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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The Pompey Pals

In WWI Portsmouth was able to raise two battalions of ‘Pompey Pals’ the 14th and 15th Hampshire Regiment. Many enlisted at Fratton Park, home of Portsmouth Football Club. How must it have felt to these men of Portsmouth, many of whom would be fervent Pompey supporters, to enter the gates of Fratton Park, not to join the fray of a football game but to enter the affray of war?

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Hampshire Horses

Chalkpit horse monument Hampshire

Is Hampshire the only county with a preponderance of horse graves? Are Hampshire horses particularly brave?

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Data Meon Valley Surnames 1841

Exton Church Yard Hampshire

Data collected from the 1841 census on Meon Valley surnames, shows the incidence of surnames in individual villages along the Meon Valley. This bank of data reveals some interesting finds. It is an incomplete but growing body of data useful to Hampshire family historians.

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Quarley Church

Quarley church,the ancient church of St Michaels in Quarley Hampshire is surrounded by a flower filled graveyard and has its origins in Saxon England.

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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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Weyhill Fair

Weyhill Fair Hampshire History

Weyhill fair was an ancient fair situated where old droveways and ancient roads crossed. It was certainly an important event by the early C13th and had probably been established long before that.

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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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Knights Enham a Saxon Royal Estate

Knights Enham

Knights Enham consists of a small church and a cluster of buildings but this place has Saxon origins and is the place where Saxon kings came and met with archbishops to discuss the role of church and kingship.

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Christchurch Hatherden

Hatherden Hampshire

Christchurch Hatherden, the church was badly damaged in 1975 as a result of a lightning strike, but has now been completely restored.

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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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The Grange Northington

The Grange Northington Hampshire history

The Grange Northington is s stunning example of the Classical Greek Revival style of architecture. Only the exterior can be viewed but it is worth every effort to make the visit to see it.

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