Henry Baynes (1785-1844): A Waterloo artillery officer who survived war, wounds, and service abroad - yet a small act of kindness in 1834 reveals the man behind the medals
A Life Shaped by War – and Peace
Category: General
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
A Smörgåsbord of Food Memories
Childhood meals remembered through everyday food, family habits and changing tastes - a glimpse into domestic life in the past
The Man Who Bent New York’s Broadway
Henry Brevoort (1747–1841) resisted change, influencing Manhattan's layout while practicing Native American folk medicine
“Present at the Death”
Charlotte Mayhew (c1816–1899): a silenced life recovered through the records
The Weight of Silence
A detour through Staffordshire leads to a profound encounter with history, humanity, and remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum.
Luck of the Irish
Joseph Twohey (c1838–1913) an Irish-born soldier whose career spanned Crimea, India, and near-miraculous survival, honoured with Hayling’s first military funeral
A Ruptured Life
James Twohey (1794-1866) an Irishman who served with the British Army and endured hardship in India before being discharged through injury
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
