Alexander Grafton developed and manufactured steam-cranes. He was a Member of the Institution of Civil and Mechanical Engineers. His firm, Grafton & Co., also known as the “Vulcan Works”, Bedford, exported cranes throughout the world...
Harry Franks was born in 1883 at Southill, Bedfordshire. He was one of the seven children of Elizabeth Ann, nee Sims, and Livett Edward Franks. His parents were born at Clifton, Bedfordshire. In 1876 they...
Bradford Rudge, a renowned artist who spent his adulthood in Bedford, recorded history through his drawings, paintings and lithographs. Much of his artistic output covered the architecture and landscapes of Bedfordshire and its neighbouring counties....
Arthur Ransom was born on the 18th June 1831 at George Street, Hastings. He was one of the five sons of Mary and William Ransom. His siblings were William (born 1823), Walter (1825), John (1827)...
James Thomas Hobson was born on 8th February 1817 at Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire. His parents were William Hobson and Ann, nee Tingle. When he was a young boy they moved to Burystead Place, next to Croyland...
John Stride Ager was the younger of the two children of Eliza and Frederick Andrew Stride Ager. His sister, Hester was born on 7th June 1891 and John was born on 5th March 1893. They...
James Wyatt was eleventh in the lineal descent from Thomas Wyatt, who was the brother of Sir Henry Wyatt, of Arrington. Thomas Wyatt was privy councillor to Henry VII, and great-uncle of Sir Thomas Wyatt,...
When thousands of Scottish Highlander soldiers arrived in Bedford for training in August 1914, the military authorities were concerned that an outbreak of infectious diseases such as measles could be life threatening for some of...
Private Arthur Charker of the 4th Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders was the son of Isabella and the late Henry Charker. His widowed mother lived at 120 Academy Street, Inverness, Scotland. Private Arthur Charker was one...
Norman Greenshields was an Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Member of the Institution of Municipal and County Engineers and a Member of the Sanitary Institute. For some 30 years, he was...