Memory Corner August 15th 2019

Friday August 15th, 1794

THE LORD CHANCELLOR has given a death blow to those who claimed an exclusive right to print the Bible.  His Lordship has declared that as the contents of the book cannot be too much promulgated [promoted], no restraint whatever should be laid on the printing of it; all therefore that choose may now print and publish, with or without notes, any edition of the Bible they please.

FRENCH AFFAIRS – the executions continue daily, as numerous as ever.  On the 15th, thirty persons were executed, on the 16th, thirty-one, on the 17th, forty, on the 19th, twenty-four, on the 20th, fourteen; in all 139 persons in the space of 6 days.

 

Friday August 20th, 1819

Peterloo Massacre August 16 1819

[This is a brief extract from a long report by eyewitnesses in Manchester of what has now come to be known as the Peterloo Massacre]. The yeomanry cavalry dashed through the crowds and arrested Henry Hunt [and other leaders of the vast assembly]. Caps of liberty and banners of rebellion were destroyed and trampled in the dirt, along with many hundreds of persons… At this moment [other cavalry] made their appearance on the ground, which was soon cleared of the immense body of people… In carrying this into effect many persons were killed, trampled to death on the spot, and many others wounded, some by the sabres of the cavalry, and others by the trampling of the horses…

 

 

Friday August 13th, 1869

FEMALES ENTITLED TO VOTE IN THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS – the following clause of the Municipal Franchise Act has just received the Royal Assent.  ‘Wherever words occur [in this act] which import the masculine gender, the same shall be held to include females for all purposes connected with, and having reference to, the right to vote in the election of councillors, auditors and assessors.’

 

Friday August 15th, 1919

THE SHREWSBURY BOROUGH CORONER held an inquest at the public mortuary, Shrewsbury, on the body of an unknown man recovered from the River Severn at Uffington the previous Saturday. PC Weston stated that he recovered the body from the water and found it to be that of a man about 50 years of age.  He was dressed in a dark suit and light lace-up boots, practically new, with rubber soles and heels.  There was nothing in his pockets.  A cord was tied round the deceased’s ankles, to which was attached a large stone, weighing about 28lb.  There was also a separate cord round the neck with a piece of flint rock attached.

 

Friday August 17th, 1979

SHREWSBURY’S TOURIST CENTRE reputation has come in for a big hammering from a group of west country visitors who claim the town is looking shabbier than ever.  The party from some of the West of England’s top resorts arrived in Shrewsbury on a fact-finding mission.  But they were not impressed.  One of them, Mr Norman Parsons, said, “Everything in the town is now so noisy and chaotic. The streets are being pounded by an increasing flow of traffic and the overall appearance is untidy and messy, with litter strewn on most of the pavements.”

ALTHOUGH Shrewsbury failed to gain a place in the finals of the Britain in Bloom competition, the town did get praise from the contest judges, who described Shrewsbury’s as “a very good effort”.

 

Thursday August 18th, 1994

A PORTABLE “Museum in a Box” scheme has been an overwhelming success in Shrewsbury schools, claim county council organisers.  Children at Nesscliffe, Crowmoor, Radbrook, Coleham and Sundorne schools have already learned about the past by examining artefacts and specimens in boxes as part of their lessons in geography, history, science and religion.  There are 14 boxes available from the Museums Service, which include a range of Roman, mediaeval, Tudor and Victorian items, including a century-old meat safe, flat irons, pottery and a selection of fossils.  Each box contains a teachers’ handbook, and there are numerous books, slides, videos, photographs and audio cassettes also available.

 

Thursday August 20th, 2009

Quantum leap

WORK HAS BEGUN to correct Shrewsbury’s wobbly £350,000 Darwin sculpture which has been beset by technical problems.  The Quantum Leap statue is reportedly as much as 18 inches out of alignment at the top of the structure.  Now council chiefs say the painstaking process of removing, then repositioning, some of the central ribs on the artwork is under way.  The controversial public art has already incurred the wrath of Shrewsbury Public Art Partnership Chairman Graham Galliers, who claimed the statue looked “ridiculous” in its current form.  Shropshire Council has said the cost of the alterations was still expected to be met within the £350,000 budget for the scheme.