Attempted Murder?
Attempted Murder? - Roland Raffell - July 2025
Among the many more minor offences committed in Southam in the 1840s, one more serious crime stands out in the career of Inspector George Smallbones. This was reported ...
Two Convictions for Inspector Smallbones
Two Convections for Inspector Smallbones - Roland Raffell - June 2025
In 1855, the final year of Inspector George Smallbones’ time in Southam, one of the few cases of passing counterfeit coins in the division was brought ...
Bendigo Mitchell, Highwayman: History or Myth?
Bendigo Mitchell, Highwayman: History or Myth - Roland Raffell - May 2025
There are numerous legends of highwaymen who terrorised travellers across the country, but were they all real, heinous criminals with little regard for their victims, or ...
A Quart of Ale (continued)
A Quart of Ale (continued) - Roland Raffell - April 2025
In nineteenth century Southam it was recognised that there were ‘… drunkards who go in and get drunk week after week. They are known ...
A Quart of Ale
A Pint of Ale - Roland Raffell - March 2025
‘For a Quart of Ale is a Dish for a King.’ (Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale IV: ii). For centuries, drinking ale has always been a ...
Growing Up in Long Itchington – Edna Beck
Growing Up in Long Itchington - Edna Beck - Feb 2025
My youngest sister, Amy, was born in the thatched cottage on the Green where Mum and Dad lived for fifty-two years. I remember ...
Pre-war and WW2 Memories – Edna Beck
Pre-war and WW2 Memories - Edna Beck - Richard Clarke - January 2025
I was born in my Gran's back bedroom in Church Street, Marton, the second daughter of Louis and Violet Stevens. The Stevens family were residents of ...
Recusancy: Defiance of the Established Church
Recusancy: Defiance of the Established Church - Roland Raffell - Dec 2024
Recusant was the name given to Roman Catholics and persons of other faiths who refused to attend Church of England services. The term was mainly ...
The Origins of Workhouse Support in Southam
The Origins of Workhouse Support in Southam - Roland Raffell - Nov 2024
Before 1601, poverty was an issue for the country that had never really been addressed successfully, particularly when connected to beggars and vagrants. Despite the use ...
The Land Value Tax
The Land Value Tax - Roland Raffell - Oct 2024
The Land Value Tax of 1692 was enacted with the intention of gaining income for the Crown through a tax related to the value ...
Seth Bond, Local Hero
Seth Bond, Local Hero - Bernard Cadogan - Sept 2024
“Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred” are perhaps two of the most memorable and famous lines in British poetry. The poem, “The Charge of the Light ...
Seth Bond, Southam’s Crimean War Hero
“Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred” are perhaps two of the most memorable and famous lines in British poetry. The poem, [...]