COUNTIES & PARISHES UK

Charles 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…

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First 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…

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Warwickshire Tithe Maps 1838 – 1853

Tithe maps are a great underused resource, containing surname data. They are also good fun because you can relate past land use to todays. These are the tithe maps that have so far been transcribed for the county of Warwickshire

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Warwickshire 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…

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Tension 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…

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Captain 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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Hampshire Old Maps

If you have a family history connection to the county of  Hampshire in the UK, then this site will give you a brilliant head start in discovering more about the county. The aim of the site is to bring together items in the map collection of Hampshire County Council Museums Service and therefore make them…

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Bedfordshire settlement maps

If  you have family history connections to Bedfordshire then this site may well be of interest to you as it strives to cover all settlements in Bedfordshire using a variety of maps, including OS, tithe and enclosure maps. There are also useful photos along with descriptions of  old buildings and supporting photos. To find more…

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