Mary Jane Grant was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1805. Her father was a Scottish army officer and her mother a free creole woman ‘doctress’ who ran Blundell Hall, a boarding house for injured soldiers, caring for and treating them
Online: Researching hospitals & their records
Prior to the founding of the NHS in 1948, patients who were unable to pay for their treatment were cared for by either charitable organisations or by local authorities under the Poor Law. For this reason the surviving records will
For Genealogists Everywhere: We are the Chosen
We are the chosen. In each family, there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know
At the old Birmingham Central Lock-Up
On Saturday I visited the old Birmingham Central Lock-up which is being opened for three days over this summer in a partnership between West Midlands Police Museum and Birmingham’s Hidden Places. The July date is already sold out but you
The Birmingham Pub Bombings: searching for truth and justice
Today, Mrs Louise Hunt, the Senior Coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, will decide whether the Inquests into the deaths of the 21 people who died in the 1974 double bombing, including 2 brothers and 2 fathers who would never see their not-yet-born sons,
at the former Sorrento Maternity Hospital in Moseley
Sorrento was a large house on Wake Green Road, Moseley, probably built by William Adams (1857-1911). Adams was the Midlands Director of the Midlands Assurance Company and a well-known philanthropist. The house was named after his favourite resort in Italy
The Slvertown Explosion 1917
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the fire and explosion at the Brunner-Mold munitions factory in Silvertown, East London. Later known as the ‘Silvertown Explosion‘, the devastation caused by the igniting of 50 tons of TNT caused 73 people to
Media Watch: ‘Black Nurses: The women who saved the NHS’
‘This documentary reveals the untold story of how thousands of Caribbean women answered the call from ‘the Mother Country’ to come and help build Britain’s National Health Service’. I am very much looking forward to this program which airs on
Mediawatch: The Victorian Slum (BBC 1)
Watched the first episode of historian Michael Morley’s The Victorian Slum on BBC2, a sort of historical ‘reality TV’. The mock tenement is thus far very interesting, coming complete with provisions shop and even a local spike, and all recreated in
Real Lives: remembering Jayaben Desai and Grunwick 40
British readers currently enjoying their middle years will likely remember the summer of 1976 – 40 years ago. This was the hottest summer since records with 16 consecutive days of 30C plus temperatures recorded at Heathrow Airport between June and
The Methodist Central Halls
The Methodist Church built about 107 large impressive halls on main thoroughfares, with at least one in every city. Of these, some 48 remain with just 18 still being used by Methodists but the buildings often having been modified. The
Hidden places: Birmingham Methodist Hall
The Methodist Central Hall in Birmingham was constructed in 1904. Designed by architects Ewan and James Harper, the 3 storey Grade II listed brick and terracotta building is located at 196 Corporation Street, opposite the Victoria Law Courts. Its impressive
Call the Midwife: The story of the real Sisters
The idea of an Order of nursing Sisters originated with Robert Bentley Todd, Professor at Kings College Medical School, London, in response to the poor standard of hospital nursing with poor hygiene and the low status of the work. He
The HMS Curacoa incident 1942
On 2nd October 1942 about 60 km north of the coast of Ireland HMS Curacoa (D41) was escorting the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary carrying 10,000 American troops preparing to take part in the D-Day Landings, as part of Convoy AT024. At this point
The Arnside Street Fire 1940
World War One researchers quickly become aware of the loss of the bulk of soldier’s records as a result of a German incendiary bomb striking the Arnside Street storage depot in September 1940. Arnside Street is located just south of
The Bethnal Green Tube Station Disaster 1943
On 3rd March 1943 following the sounding of the air raid sirens in Bethnal Green, East London people made their way towards the underground station which was being used as an air raid shelter. As they descended the stairs in