One faded photograph of a 1920s motorcycle outing transformed my understanding of a grandfather I had known only as a bitter old man
One Photograph, Four Generations
Category: 🛠️ Occupations
A Woman of Her Own Making
Catherine Dibben (1850-1934) rose from a poor Hayling Island childhood to running a successful boarding house and inspiring four generations of women
Twins and the Paths of Poverty and Prosperity
Henry Mayhew (1812-1881) and Priscilla Mayhew (1812–1886): born together, lives apart - twins in an age of change
The Man Who Bent New York’s Broadway
Henry Brevoort (1747–1841) resisted change, influencing Manhattan's layout while practicing Native American folk medicine
A ‘desperate state of things’
Alexander Cameron Brock (1855-1898) a forgotten family story, uncovered through hospital archives, reveals the quiet tragedy of a Victorian doctor lost to mental illness
A Voyage of Controversy
Peter Poulton (1925–2004) sailed aboard HMS Pickle during the historic 1946 voyage that marked the end of Sarawak’s White Rajahs
Witness to surrender: Far East 1945-46
Peter Poulton (1925-2004) left behind photographs and letters that illuminate his wartime experiences in the Far East during and after World War II
Still thinking of you: letters after VE Day
Peter Poulton (1925-2004) was on active service in the Far East as the West celebrated VE Day 1945. Family letters reflect joy, longing, and ongoing war concerns
Marriage, Mobility, and Motherhood
Catherine Dibben (1850–1934) navigating army life, delayed motherhood, and domestic service, she developed skills, patience, and resilience that would later shape her career
Enterprise, Respectability, and Seaside Tourism
Catherine Dibben (1850–1934) returning to Hayling Island after twenty years, managing a boarding house amidst personal losses and the evolving social landscape of the late 19th century
