EXETER CATHEDRAL’S CURIOSITIES

  Hello, this is Editor Des back from the West Country of Olde England.  I’ve chosen this little piece because I liked the story Pauline told me about the nursery rhyme and the 15th century cathedral clock at Exeter. I’m sure you know you how it goes;

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RING THE BELLS!

There is such a strong link between Christmas and bells. Images of them  adorn our trees and  greeting cards, and the faithful are summoned to church by them on Christmas morning. I wasn’t sure whether to post this article as history or humour, but the humour  is

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Editor Des ‘meets’ Dr Johnson

A DAY WITH DR JOHNSON by EDITOR DES Well I wrote this story a long time ago, but it’s Dr Johnson’s birthday tomorrow, so I’m sharing it with you again, I’m sorry the photos are so crappy, but that’s not my fault! Oh dear… where to start?!

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THE TASMANIAN SHADBOLTS

THE  TASMANIAN SHADBOLTS

LINDEN SHADBOLT – the child who stayed behind The following  is a  continuation of my  convict ancestors’ story  The Exoneration of Solomon Shadbolt. The first piece was prompted by what I saw as an unfair representation of  my three times great-grandfather, in the late   Maurice Shadbolts’s memoir

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The Exoneration of Solomon Shadbolt….Convict

The Exoneration of Solomon Shadbolt....Convict

A STORY ABOUT MY G-G-G-GRANDFATHER When  Australian author Kate Grenville was researching  her convict ancestor for the novel  Secret River, she admitted to feeling slightly anxious about the nature of his crime. Theft was one thing, but what if he had  been transported for something really serious;

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A dictionary for the ‘airfridge Strayan’

A dictionary for the 'airfridge Strayan'

 A DICTIONARY IS BORN IN ‘STRAYA’ In 1812 the convict James Hardy Vaux  (pictured )  produced  what is credited as  being  the first Australian dictionary: A New and Comprehensive Vocabulary of the Flash Language.  It  was essentially a  compilation of slang used by the ‘flash’ criminal element

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Dr Tardieu – advocate for abused children

Dr Tardieu - advocate for abused children

This brief article  is a tribute to a very special  Frenchman;  Dr Auguste Ambroise Tardieu,  who was born in Paris in 1818.     Dr Tardieu headed the team of  French doctors who performed a post-mortem on the disinterred body of English schoolgirl Marian Marsden in 1854. 

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The Malvern water-cure springs

The Malvern water-cure springs

My friends, authors and historians  Cora Weaver and Bruce  Osborne ,  recently published a  well researched, richly illustrated  book called Celebrated Springs of the Malvern Hills. Here is small extract; These pure springs  inspired the water-cure clinics at Malvern, lining the pockets of physicians such as  Dr

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Titanic Teddies

Titanic Teddies

HELLO, I CHOSE (AND EDITED ) THIS STORY ABOUT MY DISTANT RELATIVES. IT’S A BIT SAD, BUT VERY INTERESTING……EDITOR DES. There are some touching  links  between the Teddy Bear, that quintessential symbol of childhood  comfort and security,  and the  tragic loss of the  passenger ship Titanic on

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An Australian Tribute to Isambard Brunel

An  Australian Tribute to Isambard Brunel

STEAM AND SPEED The  brilliant British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born at Portsmouth  in 1806, the son of a highly regarded French engineer.  Many thousands of Australians have a connection with Brunel as  their ancestors emigrated on his innovative steamship, the SS Great Britain. At the

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