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…
Tag: art
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….
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…
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…
1891; Wyke Regis church receives its new bells
There is a sound you don’t hear very often these days, the ringing of church bells. I loved to hear them. At one time their merry peel would call villagers to worship on Sundays, ring out joyfully at wedding ceremonies, or the solemn death knell rung to mourn a person passing. In the Victorian era…
1872; Chesil Royal Adelaide shipwreck; part 2. Armageddon.
This is the second part of the tale of the sinking of the Royal Adelaide on Chesil beach that happened on the 25th November 1872. Well, in fact, it’s actually about what happened after…the dreadful scenes that hit the national papers and shook a lot of people. Despite there being many shipwrecks around the coast over…
1869; Battery, Assault and Burial on Weymouth Beach!
In 1869 a little incident occurred on Weymouth sands, it really shouldn’t have been a problem, but it was, and one that ended up in the national papers much to the local council’s horror! William Wynn, a well-educated gent from London had been residing in Weymouth with his family for a much welcomed holiday. The…
1868, Weymouth mayor in court!
We are going through a bad recession at the moment (as if I had to tell you that!) and when things get tough financial wise, somethings have to go. Such is the present day council’s dilemma…what to cut, what to keep. Well, it appears to have been the old harbour area and piers that seems to be…
1861; World Famous Tightrope Walker Charles Blondin at Belfield Park, Weymouth.
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…
VICTORIAN TALES FROM WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND 