Memory Corner January 24th 2019

Friday January 24th, 1794

THE AMERICANS, disgusted with the conduct of the French Minister, are determined to arm, that they may be ready, in case of emergency, to repel any insult.

THE INDIANS, now armed against the Americans, amount to 7,000 in number, while the American army under General Waine only consists of 5,000 men.  The American army under General Waine received a check from the Indians in the vicinity of Detroit in the month of September last.

 

Friday January 29th, 1794 (previous week missing)

CAUTION TO SERVANTS – John Summers, a servant to Mr Edward Taylor of Cleobury North, was on Monday convicted before Richard Baker Esq., High Bailiff of Bridgnorth, of being guilty of insolent and unwarrantable behaviour to his said master and committed for 1 month to the House of Correction.

MANCHESTER – one of the most respectable mercantile houses, that of Mr John Kelsall, stopped payment on January 20th.  This failure has caused considerable alarm.  A Liverpool house, engaged largely in the Brazil trade, has stopped payment for a considerable amount.

 

Friday January 22nd, 1869

A “COUNTRY PARSON” writing in the Western Morning News, announces his intention of introducing spittoons in his church.

AN ANNUAL VISITOR – a labouring man, named Edward Smith, was charged at the Borough Police Court on Wednesday with being drunk and riotous in Frankwell on the night previous. The charge was proved by Police Constable Preece, and a fine of 10s, or 14 days imprisonment, was inflicted. Smith, it appeared, has paid a regular visit to the police court during each of the past seven years.

A YOUNG WOMAN in Bradford has just received, through the County Court, £5 damages against a man who gave her hand such a squeeze as to break one of her fingers!

 

Friday January 24th, 1919

SHROPSHIRE WAR MEMORIAL – what is Shropshire going to do in the way of providing something tangible as a fitting memorial to her many sons who have fallen in the war?  [Our preference is for the] the rehabilitation of the Royal Salop Infirmary on modern lines, which would be a fitting memorial of the character the county is about to be called upon to undertake. The health of the people has always been an object of paramount importance, but it may safely be said that it has never been more important than it is at the present time.

 

Friday January 26th, 1979

Dr Bill Watson

AN EMERGENCY volunteer group of Shrewsbury medical experts has been alerted to stand by this week for a message calling them to East Africa on a massive life-saving mission. Already local husband and wife medical team, Doctors Bill and Wyn Watson, have flown out to Somalia with hope for thousands of dying refugees.  And now Salop’s Oxfam Team, one of only two such teams in the whole of Britain, is set to answer the couple’s possible request to provide medical back-up.  Many of the un-named doctors and nurses in the relief team work at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

 

Thursday January 27th, 1994

FOR ONE FAMILY in Much Wenlock an oak beam in their kitchen and some stone arches in their living room turn out to be a surprising link with one of the early Plantagenet kings. Over three days, Time Team, on Channel 4 on Sunday, reveals evidence of a fine 13thcentury aisled hall in the present-day gardens of the ancient town.  And through the identifications of 13thcentury pottery and tree-ring dating, the team links the building with visits to the town by Henry III.  The finds tell us a lot about new town developments 800 years ago and how this early urban growth affects the lay-out of houses and gardens in Much Wenlock today.  The cameras are on hand throughout, capturing all the excitement and immediacy of the process of discovery.

 

Thursday January 29th, 2009

THE FORMER fundraising manager of Severn Hospice has kicked off her retirement by forging links with Darwin’s legacy – half-way round the world.  Val Walters and her husband Peter embarked on a two-month visit to Australia recently and met with the Lord Mayor of Darwin, marking the link between the birthplace of Shrewsbury’s famous son and the city named after him ‘down under’.  Mrs Walters said, “Lord Mayor Graeme Sawyer made us very welcome and we had an interesting chat about his role here. He presented us with a plaque to bring back to Shrewsbury and a letter of greeting to mayor Councillor Anne Chebsey.  I thought it would be an appropriate thing to do, with both places marking the 200thanniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.”