The Swing Riots

Plaque to Henry Cook swing rioter

The Swing Riots in Hampshire. The Swing Riots of 1830 were an uprising by agricultural workers in parts of Eastern and Southern England. It was a civil unrest that was a long time in the making, the stirrings of unrest began in the 1780’s and then during the Napoleonic Wars faded away somewhat. Fifty years…

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Nelson’s Last Walk

Nelsons last walk

Nelson’s last walk on English took him through the streets of Portsmouth from his breakfast at the George Hotel to the awaiting barge and HMS Victory. People were moved to tears at the sight of their hero.

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Shepherd Lawes

Shepherd Lawes

Shepherd Lawes, buried in Martin Hampshire was the inspiration for the shepherd in W.H Hudson’s book, ‘A Shepherd’s Life’. Wriiten just before WWI it remembers the life and observations of a shepherd in the Wiltshire Hampshire Downs.

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Mad Dick Norton

Mad Dick Norton

Mad Dick Norton was otherwise Richard Norton of Southwick estate, a landowner and politician whose eccentric behaviour resulted in a very unusual will and a substantial amount of controversy.

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Royal Forest of Woolmer

Royal Forest of Woolmer

The Royal Forest of Woolmer A little known area of Hampshire that was once a Medieval royal hunting forest. It lies near Liphook and the Sussex border and like all the hunting forests, would once have been a mainly open and treeless landscape. The open heath land would have been home to a herds of…

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William Wyllie Maritime Artist

William Wyllie

William Wyllie was one of Britain’s greatest maritime artists and for a while. lived in the Tower House in Old Portsmouth, the harbour unfolding before him.

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William Nicholson Gin and Lords Cricket

William Nicholson gin and Lords cricket ground, what do they all have to do with the history of the county of Hampshire? Well cricket and Hampshire fit hand in glove but what about a London gin distillery? Read to find out more about this fascinating history.

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Dr Keate of Eton College

Dr Keate of Eton College

Dr Keate of Eton College, the great flogging headmaster from 1809 to 1834, was rector of St Mary’s church Hartley Wespall and is buried inside.

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Gilbert White Selborne

Gilbert White Selborne

Gilbert White of Selborne, the quiet naturalist, whose life was committed to the observance of all the natural history that surrounded his home in Hampshire.

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Henry of Winchester

Henry of Winchester, King Henry III, born in Winchester Castle and reigned for fifty six years during which the first House of Commons sat under the rule of Simon de Montfort

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William of Wykeham

William of Wykeham, born a humble man in the market town of Wickham Hampshire, he became Chancellor of England twice and Bishop of Winchester. He founded Winchester College and New College Oxford.

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Marc Brunel in Portsmouth

Marc Brunel

The incredible engineers, the Brunels, father and son are in-extrinsically linked to Portsmouth through deed and birth Marc Isambard Brunel was a frenchman who fled the French Revolution and in 1793, fled to America and became chief engineer of New York City.  By 1799 he had married Sophia Kingdom and they had three children, Sophia,…

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Edmund Spenser in Alton?

Edmund Spenser Alton

The question of whether Edmund Spenser ever lived in Alton is based on a few tantalizing clues that allude to little that can be substantiated. So it is with many historical nuggets that glint in amongst the splendour of Hampshire history.

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Alton Quakers

Alton Quakers

A turbulent time in Hampshire history and in England as a whole, the Alton Quakers persevered in a time of intolerance and the Meeting House stands as a testament to their dogged determination.

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A Georgian Hampshire Scandal

Lainston House Hampshire

The Georgian scandal of Elizabeth Chudleigh was played out in no small part in the beautiful Lainston House Hampshire, now a hotel . Within the bounds of this house near Winchester a marriage took place that would place one of the party in Westminster Hall charged with bigamy.

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Water Babies in Hampshire

Charles Kingsley's grave Eversley Hampshire

The Water Babies was a children’s novel written by Charles Kingsley, rector of Eversley and inspired by the grounds and building of Bramshill House Hampshire.

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Warbrook House and John James

Warbrook House Hampshire History

Warbrook House near Eversley in Hampshire was designed by the architect John James to be his own home. It is a beautiful and graceful house with wonderful canals included within its landscape design.

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