The first Lord Ilkeston

The first Lord Ilkeston

Sir Balthazar Walter Foster PC FRCP was born to Balthazar Foster and his wife Marian on 17th July 1840. In 1847 the family moved to Foster Senior’s native Ireland, and Foster was educated at Drogheda Grammar School. In 1857 he attended Trinity College, Dublin, where...
The remarkable Short Brothers

The remarkable Short Brothers

(a longer read) by Danny Corns Many years ago, former Society Chairman David Harrison told me of a connection between the Short Brothers of aeronautical and flying boat fame and No. 3 Low’s Lane, Stanton. The Society discussed the placing of a blue plaque on 3 Low’s...
An Ilkeston man in the American Civil War

An Ilkeston man in the American Civil War

(A longer read) The complicated life of George Newman George Newman was born in Northamptonshire in September 1834. His father John was a gamekeeper and his mother a dressmaker. The 1851 census finds George aged 16 described as an Agricultural Labourer. He has five...
Who was St John Houghton?

Who was St John Houghton?

Beauvale Priory, near Eastwood, achieved fame when its one-time Prior, John Houghton, became the first English Catholic Martyr. Born in Essex in 1487, he was educated at Cambridge, where he took a degree in law and, as his parents then wanted him to marry (against his...
Goodbye, Bessy Ling

Goodbye, Bessy Ling

Good-bye, Bessy Ling, Good-bye  (Click red link to download audio file) By Peter Cave This is a surprise: sheet music written and published in Ilkeston. The melody and arrangement was by Amos Buxton, who was, at least before the Great War, a fitter at the Oakwood...