Sir Charles Hastings (11 January 1794 – 30 July 1866) was a medical surgeon and a founder of the British Medical Association, the BMA, (then known as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association) on 19 July 1832.....
Sir Charles Hastings (11 January 1794 – 30 July 1866) was a medical surgeon and a founder of the British Medical Association, the BMA, (then known as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association) on 19 July 1832.....
Frederick Lygon 6th Earl Beauchamp was born on 10 November 1830, in Madresfield, Worcestershire, he was the son of General Henry Beauchamp Lygon 4th Earl Beauchamp, who was 46 and his mother, Susan Caroline Eliot, aged 29. He married Mary Catherine Stanhope on 18 February 1868, in St George Hanover Square, London, England, United Kingdom. In 1885, his occupation is listed as he held the office .....
Captain Michael Clements was a naval officer who greatly distinguished himself in the wars with France & Spain. Near Cadiz, in 1778 Captain Clements in the Vengeance, in sight of all the people assembled on the walls of the city, defeated two frigates sent out against him, and took on a whole Spanish fleet, receiving the fire of 24 ships of the ...
Barbourne Lodge The house stood on the south side of Barbourne Brook. Fanny Burney called it 'Barebones'. In the latter half of the 19th century it became a 'pest house' or fever hospital. When Newtown Road Hospital opened a fierce ...
A article written by the late Mike Grundy in Worcester Evening News -3-97
'Glorious glimpses are recaptured this week of a once famous local funfair which gave untold enjoyment to may thousand of Worcester and Malvern families for more than half-a-century. Strickland's Amusements toured constantly around central England, from village fetes to the grounds of stately homes, and from town squares to main leisure grounds - all from the family's home base, a large lodging house at 20 Newport Street, Worcester winter quarters for Strickland's Funfair were under the railway arches at Croft Road, Worcester.....
Mike wrote 'I've been learning all about the colorful Strickland family of showmen from Ray Hull of Bromyard....
William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, was a prominent figure in Victorian England. This wealthy landowner and art enthusiast transformed Dudley House, the oldest surviving aristocratic mansion on London's Park Lane, into a masterpiece.....
Following a simple enquiry from Canada in 1999, regarding a family by the name of Sanders living in Lich (Leech) Street in the early 1800's resulted in a twenty year intense research by Pam Hinks & CASP (Canadian Adaptions of Shakespeare Project)......
The old name for St. Nicholas Street was 'Gaol Lane'. The deeds of an old house, which stood next to the Imperial Hotel, dated 1585, were in existence in 1910, though the house had gone with the widening of the road. The house was known as 'Ye Gaol Tower, close to ye Postern Gate leading to Losemoor (today known as Lowesmoor) near ye Garden Market' and 'within hail of the High Cross in Gaol Lane'. The old house used to have a doorway with some pretention to ornament, led up to by a flight of steps. The deeds and other old evidence show that it had been occupied by personages of distinction in local affairs. In the mid 19th century, there was a court in Lowesmoor called 'Percy's Alley'.... Read on below
The Receiving of the Bread Dole in the Chapter House of the Cathedral..
The Worcester Herald of January 26, 1901, featuring items of news from it's archives of one hundred years before, reported the following:
High on the north wall in Anderson & Virgo's chemist shop, which was in the Foregate Street, over the shelves, was displayed the horns of a cow. It had this place of ..
Pirie or Perry Wood is the last fragment of the forests that once closely surrounded Worcester. In Elizabethan times, the wardens of Feckenham Forest met at the...
A common Hall is a public meeting of citizens. When half of the 3,000 ratepayers showed no interest in the saving of the Arboretum, a Common Hall was called. There had been Common Halls called for before, but probably none as so rough...
A newscutting in the Foley Scrap book (W.o.r)) describes the fountain which formed the centrepiece of the Arboretum Gardens: 'The fountain was designed by Barron, and is similar to the one at Witley Court. The diameter of the kerb is 48ft. There are...
In April 1931, MR.J Mayglothling, a well-known Non-conformist local preacher, then 82, making a speech which was reported in Berrow's Worcester Journal, said.....
Noake, the Victorian historian, wrote: 'Ancient names are the key-stones of history and should be scrupulously preserved'... The original name of Warmstrey Slip was Cowell's Lode. (This was the pre-1570 , Lode is the old name for a river crossing, but even Warmstrey Slip is none gone). Sansome was the name of the ...
John Fletcher, in 1908, recalled the changes at Worcester from when he last visited in the City in the 1880s. Three in particular are mentioned; The ford at Barbourne Brook, the loss of the Inglethorpe Almshouses in Taylors Lane, and the removal....
