The future Baron Clegg is telling lies to me

And as I was still feeling very apprehensive after mi Lord Ashdown's demand for money, I then received this e-mail from the future Baron Clegg

"Subject: Letter from the Leader: Five days
From:    "Nick Clegg" <leader@libdems.org.uk>
Date:    Sat, February 23, 2013 11:17 am

Dear Friend,

Five days. That is all we have got left to make sure the people of Eastleigh send Mike Thornton to Westminster as their new MP. Five days to make a difference.

I went back to Eastleigh this week. And each time I visit, I am overwhelmed by the number of volunteers, from all over the country, who are giving up their spare time to come and support our excellent candidate Mike. Our HQ is buzzing with people and among the army of activists you can spot Vince, Shirley, Simon, Kirsty, Tim and Ed and many more.

On Tuesday Mike Thornton and I visited the Rose Bowl cricket ground where, by bringing international matches to the venue, the Lib Dem Council is helping create 500 new jobs and bring millions of pounds of investment
into the local economy.

It's one of the many examples where the Lib Dems on the Council and the Lib Dems in Government are making a difference, creating a stronger economy and a fairer society.

It is a truly amazing campaign being fought by our team and I would like to thank everyone who has supported it so far. But now is not the time to let up. We know that it's going to be tight and we don't take any vote for
granted.

Tax fairness has dominated this campaign. £600 back in people's pockets this April thanks to Liberal Democrats raising the tax-free personal allowance. In Eastleigh, real-terms cuts to council tax every year for the
last ten years. And our ongoing battle to deliver a mansion tax to make sure the wealthiest in Britain pay their fair share in these difficult times. Fairness for all on tax, from national government and from local government: that's the message that's cutting through strongly in Eastleigh and around the country.

I will be back in Eastleigh - more than once! - and I really hope I'll see you there. If you can't make it there are lots of other things you can do to help.

Click here now to either donate
<https://eastleighlibdems.nationbuilder.com/donate> or volunteer
<http://www.eastleighlibdems.org.uk/volunteer> - it's going to be close between Mike and the Conservative - your help will be crucial.

Five days to make a difference. Five days to make sure the Liberal Democrats' voice in Eastleigh, in Westminster and across the country is heard loudly and clearly.

Best wishes, Nick Clegg Leader of the Liberal Democrats 

I am not sure if the future Baron Clegg is telling the truth. When I asked for the £600 that Clegg has promised me in six weeks time to be paid in used tenners, his agent who had the acronym HMRC did not know what I was talking about. Whilst he did acknowledge that this was money I have earned and had taken off me before I saw it, he did give me rather short shrift.I was old that I certainly will NOT be getting £600 of my money in my pocket this April and that's that

I should have known that even in these difficult times I can still rely on the future Baron Clegg to tell lies - it seems to be a problem with his cohorts as well.

"Mi Lord Ashdown is on't ear'ole"

From time to time you get e-mails that beggar description but a couple of weeks ago I received this plea from mi Lord Ashdown

"Subject: Please do this today
From:    "Paddy Ashdown" <internalcomms@libdems.org.uk>
Date:    Tue, February 12, 2013 12:47 pm

Dear Friend,

When we won Eastleigh in 1994, it was a breakthrough for Liberal Democrats. This by-election can be as well.
We have, in Mike Thornton, a fantastic local candidate who can continue
our record of service to Eastleigh. He is also the only candidate who can stop the Conservatives winning.

But, we’ve only got a few more days to win this election.

Keith House, who is running our campaign, will tell you that he knows what
we need to do to win. He’ll also tell you that at the moment he doesn’t have enough money to do it all.

Make a donation to the campaign today and Keith will put it to work right away. <https://eastleighlibdems.nationbuilder.com/donate>

To give you just one example, a donation of £25 today will allow us to contact an extra hundred voters in Eastleigh before the weekend. Only Mike Thornton can beat the Conservatives in this campaign, and cannot afford to lose by a few votes.

Give whatever you can afford today, and you’ll make all the difference.
<https://eastleighlibdems.nationbuilder.com/donate>

Thank you, Paddy"

We'll this mail seems far removed from those sent from my "good friends in Lagos" who on the receipt of my bank account details will transfer funds to it - an arrangement that they assure me will benefit both parties to the transaction.

