Category Archives: Biographical sketch

Short occasional biographical sketches of people, places, companies, things or events

Living in America

Edward Bannister is mentioned as being a Ewhurst World War One survivor. This is based on the fact that his ‘forwarding’ address for the army was ‘Mrs Parry, Oxmead, Ewhurst, Surrey.’ He had me flummoxed for quite a while but, … Continue reading

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Well that was a stupid idea

For a year now I’ve been travelling down to Portsmouth to work in the library and for that entire year, I have been getting a bus to Aldershot then a train to Guildford before getting the train to Portsmouth. It … Continue reading

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Making the most of life

I am currently researching a memorial at Hindhead. Sadly, I’ve found a few people who refuse to come out of hiding. This is sadder than the stories themselves of young people going off to die in a fruitless game of … Continue reading

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The original Apple model

Today I found the answer to a question I haven’t actually ever thought about but should have. In The Importance of Being Ernest, Cecily, in conversation with Miss Prism says “I believe that Memory is responsible for nearly all the … Continue reading

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Unsolved murder

Today, all day, the weather was relentless in its determination to keep us indoors. Not wanting to deny the weather, we stayed inside. Well, apart from brief forays for the girls to relieve themselves. And so we both worked. Mirinda … Continue reading

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Alex and Pat

A year ago today, I managed to get caught in a number of snow flurries. The temperature struggled to reach zero. While today was not record breaking it was still a stunning February day with the temperature close to 20 … Continue reading

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Slate exportation

Today I spent a while researching a chap called John Scott Huxley. (A family legend has it that they were related to Sir Walter Scott so nearly every male had ‘Scott’ as a middle name. I should add that I’ve … Continue reading

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Norway to Dover

Captain Henry Hammond Shott DSO was, by all reports, an extraordinary man. Not only did he survive the Boer War and various African uprising, he also learned to fly a Bristol Biplane shortly before heading over to France for the … Continue reading

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Big-a-me, big-a-you, aha!

This post has nothing to do with Abba and has everything to do with bigamy, desertion, drunken behaviour and generally being a wrong ‘un. This post is the incomplete story of a man called Walter Pharo. Somehow, Walter had his … Continue reading

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Charmed life

It’s very rare I find someone on a war memorial who did not die in the war. In fact, it’s so rare, today is the one and only instance I’ve found so far. To be fair, his family tried to … Continue reading

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