Grave Affairs in the Cathedral "Gardens"

I've just posted the following newspaper cutting from the Sheffield Star dated 6th August 1958 to the Sheffield History Forum. Apparently one contributor wanted to know where the bones that were exhumed from the Cathedral were taken to. Some ended up in Stradbroke at the proposed site of aa garden for old people.

June Talks 2013

I've just completed a further two talks that were arranged to primarily promote our second book.

This involved putting together a new presentation for the talks that featured more of the twentieth century material.

The first of the talks was last Wednesday and formed part of the Broomhill Festival 2013

Sheffield’s Shocking Past: Part 2 – The 20th Century

Date/Time - Date(s) - 12/06/13 (Wednesday)
6:30 pm - 7:45 pm

Location - Broomhill Library

Local historian, Chris Hobbs and local author Matthew Bell bring you some more gruesome, grizzly and long forgotten tragic episodes of 20th Century Sheffield.

Uncovering such tales as the killer cat of Millhouses, death by chimney stack and the horrific aftermath of an American Air Force jet crashing into Lodge Moor Hospital in 1955, plus many more.

The second talk was two days later at the AGM of the Friends of Walkley Cemetery which was held in St Mary's Church South Road Sheffield. 

Both talks went well, and I must admit I did enjoy the experience of speaking about events that many people have not heard of. And of course when you are enjoying something times flies!

Kenneth Steel and and the Sheffield Castle Painting

I've just updated the article on the Sheffield artist the late Kenneth Steel.

A painting that he was commissioned to do for Brightside and Carbrook Co-operative Society in 1964 was in storage in Manchester, after it was removed from the Society's Angel Street store

The full story appears in this report from the Sheffield Star

I am an admirer of Kenneth's work but for some reason this painting fails to impress me as much as some of his other work. It just seems rather contrived and the perspective seems strange. I think I will have to go and see it "in the flesh" so to speak to see if my impressions are justified 

Joseph Jonas

I've just updated the article on Joseph Jonas, a former Lord Mayor of Sheffield who was stripped of his knigthood in 1918.

An article appeared in the Sheffield Star on May 15th 2013 announcing that his former home Endcliffe Hall was to be turned into a boutique hotel by its current owners The University of Sheffield.

Two weeks later The Star's feature writer Colin Drury produced an article that used material from my web-site

 

James Dixon - Reloading Tools

In May 2013 a researcher into the family of William Barnsley Allen forwarded me the following e-mail relating to the company of James Dixon.

William Barnsley Allen incidentally was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1916 for his actions on the Western Front, and remains the only student from Sheffield University to have received the award

"I came across your email address on a James Dixon forum site.
By the looks of it you must have studied up on the Dixon empire, my interest is in their production of reloading tools.
I notice there are large amounts of material in regards to tea pots ,and knives and forks, but not much on tools. Did you ever come across any material on tools or patents?
I have their Sporting Catalogue of 1883 and I also own a couple of hundred reloading tools by James Dixon, but I am always on the look out to know more about this company.
My website of Dixon tools can be viewed at www.paulcollis.dphoto.com

I don't know much about the James Dixon forum but if it helps other collectors then please add my site to your forum page, when you go to my website then just open the James Dixon folder and enjoy."

Henry Hurst - Thiepval Memorial

Henry's medals from the Great War were auctioned on EBAY last year. I wrote an article on the sale and found a few details about Henry and his family prior to his death on the "First Day of The Somme"

In April 2013 a friend of mine went to France as part of a tour. He went to the Thiepval Memorial and in the late afternoon of Saturday 27th Aprl 2013 and took a photo of Henry's inscription on the memorial

NOTE:

The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a major war memorial to 72,191 missing British and South African men who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918 with no known grave

Ralph Skelton Woolass 1917 - 1942

I received this e-mail the other day about an article I first posted to my site nearly ten years ago

"Dear Chris,

I was looking at the website you have so kindly created in memory of my brother, Ralph Skelton Woolass, when I noticed that it had been extended and updated with some family details since I printed it out some years ago (and I was intrigued to note that someone else was researching my family history in 2008!).  I therefore list below some details which you were asking for:

Stanley Woolass               b 28/09/1892    d 10/12/1957

                                            Married 07/03/1916

Jessie Gertrude Wolass    b 11/10/1894    d 07/11/1983

Ralph Skelton Woolass      b 23/09/1917    d 16/04/1942

Peter Woolass                   b 10/08/1920

Stanley David Woolass      b 04/07/1930

I have also attached brief details of Ralph's RAF service history, gleaned from various sources as listed, in case some of it may be of interest.