But mi Lord Ashdown doesn't want a reciprocal arrangement like my friends in Lagos. He wants me to send any amount of money from my bank account to a Mr Keith House (no details given) who will, with my money contact other working people.and ask them to support this group  .

I don't like that sound of that at all. And my fears were heightened when I found out that "Mike Thornton, a fantastic local candidate" has taken the place of someone who is going to prison for lying to everyone about his crimes. And the person who is going to prison is a multi-millionaire that owns seven properties.

I think mi Lord Ashdown would find it more beneficial to ask Mike Thornton's predecessor for some money - he won't be able to use it when he is doin 'time. And being charitable to mi Lord should give some peace of mind whilst he languishes in jail 

John and Mary Shirt - Highfields, Sheffield

JOHN SHIRT appears in the 1851 Census. - John is living with his wife MARY in Barrack Yard in the Highfields area of Sheffield. His occupation is given as Carter. and his place of birth is Barlow, Derbyshire (the same as Mary's)

In February 2013 I went to a Vintage Craft Fair at St Marys Church, Bramall Lane Sheffield. St Marys was the local parish church for the district and I knew that JOHN and MARY were buried there from the burial records

SHIRT John 18 Mar 1853 74 London Rd
SHIRT Mary 21 Jul 1857 76 London Rd

All the gravestones were laid flat many years ago, and in fact some of the graves were removed to make way for "road improvements" But I was surprised to see laid flat on the floor near the door, a memorial to JOHN and MARY

 

MY GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDPARENTS - JOHN and MARY SHIRT

I would like to know if John and Mary are still resting in St Mary's or if they were removed in the 1960's. It certainly makes you think!

Fred and May Hemsworth 1942

I received the following e-mail the other day from a researcher who lives in Calgary Alberta Canada

"I was doing some genealogical research on my grandmother, Phyllis Travis, when I came across your beautiful photo of my Auntie May and Uncle Fred Hemsworth's wedding.

My grandmother was raised as May's sister, although she was a cousin, adopted by Elizabeth Travis when her parents died just after the turn of the last century. Phyllis moved to Canada in 1918 and her daughter (my mother) moved to Scotland after WW2 to marry an RAF navigator she had met when he was training in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. I was born in Scotland and many of my favourite childhood memories are of visited Auntie May and Uncle Fred in their home in Sheffield.

If you are interested I have several pictures of Fred and May taken in the mid forties to early 1950s. I have forwarded one in a seperate email to you of  the couple emerging from their bomb shelter in the back garden that they sent to my grandmother assuring her they were both well despite the German air raids on the Sheffield steel industry. The picture was taken in early 1942.

And this is the marvelous photo she sent

More information can be found at Fred and May's Page

And the shelter - the following is edited from Wikipedia

"The Anderson shelter was designed in 1938 by William Paterson and Oscar Carl (Karl) Kerrison in response to a request from the Home Office. It was named after Sir John Anderson, then Lord Privy Seal with special responsibility for preparing air-raid precautions immediately prior to the outbreak of World War II, and it was he who then initiated the development of the shelter. After evaluation by Dr David Anderson, Bertram Lawrence Hurst, and Sir Henry Jupp, of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the design was released for production.

Anderson shelters were designed to accommodate up to six people. The main principle of protection was based on curved and straight galvanised corrugated steel panels. Six curved panels were bolted together at the top, so forming the main body of the shelter, three straight sheets on either side, and two more straight panels were fixed to each end, one containing the door—a total of fourteen panels. A small drainage sump was often incorporated in the floor to collect rainwater seeping into the shelter. The shelters were 6 ft (1.8 m) high, 4 ft 6 in (1.4 m) wide, and 6 ft 6 in (2 m) long. They were buried 4 ft (1.2 m) deep in the soil and then covered with a minimum of 15 in (0.4 m) of soil above the roof. The earth banks could be planted with vegetables and flowers, that at times could be quite an appealing sight and in this way would become the subject of competitions of the best-planted shelter among householders in the neighbourhood. The internal fitting out of the shelter was left to the owner and so there were wide variations in comfort.

Anderson shelters were issued free to all householders who earned less than £250 a year, and those with a higher income were charged £7. 1.5 million shelters of this type were distributed from February 1939 to the outbreak of war. During the war a further 2.1 million were erected.

