The following report appeared in The Year-book of Facts in Science and Art By John Timbs Published by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 1849. Did the Dorset coast suffer a tsunami?
Remarkable tide at Lyme Regis
December 31, 2008 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Dorset, Lyme Regis, Portland
The Fascinating World of Genealogy
December 30, 2008 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
How much do you know about your family background, a lot, a little, none at all? Most people might know the very basics of their family tree-line or their “roots,” such as knowing one’s parents information of where they were born, their birth-dates, when they got married. One might even be able to know this same information about their grandparents. Going back further though may be a little trickier, and this is where the fascinating world of genealogy comes into play.
Read the full article by Melanie Neer
Hailstorm hits West Dorset
December 29, 2008 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Abbotsbury, Dorchester, Dorset, Evershot, Maiden Newton, Sherborne
On June 16, 1870 a severe hailstorm swept across West Dorset. The storm was described by Philip H Newnham, Rector of Frome Vauchurch in a letter to the Editor of the Meteorological Magazine.
Are you smarter than this Weymouth three-year-old?
December 28, 2008 at 4:00 am (Biography, Genealogy, History, Location)
Tags: Babb, Dorset, Weymouth
An article in London’s General Evening Post from October 1770 claimed that Charlotte Catherine Babb from Weymouth could name constellations, read and write in Italian and read a lecture on the map of Europe at the age of three.
Read the full story by Harry Hogger in the Dorset Echo
Where to Find Old Historical Telephone Books
December 27, 2008 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Telephone Books
One of the tools that a genealogist might use is an old telephone book or telephone directory. After all, it’s in a telephone directory where you’ll find the name of the head of household and the home address for a specific year. Searching an historical telephone book helps locate missing family members and helps establish where they may have lived.
Read the full article by C. Jeanne Heida
Boxing Day
December 26, 2008 at 4:00 am (History)
Tags: Boxing Day
The following description of Boxing day was published in the American monthly magazine, The Chautauquan in 1892 and attempts to describe the English holiday of that name.
Christmas at Fezziwig’s Warehouse
December 25, 2008 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Charles Dickens
“Yo ho! my boys,” said Fezziwig. “No more work to-night; Christmas Eve, Dick! Christmas, Ebenezer! Let’s have the’ shutters up,” cried old Fezziwig with a sharp clap of his hands, “before a man can say Jack Robinson. …”
Christmas Invitation
December 24, 2008 at 4:00 am (Genealogy)
Tags: Christmas, Dorset, William Barnes
Come down to morrow night; an’ mind,
Don’t leave thy fiddle-bag behind;
We’ll sheäke a lag an’ drink a cup
0′ eäle, to keep wold Chris’mas up.
Beckington, Somerset, 1894
December 23, 2008 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Beckington, Somerset
I took the road for the village of Beckington. This is a most interesting place for many reasons. The church, which is dedicated to St. Gregory, was originally Norman, as the work in the tower manifestly shows, but was in the days of Perpendicular architecture considerably enlarged, and the church is in fact a Perpendicular one.
Nunney, Somerset, 1894
December 22, 2008 at 4:00 am (History, Location)
Tags: Nunney, Somerset
From Vallis I returned to Frome, and then, turning off to the right, made my way to the village of Nunney and the ruins of Nunney Castle. The walk is a most pleasant one, though not a little hilly; and one hill in particular, just outside Frome, is remarkably steep. After a while the round towers of the old place were visible among the trees which now fringe the still perfect moat, and a few minutes later I found myself in possession of the castle key and crossing the single plank, which, in lieu of the drawbridge of old, gives admission to this fortified manor house, usually designated a castle.
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