Mewing like cats
The Infirmary, Great Yarmouth Gaol May 1837 The Gaoler catches the two young women leaning out of the infirmary window, flirting with the men in the airing yard below. They jump down hastily when he...
View Article“I have a right to think as I like”
Great Yarmouth Borough Gaol. The Men’s Ward. 2 February 1841 Why are your lessons not learnt? The prisoners shuffle sullenly. Francis James can bare it no longer. She knows the reason. They’ve had no...
View ArticleThe image of grief
Great Yarmouth Quarter Sessions, the Tolhouse, 23 June 1841 Head bowed, William John Jarvis grips the wooden stand to steady himself. His legs almost give way as the Recorder reads out the charges for...
View ArticleStyle, Story, History
‘Crafting metaphors is dangerous for historians’ proposes Will Pooley. We are wary of metaphor—and other stylistic devices too—because the ‘clarification and illustration’ we use to build historical...
View ArticleThe smuggler’s return
5 February 1840 Charles Lewis Redwood stands at the helm, steering the St Leonard into the Yare. He remembers the tightening of his stomach the last time he watched Yarmouth coming into view, shackled...
View ArticleFrom Caister to Yarmouth Gaol
August 1818 I follow the dressmaker as she slips quietly out of the house and heads towards the coastal path that will take her to Yarmouth Gaol. She has longed for this day when her vocation will...
View ArticleVery poor and respectable
Sarah Martin’s sitting room. New Year’s Eve, 1839 Eleanor Simmonds looks tired but chatters away as Miss Martin bounces her baby daughter on her knees, trying to coax a smile. She’s left the Factory...
View ArticleInfanticide at the Star Inn
North Quay, Friday 16 October 1835 Sarah Bowles is up early, scouring the streets for bones and paper. She sees William Munsford driving the muck cart out of the stables at the Star Inn and follows him...
View ArticleArtful
Theatre Royal, Launceston Tasmania, Monday 27 July 1874 Joshua Artis elbows his way through the milling bodies to stake his place in the centre of the pit. Expertly he balances his beer without...
View ArticleWhat has that old villain been doing to you?
The following story is based on documentation of a historical case of child sexual abuse, including the victim’s testimony. The Conge Row, Great Yarmouth, 16 May 1842 Wending her way home from market...
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