Entries by Ian Kellett

How Swanage (Dorset) Became “Little London By The Sea”

Former Lord Mayor, Sir John Stuttard, explains at 2.30p.m. on Tuesday 07 March at Gold Hill Museum how architectural curios from the City of London found a new home on the Dorset coast at Swanage. The frontage of Swanage Town Hall, for example, built 1882-83, (above) was recycled from the 1670 Mercers’ Hall in Cheapside. […]

Another Chance to See Tyler Photographs of Edwardian Shaftesbury

By popular request, Claire Ryley and Ann Symons are repeating their presentation of black and white photographs of Edwardian Shaftesbury from the Tyler Collection at Gold Hill Museum at 2.30p.m. on Tuesday 14 February. A number of people were not able to make the first showing in December 2022 and this is another opportunity to […]

Joan of Arc – Condemned to Death for Wearing Trousers?

On Tuesday 07 February at 2.30p.m. at Gold Hill Museum, French linguist Helen Jouahri will talk about “The Surprising Joan of Arc”. Members of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society were persuaded in a cogent lecture by Dr James Ross that Henry VI was indeed the “Worst King of England” – and Joan made a […]

King Henry VI – More Popular Dead Than Alive?

Dr James Ross, biographer of Henry VI, assesses the claim that Henry was “England’s Worst King” at 2.30p.m. at Gold Hill Museum, Shaftesbury, on Tuesday 10 January. Henry died in the Tower of London in May 1471, probably murdered on the orders of his Yorkist rival, King Edward IV. Henry was taken to Chertsey Abbey […]

Rivals for the title of “England’s Worst King”

At Gold Hill Museum at 2.30p.m. on Tuesday 10 January 2023, Dr James Ross of the University of Winchester will consider the claims of Henry VI to be labelled “England’s Worst King.” As the author of Henry VI : A Good, Simple and Innocent Man in the Penguin Monarchs series, James is well qualified to […]

More of a Pit Stop than a Royal Visit

In October 1899 Shaftesbury Council built a temporary grandstand, capacity 800, opposite the Town Hall in anticipation of a Royal Visit. The streets were festooned with bunting, and a competition was held to encourage householders to add to the blaze of colour. They needed little encouragement, as patriotic fervour was at its height in the […]

Trace Your Family Tree at Gold Hill Museum

A new Family History group starts at 10a.m. on Thursday 24 November in the Garden Room at Gold Hill Museum. Access to the Garden Room is via the path to the right of the Museum entrance, so please don’t be put off by the Closed sign. The aim is to bring together ‘Family Historians’ who […]

Turn of the Century Royal Visit Recorded by Shaftesbury Photographer

On Tuesday 06 December at 2.30p.m. at Gold Hill Museum, Claire Ryley and Ann Symons will at last have the opportunity to deliver their presentation of photographic gems from The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society’s Tyler Collection. Together with another S&DHS member, Chris Stupples, Claire and Ann have discovered that Albert Edward Tyler (1873-1919) was […]

The Dorset Soldier Who Won The First World War

On Tuesday 01 November at 2.30p.m. Dr Rodney Atwood will talk at Gold Hill Museum about the life and career of Henry Seymour Rawlinson (1864-1925), created Baron Rawlinson of Trent, Dorset, in 1919. ‘Rawly’ (second from the left, above) was a career professional soldier who in 1914 commanded a significant part of the small British […]

“William Beckford After Fonthill” Lecture at Shaftesbury Town Hall

At 7.30p.m. on Tuesday 27 September Dr Amy Frost, (above, centre) Curator of Beckford’s Tower and Museum, will deliver the annual Teulon Porter Memorial Lecture on behalf of The Shaftesbury & District Historical Society at the Town Hall. Two hundred years ago, in September 1822, 700 sightseers a day were flocking to Fonthill Abbey, the […]