I like the detective work of piecing together a historical story – uncovering new parts of the puzzle, figuring out how they fit, and finding things that others have missed.
This habit often results in diving down rabbit holes – following interesting diversions that don't belong in the main narrative. So this page is dedicated to these miscellaneous stories and ideas that haven't seen the light of day elsewhere.
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Great teachers and omelettes
A couple of loosely connected thoughts to make up for my lack of recent posts. I came across this apparently timeless description of teaching: There is the stereotypes teacher – the teacher who is like a collection of phonograph records which the human phonograph rolls out before his class in the same order annually – the […]
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Whiffin of Whiffin Spit – Crimea and After
This is the second part of the posing about John George Whiffin. It covers his service in the Crimea, his retirement from the Navy and his appointment as Secretary of the Royal Indian Engineering College. It concludes with an exploration of Whiffin's family connections and children.
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Whiffin of Whiffin Spit – Mr. Whiffin R.N.
"Mr. Whiffin R.N." is the first instalment of a two-part posting, "Whiffin of Whiffin Spit." This story relates the life and career of John George Whiffin, paymaster in the Royal Navy and later Secretary of the Royal Indian Engineering College, Coopers Hill. While some biographic information is available for millions of people who have lived […]
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Sarah Hornsey's transportation
Sarah Hornsey was one of two people with my family name who were convicted of petty crimes in England and sentenced to transportation to Australia. Her sentence by the General Session of Northampton Assizes on 20 December 1850 was for the unusual period of ten years.[1] Like most transportees, she had prior convictions. At her trial […]
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William Harris and the sharks
I am fascinated by the way in which brief mentions in historical documents can cause individuals to emerge from obscurity. Individuals who, but for this one mention, would be entirely unknown to us. This short example concerns a delinquent seaman named William Harris and his encounter with some entirely anonymous sharks. William Harris (d. 1846) […]