Still plugging along - not as far into the story as you are Jonathan so I have the quotes you brought us to look forward to.
Just had to find out about this
Great Coram Street Murder - here it is...
http://www.victorianlondon.org/crime/greatcoramstreet.htmVirginia Water is a commuter town in northern Surrey, home to the Wentworth Estate and the Wentworth Club. The estate is situated in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey. Its name comes from the lake in the nearby Windsor Great Park.
The Wentworth Estate is a 1920s-founded estate of houses and woodland (a typical small village size in England) around the home of the first Ryder Cup, Wentworth Club. It is in Virginia Water, Surrey, England and forms one of Europe's premier residential areas on a gently undulating area of coniferous heath, where among the estate owners with other famous names like Elton John and Diana Dors till her death, is the recording studios at John Lennon's Tittenhurst Park.
The 19th-century house the "Wentworths" (now the club house for the Wentworth Club) was the home of a brother-in-law of the 1st Duke of Wellington. It was purchased in 1850 by the exiled Spanish count Ramon Cabrera, and after his death his wife bought up the surrounding lands which were later to form the nucleus of the Wentworth Estate.
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest and second-most populous island in England. The island has been home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria, who built her much-loved summer residence and final home, Osborne House at East Cowes. It has a maritime and industrial tradition including boat-building, sail-making.
The Isle was owned by a Norman family until 1293 and was earlier a kingdom in its own right. The island has played an important part in the defence of the ports of Southampton and Portsmouth, and been near the front-line of conflicts through the ages, including the Spanish Armada and the Battle of Britain.
Julius Caesar reported that the Belgae took the Isle of Wight in about 85 BC, and recognised the culture of this general region as "Belgic", but made no reference to Vectis. The Roman historian Suetonius mentions that the island was captured by the commander Vespasian. The Romans built no towns or roads on the island, but the remains of at least seven Roman villas have been found, indicating the prosperity of local agriculture. First-century exports were principally hides, slaves, hunting dogs, grain, cattle, silver, gold, and iron. Ferriby Boats and later Blackfriars Ships were important to the local economy.
During the Dark Ages the island was settled by Jutes as the pagan kingdom of Wihtwara under King Arwald. In 685 it was invaded by Caedwalla, who tried to replace the inhabitants with his own followers. In 686 Arwald was defeated and the island became the last part of English lands to be converted to Christianity,added to Wessex and then becoming part of England under King Alfred the Great, included within the shire of Hampshire.
It suffered especially from Viking raids, and was often used as a winter base by Viking raiders when they were unable to reach Normandy. Later, both Earl Tostig and his brother Harold Godwinson (who became King Harold II) held manors on the island.
In the 1860s, what remains in real terms the most expensive ever government spending project saw fortifications built on the island and in the Solent, as well as elsewhere along the south coast because of fears about possible French invasion.
South Western Railway laid track in England from 1838 to 1922, the main operator for western Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset, and also serves London, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon.
From London Waterloo, long-distance trains run to southern England, including the major coastal population centers of Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth.
The
Royal Mail marks 500 years of postal services. The mail used to be delivered with the introduction of horse-drawn carriage. Pressure to deliver mail even more quickly saw the introduction of mail coaches. The General Post Office and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway reached an agreement that saw the start of mail being carried by train in 1830. The
Exeter mail would include mail from the
Exeter Tech.
To celebrate the educational and scientific work of Prince Albert, and inspired by the Great Exhibition of 1851,
Exeter School of Art in 1855 and the
Exeter School of Science in 1863 were founded. In 1868, the Schools of Art and Science relocated to
Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Queen Street, Exeter and, with support from the
University of Cambridge, became the
Exeter Technical and University Extension College in 1893
