Hares were widespread in Dorset, surprisingly so when you consider what they had to suffer. Living and breeding on the surface and, being particularly swift when running, they were an obvious animal for hunting. There are broadly three ways they can be hunted. The first method mentioned in the diaries […]
That the 21st March 1832 was a Wednesday is easy to determine and might lead you to suppose it was Ash Wednesday – but it wasn’t. Behind these four words is a fascinating story which writing today in 2020 has a particular resonance. The story begins not in Dorset but […]
Contents. Early attitudes to illegitimacy. Bastardy and the Poor The examination Stories from the Dorset Records The warrant The affiliation order Failure to comply The Poor Law Amendment Act The subject of bastardy may seem an odd one to include in a site about the work of a land surveyor […]
On the 23rd March John Martin’s world was shaken to the core, Joseph Crew Jennings was the eldest son of John Jennings; he had taken over his father’s business as a solicitor, was on the boards of a number of turnpike trusts, was a churchwarden and […]
