THEME History of Organisations
Tailors and Family History
A plethora of tailors and dressmakers in our own family trees made us stop and think about the role of the tailor in the community and how they went about their everyday work and we will get to that but first Many in our families were tailors in Hampshire between Portsmouth and Hambledon. It just…
Read MoreFire Insurance Records
Fire Insurance Records. What an intriguing collection of resources for the family historian but it can take a bit of footwork to unearth. To help you to find out more about these records follow the links and find family history connections Some of these records have been made available through the hard work of volunteers…
Read MoreCharles Dickens – supporter of Ragged Schools
In 1843, Charles Dickens visited the Field Lane Ragged School and was so shocked and moved by what he saw there, he decided to write a pamphlet about it. Instead though he penned ‘A Christmas Carol’ as he thought he could reach more people through a novel. An intriguing connection is that John Pounds set…
Read MoreFirst Ragged School Portsmouth
In all history there are unsung heros and one of these must surely be John Pounds. Born in Portsmouth Hampshire, in 1766, John Pounds was crippled after a fall in the dockyards where he was an apprenticed shipwright. He became a shoemaker and was known as the crippled cobbler. There were many destitute children living…
Read MorePrison Hulks littered British Waterways…
Prison Hulks were moored off British Coast , prisoners held in dreadful conditions often whilst awaiting deportation to USA or Australia…
Read MoreWorkhouse Schools
More than 50% of those in Workhouses were children of the poor and often orphans. The Workhouse system was far from perfect but Workhouse schools at least offered some hope for a better educated and informed future. One of the turning points from Old Poor Law and bad ways to social reform and the fight for better rights for the unfortunate in society?
Read MoreHow did the Jamestown colony survive?
How did the Jamestown Colonists survive? They went in search of finding their fortunes, full of hope and ambition. The reality was much harsher and more difficult than they could have imagined. Find out here how they survive their rials and tribulations.
Read MoreExpansion of England in C17th
England in the 17th century, it’s trade and expansion, how and why did England achieve such an expansion in it’s markets? What was happening that enabled England to dominate trade?
Read MoreTension between East India Company & British Government 1784
Tension East India Company and British Government The East India Company Act of 1784 The British presence in India was a result of the trading opportunities grasped by the East India Company way back at the start of the C17th. The company monopolised trade, had it’s own armies and ruled and regulated itself. The 18th century saw…
Read MoreCaptain James Cook Mariner Navigator born 1728 Yorkshire
Where was Capt James Cook born in 1728 and what led to his distinguished naval career pioneering navigation…did your relatives know him, was your family connected and did any of your family sail with him on his famous expeditions, see our series of James Cook posts…
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