Findmypast.co.uk reveals unusual discoveries from Cheshire's local records

Findmypast.co.uk has announced several unique discoveries found in the newly available local records from Cheshire. Workhouse records, parish registers, bishop's transcripts and electoral registers from Cheshire went online for the first time ever recently in what findmypast.co.uk has titled 'The Cheshire Collection.' The collection is a series of over 10 million historic records provided by Cheshire Archives and Local Studies, covering over 350 years of history.

Some of the most interesting findings contained within The Cheshire Collection include:

- Lewis Carroll's baptism was in Daresbury on11 July 1832
- An earthquake hit Cheshire on 18 March 1612
- Ancestors of James Bond actor Daniel Craig sold coal and were iron moulders

An unusual occurrence revealed in the records was the 'peculiar marriage' between Daniel Broadbent and Martha Cheetham in Mottram-in-Longdendale on 9 March 1780. Daniel was 23 and Martha was 83 years old. However, fate soon intervened to part this unlikely couple with the Mottram registers for the following year showing that Daniel Broadbent of Hattersley was buried on 30 May 1781. Furthermore, on 6 May 1776, 105 year-old George Harding married Jane Darlington, 75, at St Oswald, Chester.

These unusual marriage records show that, in the 18th century, one could find love at any age. However, the records also reveal a darker side of Cheshire's past, telling several tales of death from the plague.

In 1625 the UK was hit by an outbreak of the plague which killed 35,000 people. Malpas in Cheshire was badly affected and the online records reveal harrowing accounts of those who were killed by the disease. One such example is that of Richard Dawson of Bradley, whose story, found among The Cheshire Collection, goes as follows:

"…being sick of the plague and perceiving that he must die at that time arose out of his bed and made his grave and caused his nephew to cast straw into the grave… and went and lay him down in the said grave, and caused clothes to be laid upon and so departed out of this world… he died about 28th august, this much I was credibly told."

Family history records from the ancestors of Daniel Craig and the discovery of the Cheshire earthquake surprised Debra Chatfield, marketing manager at findmypast.co.uk. She commented: "These records make it possible for family historians and local history researchers to delve as far back as 1538, unearthing all sorts of unusual finds quickly and easily at their fingertips. Who would have known that Cheshire was hit by an earthquake in 1612 or that James Bond's ancestors sold lumps of coal?"

Jonathan Pepler, County Archivist for Cheshire Archives and Local Studies, said: "This is a very exciting development for everyone interested in Cheshire and its rich history."



(EDITOR: Unusual marriages, brave deaths, unusual jobs, all good ideas for articles for readers of Be That Writer!)

Good morning, followers!

Yes, good morning greetings to my Followers! I hope you like what you have read so far.

If there is any special subject that you would like covered in Be That Writer,  please let me know in the comments section for this article.

More shorter poems

Nuclear?
Well, she IS a critical mass, true enough...

Ginger Simpson's "Dishin' It Out": Six Sentence Sunday

Ginger Simpson's "Dishin' It Out": Six Sentence Sunday: Welcome back. Today, I'm sharing six sentences from an upcoming release, Embezzled Love . This story was actually published and offered ...

(NOTE: I am sharing this post because it is cool and I feel you might like to visit the blog in question and join that site.)

Poetry

Poetry, if it is anything, must come from the heart.

It can rhyme, or be blank verse. Long, in multiple verses, or with only one verse or even only two lines.

Here are some examples of this short form of poetry:

Years ago, you gave me a stone heart. "How cute!" I thought.
I believed it was symbolic. Now I know better...


"Do not build a house on a sandy foundation," the Bible warns.
But what if our life is made of sand?

The birds of summer are leaving.
"See you next year," I say, as they fly away, high over head.


Why not have a go at this form of short poetry yourself? You can use it to experiment with ideas. Who knows? If you write enough, you might be able to collect them in the form of a book, either in print or as a Kindle book and sell it via Amazon.

Walworth’s Lost Boys: The Leysdown Tragedy Centenary

The Leysdown Tragedy Centenary, 4 August 1912.

The summer of 1912 had not been a good one when, on Saturday 3 August 1912, the 2nd Walworth Scout Troop of 5 adults and 24 young Scouts sailed from Waterloo Bridge down to Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey on their cutter. Some would never return alive.

In 2012, The Friends of Nunhead Cemetery, St Johns Walworth, Southwark Council and surviving relatives, plan to commemorate this tragedy in its centenary year.