A phenomenal storm took place at Henwick in 1881. Mrs. Millward of Bromyard Road recalled the incident when she was a girl: 'I was 8 or 9 at the time. There was an awful storm. When we left school in the afternoon, as soon as we heard what had happened, we ran there and picked up shell fish, putting them in our pinafores wet and dirty. Mother said they were snails. There was much talk about it at the time........
Edward Webb took a prominent part in the life of the City, He was Mayor in 1847-8, and was a strong supporter of Dr. Charles Hastings during the local battle for the Health of Towns Act, when even ..........
Money lenders in the past were often Jews, and one of the most notorious was Isaac Gordon, who kept a money lending office in Bridge Street in the 1880's. He was sentenced at Worcester Assizes to a term of imprisonment for defrauding a Herefordshire farmer and the exposure of his extortions contributed to secure legislative regulations of money lending.
When Elgar was leader of the Worcester Festival Choral Society's Band, J.W. Austin was his second, and Elgar on starting the Orchestral Society, entrusted the leadership to Austin, which led to a long and close association. When printer's proofs of Elgar's new works arrived they went ....
In the High Street, Mr W.H. Elgar (the father of Edward) had a shop which he founded in the early 1860's. He had come to Worcester in 1841 from Dover as a pianist and tuner for a London firm of pianoforte makers. He was joined by his brother, and the business was known as Elgar Brothers. It was later transferred to his son, Frank Elgar.
H.H.Lines was a landscape painter and a draughtsman of singular merit, ranking among the 'Worcester School' as second only to B W Leader. Among his works in the possession of the city are the line-and-wash drawings of the cathedral and monastic buildings which were being destroyed in the mid-19th century. With modern day research Worcester had others artists who became Royal Academy painters including the Thomas Hales Sanders who followed a line of family artists including John Sanders who in 1603, painted the portrait of Shakespeare who was an aquaintance of the Bard and also was related by marriage to John Heminges who was born at Droitwich on the 25 Nov 1566, actor and Shakespeare's fellow-player. (This is an long ongoing research project which will be added to this site on completion).......
The Commandery has been home to many notable families including the Camerons. Dr. Cameron, the celebrated Worcester physician and his wife (Anne Ingram) lived in part of it in the latter half of the 18th century. Their eldest son, Rev C.R.Cameron, married Lucy Littleton Butt who, like her sister Mrs. Sherwood, wrote books for children, and numbered among admirers the great Dr. Arnold of Rugby School who quoted from them in his sermons......
It is known that a building on the Shelsley Side of Woodbury Hill existed in the late 19th and early 20th Century's, which was owned by Dr.Barnardo's. originally old maps shown it as the reformatory, ut the locals always spoke of it as 'The Home'.
Bill Gwilliam :
'My father, William Gwilliam lived in what he referred to as 'The Home' for four years. His father had died and his mother was unable to look after him and work. She was employed at Witley Court in the Parish Shrawley, England, as a maid. (although it is in the parish of Great Witley).......
Captain Michael Clements was a naval officer who greatly distinguished himself in the wars with France and Spain. Near Cadiz, in 1778, Captain Clements in the Vengeance, in sight of all the people assembled on the walls of the city, defeated two frigates sent out against him, and took on a whole Spanish fleet, receiving the fire of 24 ships of the enemy, and having 40 holes in the hull, many between wind and water.
It was at the Hop Pole that Lord Nelson stayed on his memorable visit to Worcester. The Coming of Nelson had not been anticipated, but during the afternoon of Sunday, 26th of August, 1802, a rumor of his approach spread amongst the citizens, for which mine host of the Hop Pole was probably responsible, for it was there that Nelson had bespoken rooms.....
In the 1920/30s a short stretch of river bank at Grimley, known as the Grimley Lido, gave untold pleasure to the people of Worcester. It was hardly a 'Costa Brava' or a beach on the Cornish Riviera, just the length of a longish field, but it became the mecca of thousands of people who wanted a dip in the river, or a picnic, on a summer week-end, or on a Thursday 'half-day closing'...
Worcester Evening News August 1997
1940's photograph of a popular Worcester wartime dance and cabaret troupe paying tribute to a gifted local dancer who died recently (1997).
Under the pen-name 'Rambler' John Noakes was the senior reporter, and later sub-editor of the Worcester Herald. He came to Worcester when he was 22 years of age and died in Rose Terrace in 1894, in his 78th year, after 56 years devoted to local history researches.
'Buy! Buy! Buy! Saturday night in the Shambles, after 9 o'clock, was like a medieval fair, with butchers vying with each other to auction unsold meat. Until about 1930, a few butchers had any form of refridgeration, and meat was sold off cheaply, rather than let it spoil over the weekend ...
