Theme Intriguing People
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 MoreWomen and children – Custody of Children Act 1839
Children no longer just the property of their father, Caroline Norton influences the first piece of feminist legislation protecting their rights to how a child should be cared for…
Read MoreLord Shaftsbury built on John Pounds Ragged School idea…campaigned to improve the lot of working children
“The future hopes of a country must, under God, be laid in the character and condition of its children;…” Inspired by John Pounds and his own increasing religious conviction Lord Shaftsbury was a leader in social reform for children as the best way to improve society overall…
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 MoreWarwickshire Family History
Warwickshire UK, is probably best known around the world for it’s most famous son William Shakespeare. It is a fascinating county, largely rural to the south, the North became more industrial as the Industrial Revolution unrolled. It’s industrial heart contains a mixture of mining, clay and cement working, textiles and engineering. It is crossed by…
Read MoreList of first settler surnames Jamestown
Is your surname in the list of first settler surnames Jamestown? Many Americans have roots that stretch deep down under the Atlantic ocean and pop up in the UK. Read on to discover if your family name was included in the list of first settlers in Jamestown. Much has been written about the intrepid first…
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 MoreCaptain John Smith C17th Capitalist?
The name of Captain John Smith, is, in the minds of many British people intrinsically linked to ‘Pocahontas’ , his native American saviour. Beyond this connection though, his writings on the settlement of Virginia are quite vigorous and erudite and he could be judged as having a very positive influence on how the New England…
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 More