Local & Family History Archives - The History Press

Blitz on Cheshire

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 04:01:29 +0000

The cities of Britain suffered during the Blitz, but what about the counties? This book presents a selection of photographs showing the result of bombing attacks on Cheshire as the county was back the 1940s (alarger area including such towns as Stockport, Birkenhead and parts of Greater Manchester, as covered by the Cheshire Constabulary.) This rare collection of photographs were taken by a Cheshire police photographer, and offer a fascinating insight into the damage sustained in this area during this time. In many instances, German bombs were randomly dropped when bombers were returning from the major cities. Some were intentionally dropped on sites of heavy industry, such as Crewe Railway Works. Chester City escaped most of the heavy bombing, possibly because the so-called German Baedeker raids were eventually discontinued. However, as shown in this book, many of Cheshire’s towns and villages did not escape, as painfully evidenced in these images.

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The Irish Tricolour

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 04:01:13 +0000

This nationally important book reveals the untold story of the Irish tricolour: its true origins, a forgotten heroine, and the emblems it replaced. For the first time, a fully referenced history corrects long-standing myths and slurs surrounding Ireland’s national flag. It also reinterprets iconic Irish symbols — from the harp and shamrock to the tri-spiral — placing them within the broader journey toward Irish nationhood and national identity. Along Ireland’s road to a republic, key figures are restored to their rightful place — from Owen Roe O’Neill and Wolfe Tone to Thomas Meagher, Padraig Pearse, and Amelia Eleanor Hamilton, the first known person to craft an Irish tricolour. The book explores crucial turning points — the rise of green as Ireland’s colour, the rebellions of 1642, 1798, 1848, and 1916, Catholic Emancipation, and the flag’s later use — and misuse. A bold, insightful retelling of Ireland’s story through its symbols.

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Agatha Christie’s London

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 04:01:15 +0000

London had a special place in Agatha Christie’s heart. In her childhood, she would visit the capital to stay with her Auntie Grannie; as an adult, she owned several homes in the city. A re-occurring location in her stories, London is where Poirot and Hastings, and Tommy and Tuppence reside, and even Miss Marple cannot resist a trip up to town to do shopping in its department stores.

With this refreshing take on the Queen of Crime’s connections to the city in both her life and writing, Tina Hodgkinson follows in Christie’s footsteps, visiting her former homes, fashionable restaurants, luxury hotels and other London locations that she and her characters frequented. Discover the Apothecaries’ Hall in the City of London, where Agatha sat her medical exams, the hospital she worked in during the Second World War, the former headquarters of the ‘Detection Club’ and the theatres, where her plays were performed.

Christie wrote about the capital in every decade of her extensive literary career, and this detailed but accessible compendium will delight Christie fans both old and new.

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Contagious Enemies

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 04:01:25 +0000

Witches have existed in society for centuries. Traditionally, they were the midwives, the providers of herbal medicines, the people who understood biology and nature. They were real people who lived amongst us. They were our neighbours – we knew them. But when the Scottish Reformation Party pushed through the Witchcraft Act in 1563, the healers became the hunted.

The Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives is a treasure trove of documentation, dating as far back as the twelfth century. Amongst its shelves are the original, handwritten court records from the Aberdeen Witch Trials of 1597 – first-hand accounts of the words spoken on those dreadful days.

Covering a brief history of the Scottish witch trials, the role of an obsessed king, and how it all came to an end, Contagious Enemies: The Aberdeen Witch Trials brings you these court records, transcribed and translated into modern-day English.

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The Little History of Wicklow

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 04:01:37 +0000

County Wicklow’s landscape is dotted with pre-Christian sites – Baltinglass is known as the ‘Hillfort Capital of Ireland’. Saint Patrick landed here in 432 AD and the county also boasts ecclesiastical sites, the most impressive being Glendalough. Following the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169-70, Normans occupied the lowlands, but native Irish inhabited the uplands, leading to conflict throughout the Middle Ages. Wicklow became the last county to be shired in 1606. However, Wicklow witnessed more violence through the seventeenth century and it was only after 1700 that the elite felt safe enough to build great houses such as Powerscourt and Russborough. Wicklow was in turmoil during the 1798 rebellion. Economic recovery was halted by the tragedy of Famine. Later in the nineteenth century, the Parnells led the Home Rule movement, the Land League and the Ladies’ Land League. The twentieth century saw war, revolution and hardship before better times arrived after 1960. This rich history is all covered in this accessible little book.

