: Meg Paul (b.1923)
May 31, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, History)
Tags: Meg Paul, Pilton, Priddy, Somerset
In 1944 Meg Paul came from Burnley to join the Land Army in Somerset. She was sent to Steanbow Farm, Pilton, where girls were trained for a month to milk cows. Meg worked for six months at a farm in Pilton. The War Agriculture Committee then transferred Meg to Priddy to a tractor drivers’ depot, where she was trained to drive and maintain Fordson Major tractors. Meg was sent to different farms to plough and cultivate the land. Meg married in 1948 when she left the Land Army.
Piddletrenthide Memorial
May 30, 2009 at 4:00 am (Biography, History, Location)
Tags: Albert John Symes, Charles Jeanes, Frederick Hallett, Henry Robert Hallett, Oscar Payne, Piddletrenthide, Walter Sturmey, Walter Thompson, William Ransome
Picture by Barry