Finally, may I thank you on behalf of my family for the trouble you have taken to set up this wonderful memorial to Ralph, which is very much appreciated. 

Should you require any further information, please let me know. With best wishes,"

I replied to Ralph's brother and thanked him for his time and trouble in supplying me with this information on Ralph's all too brief career in the RAF. Another message followed with further information on Ralph with included a photograph of Ralph in his RAF uniform.

" It occurred to me afterwards that you might be able to use a photograph of Ralph. I have therefore attached a JPEG, which I have left as originally scanned so that you can resize it as required. The photograph was taken professionally in Salisbury, presumably when he was posted to Ibsley in late 1941. By some strange coincidence, I also spent most of my time at Ibsley when I was doing my National Service with the RAF some 8 years later, much to my Mother's distress.

My brother Peter joined the Territorial Army and was mobilised just before the war. He spent some time in the desert with the 8th Army, then in Italy, before finishing up as an Officer with the BAOR in Germany.

I'm sorry that I omitted to thank you also for the excellent memorial to Percy Charles Pickard, who was Ralph's cousin as noted. These two websites alone must have involved a lot of work and time - thank you so much for all your trouble. Please also thank your friend who took the photograph of Ralph's memorial in South Anston."

Ralph Skelton Woolass

There is also some additional information on Ralph at the excellent Rotherham War Memorial's site 

 

George Orwell Sings The Blues

And whilst I was finding the cutting of our late prime minister's first poll-tax victim, I also found this from the late Ray Lowry - his finest work!

George Orwell and the Sheffield Connection

George Orwell in Sheffield

John and Audrey Rushton - A Day To Remember

As the country enters a period of profound mourning and despair at the passing of a former politician, I dragged up this old newspaper cutting which amply demonstrates the sheer misery that a "conviction" politician can cause

John and Audrey Rushton seem to have been airbrushed from history - I can find no on-line mention of John's trial and sentence, and given their ages, in all probability, they are no longer here to witness the death of the person who caused them so much grief and anguish. And of course John may have been the first to be sentenced for the crime of non-pyement but he was by no means the last. 

In fact looking at the last link, it is interesting to note the total lack of support the future Lord Bedwelty gave to his imprisoned colleague. He should hang his head in shame 

Pig Styes for Discharged Soldiers

A sign of things to come

This was reported in the national press on 7th July 1918, but given the lamentable provision of affordable social  housing in Sheffield who is to say that it will not happen again.

I am also going to see if I can get some more information on these two families - it would be interesting to find out their fate

"Sheffield - a city on the move, due to a lack of secure affordable housing.

54% of Sheffield's affordable housing has been lost since 1980! (As of 2010 - and even more has be lost since then!)"

Who Murdered Eleanor Hammerton?

I've just posted an article to the site that I've being meaning to complete for he best part of a year. 

Eleanor was murdered by an  unknown assailant in her draper's shop on Ecclesall Road on Saturday 13th January 1945. It as to be the last unsolved murder in Sheffield until June 1975 when a NCP car park attendant John Wortley was murdered in a city centre car-park 

Th final touch was when I mentioned the case to some-one I met at the Sheffield and District Family History Society AGM a week last Monday (18th March 2013). She kindly searched the records of Ecclesall All Saints Churchyard and located Eleanor's last resting place. And then she  went and took a photograph of the grave

Sheffield & District Family History Society - 18th March 2013

I was invited to give a talk on Monday night at the Sheffield and District Family History Society's Annual General Meeting. It was held at Cemetery Road Baptist Church which I believe is one of Sheffield's ever dwindling band of grade listed buildings

The title of the talk was 

18th March – Sheffield’s Shocking Past
Chris Hobbs recounts some of the most gruesome and grizzly episodes of Victorian Sheffield.

Well Chris Hobbs did not recount episodes from Sheffield's Victorian Past. Instead he recounted just one incident from the era, one incidentally that has not seen the "light of day" since 1869.

It is always a bit of a risk, but by doing the talk this way I was able to bring out the main themes in the book - Sheffield's Shocking Past - and also focus on a particular event and its aftermath. It was, to summarise a demonstration of how I research an article.

The meeting was very well attended with over 80 people in the audience, and at the end of the talk, I received a a very generous round of applause.And what was even nicer was that a few people came up to me at the end of the talk and said that they really enjoyed it. 

