01935 429609

The SDFHS Blog

Brian Jackson 1943-2020

Posted on 4th December 2020

We should like to pay tribute to one of our favourite speakers and we are sure we speak for many We have learnt of the recent death of that wonderful speaker of all things to do with transport, Brian Jackson Here at our South Dorset branch, he was a regular and popular addition to our monthly programmes and we will greatly miss his visits Brian was a brilliant and entertaining speaker whether it was on trains, buses or ships, his knowledge was phenomenal and you could always guarantee a good... more

The Greenwood Tree – December 2020

Posted on 26th November 2020

Migration Down Under is the theme of the December issue of The Greenwood Tree Members flooded us with stories of ancestors who undertook the long journey to Australia or New Zealand, whether transported against their will for mostly petty crime or as an escape from the grinding poverty afflicting West Country agricultural labourers in the 19th century Editor Paul Radford previews the edition which will be mailed to members at the end of November and which SDFHS members can already view... more

Discoveries from a Clevedon Photograph

Posted on 13th November 2020

A portrait of a couple in a farmyard, with the photographer’s name given as Sydney Shaw of Alexandra Road, Clevedon This was a ‘cabinet card’ photograph that my colleague Allan Collier had acquired several years ago, as part of our project on the photographers of Somerset, and published by the Society in 2018 as “Secure the shadow : Somerset photographers, 1839-1939” Based on the format of the photograph, and the style of dress being worn, we estimated this to be somewhere about... more

Crime – or was it poverty? – and punishment

Posted on 30th October 2020

Imagine that you had lived in a Somerset or Dorset village or town your entire life You had perhaps never seen the sea or ventured further than the immediate environs of your home Then you commit what was deemed a crime and are transported to the other side of the world It must have seemed terrifying and almost beyond comprehension Transportation was not at all uncommon in England from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century Amazingly to us, the penalty was at first considered an act... more

A Ghost in the Family

Posted on 3rd October 2020

To discover that you may be descended from a lecherous murdering ghost is a startling experience and an indication that tracing your ancestry may not lead only to hidden fortunes and extinct peerages! The PITFIELDS are an old Dorset family - there is at least one reference to a ‘Pytfold’ in the Domesday book - which seems to have originated in the Allington area of the county and gradually spread out The first reference to my ancestor Sebastian Pitfield (1625 - 1685) occurs in the... more

Member and Guest Blogs Welcome