In January 1881 four days of extremely severe weather brought large areas of England to a standstill, with southern England particularly badly effected. From the 17th to 20th January 1881 a heavy fall of snow accompanied by very strong winds created deep snow drifts that blocked homes, roads and the rail network. Telegraph wires were … Read more
Constance Ellen Wise was born on 17 June 1882, the daughter of George Jason Wise (1852-1924) and Annie Matilda Wise (née Taylor) (1851-1907) of 11 Portland Place, Marylebone, London, where they ran an upmarket boarding house, or residential chambers, for single people. Following the death of Constance’s mother in 1907 her father remarried in 1908 … Read more
Diana Ruth Wilson was born on 31 May 1886 in Sherborne at The Green, a Sherborne School boarding house run by her father Thomas Ward Wilson (1849-1924) and his Canadian wife Augusta Louisa Wilson (née Jarvis) (1855-1929). Diana was educated firstly at St Antony’s Convent School in Westbury, Sherborne (now Leweston School), and from September … Read more
On 12-16 June 1905 the Sherborne Pageant was performed at Sherborne Old Castle to celebrate the 1200th anniversary of the arrival of Aldhelm in Sherborne. Over 800 performers took part and it is estimated that it was attended by 30,000 spectators. The Pageant was devised by Louis Napoleon Parker (1852-1944), a former music master at Sherborne School … Read more
Daphne Blake Oram was born at Devizes in Wiltshire on 31 December 1925, the youngest child and only daughter of James Oram MBE (1890-1964) and Ida Murton Oram (née Talbot) (1887-1972), of Belle Vue House, Devizes. Daphne’s middle name was the maiden name of her grandmother Alice Blake (1851-1941). Daphne’s father was a town councillor … Read more
During her short life Elizabeth Myers wrote numerous short stories and three novels, A Well Full of Leaves (1943), The Basilisk of St James’s (1945), and Mrs Christopher (1946). Elizabeth Myers was born on 23 December 1912 at 3, Apollo Street, Manchester. Her parents, George William Myers, a Manchester warehouseman [a wholesaler of linen and cloth made in the factories surrounding … Read more
Monica Mary Scott was born in Cardiff on 3 July 1917, daughter of John Lawlor Scott and Elizabeth (née Mills). In 1927, her family left Cardiff, moving to Warminster in Wiltshire and later to London, where Monica attended a number of schools including Trowbridge High School, Camden School for Girls, and a school in Chard, … Read more
Ruth Streatfeild was born on 13 August 1894 at Frant in Sussex, daughter of the Rt. Rev. William Champion Streatfeild (1865-1929) and Janet Mary (née Venn) (1872-1952), daughter of Rev. Henry Venn and niece of John Venn the mathematician who invented Venn diagrams. Ruth’s father, who was educated at Marlborough and Pembroke College Cambridge, was … Read more
Florence Grabham was born on 7 March 1874 in Pontefract, Yorkshire, fourth daughter of Dr Charles Grabham (1838-1891), a surgeon and physician, and Eliza Jane (née Leatham) (1840-1922). On 27 October 1898 Florence was married at St Martin’s Church, Bedford, to Alfred John Drewe (1851-1942), manager of the Wiltshire and Dorset Bank in Cheap Street, … Read more
Catherine ‘Kitty’ Frances Atkins was born in Scotland on 11 November 1806, the daughter of Charles Atkins, a scene painter. Catherine first met the actor and theatre manager William Charles Macready (1793-1873) in Glasgow when she was 9-years-old when he scolded her for not knowing her lines. They met again in the summer of 1820 … Read more