The new Scouting movement, founded in 1907 promoted fresh air and outdoor activities. Just the thing for lads from the overcrowded streets of Walworth on their second summer camp in Kent. They would have been excited as they arrived at Erith at 9pm but perhaps less so at sleeping overnight on board. At 4am they set off and were in sight of the camp when, 2 miles off the coast, a sudden gale caught them and the boat capsized. The local lifeboat was launched and found a shocking scene.

Due to several acts of selfless heroism ,especially by their Scoutmaster Sydney Marsh, many lives were saved. But 8 scouts and Frank Masters from the training ship Arethusa had drowned.

The grim rollcall was:

William Beckham: aged 12
Harry Gwynn: aged 13
Albert Dack: aged 11
Percy Huxford: aged 12
Noel Filmer: aged 14
James Skipsey: aged 12
Thompson Filmer: aged 12
Edward Smith: aged 11
And Frank Masters from the training ship Arethusa: aged 14

The tragic loss of such young lives struck a chord with the nation and Winston Churchill MP, then First Lord of the Admiralty, with Scouting links, arranged for a destroyer to transport the bodies back to London. So they were carried up the Thames, from which their ill-fated journey had begun, to Rotherhithe. The coffins were then taken to St John’s Larcom Street, off the Walworth Road, to which the troop were attached.

100,000 were reputed to have attended the lying in state of the boys and paid their respects. The terrible events had really touched peoples’ hearts and the mass funeral almost resembled a state event. It took place on 10 August 1912 and contemporary photos show the streets lined with people and Scouts, 8 deep.

There were commemorative issues of national newspapers and 1 million people watched as the coffins, draped in Union Jacks and Scouts staves entwined with flowers, passed by on their way to Nunhead Cemetery. It took an hour for them to arrive and there they were buried. However, Percy Huxford’s body wasn’t found until 13 August and he joined his fellow Scouts on 15 August.

A bronze Life-size Scout was erected in 1914 just before the start of the approaching carnage of the 1st World War. It was paid for by public donations and designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.but, sadly, was stolen in 1969. In 1992, thanks to the generosity of Kellaways and Francis Chappell, a replacement memorial of a fine Carrara marble stone carved in the shape of a book was put in its place. There is also a memorial at Leysdown. The Scouts have never been forgotten.

(Grateful thanks to: The Leysdown Tragedy and The Walworth Scouts, Rex Batten, FONC Publications)


(EDITOR: Is there a local story of this nature that needs to be brought to public attention? Chekc your local newspaper archives and be prepared to research and write about it.)

How to write a story

There are many ways to get an idea for a story.

You can find an idea in an old newspaper story. A man was murdered in a fight in Victorian England. It was a brutal, vicious and utterly pointless murder. Today it would be called a race or a hate crime.

I have the detailed press reports of the time and I could take the factual article I wrote and published some time ago and turn it into a short story, or perhaps a novel, or a play? Maybe even a film/TV treatment?

Sometimes an idea comes into the mind of a writer fully formed, with the beginning, the middle and the end all neatly packaged up. It's then just a case of putting down on paper.

Once I had the last line of a story come to me. It was an intriguing last line, I had no idea where it had come from, it just arrived.

This story took a while to write, as I had to work out why the situation had arisen, why nobody had foreseen the situation arising and how they had arrived at the situation.

That's Beauty and Living: Autumn Winter Fashion Presents The Car Bootique – ...

That's Beauty and Living: Autumn Winter Fashion Presents The Car Bootique – ...: Fashion lovers - get ready - as the Car Bootique returns to Westfield London Shopping Centre for its second year, this season in associati...

Beautiful Britain family travel writing contest call for submissions

A family travel writing competition celebrating the beauty of Britain is calling for submissions.

The contest at www.havealovelytime.com has a top prize of £200, a second prize of a weekend stay at the Park Inn in historic York and an English Heritage family pass for everyone finishing in the top ten, as well as a copy of Travelling with Children, by Catherine Cooper, one of the competition’s judges.

There’s also a mystery prize on offer for the entry voted readers’ favourite after the competition closes on October 1, 2011.

Journalist and author Linda Jones who edits Have a lovely time, and is Catherine’s fellow judge, adds: “We want to celebrate all that’s great about family tourism in our stunning land. That might include breathtaking adventures in the Lakes, laughing til your sides ache at a family-friendly Edinburgh festival, savouring the splendour of the West Wales coastline, a Devon cream tea or a knees up at a holiday park…or of course plenty more.

“Wherever you love to find quality family time in Britain – we want to hear about it. We’re looking for entries about family holidays, breaks, days out or adventures.