I get the impression that most authors who are invited to give talks of this nature tend to give a precis of their book and little else. Well in Sheffield’s Shocking Past there are 61 deaths and to recount all or even a few of them, would far exceed the allocated time.It is far better to construct a talk using original material, and hope by doing this, you "inform and entertain the audience"

At the Eagles Nest - Summer 1976

I came across these photographs the other day - I had not seen them for years. The date back to the summer of 1976 when I went around Europe on an Inter-Rail pass

A much more youthful photo of me and a fine picture of the Eagle's Nest. There is a rather good web-site about the Eagles Nest or The Kehlsteinhaus to give it it's German name. When I visited it the site it was just really a very pleasant cafe with some fantastic views. The views are still there of course but it looks as though the cafe has received a major upgrade, and it has become much more of a major tourist destination with guided tours etc

It is also the highest altitude I've ever been to on foot - a shade over 6,000 feet. Whether or not, I will get higher than this in future is doubtful but you can hope I suppose     

Career Opportunities - Adulterating Charlie

It is not often that a man of my advancing years gets a job offer never mind one that offers high wages and bonuses together with paid leave. I received this rather familar e-mail on Monday from a well known European company
"Good day!

Our company is engaged in sales of pharmaceutical additives. The company is well known all over the world, also in Europe. Therefore, in connection with the expansion of our production market is recruiting staff in your area.

To work needed representatives residing directly in the country, who can speak on native language and necessarily on English.

The main requirements to the applicant as follows:
- Accommodation in Europe
- Knowledge of the English language, as well as all reports and documents we have only English
- Responsibility and sociability
-Knowledge in the field of international bank transfers

Responsibilities:
-Talks with customers
-Control over payments in your area
-Record keeping
-Reports of all news to head office

Job offers:
-High-wage
-Instant bonuses
-Payment of taxes
-Paid leave
-Career

If you are interested, please send your contact details to this email address Dewayne@ecceuropaeu.com

As I fitted all the criteria I decided to go for it as they say. But when I did my background checks I found out  that the company concerned was not just a European one but a world-wide one with particularly strong links to Latin and South America and Asia. And then I realised that the "pharmaceutical additives" were not in fact pharmaceutical but non pharmaceutical. ie they were added to the pharmaceuticals afterwards as I way of keeping costs down and profits up

By this time I was becoming unsure, did I want to spend all my time in front of some weighing scales.on the kitchen table waiting for my new work colleagues to visit me . And the answer was No I did not. And so here I am writing this blog rather than "reporting news to head office" .

The First Bomb To Be Dropped

I've just finished reading "The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in theBath"  by Jane Robins, that centres of the many criminal activities of George Smith. There is much to my surprise a "Sheffield connection" which I will have to research more thoroughly.

But the author does mention in the book a little known event in Dover (Kent) that was the first of its kind ever to happen on the British mainland - the dropping of an aerial bomb from an "aircraft" for want of a better word.

The details are as follows

"The raid on Dover on December 24 1914, the first time a bomb was dropped from the air on England, ...

At around 11 in the morning a single German Taube airplane, flown by Lt. Von Prondzynski, crossed the Channel and arrived over Dover . The pilot pulled a bomb from the cockpit floor, and dangling it over the side of his machine apparently aimed it at Dover Castle , a pretty sizeable target. He missed by 400 yards. Instead of hitting the symbolic castle guarding the coast the bomb landed on a kitchen garden on Leyburne Road. The explosion excavated a crater about four feet deep in the plot, and broke a few windows of the nearby rectory of St James’ Church. And it did claim one casualty, the rectory’s gardener Mr Banks, who had been pruning a tree and was knocked to the ground by the blast. Banks was only bruised and battered, and lived to tell the tale, as did the German pilot who veered off back to Flanders and safety.

In a neat piece of historical symmetry Dover would be the last British town to suffer an air raid just before the Armistice in November 1918 ".

A piece of the shell was mounted and is in the Imperial War Museum with the entry as follows

"Fragment of the first bomb dropped on English soil during the First World War. The bomb, which landed near Dover, at 10.45 a.m. on 24th December 1914, was dropped by a single German aeroplane which then went home. Three days before a German aeroplane had made its appearance above Dover and had dropped two bombs which, aimed presumably at some part of the harbour, had fallen harmlessly into the sea. This fragment was presented to King George V by the Anti-Aircraft Corps, Dover. Nearly 9,000 German bombs of a total weight of 280 tons were dropped on British soil in fifty-one airship and fifty-two aeroplane attacks during the First World War. In all 1,412 people were killed and 3,408 others were wounded as a result of these raids, London suffering more than half of the casualties -670 killed and 1,962 injured."

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.