The story of William Edward Roberts left off with him having been sent away to the brutal Clio training ship in 1909 for 6 years. Many Children there died because of the harsh regime in which beatings and bullying were seen as character building. An initial search on the 1911 census proved fruitless and it…
Comet spotted from Shropshire
1846: Keep your eyes peeled on the sky this March (1846). A comet has been spotted from Shrewsbury by a keen amateur astronomer Mr Blunt (Wednesday 25th of Feb) in Shrewsbury. Turning his telescope to the skies he spotted an unusual brightness which he hadn’t seen before. He was to ill to pay to much…
Homeless Umbrella Man
NEWSPAPER SHORT: March 1884 – Shrewsbury. Poor and elderly umbrella repair man locked up for sleeping rough. SOURCE: Cover image https://textilis.net/2016/04/01/victorian-edwardian-umbrellas-a-case-study-b-16/
The Boy In The Nest
The extraordinary story of the boy who lived in a nest and was sent to sea. Shrewsbury March 1909 – A fire breaks out in an outbuilding on Sutton Lane in Shrewsbury and Sergeant Barnet is called. He sees a young boy at the scene, whose skin and clothes are covered with dirt – he was filthy….
Brutal Outrage On The Railway
A young woman is attacked in the carriage of a train by a muscle-bound madman who was seemingly back-from-the-dead. She tries to escape by climbing out of the moving train and is rescued by a sword wielding hero. It was a cool Saturday evening in late August 1887 when Catherine Scragg, a young school teacher…
Shrewsbury’s real life Scrooge
A short news report now from the Eddowes’s Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire and the Principality of Wales – December 12th 1866. Basically Mr Craig (our Scrooge) is so sick of Carol singers coming to his door with their “unbearable” “screeching”, he reports the matter to the local magistrates. Sympathetic to his plight they…
Grannie’s Alternative Christmas Recipes
Calves Foot Jelly washed down with Lemon Brandy will make your Christmas dinner one to remember. As a festive treat here are some simple recipes collected from Victorian grannies by the 1920/30s women’s magazine Britannia and Eve. In this edition, Friday 1st December 1933, the ‘modern housewife’ is treated to a selection of alternative recipes to…
Ban on booze in Shrews? No way cries mob!
Do-gooders demanding ban on booze booted out of town by angry mob. If you’d have walked around Shrewsbury in December 1883 you might have been surprised and perhaps a little alarmed at the posters that had started springing up. They declared “War! War!! War!!!” “An Attack on Sin and Satan” and were being put up…
Shropshire’s Greatest Victorian Sporting Hero or Violent Bank Robbing Crook?
William Snook was one the best runners in the country – but this popular sporting hero had a very dark side. He was scammer, a wife beater and adulterer. He moved to Paris and became embroiled with a notorious criminal and put on trial for a daring bank robbery. The Little Wonder He was born in Shrewsbury…
Prize Fighting Women of Shrewsbury
Mary “smarting from a well aimed blow” sunk her teeth into Alice’s arm.
