Back from the christmas market; WEYMOUTH CHRISTMAS MARKET -DECEMBER 1859. The provision made by the butchers at this market for the wants of the festive season, was liberal in the extreme. The various substantialities that minister to creature comfort were supplied in great profusion and made a most tempting appearance. The Messrs. Baunton’sshow was remarkably…
Category: Weymouth tales
Stories from around Weymouth
1857; Victorian Day-trippers excitement… journey to Weymouth
Today, we all seem to take many things, including technology, for granted, as ever more sophisticated gadgets and inventions are unrolled into our society. We seem to have lost the beautiful wonder and awe of the Victorian era, when every new invention or places of travel created great excitement amongst the people, such sights were…
Victorian Lodmoor.
Being down on the South coast, our weather tends to be fairly mild compared to the rest of the country, I’ve lost count of the amount of times that my hubby had phoned me from work in Dorchester, over the Ridgeway, and would gloat that it was snowing there, of course, in Weymouth, it would…
1899; Ding dong dell…Mary’s in the well
The length of Weymouth’s ancient quayside is lined with an eclectic jumble of historic buildings, each one has a thousand stories to tell, they have witnessed fights, lovers, joy, tears, death and birth….the ghostly whispers of so many events lie within their walls, and under their eaves. This time, our story starts not in Weymouth,…
1899; Thwarted love…never cross a woman!
In the April of 1899 a case came before the Under-Sheriff’s Court at Dorchester. It concerned a breach of promise, that was back in the day when people declared themselves engaged…it really meant something! Not like the business of today where it seems to be a question of how many engagement rings they can accumulate….
Weymouth’s Harbour Area; Brewers Quay
If there’s one place that I love to mooch around in Weymouth, it is an area named Brewer’s Quay for rather obvious reasons, if properly named, it’s Hope Square. This area has a lot of history, not least that it was where the breweries in the past chucked out that distinctive cooked hops aroma from…
1889; Girl held against her will at Broadwey?
With all the media reports on the news recently concerning the shocking story of the 3 women imprisoned as slaves, Weymouth had it’s own version of the sorry tale back in 1889. Sarah Guy was born in 1865 into a less than ideal and loving family home. Her Dad John was a violent drunk, and…
Weymouth’s Victorian bandstands.
The final bandstand stood out at the end of what was once an elegant, curving pier, which brings us neatly back to where we first started our story of the Weymouth bandstands.
1879; Tragedy at the George Inn, Weymouth.
The imposing George Inn has stood on Weymouth’s quayside for centuries in one form or another. Wealthy businessman Sir Samuel Mico had purchased the George Tavern in the 17th c for use as his residence when he came to Weymouth to see to business matters, many of his trading ships came into what was then…
1895 Wheeling and dealing ……..
The governments advice for people to get on their bikes and look for work is not a new sentiment. Even during the Victorian period people moved freely around the country following the work, such was the story of one northern family. In the 1860’s Enoch and Mary Ann Birkin had been living in their local…
VICTORIAN TALES FROM WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND 