George Sanger's Circus

From The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent dated 2nd May 1899.

I placed an article on the site a few years ago which detailed the ill-treatment and eventual death of "The Baldwin Pony". Judging by the advertisement, the circus went from strength to strength.

"Nothing Ever Changes"

As the current incumbent of 11 Downing Street is delivering yet another budget that will favour the rich and hammer the poor, he will no doubt remark how well he is steering the UK economy through treacherous waters, and that he must be vigiliant in ensuring that the workers don't get "uppity" and start demanding living wages. And furthermore he will also maintain that by pursuing the current course of belittling the working class , he will ensure that one day, every rich person will reap the rewards of his stewardship.

BUT if you are middle-aged and had "life experiences" the chances are that you will find yourself under-employed or unemployed as the economy follows the traditional Conservative course of low growth, high prices and rampant unemployment.

But this is not a new phenomina. Mr John Crisp, a sixty two year old Walkley resident from Highton Street notes of his census form that he was "formerly a spring-smith but now thrown on' scrap heap for old age"

He said it a hundred years ago though!!

A chorus of "Nothing Ever Changes" is called for

A Double Wedding in 1920 Walkley Sheffield

A great photo showing a family wedding in Woodview Road Walkley Sheffield that was taken in 1920.

I could not find any trace of "Bullors" in the 1911 UK census but enter the name "Bullers" and there are quite a few entries inj the Crookes/ Walkley area. But what I can't find are any entries for the marriages in the BMD registers. If her maiden name was Bullors/Bullers then you would expect her father and uncle to have that name but so far I have not been able to trace them    

Thomas Huntley Wood

Just come across a cutting from the Daily Mail dated 30th May1998

It appears that there is quite a lively correspondence in The Guardian's Notes and Queries column with regard to the face of Players Navy Cut.

It appears that the Mail may have obtained the story from a local paper The Argus

"

GRANDPA, AN OLD SALT WHO PLEASED PLAYER'S

WHEN the Robinson children watched their grandfather light his pipe, they did not realise they were gazing at one of the tobacco world's most famous faces.
But as they grew older, the five youngsters began to look at his portrait on packets of John Player's cigarettes as that of a family member. And 50 years after Thomas Huntley Wood died in Portslade, Bert, Ron, Bill, Les and Rene still fondly remember the face that was familiar around the world. Born in Lyme Regis in 1868, Thomas was in the Royal Navy for 24 years, latterly as a chief petty officer, before becoming a Southwick coastguard. It was while serving on HMS Edinburgh in Galway Bay that he was offered two guineas and some tobacco to be photographed as the Player's mascot. Since then, the nameless portrait based on his photo has become an institution among smokers worldwide. Thomas's family history came to light after Argus antiques expert George Greenway appealed for information about the mysterious Player's sailor. His identity was revealed in a letter from Vera Robinson, the wife of one of Thomas's grandsons, Bert. now 74 and living at West Hill Place, Brighton, used to smoke Player's himself. And he was the only one of Thomas's grandchildren to follow in his seafaring footsteps. He says: "My father was in the Navy, serving on HMS Hercules in the Baltic in World War One, and he always smoked, so we were used to our grandfather's image being used on cigarette packets. "All my brothers were in the Army but I was in the Navy." Younger brother Bill, 71, of St Leonards Avenue, Hove, says Thomas never spoke of his claim to fame. And though his face graced cigarette packets the world over, he always preferred a pipe. Bill says: "I remember him as a nice old chap who used to collect pipes." Younger brother Ron, 65, of Trafalgar Road, Portslade, recalls that even in retirement, Thomas was unmistakable as an old sea dog. He says: "He used to wear a peaked cap but he only had a moustache when I remember him, not the beard." Thomas died in Portslade in 1951, aged 83, leaving six sons, five daughters, 18 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. He is buried in Portslade Cemetery alongside his wife Rebecca and one of his sons who also became a sailor, Petty Officer William Wood. Granddaughter Rene Baird, 65, of Shelldale Crescent, Portslade, still visits Thomas's grave while going to and from a senior citizens' club at Portslade Town Hall."

James Welch VC

I've just updated an article on James Welch VC who was awarded awarded the VC for his actions in WW1.Like many articles on the website I update them as and when information becomes available but James' details are thin on the ground. Wikipedia have a small article which states that James was cremated in Bournemouth in 1978  - information I think they may have obtained from the Dorset Advertiser

.But as these two photos show that may not be the case. From the wording on the grave it seems to me that James was intererred alongside his wife Daisy. The inscription does not mention "cremation". Of course his cremated remains may have been placed there, but I get the impression that is not the case.

But from my point of view the information on the incription has enabled me to trace the family and update the article. In fact the 1911 Census shows James' future wife Daisy working as a servant for Mr Tasker (Solicitor) in Cairns Road Crosspool

Tasker, Arthur Abney (, Solicitor & commissioner for oaths).
     Residing at 22 Bank Street h.Holmedene Cairns Road Cross Pool, in 1905.
     Recorded in: Whites Directory of Sheffield & Rotherham.

Let the Good Times Roll

" New financial figures released in conjunction with the 2011 Cambridge University Annual Report last Friday, 2 March, have valued the combined endowment assets of all Cambridge colleges and the separate Cambridge University Endowment Fund at £4 billion.
This makes the University the wealthiest institution of higher education in the UK. In addition, if the endowments of Oxford (£3.3 billion from combined college and university endowments) and Edinburgh (£200 million) are excluded, Cambridge’s wealth stands as larger than double that of all other UK universities combined".

 

The staggering wealth values the university – with a staff and student population population of 30,000 – at more than £130,000 per head. It eclipses Monaco, the richest country in the world, which was most recently calculated to have a GDP per capita of £108,409.

The reason for the size of Cambridge’s wealth is the success it has in securing donations among alumni who have gone on to make large fortunes upon leaving the University. Mmmm.. and nothing at all to the benign and relaxed regime it experiences under each successive UK government  

George Brittain and his family - Walkley

Last Saturday 25th February I spent a few hours at the workday at Walkley Cemetery, removing brambles, undergrowth etc in a section of the cemetery that had burials from the 1940's and 50's. Whilst doing this I uncovered this headstone which I thought was a marvellous design. The inscription was also intriguing and so with a bit of spare time on my hands I did some research and uncovered a rather interesting story that I posted to the website

Pet Care in Victorian Sheffield

From The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent 28th August 1886

Nowadays if PC Porter had taken action like he did then, he would most likely receive a short prison sentence and be fired from the police force. And probably have to move house. Just goes to show, how times have changed

Dreams Come True - Eventually!

A couple of days ago an old lag from the class of 65 contacted me. He was propping up the bar in the newly re-opened (yet again) Millhouses Hotel when he looked out of the pub window, and thought his dreams had come true at last, albeit 47 years too late.

Where once stood a mighty citadel of academic excellence and/or a blight  on the butt of post war education (cross out where applicable) there was only a pile of rubble.

He did not contact me straight away with this great news as he prefers supping beer (a common failing amongst the 65'ers)but he let me know once he'd come round.

I of course legged it across Sheffield and saw one of the finest sites ever - photo's below

.

Whilst I sat on a wall in Hastings Road smoking a large cigar and laughing at the madness of Britain in the twenty-first century, I had "visions" which is worrying development at my time of life. The mountain of rubble that was once a bastion (I think that is the right word) of scholarly endeavour should be grassed over and at the top a sculpture/statue should be commissioned. For instance it could depict a local government officer closely clutching a bulging brown envelope or a group of mean spirited camel-coated property- developers lying prostrate at the feet of an impassive St Margaret of Thatcher or a old shabby florid-faced man filling his pipe with a pinch of ready-rub or a small bewildered schoolboy with a tear running down his face.

He's Doin' Alright!

As I look forward to an impoverished old age, I can only stand back and admire the perpetrators of the ever deepening moral abyss that bedevills much of Britain today. Whilst I have recently been duped out of my employers pension and received yet another insulting pay-rise for the nth year running, the leader of this unprovoked assault on my living standards has been lining his already deep pockets with yet more "spending loot". The fact that many of the low paid staff that he is supposed to represent are descending at an alarming rate into poverty and future misery, he and his ilk think that this descent should be rewarded by pay AND benefit awards that are bordering on the obscene.

The Times Educational Supplement dated 2 Feb 2012 takes up the story.  

"The vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield received a bonus that increased his pay and pension package by almost 6 per cent to £311,000 last year, as the institution prepared to cut pensions for its lowest-paid staff.

Keith Burnett's 2010-11 award was condemned as "morally irresponsible" by the university's Unison branch, although his total package is still below the Russell Group average.

The rise came in a year when Professor Burnett, in his former role as chair of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, negotiated a 0.4 per cent national pay rise that applied to the majority of the UK's higher education staff.

During 2010-11, Sheffield proposed closing its defined-benefit pension scheme for support staff and switching those on the lowest pay grades to a "cash-balance" scheme. It implemented the plans on 1 December amid continuing opposition from the Unison and Unite unions, which have mounted strikes against the changes.

The deficit in Sheffield's support staff pension scheme was £52.8 million at 31 July 2011, compared with £58.3 million a year earlier.

Unions say Sheffield's move - which closes the defined-benefit scheme to current as well as future staff - will halve the previous typical £7,500 annual pension for support staff earning £15,000 a year.

Professor Burnett's total package (up 5.8 per cent from £294,000 in 2009-10) comprised £267,000 salary, £4,000 of benefits in kind and £40,000 in employer pension contributions, Sheffield's recently published accounts reveal.

A Sheffield spokesman said that Professor Burnett "is a leading vice-chancellor" and his total remuneration package is in the "mid range" compared with his peers at comparable universities. He added that the 5.8 per cent increase was a result of "a non-consolidated performance bonus payment" in 2010-11.

Times Higher Education revealed last month that the vice-chancellors at the 18 of 20 Russell Group universities to have published their accounts by 12 January received an average pay, benefits and pension package of nearly £318,000. The average increase for Russell Group vice-chancellors was 0.4 per cent.

Cardiff University is the only Russell Group institution yet to publish its accounts online.

Under the Sheffield pension changes, unions say, workers on the higher support staff pay grades were allowed to join the defined-benefit Universities Superannuation Scheme designed for academics, while those on the lowest grades were not.

Stuart Anderson, Unison branch secretary at Sheffield, said that for Professor Burnett to receive a pay rise "taking his total remuneration to...more than 20 times the pay of the lowest-paid worker, in the same year that the university effectively tore up many people's retirement plans, is obscene".

john.morgan@tsleducation.com.

To date Professor Burnett who according to the press "is a leading vice-chancellor", has not shared his good news with his fellow employees. I wonder why?? 

Fit for Heroes!!

I came across the following cutting from The Observer dated 7th July 1918

There are not many times in life where words cannot express the depth of disgust that you are feeling but this is one of them.

Of course traditionally the UK's policies towards discharged and injured members of the armed services has been patchy at best and absolutely lamentable at worst. You would hope that in the C21st matters would have vastly improved but in 2007 a report stated

"One in 10 homeless people in the UK are former members of the armed forces, a charity working with veterans says.

A survey in 1997 by the Ex-Service Action Group on Homelessness suggested that 22% of people who were "street homeless" had a military background."
This was cited as an "improving picture" and not a national disgrace. And given the current governments zeal in making people unemployed/unemployable I fear for a repeat of July 1918

Have You a Keen Nose For Value?

As I was researching a story about the murder of a bailiff in Sheffield by a local builder I came across the following advertisement. From The Sheffield Telegraph and Daily Independent - February 1939

 

I had never heard of the brand but ascertained that the producer of the cigarettes were Gallaghers who marketed them under the Kensitas brand. As a matter of interest I checked what the price of the cigarettes would be today factoring inflation. The answer would be approximately £2.65. 24 cigarettes nowadays would be in the £7.00 range which illustrates the effects that successive goverments have had on the price of cigarettes in particular and tobacco in general.

And as we all know indirect taxation such as exise duty and VAT always hits the poorer paid in society. mmm....

Downfall through Racing

When I first read this report I thought for a moment that Inspector Naylor was commenting on William Ibbotson's record of backing winners. It is only when I got to the end of the article that I realised they were commenting on his criminal convictions!!

From The Sheffield Telegraph & Daily Independent 1925

Turning down $5.1 million

I have just received this e-mail - after reading the mail I became suspicious when he referred to the fact that he had become disheartened with the level of fraud in the world, and harked back to the days of real trust. And this is from a Nigerian accountant!

"FROM THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ACCOUNTANT
TO (ASOPADC)
ADDRESS;PLOT 45 HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY ROAD,
NEW GOVERNMENT STATION LAYOUT  UMUAHIA
ABIA STATE, NIGERIA
PHONE NUMBER;+234 08102427690


Dear Sir,

Basically, from the depth of my heart I want to ask you for partnership, desperately through human consciousness of understanding I have known that there is no way somebody can actualize his real aim in life without a helpful hand. Definitely, I strongly believe that if you would agree with me you will come to the oneness of mind with me.

I am the Chief Accountant  to Abia State Oil Producing area development community (ASOPADC) ,THIS ministry  was establish by the Government  of Abia State to oversees for the welfare of all the oil producing communities in the State, and this is my six years competent experience in the office as the Chief Accountant  . Really, my main purpose of writing this formative is to acquire if you will assist me  to save money in your account  the sum of (us$17,000,000) which I want to transfer to abroad and also needed a foreign account for the transaction.

But, the unusual thing that actually disheartened me is the heavy fraud in the world today which had intently  destroyed  real  trust, yet I  believe that there are still genuine people therefore if you are interested to assist me in this transaction just sincerely forward  your  name, home address, office address, phone number, and Bank account. While your percentage will be 30%, Wholly I urge you to keep it confidential.

Thanks,

Yours Sincerely,
Nwakadibia Afarata
The Chief Accountant

Mrs Smithurst's "habit of taking a dose"

I came across the following cutting when I was researching some details on the long established Sheffield firm of Reuben Thompson who were

My grandad was manager of the firm in the 1930s and 1940's

Whilst doing this I also came across this cutting from The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent dated 12th April 1900 relating to the death of Ann Smithurst

I'd never heard of this medicine and so a quick net search revealed that it started its life as a medication used in the treatment of cholera but due to its "narcotic properties" it proved to be one of the best selling medicines of the C19th. Its principal ingredients were a mixture of laudenum (an alcoholic solution of opium), tincture of cannabis, and chloroform, and so it readily lived up to its claims of relieving pain, as a sedative, and for the treatment of diarrhea.In fact it was highly addictive hence Mrs Smithurst's "habit of taking a dose"

Sadly the mixture was diluted throughout the C20th. The cannabis was removed from the formulation, and the amount of opiates in the medicine were progressively reduced. Shame really!

As It 'Appens

As relief at the Prince's apparent recovery floods over us at these trying times, our minds were drawn to someone who could have fixed it for him but sadly is now unable to do so

Thanks Richard

A New Year

A Happy New Year to all my reader(s)

It hardly seems to be two minutes since we (myself and the good wife) were discussing putting one or two things aside for Christmas during our weekly shopping trip; a tin of beans one week, or a packet of OXOs another, when suddenly Christmas and the New Year was upon us. 
No doubt, like yourselves, your Christmas festivities were over shadowed by the news of dear Prince Philip's heart attack, this certainly cast a gloom over proceedings, not just in our house but everywhere I visited - The Royal, The Sheaf View T'Club etc. Thank goodness that he seems to have survived this untoward threat to his Royal life - may we both wish him many more years of happiness and good health. 

Despite everything, we did our best to enjoy ourselves, a brief respite from the hard daily grind of our existence, glued, as we were to the wireless set, lest we miss the latest update regarding the recovery of our beloved Prince. Merry-making was kept to an absolute minimum (not hard when you live in the Crookes area of Sheffield) which is the correct way to conduct oneself when the Prince's life was threatened. We remained calm, dignified, and prepared, should there have been any adverse turn in our Prince's health.

Gawd bless 'im, that's what we say! 

North Norfolk police are currently investigating the discovery of a female body on the Prince's Sandringham estate. 

