Category Archives: family history
John HAM – the Millionaire of Milton Abbas
John Ham was baptised on 21 May 1760, the youngest son of James Hobell and Charity Ham (neé Gould, later Hallett). His parents were married in 1747. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1749 but she only lived for … Continue reading
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You must be interested in history or you wouldn’t be looking at our website!
Researching history can be lonely, we know what it is like, we have been doing it a long time! But it is exciting too – the chase for that vital piece of information, that brick wall broken through, that old … Continue reading
Posted in family history, local history, Milton Abbas, social history
Tagged history, Milton Abbas, research
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Poor House or Work House?
Did you know that there was a Poor House in the new village of Milton Abbas? This was not called a work house in our records until 1804, and was built after the houses in the Street but before the … Continue reading
Grist
Every parish had its Overseers of the Poor who were responsible for raising the ‘poor rates’ and for the payments to the poor. The agricultural labourers (ag labs) in Dorset at this time were some of the poorest in the … Continue reading
Your family history!
Tired of reading books about kings and queens, the rich and famous? Fed up with Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn? The lives of ordinary people are just as tragic, difficult, triumphant and revelationary. How your ancestors survived the traumas and … Continue reading
Dorchester Gaol
In the Dorset History Centre and available on Ancestry is the Criminal process register. 1782-1808, Catalogue Reference NG-PR/1/D/1/1. This gives much information, such as the prisoner’s name, the magistrate who committed them, their place of residence, their description, age, date … Continue reading
HMS Victory and the Battle of Trafalgar
We have just found some exciting news – John Welstead, aged 38, from Milton Abbas was on-board the Victory at Trafalgar on 21 Oct 1805. He was bosun’s mate. We now need to carry out more research on this man … Continue reading
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Richard Ham, clock maker of Milton Abbas
This is the dial of an eight day clock showing that Richard Ham was a clock maker of Milton Abbas. This image was kindly given to us by Tim Marshall author, and he has dated the clock to around 1720. … Continue reading
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Scutt Family
This photo was given to us by Sybil Brown. She is compiling a biography of her aunt, Margaret Alice Scutt, whose third novel has recently been published posthumously. She was born in October 1905 and baptised that December in Weymouth, … Continue reading
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Victorian Paper Cutter
This paper cutter has a handle of part of of a deer’s leg and is inscribed”Shot at Milton Abbas 1884″. We have never seen anything like it before. Rather a long blade for a practical letter opener, so probably a … Continue reading
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