Category Archives: Wiltshire

The Pitfalls Of Returning Late From The Fair

by cotswoldhistory Posted on January 21, 2013

TweetAccidents involving horses were a habitual problem in the eighteenth century, with many people relying on riding their horses to get to markets, fairs or even just to friends’ houses. Returning home in the dark, on rutted lanes or paths, … Continue reading →

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Of This Place: An Infant Left Behind Forever

by cotswoldhistory Posted on December 12, 2011

Tweet The Kinneir family has a long history in Cricklade, members being recorded in the baptism registers over the past 300 years. In the early 19th century, their ranks included landowners and professional men, members of the rural gentry. They … Continue reading →

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Guardians Of The Tetbury Town Clock

by cotswoldhistory Posted on December 5, 2011

TweetWatchmaking is one of the trades in Tetbury with a long history, and traditionally, a local clock and watchmaker would be chosen to have the contract to maintain the clock on the Market House in town. John Pitt carried out … Continue reading →

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The Great Western Rail Crash

by cotswoldhistory Posted on May 30, 2011

TweetOn Thursday 4 December, 1851, a collision took place near the Salperton tunnel in Gloucestershire, part of the Great Western Railway that ran between Gloucester and Swindon. At around midday on 4 December, a goods train had left Swindon, and … Continue reading →

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Double Jeopardy: The Strange Case Of 1825

by cotswoldhistory Posted on April 4, 2011

TweetAt the Wiltshire Assizes in July 1825, a man named James Strange appeared, charged with the rape of a young girl named Barbara Cripps. Barbara, aged 15, had apparently been accosted by Strange, who was armed with a knife, in … Continue reading →

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Could Allotments Have Helped Ease Agricultural Distress?

by cotswoldhistory Posted on March 7, 2011

TweetIn the first half of the 19th century, England was in an agricultural depression, with rural labourers facing low wages, short-term work or even unemployment, sometimes unable to feed their families. Technology was changing the way in which work was … Continue reading →

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Vagrants, Rogues And Vagabonds

by cotswoldhistory Posted on November 18, 2010

TweetIt’s always rather satisfying when you request some documents from an archive, to find that the archivist hasn’t seen them before, and can’t remember anyone else asking to see them. That happened to me this week when I ordered a … Continue reading →

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The Man Who Strayed: What Happened To Thomas Tasker?

by cotswoldhistory Posted on May 10, 2010

Tweet In the spring of 1803, a series of adverts was placed in Jackson’s Oxford Journal by Joseph Tyrrell, the overseer of Drayton in Berkshire. Many poor people cost his parish money, and Joseph was tasked with trying to reduce … Continue reading →

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