At the moment although the police are not ruling anything out, there have tentatively admitted that the death is not related in anyway to the Prince's recent illness.  

PS Thanks Richard 

The Hathersage Gravedigger

From The Sheffield Star dated Saturday 12th February 1983 - it appears that security at the Lodge Moor POW camp left a bit to be desired

The sad thing is that I had never heard of Sam until I came across this cutting. I am also left wondering who made up the "notorious Sheffield gang" - if they were resorting to nicking lead off church roofs I seem to think that they may have been in the "minor leagues"

February 1939

I was reasearching an article about a murder of a bailiff in Greenhill when I cam across the following page from the Sheffield Star in February 1939. It provoked a wry smile - at a time when gas masks were being issued and Einstein's cousin was discovering Haydn's lost symphonies, the Sheffield Magistrates were pondering why Mrs Bertha Terry of Baslow Road Totley had parked her car the wrong way round outside the City Hall. They fearlessly upheld the law and the wishes of Sheffield's Chief Constable and fined Mrs Terry £1 plus costs

The Sheffield Magistrates also took a tough line with Stanley Burrows of Ripley Street who was found guilty "of exposing himself with intent to insult a female". He was bound over, placed on probabation and ordered to pay £3 costs. Mmmm

But at least the English Amateur Draughts Championship (Sheffield section) did not suffer the attentions of Mr Burrows!

A Grave Concern - "digging up Uncle Charlie"

I had a wry smile at this report that appeared in the national press just over ten years ago in July 2001.Under the title

FRIVOLOUS EXHUMATION REQUESTS CAUSE CHURCH GRAVE CONCERN

" THE Church of England is "seriously concerned" about an unprecedented rise in the number of people applying to exhume relatives' remains when they move house.

The Church says that "digging up Uncle Charlie" and reburying him near the new house has become "almost a fashion" over the past five years, with a sevenfold increase in exhumation requests in many parts of the country. The Ecclesiastical Judges Association, made up of diocesan chancellors who rule on local exhumation requests, said that there was a growing view that "exhumation on demand" was acceptable because burial had lost its "religious and moral significance" for many people.

Timothy Briden, the Chancellor of the Bath and Wells Diocese and the association's secretary, said: "We are very concerned about this trend. An alarming number of people seem to have lost the notion of the grave as the final resting place and see human remains as assets to be dug up and taken with them like any other possessions when they move house.

"This is a serious issue because, to the Anglican Church, interment is an important act that achieves finality, marking the end of the mortal life and the commitment of the soul to God."

Until as recently as five years ago, the number of exhumation requests from families was about "one or two cases per diocese", Mr Briden said. These were usually "highly exceptional cases" involving foreigners whose relatives wanted them reburied in their own country, or non-Christians whose families wanted a new funeral according to their faith.

In the past five years, however, the number of applications has risen to about 15 a year in many areas, with the biggest increases in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Chester and the Isle of Man. One application that was rejected recently came from a family who wanted a relative to be exhumed because she was next to the grave of a family they did not like.
The association has now drawn up guidelines reinforcing the Anglican view of burial and insisting that exhumation will not be allowed unless there is a strong case for it. If an exhumation is approved by the Diocesan Chancellor, a licence must then be sought from the Home Office. The grave is usually opened during the night. The coffin is disinfected and lime sprinkled around the grave to prevent the spread of disease.
Neil Cocking, the owner of Chelsea Funeral Directors, who has done several exhumations, said: "The original coffin is lifted out and put inside a larger coffin, which is sealed and transported by funeral directors to the new grave."
Clare Faulds, the Vicar-General on the Isle of Man, said that the rise was linked to increased mobility and a decline in religious faith. "People are not rooted to their local communities as much as they used to be. Far fewer people live and die in the same place, and that seems to have encouraged this sense that bodies can be moved around when people move house."

It appears that exhumations are on the increase much to the disapproval and chagrin of the Church of England. But the mere thought of increasing numbers of old corpses and cadavers being on the roads defies belief. Imagine if there was a delay, a breakdown or worse still an accident whilst the body was being transported to it's new "resting place." The consequences could be quite literally horrific!