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The Little Book of the Isle of Wight

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 04:01:40 +0000

Did you know? A new species of cat-like dinosaur, yet to be named, was discovered on the Isle of Wight in 1988. Darwin began his world famous ‘On the Origin of the Species’ while staying at the Kings Head Hotel. There are 21 tourists to every Island resident. The Little Book of the Isle of Wight is a funny, fact-packed compendium of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or simply strange information which no one will want to be without. The Island’s most eccentric inhabitants, blood-curdling murders and literally hundreds of facts combine to make this required reading for locals and visitors alike. Illustrated with humorous cartoons and delivered with wit and flair, this captivating compendium is almost impossible to put down.

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Scottish Folk Tales of Love

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 04:01:36 +0000

From Celtic myth to gothic horror, this book contains Scottish folk tales of love and loss in all shapes and forms. Stories that will warm the heart, like the princess who loves her father more than salt, to ones that will bring a tear to the eye, like the tragic tale of how a chieftain’s son was tricked into killing his true love with an arrow. There is a Scottish Cinderella, a loyal broonie, and a fair knight abducted by the Queen of the Fairies but saved by love. The woman whose love for a selkie man was broken by an evil spell and the girl whose tears and lamentation for her dead lover bring his restless ghost back to carry her off to join him in his grave.

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Padstow

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 04:01:27 +0000

Through the study of archaeological evidence, Padstow can trace its history back almost 5,000 years. In 520AD, St Petroc, according to legend, landed from Ireland on the North Cornish coast and chose a site on a hill to build his monastery. In the medieval period, the port was importing goods from Ireland and the Mediterranean and exporting slate, copper, tin and fish. Shipbuilding was an important industry in the early nineteenth century and, when the railway arrived in 1899, this marked the beginning of tourists visiting Padstow. The town remains a working fishing port and the spectacular views of the Camel estuary, the attractive harbour, narrow winding lanes, old cottages and the beautiful ancient church add to its charm. The Padstonians are a close-knit community, some families having lived there for generations. They all ensure that Padstow’s traditions will be kept alive for many years into the future.

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The Little History of Nottinghamshire

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 04:01:27 +0000

From prehistory to present times, Nottinghamshire has seen Romans, marauding Danes, barons, rebel armies, kings, radicals and industrialists. The county is home to hand-carved caves, Sherwood Forest, more than forty monastic houses, a medieval ‘dance of death’, mansions, workhouses, and pumping stations. Robin Hood, the ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’ poet Lord Byron, Scrooby’s Pilgrim Fathers, four regicides, Jesse Boot the chemist, D.H. Lawrence, and the composer of the Dam Busters March all lived here.

The medieval wool trade was superseded by coal, gypsum and textiles including Nottingham’s famous lace industry. John Player’s tobacco and Raleigh bicycles were based here. Home to dukes, princes and playboys as well as dissenters, revolutionaries, pioneers and Olympians, the people of Nottinghamshire have seen it all.

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The War of Independence in East Cork

verity.brighton — Wed, 28 May 2025 04:01:35 +0000

East Cork was a very dangerous area during the Irish War of Independence. Several major and minor actions between the IRA and Crown Forces took place there during 1920 and 1921, including the first RIC Barracks to be captured and destroyed at Carrigtwohill. Other significant events include the capture of Castlemartyr and Cloyne RIC barracks, the ambush at Mile Bush near Midleton where a British Army bicycle patrol was relieved of their weapons, and the IRA ambush of an RIC foot patrol in Midleton. This period also saw the first official reprisals, the disastrous battle at Clonmult, the Cobh quarry attack, and the Bunker Hill ambush. This book includes all the major and minor engagements between the IRA and Crown Forces; the actions described have never before been so extensively researched and published in such a comprehensive and balanced fashion.

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