Year: 2017
A poignant remembrance….
November 11, 2017
Whilst sorting through some old books from my parent’s house, a newspaper cutting fell out. The cutting was undated but by using the British Newspaper Archive I have determined that it dates from the First World War when my grandfather William Guy CLARK had lost his brother Frederick Charles CLARK, serving in the Hampshire regiment, […] – read more…
Got a few spare minutes?
September 1, 2017
If you have a few spare minutes then why not browse through some of the items added to the site over previous years. Many of these cover Hampshire stories, people, places and items of interest. Scroll down to Archives, select a year and then browse through all the items and maybe find something of interest. […] – read more…
Hardship Cases in a Portsmouth Court – Correction
June 26, 2017
HGS member David Hall has kindly pointed out an error in the original post I added to the website in October 2014. I had incorrectly stated that William Jeremiah ATRILL married Elizabeth GRIFFITHS on 2 July 1808. These details are correct but the William in the court case was a labourer who married Elizabeth THOMPSON in Alverstoke […] – read more…
Were you a Beverley Babe?
June 6, 2017
Beverley Babes The Royal Naval and Royal Marine Maternity Home As Britain prepared for the possibility of going to war with Germany, the Southsea based Royal Naval and Royal Marine Maternity Home, known as Bowland, made plans to evacuate their premises, with patients and staff to be taken to Beverley House, Wickham. On the 1st […] – read more…
MEMORIAL INSCRIPTION CORRECTIONS
May 24, 2017
Two errors in the HGS Memorial Inscriptions for Longparish and Southampton Hill Lane Cemetery have recently been found. The one in Longparish is on a memorial inside the church, number 162 in our index, where it gives the dates for William Arthur DURNFORD as being 1653 – 1940. William was obviously not nearly 300 years […] – read more…
Will of John Biggnall of Kingston
May 19, 2017
Can an early will help with family trees John Biggnall The early registers for both Portsmouth parishes have disappeared. Later 17 Century registers are not always complete. Trying to trace early families on Portsea Island can be difficult but early wills may help. John BIGGNALL of Kingston wrote his will on 8 February 1684/5 and […] – read more…
Odiham School Teacher
February 26, 2017
Teacher at a private school in Odiham around 1900 Ellen Valentine James HGS member Peter GODWIN’s Great Aunt was Ellen Valentine JAMES. She was the youngest of three sisters and was born on St. Valentine’s Day 14 February 1869 in Notting Hill. Her parents were Henry George JAMES who had married Ellen MOREY in the […] – read more…
Inquest verdict of Visitation of God
January 27, 2017
Term used in a coroner’s verdict to explain an unexplained death Hampshire inquests The Hampshire coroner’s records were all destroyed which means that no official records exist. The best remaining source is from local newspaper reports though not every inquest and verdict was reported. When reported the content varied from very brief to quite detailed. Examples of […] – read more…