Today, I needed to reach a conference centre in London. Nice and easy you’d think, I use the rail network to get into a mainline station and then the Tube to get closer to my destination. I still needed to walk, but Google Maps was not working . . . phone gremlins or ‘the powers that be’ trying to halt the Extinction Rebellion protests that … Continue reading Blue Plaques: a Present from London
At my last visit to a postcard fair, I bought a small bundle of twenty-two postcards dating from 1910-15. Individually they weren’t expensive, just 50p each (the seller sold them for £10) and I hoped to be able to share a snippet or two from the collection. The address of one of the cards initially attracted me to them, ‘Mr Cyril Smith, Post Office, Sudbury, … Continue reading Edwardian Postcards: a Glimpse into an Earlier Life
While out this weekend, I happened across some unusual postboxes. I used to go out specifically to find rare postboxes, but I’ve enough to occupy myself these days and have retired that hobby. The first unusual postbox I found was the below example of a George VI lamp box that would have been cast sometime during the period of his reign, 1936 to 1952. Lamp … Continue reading Two Ludlows and a Lamp Box
In my post Suffragettes – Pictures say a Thousand Words, I touched on the subject of Edwardian propaganda. The battle (as at times it was a battle) for women to achieve the vote, is remembered this centenary year of the Representation of the People Act which permitted some women who met property rules, the right to vote. Suffragists, like Millicent Fawcett, used diplomacy and law-abiding methods to … Continue reading Using Postcards for History: Suffragettes
British Olympic gold medal winners in 2012 got more than the gold medals that defined them as elite sportsmen and women. The gold medal winners for London 2012 were also commemorated with gold painted post boxes in their hometowns and a set of stamps. I bought two sets of stamps as mementoes of the historic games: those of Sir Andy Murray, who won his gold … Continue reading Gold Post Boxes: Commemorating Britain’s Sporting Heroes
Britain got her first post boxes during the 1850s. Apart from a short period when we posted mail in ‘anonymous’ post boxes, so called as they did not carry a royal cipher, (sometimes spelled cypher), the Post Office quickly settled on using the cipher of the reigning monarch on all letter boxes. Below left is the VR cipher that is found on Victorian pillar boxes, … Continue reading Royal Ciphers on Postboxes: a Brief Guide
On a day out in Windsor, accompanied by my husband, we came across a Doric fluted Victorian pillar box, situated just over the river Thames at Eton. I stopped to take the obligatory photograph. I was taken with its elegance, which was enhanced by gilding around the cap which highlighted the words ‘Post Office’, the crown and the royal VR (Victoria Regina) cipher. I shared … Continue reading The Victorian Fluted Pillar Box in England
Emily Wilding Davison’s infamy was guaranteed when she stepped in front of the King’s horse, Anmer, at the 1913 Epsom Derby. Emily, in a long campaign of civil disobedience as a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), was a vociferous agitator for equal voting rights with men. In late 1911, she attempted to set fire to the contents of the pillar box … Continue reading Suffragettes and the Post: Pillar Box Attacks in Edwardian Britain
For 160 years we have been posting our mail into pillar, wall and lamp boxes, but how many of us actually look at the box in which we post our mail? Do we pay attention to the royal ciphers that denote the age of the box? Or know the impact of momentous historical events that directly affect the letter boxes on our streets? Post boxes, … Continue reading The Hidden History of British Post Boxes
This blog is a selection of interesting things I've come across during my history research. I have a wide interest in history ranging from Wars of the Roses, country houses, Stuarts, Georgians, Louis XIV, Napoleon and criminals. So expect to see a bit of everything on here, with a focus on little known stories.
Sharing recipes, DIYs and lifestyle tips
The ramblings and obsessions of a longtime Avon lady
The Home Of T-Bird From The Dork Web.
Wellness • Poetry • Life
Adventures in motherhood, fitness, youth hockey & corporate America
Genealogy, Family history, and Whatnot
Piecing together my family history . . .
Stories of immigrants, expatriates and family evolution
Family and local stories and history, favorite books
Discover and re-discover Mexico’s cuisine, culture and history through the recipes, backyard stories and other interesting findings of an expatriate in Canada
Eats plants
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aka Helene Harrison, Author and Historian
Tonight I Dream. Tomorrow I Do!
Exploring historical thoughts and themes, a bit at a time.
HistorianRuby: An Historian's Miscellany 