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The SDFHS Blog

Family Christmas Favourites

Posted on 24th December 2016

Do you remember, in the days before the supermarkets took over and provided all our Christmas requirements, that there were recipes within the family passed down from generation to generation When I was a child, with a younger brother and three young boy cousins, we would all enjoy a glass of ginger wine in a small sherry schooner at Christmas time My cousins were so young they could not get their tongues round what to them was a very new word 'wine' and they would pronounce it ginger 'wiyerne'... more

The Greenwood Tree – November 2016

Posted on 1st November 2016

The November issue of The Greenwood Tree is now in the post to members The Editor, Bob Barber, presents a few items to whet your appetite The cover includes a number of photographs collected recently by the the Society's Photographs Project They also act as a Who Do You Think This Is feature Go to page 113 and see if you know any more about the people portrayed With thanks to Allan Collier for permission to use his photos, and also Sylvia Creed-Castle, Tony Chew and the Sunshine Coast... more

Robert Goadby – founder of the ‘Western Flying Post’

Posted on 19th October 2016

When Patricia Goadby and her brother Michael arrived at the SDFHS Family History Centre one day to enquire about their illustrious ancestor, Robert Goadby, the founder of the Western Flying Post (now better known as the Western Gazette) we were about to shut up shop However, the timing turned out to be advantageous as we were able to get together with our fellow volunteers in Sherborne Museum, to do some background research, before inviting Patricia and Michael back to hear about what we had... more

Another box!

Posted on 2nd September 2016

As a postscript to The Whittle Box I find that I now cannot walk past any old wooden chests without checking to see if there is a name on the lid, and shortly after dispatching the Whittle box to Australia I came across a fabulous example of a 'Marshall Improved Air and Watertight Chest' with the name F Buckney on the lid This time, however, I was saved from further action by the firm addition of a 'SOLD' sign! Barbara Elsmore 2 September... more

The Whittle Box

Posted on 29th August 2016

The questions that kept popping into my head all began when I saw a green box with a name painted on it in an antique shop in Sherborne Who had owned the box Who had painted the name What was the script used and what did it say The script turns out to be 'Blackletter', identified for me by a friend who enjoys calligraphy, and the name - C T R Whittle Some rudimentary research led to one Charlie Thomas Whittle (b1877 in Yetminster) who went off to board at Kingston school in Yeovil around 1890... more