Author: cannasue

Easter at Weymouth in 1896

Weymouth is basically a tradition bucket and spade seaside town, that is how we began our rise as a resort in Georgian times, and so it has been ever since! The town council has the task of helping to promote the town, as it always has done, but as the recession has hit, they have…

Read More

Sad Case of Poverty and Neglect at Weymouth; 1896

A court case appeared in the local papers in March of 1896 of a family who were living in Weymouth at the time. It reveals the true horrors of poverty and neglect that some families found themselves in during the Victorian period. Lucy Eudora Stickley  had been born in the little village of  Milborne st…

Read More

Weymouth Town Councillors Brawling; 1894

First on the agenda was the Garden committee. Fairly innocuous you would have thought, but it appears that behind those chamber’s closed doors things were starting to hot up!
Two councillors exchanged heated words during the proceedings.

Great Western Trippers flock to Victorian Weymouth 1870

One example is July of 1870, almost the entire factory of the Great Western Railway’s carriage and locomotive works set off on their hols on the same day. Nearly 6,000 of them left Swindon station for their various destinations.
Some headed for the bright lights of London, some for the bustling city of Bristol, a few even ventured to Swansea.
An unlucky few were left behind at the works to keep things ticking over at the factory.
That week nigh on 1,500 men, women and children swarmed into Weymouth on the special trains that were run to carry them.

Victorian Firework Night 1866

On the 5th November 1866, the annual ‘Protestant’ fete was celebrated with great gusto by the folks of Weymouth.
Most of the activity was confined to the sands, with two large bonfires burning down by the shore. For some strange reason a large hulk was described as being well ablaze in the water, with  reflections of the flames rippling in the swell.

Portlands own Jurassic finds 1837

 One day, while quarrymen were hard at work, a large block of stone was removed from its bed some 40 odd foot below the surface. To everyones amazement it’s removal revealed a hidden and secret world, for beneath was the opening to a huge cavern.

Reluctant Weymouth Voters of 1835

But despite the committee’s numerous efforts to rouse any interest in what should have been a grand occasion, out of the 600 people eligible to vote in the town, only 53 of those could be  persuaded to attend to meal…and they even had to give the tickets away to entice them to the event.

Opening of New Weymouth & Melcombe Regis Town Bridge 1824.

Anyone interested in the long history of our town will know of it’s somewhat turbulent beginnings. The harbour was the dividing line…at times literally the front line of the ‘war zone.’ Modern day Weymouth started life as two completely separate  towns very much at odds with each other. Old Weymouth  straggled along the harbourside of the…

Read More