“Perhaps your stories could be inspired by firing your imagination at an English Heritage (www.english-heritage.org.uk) property – as we’re delighted they are backing our contest – and there are so many adventures to be had for you and your family.

“We won’t tell you what we mean by ‘family’ – so long as you feel the title fits, that’s fine by us. Perhaps the break you want to write about is a first one without children when they’ve flown the nest. Maybe you don’t have children but consider a beloved pet part of your family."

A first entry is free but if you’d like to try more than once, there’s a fee of £5 per subsequent entry. If you’d like a professional critique of your submission you can pay £12.50 for feedback on your style, structure and content. A proportion of all fees paid will be split between Have a Lovely Time’s chosen charity, CCPA (www.ccpa.org.uk) (formerly NACCPO) and their support for an organisation called the Torbay Holiday Helpers Network (www.thhn.co.uk) which helps offer free holidays, to families who have seriously ill life threatening/limiting, terminally ill and recently bereaved children.

Prizes:
1st prize
• £200
• English Heritage family day pass to visit a property of your choice
• Copy of Travelling with Children by Catherine Cooper
2nd prize
• Weekend break at the Park Inn, York
• English Heritage family day pass to visit a property of your choice
• Copy of Travelling with Children by Catherine Cooper

3rd – 10th prizes – Highly commended
• English Heritage family day pass to visit a property of your choice
• Copy of Travelling with Children by Catherine Cooper

More details and contributors’ guidelines can be found at www.havealovelytime.com

About the judges:
Catherine Cooper is a freelance journalist specialising in travel with children. Her clients include The Sunday Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian, The Baby Directory, Practical Parenting and several airline magazines.
Catherine has written extensively about travels she has taken with her own children since they were babies. Family trips have included mule-trekking in the Atlas Mountains, a city-break to Marrakech, donkey-trekking in France, beach holidays and skiing holidays as well as visits to Butlins, camping in the UK and abroad, self-catering cottage holidays and many others. Last year Catherine and her family relocated from London to the South of France.

Linda Jones is editor of Have a Lovely Time and Ready for Ten. She wrote her first freelance travel article in 1994 when she was working in St Petersburg, Russia and helped launch a travel and lifestyle magazine. She has reported from France, Spain and the US for regional UK evening newspapers and as a freelance has contributed features to most women’s weekly magazines and national newspapers. These days Linda is the director of Midlands agency Passionate Media where she also runs popular workshops for established and aspiring writers.

Brian Aldiss and Gavin Pretor-Pinney kick off the New Term at London's Idler Academy

Science fiction legend Brian Aldiss is giving the first English class at the Idler Academy this term.

Mr Aldiss will be in conversation with actor Sir Timothy Ackroyd and Melli Bond, and will discuss the creative process and his long and successful career as a writer.

Says Idler Academy founder, Idler editor and Penguin author Tom Hodgkinson: "We're delighted to welcome a writer of the stature of Brian Aldiss to the Idler Academy, and look forward to a fascinating evening." Mr Aldiss appears on Tuesday 6 September. Doors open at 6.30pm. Everyone is welcome: there is no sign-up process involved. Just buy a ticket.

Gavin Pretor-Pinney gives the Idler Academy's first science class of the term. He is the founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society and author of the international best-seller, The Cloudspotter's Guide. Gavin has chosen waves as his topic. Says Tom: "Again it's a delight to have Gavin back for a talk. We founded the Idler magazine together in 1993 and worked together for 14 years. Gav left to stare at clouds and waves, and now he is bringing home the fruits of his study."

Gavin's talk is on Wednesday 7 September at 6.30pm.

The Idler Academy of Philosophy, Husbandry and Merriment was founded in March of this year by Tom and his partner Victoria Hull. It is a coffeehouse and bookshop by day. It is situated in Bayswater, opposite the Westbourne Tavern.

"This really is a free school as we are free to do exactly what we like," says Tom. "This term we have great speakers such as Will Self, Frank Gardner, Phillip Knightley, Roy Strong and Louis Theroux, and a wide range of day and evening classes in everything from Latin to carpentry and needlework.

"At the Idler Academy you can educate yourself and have a lot of fun while so doing. It's open to everyone. The Greek word scholia, which turned into our word for school, originally meant leisure. So in the old days, going to school was something you did for fun. Now that's true once again."

The Aacdemy's motto is "libertas per cultum", meaning "freedom through education". Its patron is Emma Thompson.
 

You can view the full term timetable at www.idler.co.uk/academy/events.