From the Town Gate in the Foregate to the Liberty Post at the top of Salt Lane (now Castle Street), was the northern Liberties of the City. The land was outside the walls, but under the control of the City Corporation. Before the Battle of 1651, it was a place of hovels, but in preparation for the attack, these were cleared away.
The present official statistics for Astwood Cemetery, @11th February 2019 stands at :
The Worcester White House, Foregate Street, was until recent times known as the Star Hotel and in the mid - 19th century, the Start and Garter. It shares the distinction of being the oldest County inn with the Lygon Arms of Broadway, for it has had a licence since 1588, the year of the Armada.
The Shambles by day attracted the street musicians, if one could generously call them that, for a few could generally play or sing. One played a concertina outside the Butchers Arms (now the site of Marks & Spencers), and his repertoire consists of The Old Rustic Bridge and Abide With Me.
Off New Street are Nash's Almshouses, originally intended, like St.Oswald's and Berkeley's for the aged and to be known as Nash's Hospital. It still occupies the original site, and has given the name Nash's Passage to the narrow way by which it was approached. John Nash, in his will dated 1661, 'gave and devised to 16 trustees, property to be held in trust for pious and charitable uses' and with it was bought not only the land upon which the almshouses stand, but five acres of land, the site of the Royal Infirmary. Further almshouses were built on part of that land, which were demolished several years ago at the site of the Cattle Market. The 25 old folk lived rent free, with a small pension, free coal and light, and had other benefits.
In New Street there is a fine half-timbered building known as Nash's House. It takes its name from Alderman John Nash, Mayor, and twice representative of the City in Parliament during Charles 1 reign.
In 1795, four years after John Wesley's death, the Wesleyan's in the City bought an old chapel in Pump Street belonging to a branch of Independents. It was surrounded by tumbledown houses, and like all the early dissenter's chapels, was tucked away up an alley so not to invite trouble from the mob.
The City's first Wesleyan Chapel was built in New Street in 1772, and a plaque on the wall commemorates the building. The first recorded visit of Wesley to the County was in 1761, when he preached in the 'Abbey Church' at Evesham.
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Twelve large inns catered for the trade in the Cornmarket in olden times, and four of them were in New Street. They were the Greyhound (later called the Old Greyhound) , the New Greyhound, the Swan, and the Pheasant. The Old Greyhound was the principal place of departure for Carrier carts. No less than nine carts left the Greyhound for outlying places on Saturday afternoons, around 4 o'clock.
Originally, Friar Street and New Street was one street known as Glover Street; there was no break where Charles Street goes to the Blockhouse, Pump Street was a very narrow lane, the bottom of which was known as Vine Street.
The Blockhouse was the immediate area outside the City Walls on the east and was part of the Liberties of the City. It was a network of ditches, much like Sedgemoor. Even in the 1850's one remained, with its path along, known as 'Withy Walk', now St Paul's Street.
Almost opposite Tudor House is Wyatt's Hospital, founded for six poor men, by Edward Wyatt, Mayor of Worcester in 1696.
Friar Street has retained more of its timber-framed buildings than any other street in Worcester. Many of these houses were of considerable size and were once occupied by citizens of substance, but in the 18th century most of them were divided into tenements and allowed to fall into a sorry state of dilapidation. Many of the brick-faced buildings are in fact, timber-framed behind the facade.
Previous to Schaffer's ownership, the prinicipal part of the building was in the occupation of Mr. Christopher Bardin, an old gentleman of venerable aspect, who conducted a private school at modest fees, in the days when public elementary education was in it's infancy.
The Greyfriars in Friar Street is the finest half-timbered building in the City. The building was only part of the Friary which took in all the ground occupied by the present building a and that of Laslett's Hospital.
Friar Street is the most interesting of the medieval streets left in Worcester, and this is due to one man, Mr Matley Moore, who by saving the Greyfriars building, when the City authorities of the 1930-50 period had 1st the building deteriorate so badly that part of it fell into the street.
As we congregated at the grave side of Baby Ryan, it was very peaceful and tranquil with the sun shining through the trees just as Father McGinley started his service, a sound took our attention to look to our left.....
Whilst we all started to arrive at the grave side, a elderly couple stood in the distance, on looking over l could see the lady was very distressed and upset .....
Astwood Cemetery 1858 -2008
Graveside Memorial Service for Baby John Ryan
9th October 2008 3pm
I am the resurrection and the life, Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live -
Ceefax 167 Thursday 9 October 2008 BBC West Midlands
Not much is recorded about Bridget (nee Butler) or John Ryan, apart from we know John was a Stonemason's labourer and that they came over from Mayo in Ireland during the Potato famine, sadly Bridget became a Prisoner in Worcester's County Gaol, Whitstones.
