Memory Corner January 9th 2020

Friday January 9th, 1795

ON SATURDAY LAST died at Etruria, Josiah Wedgwood Esq, FRS.  Possessed of great public spirit and unremitting perseverance, with a mind fraught with general intelligence, and particularly with philosophical and chemical knowledge, united to a most refined taste, he raised the manufacture of earthenware from the obscure state in which he found it to the degree of utility, excellence and splendour by which they are now distinguished in every part of the world.

 

Friday January 14th, 1820

LAST WEEK a woman with her infant child were found dead in a field near Rushton, in this county.  It is conjectured that the unfortunate mother, in getting over the stile near which she was found, fell down and fractured her leg.  Being unable to move, and without assistance, the severity of the weather froze her and her infant to death.

NAPOLEON has at length broken silence, and the ninth book of his long-expected memoirs, descriptive of the events of 1815, is announced, in French and English.

 

Friday January 14th, 1870

A feeling of anxiety is at present pervading many of the Government offices in view of Mr Lowe’s next budget, and the proposed reduction in various departments.  At Chatham serious rumours affecting the workers of the dockyard are afloat, it being stated that the number of hands is gradually to be reduced to between 500 and 1000 men.  Those over 55 will be discharged, being considered incapable of doing their daily work.

 

Friday January 9th, 1920

MOTORING – when I came back from a long residence in the USA eight years ago, one of the things I first remarked was the comparative absence of lady drivers on the streets.  In medium-sized American cities mother and daughter generally put their heads together to persuade “poppa” to provide them with a handy little enclosed electric runabout, in which they can go shopping, without having to bother about the unwieldy touring car which is used at weekends.  The result is that the shopping quarters are thronged with little, handy, silent vehicles, dexterously piloted by the maidenhood and matrons of the New World.

 

Friday January 11th, 1980

Salop Infirmary c1850

WORK on the £½-million scheme to re-develop Shrewsbury’s Royal Salop Infirmary building could start as early as March.  And the man behind the scheme, Mr Bob Freeman, revealed this week that there has already been a flood of inquiries from people wanting flats and shops in the development.

 

Thursday January 12th, 1995

SHREWSBURY’S Civic Society has decided not to fight the demolition of the town’s Beauchamp Hotel.  The society says its loss will “erode the character of the town” but believes that there are more worthy causes to fight for.  “It’s a house that’s been changed so much over the years and it would need a lot of money spending on it,” said Mr Philip Scoggins, chairman of the Society’s planning sub-committee.

 

Thursday January 14th, 2010

A DARING THIEF hid under a bed in a town centre store until staff had gone home and then fleeced it of thousands of pounds worth of gold jewellery.  Shops in the Darwin Centre are now being warned to check for intruders in places such as fitting rooms after the incident at the QVC outlet shop.  Police are now examining CCTV footage believed to show the man who stole a large quantity of items before casually disappearing into the night.  Richard Goodchild, manager of the town’s Shopwatch scheme, described the thief’s actions as “brazen”.  He said, “I have heard of thieves concealing themselves in toilets and changing rooms, but I have never heard of anyone hiding under a bed.”