230 years ago dozens of families from the Staffordshire potteries migrated to Liverpool to become the workforce at a huge new pottery factory, Herculaneum. The family of enameller John Edwards was one of them.
Category Archives: Social History
Hannah and Percy: a WW1 Story
Percy Kirk joined the Hulls Pals in 1914 and saw action in Egypt and France. Back home, his new wife Hannah endured zeppelin air raids while preparing for the birth of their first child.
Lady Criminals on the Thames
Meet three women charged with crimes in London’s east end in the 1870s — brothel keeper Ann Gilligan, smuggler Mary Jones and illicit tobacco-seller Margarethe Schmidt.
Letter From a ‘Lunatic’
A fiery letter within the correspondence of Poplar’s Poor Law Union, 1882, describes the horrific treatment of a woman in the workhouse ‘lunatic’ ward. Who was the letter writer and supposed lunatic, Catherine Bouchier Phillimore?
Eliza Saword — a short life remembered
Eliza Saword was paralysed and had epilepsy. She only lived to the age of 17. In this blog I investigate medical treatments and social attitudes towards these conditions in the 1860s, and consider how her disabilities would have affected her short life.
After the Great War — A plea for ‘lighter work’
Experienced soldier William Walter Talmer returned from the trenches in 1916 with a disabling disease. Now, he had a new fight — to persuade the Appeal Tribunal for an exemption from active service.
Becky Flood’s Gypsy Caravan
A mysterious figure in my family history — “Aunt Becky” — lived in a traditional Romani caravan. While searching for her true identity I also investigated why in 1901, numerous children from London were living in a small village in the Chilterns.
Deserted, Defaulted, Discharged
Three young men in my family tree left the British army suddenly in the 1700s-1800s. Through a variety of records I’ve investigated the causes, and outcomes, of their choices.
A Tale of Five Camillas
Tracing the lives of the first five Camillas whose births were registered in England highlights class differences and women’s experiences in Victorian Britain.
William Gunton Saword: Part 2 — Butler of Greenwich Hospital
William Saword was the Butler of Greenwich Hospital for naval pensioners from 1772 to 1812. He faced two government enquiries into corruption, a devastating fire and the loss of two wives, and he experienced royal visits and the lying-in-state of Lord Nelson.
Dig Up Your Ancestors 