Great War Service Records, The Importance of Handwritten Notes and Early 20th Century Tattoos.

I am looking at my great grandfather’s almost 100 year-old signature. Here it is in black and white; Arthur Leslie Farrow signed his name in 1917. His pinky finger moved across this piece of paper as he formed his beautiful, almost whimsical letters in Indian ink. The F is a dance. And the whole is underlined with … Continue reading →

H.R.H. The Princess of Wales’s Pet Dogs and a Kaiser Behaving Badly

This is supposed to be my wordless Wednesday post, but I can quite simply not resist typing a few. It comes from having been a shy little girl. I have much silent time to make up for. The picture below is from Country Life Magazine 8th Jan 1897. It shows the Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark, … Continue reading →

Victorian Exercise Machines- They’ve Been Clogging Up Living Rooms For Over 100 Years

The purchase of home exercise equipment is always a mistake. Unless you are lucky enough to have a separate room in which to keep your gym equipment, it will always become a clothes dryer and/or a spider web magnet. I was horrified when my charming husband came home from Cash Converters a couple of years ago with a rowing machine. … Continue reading →

Sharpeville Massacre 21 March 1960

On the 21st March 1960 a large group of black South African protestors marched on the Sharpeville police station. They were protesting the Apartheid government’s pass laws which required every black person over the age of 16 to carry a pass, to be presented to the police on demand. Tension at the protest escalated as protestors began … Continue reading →

Smallpox, Confucius and The Fountain of Youth- Trivia From Books Read This Week.

At least once a day, I read something that amazes me. So far this week I have said, “Wow!” to the following. 1. The smallpox virus originated in camels. According to Nathan D. Wolfe in his terrifying book The Viral Storm, smallpox was likely the world’s first pandemic. Most pandemics today are caused by viruses that have … Continue reading →

It’s The End of The World as We Know It – A Bookseller’s Lament and a Rap From King Charles II

I am a bookseller. I’ve spent my working life surrounded by the sharp smell of newly printed books and the musty smell of old ones. I am sure there is something poignant to say about old books smelling like grannies and our descriptions of grannies’ paper-thin skin, but my computer crashed last Friday, so I’ll be … Continue reading →

The Letter that Makes Me Cry or Jack Baylis Goes to War and Never Comes Home.

“What passing bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns.” ~Wilfred Owen Charles John “Jack” Baylis was born to Helena “Nell” Newell and Charles Joseph “Charlie” Baylis on 8 Jan 1892 in London. He was their only child. He was killed by shell-fire on the Somme on 10 September … Continue reading →

In Which I Trollin Through 17th Century Norfolk and A Dictionary of Middle English

Trollin v., L.G. trullin, troll, roll, walk, wander, ‘volvo’ PR.  þus haþ he trolled (pple.) forþ þise two and þritti winter. I am reading a dictionary of Middle English and I am absolutely riveted. When the husband and children leave the house, I read it out aloud to myself and wonder if my most distant named ancestor John Thyrston or Johannis Thurston or Jno. … Continue reading →

Hottentoo Harry, Jan Van Riebeeck and Granny Thompson Part Two

This is part two of Hottentoo Harry, Jan Van Riebeeck and Granny Thompson. As per my charming husband’s instruction, I split the article in two. I hope after the abrupt expulsion (compliments of said husband) from the fynbos-covered land around Cape Town, that you can throw yourself back into the south-easter. Hottentot Harry whose real name was Autshumato learnt some … Continue reading →

Hottentoo Harry, Jan Van Riebeeck and Granny Thompson Part One

For my 35th birthday my charming husband gave me a history in South Africa that stretches back 100 000 years and more. My mitochondrial DNA profile places me in haplogroup L0d1b. This means that a woman with my genetic profile has lived in South Africa since the beginning of human time. Group L0d1b is found in people with … Continue reading →