Unfortunately, through lack of repair by Worcester Council over the years, it was reported in the 1970's that the once so beautiful Chapel required a large amount of work and a considerable amount of money spent to restore them. At this time the Council could not justify spending so a decision was taken to demolish the Chapels which followed in the late 1970's
The LORD BISHOP gave the health of the Mayor and Corporation, eulogizing their exertions and again expressing the gratification which he in common with others present bad experience at the day's ceremonial. (Cheers)
(Article Credits: Pam Hinks would like to thank Worcester News formerly Berrow' for permission to reproduce copyright material)
A collation was served at the Guildhall at three o'clock to which the Lord Bishop and Mr. Laslett, MP, were invited by the Mayor and Corporation. There were also present most of the members of the Corporation and of the clergy who had taken part in the proceedings of the morning, and a goodly number of ladies. The edibles were provided by Mr. Mountford, with his customary tact.
(Article Credits: Pam Hinks would like to thank Worcester News formerly Berrows for permission to reproduce copyright material)
The portion of ground which, through the liberality of Mr. Laslett, MP, and the meritorious exertions of the local Board of Health, has been appropriated for use as a Public Cemetery for the inhabitants of this city, was solemnly set apart for its intended purposes on Tuesday last. The Episcopalian Chapel with its burying ground was consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, and that of the Congregational Dissenters of various denominations was solemnly inaugurated.
(Article credits: Pam Hinks would like to thank Worcester News, formerly Berrow's for permission to reproduce copyright material)
"The works at the new cemetery are now nearly completed: the consecration of the Episcopalian portion will shortly take place. We have previously briefly noticed them as they progressed, but are now enabled to give more detailed description...
(Article credits: Pam Hinks would like to thank Worcester News formerly Berrow's for permission to reproduce copyright material, It also deserves a mention as to the attention to such splendid detail highlighted in the article by the reporter/editor of the day )
For the establishment of an Orphan Asylum he gave £500 and towards building Holy Trinity Church he gave another £500. He built the grandstand at the Worcester County Cricket Ground and in 1876 funded the Worcester Music Hall upon terms very advantageous to the citizens.. But the gift for which William is most remembered, and which has now been linked together with the rest of his running bequests into Laslett Charities, is the purchase of the old Worcester City prison and it's conversion into Almshouses.
In 1843 Thomas Southall, later Town Clerk of Worcester, was articled to William Years after Thomas could remember how as a young man he was asked to dine with William at Thorngrove, house and furnishings were magnificent, William having brought the contents of the house from the previous owner. (Interestingly this same circumstances appears in East Lynne). The dinner silver and wines were of the very best but two dishes made an indelible impression on the young guest - two suckling pigs, one at each end of the table, one boiled and one roasted.
We have a description of Bishop Carr's funeral as it was reported in The Times. As said before he died at 9 pm on Saturday 24 April 1841 but was not buried until 10 am on Monday 3 May 1841. The face that nine days elapsed between death and burial is unusual, that it was a private funeral is most unusual for a Bishop of the Church of England. The Times of Thursday 6 May 1841 says:
William Laslett was baptised on 14 October 1799 at All Saints Church, Worcester the first born child of Thomas ans Sophia Laslett. Thomas was a banker whose father had settled in Worcester around 1850. The family were of Kentish yeoman stock originally.
In recognition of the 150th Anniversary to commemorate the first burial following the gift of land from William Laslett to the inhabitants of Worcester. Tuesday 9th October 2008 3pm Unveiling of Memorial Headstone for Baby Ryan followed by Grave Side Service
The first public toilet for women in Worcester were erected in land off Little Angel Street
The making of College Street through the Cathedral churchyard from High Street to Sidbury in 1792, followed the clearances of houses which had grown up in the shadow of the Cathedral and around St Michael's church. The fine terrace houses in College Yard were also built at that time. In a house on the south side of St. Michael's was born Lord Somers, one of Worcester's greatest sons
As one would expect in the centre of the town, the City had a 'watch' here who had a sentry-type box for shelter in the churchyard of St Nicholas Churchyard. This was before there was any regular police force. They were known as 'Charlie's, and they were usually old men, and a very inefficient body.
Friar Street has retained more of it's timber-framed buildings than any other street in Worcester. Many of these houses were of considerable size and were once occupied by citizens of substance, but in the 18th century most of them were divided into tenements and allowed to fall into a sorry state of dilapidation
The Worcester County Infirmary opened its doors to the poor and sick on January 11th, 1746. It was founded by Isaac Maddox, a man of great humanity. He had started life as a pastry-cook's boy, and by his own abilities, had become Bishop of Worcester. Before
'Buy! Buy! Buy! Saturday night in the Shambles, after 9 o'clock, was like a medival fair, with butchers vying with each other to auction unsold meat. Until about 1930, few butchers had any form of refridgeration, and meat was sold off cheaply, rather than