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The SDFHS Blog

William Rashley: was he a scoundrel?

Posted on 7th April 2015

Jane Harrington, a member of the SDFHS, tells the story of her great grandfather and the unanswered questions about his life and marriage My great grandfather, William John Rashley, born in Burton Bradstock in 1861, died quite young We knew that because my mother had never met him and that’s what she’s been told She thought she’d been told that, anyway She’d certainly never heard him talked about Her own mother, Annie Laura, had lived with a maternal aunt and uncle, Laura and... more

Making Baskets for Saddlers

Posted on 22nd February 2015

While researching items in Sherborne Museum for a forthcoming exhibition on basketmaking I came across a photograph, donated by a member of the Deacon family, who made baskets here in Sherborne and in the nearby village of Nether Compton over four generations The photograph says on the back 'Our Workshop and the baskets we are making for Saddlers' If you look closely at this photo, I am sure you will find this as exciting as I do because you can see that the photographer has clearly set up all... more

‘The Ridouts of Sherborne’ – writing up your family history

Posted on 10th February 2015

SDFHS member, Karen Francis, describes how she started investigating her Ridout ancestors and encourages other family historians to publish their research so that it can be preserved In March 2004, I decided to find out a bit about my maternal grandparents, Reg and Elsie Ridout I started off with what I knew: Reg had run a fish and chip shop at 38a Kingsmead Street in Bath; Elsie smelt of lavender and baked gorgeous chocolate cake Not exactly a lot to go on, but what do children ever... more

Preview of the February 2015 ‘Greenwood Tree’

Posted on 25th January 2015

Bob Barber previews the first edition of The Greenwood Tree in 2015 which will be reaching members shortly Remember, if you haven’t renewed your membership then you won’t receive your copy So don’t miss out, see: wwwsdfhsorg/ 2015 is an important milestone for our Society as it marks the 40th anniversary of its founding The Society was the brainchild of Mervyn Medlycott, who convened a meeting in the village hall at Sandford Orcas in June 1975, following an appeal in the spring to anyone... more

Zulus in Sherborne

Posted on

The first of our 2015 Sherborne events took place yesterday when Col Iain Swinnerton described the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, followed by a wine-tasting of six South African wines The main events of the Anglo-Zulu war are very familiar to anyone who has seen the film Zulu (all but one of us present yesterday had seen it - some many times!) and its later prequel Zulu Dawn (rather fewer had seen this film) but we all welcomed the opportunity to hear the expert views of the SDFHS Military Advisor,... more