Transport

Transport

Transport We’ve gone back in time as far as records permit, but we’ve not found anything that predates 1840. The sources of this early information were Pigot’s and Kelly’s trade directories. In the nineteenth century there were carriers of goods that made weekly...
Winter Fertility Customs

Winter Fertility Customs

Winter Fertility Customs The month of January witnessed a couple of interesting old fertility celebrations dating back many hundreds of years. These are Wassailing and Plough Monday. Wassailing The term wassail derives from the Old English “wes hal”, which means...
The Napoleonic War

The Napoleonic War

The Napoleonic War and the Threat of an Invasion Defensive Plans The Napoleonic War between Britain and France lasted from 1803 to 1815. However, Britain was becoming wary of France following its revolution and by 1790 an invasion was considered a real possibility. A...
William Cobbett’s Rural Rides

William Cobbett’s Rural Rides

An Extract from William Cobbett’s ‘Rural Rides’ William Cobbett was born in Farnham in 1763, the son of an innkeeper. He fled to America after being hounded for exposing corruption in the army. He returned to England in 1800 and became an investigative journalist, a...
Bray Williams, Workhouse Governor

Bray Williams, Workhouse Governor

Bray Williams – Governor of the Workhouse c1835 to 1851 A rather worn handwritten notebook has recently come into our possession after being discovered in the vicarage attic by Rev Simon Newham who was vicar from 2005 (?) to 2010. At first sight – and probably a...