The Anderson shelters performed well under blast and ground shock, because they had good connectivity and ductility, which meant that they could absorb a great deal of energy through plastic deformation without falling apart (This was in marked contrast to other trench shelters which used concrete for the sides and roof, which were inherently unstable when disturbed by the effects of an explosion - if the roof slab lifted, the walls fell in under the static earth pressure; if the walls were pushed in, the roof would be unsupported at one edge and would fall). However, when the pattern of all night alerts became established, it was realised that in winter Anderson shelters were cold damp holes in the ground and often flooded in wet weather, and so their occupancy factor would be poor. This led to the development of the indoor Morrison shelter 

At the end of the war in Europe, households who had received an Anderson shelter were expected to remove their shelters and local authorities began the task of reclaiming the corrugated iron. Householders who wished to keep their Anderson shelter (or more likely the valuable metal) could pay a nominal fee.

Because of the large number made and their robustness, many Anderson shelters still survive. Many were dug up after the war and converted into storage sheds for use in gardens and allotments."

It looks as though Fred and May's Anderson Shelter was certainly up to scratch! 

Richard 111 - Now is the winter of our discontent"

 

 

Astounding news that the body of Richard 111 has been located in a Leicester Car Park  after lying there undisturbed since 1485. And his remains are in a remarkable state of preservation

He was the last English king to die in battle (and the only English king to do so on English soil since Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in 1066). And of course his fame rests on the opening lines of Shakespeare's play Richard 111  

 

"Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this sun of York;

And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried".

 

 

 

Personally speaking I would like to see the body re-interred where they found it, after all it had been lying there for nigh on 530 years. But it appears that it is now going to be re-interred in Leicester Cathedral (which is news to me as I never knew that Leicester had a cathedral).

 

But apparently it has and full details of his re-burial can be found with this link.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alonzo Hemsworth 1917 - 1941

This concerns my late mum's cousin ALONZO who shared the same christian name as his father and grandfather

Alonzo was a Sapper in the 278 Field Company Royal Engineers but was killed on active service on 23rd February 1941 and is buried in Whiston (St Mary Magdalene) Churchyard, Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

HEMSWORTH, ALONZO
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Sapper Regiment: Royal Engineers Unit : 278 Field Coy.
Date of Death: 23/02/1941
Service No: 1923169 - Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. B. Row 6. Grave 111. Cemetery: WHISTON (ST. MARY MAGDALENE) CHURCHYARD

Rather intriguingly, his death certificate was issued in Rochford, Essex (GRO Ref Death 1941 Hemsworth Alonzo Age 20 Rochford Volume 4a Page 1545). Rochford is on the outskirts of Southend on Sea and saw much activity in the early years of WW2 as it was close to the fighter station RAF Hornchurch and was on the main route the Luftwaffe took to bomb London. Given that Alonzo was a sapper in the Royal Engineers I speculated for many years as to whether or not he was in a bomb disposal squad and a victim of a UXB

In January 2013 I eventually came across information that had eluded me. I was correct in my supposition that Alonzo was in a bomb disposal unit but incorrect about a UXB, it was a landmine. The excellent Rotherham War Memorials site gives the following information

" Alonzo Hemsworth was born in Rotherham in the second quarter of 1917 to Alonzo Hemsworth and Alice May (nee Orgill) of 79 Sandringham Avenue, Whiston.
He enlisted in the Army and was a Sapper in 278 Field Company, Royal Engineers, serial number 1923169. On 23 February 1943 Sapper Hemsworth and another sapper were working in a minefield at Wakering Stairs, when a landmine exploded killing Alonzo Hemsworth and injuring the other sapper who was taken to Shoebury Military Hospital. (Wakering Stairs is on the shoreline of Essex east of Southend-on-Sea.)

And straight after in February 2013 I received the following e-mail

" I have been researching my father's (Harry Falconer) military history - he was in the Royal Engineers 278 Field Coy.

I thought you might be interested in one of our family stories.

Harry was a week late for his marriage to my mother Betty (they eventually married on 7/3/1941) because he was involved in an incident where one of his mates was killed when they were on manoeuvres near Southend. I found a list of incidents in Essex where was based and found the reference to your relative Alonzo Hemsworth being killed on 23/2/1941 and wonder if this was the incident Dad was involved in. Harry died in 2000 but Betty is still going strong at 92 years."

It is probable that Harry was the sapper injured in the accident that cost Alonzo his life.