Halloween Edition! Ghosts, Murders and Mysterious Disappearances 👻...
Mince pies and tinsel might be in the shops at the moment but we’ve got Halloween to go first! And, because history has so many mysteries (he he that rhymes) I’ve written up a special spooky version of the newsletter for you to read before the Witching Hour comes… mwahahahahaaaaa…..
History
I received my first paid subscription this month, and this helps so much because it gives me a little extra to pay for books, trips to historical places to research on the blog and for ingredients to keep making and blogging about your favourite historical recipes. If you can, please consider supporting my writing with a paid subscription, each one really does make a huge difference. Subscriptions start from £3.50. Thank you!
Witches are a big part of Halloween celebrations, and on Facebook I recently shared the story of Edith Wills, who lived in early seventeenth-century Reading in Berkshire. I found her case in the town records, and wrote about it on the blog . She was accused, after arguing with a man in the market place, of causing him to fall down in ‘shakinge fittes’ resulting from witchcraft. She was clapped into the gaol (then on Castle Street) and afterwards, disappears from the records. Other witches were accused too, including one who wrapped up a spell and poked it behind a brick in a fireplace! Read more about the Witches of Reading here. I also would highly recommend, as a Halloween read, John Callow’s The Last Witches of England. If you’re looking for a lighter read this season, there’s always A History of Death in Seventeenth Century England, I suppose!
Unsurprisingly, historical places attract a lot of talk about ghosts. They’re centuries old, have been visited and inhabited by many generations and some have been the site of some terrible moments in history. I really did feel this for myself on a visit to Hampton Court Palace a few years ago. It’s an experience I won’t forget in a hurry, but is apparently very common there. You can read all about it in my blog post. I also felt my shirt being invisibly tugged on a guided tour once around York, when the guide said that sometimes people feel their clothing being pulled by the ghosts of children from the workhouse once there. And in King’s Manor, (thought to be very much haunted) I went to take a photo and my camera stopped working, never to flash or take a photo again! I’d love to hear your tales of historical places you’ve been where something a bit out of the ordinary has happened, let me know by leaving a comment!
There are a few real-life and very unsettling murder tales over on the blog, too. Elizabeth Crosman, in 1682, stabbed her apprentice John Bret in the chest after she’d been drinking at a local alehouse. Frances Howard, The Countess of Somerset, is another woman believed to have eliminated one Thomas Overy by poisoning, during the reign of James I. The case of William Darell rocked Tudor Wiltshire: the murder of what is thought to have been his illegitimate child. It is said that a vision of the child later appeared to him as he was riding through the woods; the horse reared up, Darrell fell, and broke his neck.
There are mysterious disappearances and losses, too. Steadfast Yorkist Sir Francis Lovell disappeared during the reign of Tudor Henry VII, and legend has it that his skeleton was later found at a desk, walled up in one of his homes. There are the lost tombs, too, of some of England’s kings and queens and the sunken sites of Ravenser Odd and Ravenspurn. Could there be a network of old ship timbers, docks, bells and buildings under the sea off the Yorkshire coast?
If you’re putting on a scary film this Halloween, you might want to plan a sweet treat our ancestors would have enjoyed: Soul Cakes. Here’s my version of a recipe that dates to 1604.
If you’d like a daily dose of British History, I share a photo and a fact daily on my Facebook and Instagram pages, feel free to follow and learn a little history fact every day!
Sketching
Amy and I at Two Lost Birds have been busy working on outdoor murals, which has been amazing. We have two more booked in before the end of the year, but spaces are filling up for spring! Keep up with what we’re doing on Instagram and Facebook.
I’m excited too that Milk Bar in Reading has put up some of my marker pen sketches of historic local buildings, so if you’re in there please pop in and have a look - they’re up along the stairs. My work can also be seen in Reading Biscuit Factory near the cinema screens!
I’m currently busy creating sketches, hand-painted decorations and cards for Artisa Christmas Market on November 19th at Marsack Street, Caversham where I’ll also be taking preorders for my book. If you’re local and would like to have a look around the craft stalls, grab a coffee and maybe see Santa too, check out the details. If you do come along please say hi, I’d love to chat!
You can visit my online shop here, and I share all my work to my Instagram page as and when it’s done, so feel free to keep updated there.
Thanks for reading! Speak soon! x