All articles in Local & Family History
18th August, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Local & Family History
Abel Heywood: From hothead radical to Manchester city father
Abel Heywood lived in Manchester at a time of dramatic and permanent change. The city was arguably the most important place in the world in the 19th century, at the heart of the social and economic changes that created modern Britain. It both repelled and fascinated contemporary…
14th July, 2017 in Local & Family History
The Black Country alphabet
To celebrate Black Country day, THP’s resident ‘yam yam’, Verity, presents the Black Country alphabet, a lighthearted local take on the alphabet using Black Country lingo. Where is the Black Country? The Black Country is a region within the West Midlands, although the exact…
9th June, 2017 in Local & Family History, Military, Women in History
The heroine of Operation Basalt
The record of people who lived under German Nazi occupation is a mixed one. Some resisted, some collaborated. This was true both on the continent and in the one part of Britain which fell under Hitler’s rule, the Channel Islands. On the tiny island of Sark, on the night of…
5th June, 2017 in Local & Family History, Military
Woodchester Wayside Cross: Britain’s first war memorial
Built between July 1916 and May 1917 the Wayside Cross at Woodchester was probably the first war memorial in the country. The idea of a memorial was first conceived by Father Hugh Pope, who was Prior of Woodchester, in 1915 following the deaths of two parishioners: Lt Maurice Dea…
20th April, 2017 in Local & Family History, Transport & Industry
Recollections of the Sapperton Canal Tunnel
The Sapperton Canal Tunnel is on the Thames and Severn Canal near Cirencester in Gloucestershire. A very historically important structure, the tunnel was completed on 20 April 1789 after five years of construction and being 3,817 yards in length (2.17 miles, 3.39 km) was the long…
11th April, 2017 in Local & Family History, Military
Exercise Tiger: D-Day training at Slapton Sands
Exercise Tiger was the code name for one in a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which took place in April 1944 on Slapton Sands in Devon. Slapton’s unspoiled beach of gravel, fronting a shallow freshwater ley and backed by grassy lands seemed pe…
16th March, 2017 in Local & Family History, Society & Culture
The Irish Diaspora and St. Patrick’s Day
On March 17th, Ireland celebrates St. Patrick’s Day – but who exactly was its patron saint; and what is the significance of the ‘Irish diaspora’ that is frequently referred to? St. Patrick St. Patrick is one of the world’s most popular saints – and there are many legends ass…
10th March, 2017 in History, Local & Family History, Society & Culture
The March of the Blanketeers 1817
March 2017 marked two hundred years since the Manchester Radicals (better known as the ‘Blanketeers’) organised a demonstration with the intention of marching to London to petition the Prince Regent over the desperate state of the textile industry in Lancashire and the recent sus…
10th March, 2017 in Local & Family History, Society & Culture
Counting the United Kingdom: The census from 1086 to now
Every ten years since 1801 details of people living in the United Kingdom are collected by the government in order to gather demographic information, calculate resource allocation and monitor changes in the nation’s population. At first the census was merely a headcount, with alm…
21st February, 2017 in History, Local & Family History, Military
Britain’s last invasion: Fishguard 1797
With the French Revolution raging across the channel, there was much alarm in Britain in 1797. The newly formed French revolutionary government devised a plan that involved harnessing the poor country folk of Britain to rally in support of the French liberators. When the French i…
8th February, 2017 in Local & Family History
Royals in Essex
If you find it hard to believe that the residence of the participants in The Only Way Is Essex has any connection to the royal family, think again. Essex has not only been home to some fabulous royal palaces, but has been the county of choice for a plethora of royal residents and…
7th February, 2017 in History, Local & Family History, Trivia & Gift
Quiz: London’s royal history
Do you know where the Crown Jewels are kept? Or which palace is the London home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge? Test your knowledge of London’s royal history with this exciting quiz written by a professional Blue Badge Guide. Q1. After financing its reconstruction, in…