Crowds packed into Grantham Guildhall on 16th October 1882. The Mayor, George Slater Esq, along with the other Grantham magistrates were due to make their decision on a case which had been the talk of the town for the past fortnight. The evidence had been heard,...
[caption id="attachment_1378" align="alignright" width="360"] Lance Corporal Walter Richard Parker, VC (1881-1936), Royal Marine Light Infantry. Used under Creative Commons Licence[/caption] In April 1915, the surviving troops of the 1st and 3rd Australian Brigades entrenched at Gaba Tepe on the Galliopli peninsula were desperate for relief. Three days...
[caption id="attachment_1331" align="alignright" width="364"] Cpl. Charles Richard Sharpe. Image Courtesy of Bourne Civic Society, used with permission[/caption] At 5am on the morning of the 9th May 1915 British artillery shells shook the ground of Aubers Ridge. For six days and nights every man for miles had born...
[caption id="attachment_1284" align="alignright" width="373"] 'William Stukeley' by John Smith, after Sir Godfrey Kneller, Bt. NPG D4074[/caption] William Stukeley was born in Holbeach, Lincolnshire on 7th November 1687. An intelligent child, William excelled at school, and at the age of 13 he joined his father’s Law practice as...
[caption id="attachment_1222" align="alignright" width="369"] The coronation of Henry III - Public Domain[/caption] On the 2nd February 1221, the 13 year old King Henry III sent an order to the Mayor of Lynn for 2000 fathoms of rope to be sent by boat to the town of...
[caption id="attachment_1203" align="alignright" width="393"] Albert Ball: Public Domain Image[/caption] Albert Ball was born in Nottingham on the 14th August 1896. His father was a successful local businessman who would go on to become first Mayor, and then Lord Mayor of Nottingham and later still be knighted. During...
The Fane family tree has its fair share of illustrious branches, weighed heavy with peers and politicians, soldiers and poets. Among these sits a woman who bore influence at the very pinnacle of the British political elite, and who would leave in her journals a detailed...
In the last Heritage Alive Blog, we told the story of Sarah Marvin, a young woman convicted of theft and sentenced to transportation. Today we highlight the fantastic, freely available, resources which allowed us to discover the details of her life. So whether you are researching your...
“Van Diemen’s Land is indebted for its present prosperous condition chiefly to the crimes committed in England”[1] Between 1803 and 1853 over 70,000 convicts were transported from Britain to the island then known as Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). As an outpost of the British Empire, the Crown...
The destruction of the Mackintosh building of the Glasgow School of Art, following a second fire in four years, has shocked and saddened all in the heritage community. The future of the 110 year old A-listed building[1] is still very much in doubt. At the time...
