In the Victorian era, there was actually a little known public park in Weymouth, the first to be created in the town. It was part of the grand Belfield estate. A 13 acre site, mainly parkland that surrounded a magnificent house built approx 1780’s for the Buxton family. Thomas Fowell Buxton became Weymouth’s MP between…
Category: Victorian illustrations
Examples of Victorian illustrations.
1906; The Portland boy buccaneers.
Slightly out of the Victorian era I know, but only just. This story caught my eye as it summed up the excitement and invincibility of childhood, feelings of the exciting escapades of the Famous Five, even though the lads involved were more teenagers, and the story had it’s slightly dark side. In the April of…
1897; Smugglers on the Great Western Channel Steamer the Ibex.
Weymouth has enjoyed trade with the Channel islands for many decades. Ships have been plying their trade between the three ports, Weymouth, Jersey, and Gurnsey ever since the the end of the 18thc, transferring anything and everything from tomatoes, potatoes, cut flowers, passengers…oh, and of course illegal goods! ! Many a ships crew member was thwarted in their…
1871; Digging Through Weymouth History; The Old Rectory, Magic, Musicals and Movies.
If you do a little digging you can uncover some fantastic history about your local buildings. Such was the case with one of Weymouth’s top attractions (well…as I knew it in my time anyway). This building has endured a somewhat chequered history. On the 22nd October 1886 a grand scheme was set before the council…
1863; Royal Wedding Celebrations at Osmington Village Dorset.
On the 10th March 1863, Queen Victoria’s son Prince Albert Edward, otherwise know as Bertie married the pretty young Danish Princess Alexandra. Bertie was the eldest son of Victoria and Albert and up till then had gained a certain reputation for enjoying the highlife and his scandalous dalliances, much to his parents disgrace. The couple…
1838; Shipwreck at Osmington, Smugglers and Coastguards.
Life at sea has always been hazardous, natures fickle whims, and mans unpredictability has always caused dramas and deaths. For those whose livelihoods depended on the sea, and those who relied on the open water as their means of transport, they literally took their life in their hands every time they entered a boat. Nowadays…
1873; Weymouth, violence in the classroom.
For children, life at school can be pretty rough and tough. Even during the Victorian period, with their propensity for strict discipline, the class room wasn’t always the safest place to be. In December of 1879, at the Borough petty sessions a case was brought before the three officials of the court, Mr W Talbot,…
1834; Weymouth’s Grand Park.
Isn’t it odd, you grow up somewhere, and the place names of streets, areas, and houses just trip off the tongue. You’ve always called them that, never known them as anything different. But have you ever stopped and wondered why they were so named in the first place? I was born in Weymouth more than…
1888; Chesil swallows up another wreck.
Chesil beach in Dorset is world renown. It is part of the World Heritage Jurassic coastline. A more stunning place for scenery is hard to find…but it does have it’s dark side, as anyone who’s witnessed it in storms will realise. Many a ship has fallen foul of the weather and tides here, the sea…
1867; Devastating explosion at Weymouth saw mills.
One Tuesday morning in March of 1867, the men made their way to work at the business premises of 37-year-old William Sketchley. He ran a successful steam saw mill business in the Park district of Weymouth. William was not a native of the town, he had moved his family and business here from the London…
VICTORIAN TALES FROM WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND 