Victorian industrial question: Would 'stocktaker of iron' in 1841 and 'storekeeper in the iron works' in 1881 be literate jobs?

While we have thousands of documents here in the archive, not all of them have been opened! Here's a sealed plan for an aqueduct in Taplow from 1845. Wrapped in leather and with a wax seal, no one has looked at this plan for almost 200 years.

'Howzat!' The bails are off, and Thomas Smith's innings is over.

Cricketing-themed memorial in the churchyard of St Margaret's, Lewknor. #MonumentsMonday

Make up your mind 😉

I've discovered that in 1851, my ancestor Pascha tried to split up a pub fight involving her husband, when she was hit by AMOS ANNIBAL. It says Annibal was a farm labourer but the census states that he was a butcher (!)
Do you have an ANNIBAL in your family?

A huge gravestone at Stillingfleet, N. Yorks for Richard Harris who died at 6 months old in 1834 (& his brother, also Richard, who died in 1845 aged 7)

“To the dark and silent tomb,
Soon I hasted from the womb:
Scarce the dawn of life began,
Ere I measured out my span.”

A small WW1 memorial to staff on the wall of the former Kimberley branch of the Hucknall Co-Operative Society

Oops!

(What to Look for in Winter, 1959. First edition)

In the small churchyard of St Denis's, East Hatley, Cambridgeshire, close to the church, is a solid ledgerstone, probably made of granite, and shaped like a corpse. Next to this 'body stone' is the headstone for Elizabeth Thorp, who died on 31 July 1838, aged 37, of consumption.

Phyllis was a nurse. She threw herself out of a window in April 1915.The headstone is really thoughtfully done - it says she died of neurothasia and was war related. She was really tired, due to go home. Her brother had been killed at the front and another just arrived. #WW1

Our #OnePlaceStudies blogging and social media prompt for April 2024 is #OnePlaceSpring ! What happened in our OPS places during this season? What were farmers and gardeners focussed on, what wildlife was about, what events took place, what traditions were kept? #OnePlaceWednesday

I think this was mistakenly incised as “ye doby” and then corrected to body. Easy mistake to make. Guilden Mordern Church, Cambridgeshire.

Today’s reading 🐄🐑🐖

Funnily enough, my parents both descend from siblings who came from Great Missenden (yes, they are 4th/5th cousins).
Even with these rules preventing marriages between close relations, marrying blood relatives was inevitable in rural communities.

Do you have British ancestors who served in the Home Guard in #WW2 ? Don’t miss the latest post from Genealogy Jude with tips on how to access Home Guard records.

Two young boys drowned in the Thames in 1886. Ernest and an adult friend Mr Baker, were immediately out of their depth. Baker clambered out and went to aid Harold who was trying to get Ernest to shore with a boathook. Too late, Harold slipped in too and both brothers drowned.