William Harrison was born in Luton in 1802. He took over the running of Duck Mill in the early 1840s. He lived in a house behind the Mill at 18 Potter Street (now Cardington Road),...
Joshua Hawkins was a man of rare energy, enterprise, and a public spirit hard to equal. He was also a fervent politician. In the thirteen years he lived in Bedford he certainly made a lasting...
By 1841, Thomas Jarvis had set up his brewery in Gwyn Street. At that time, there were eight breweries in Bedford and the brewing industry then was second only to the cotton industry. Weak or...
Samuel Wainright Jarvis was born on 1st February 1828 at Bushmead, Bedfordshire. His christening took place on 5th October 1828 at St. Cuthbert’s Church, Bedford. He was the only son of Thomas Jarvis and his...
Clifford Gore Brown Wyatt Chambers was the youngest son of Charlotte and the Rev. James Chambers. He was born on the 30th December 1852 at “The Briars” on the small British South Atlantic island of...
Madeline Seys Phillips was well known in Bedford for her charitable work. Her one priority was to care for the sick, aged, and poor in St. Paul’s parish. She was, for many years, on the...
Thousands of people were present at the funeral held on Friday 22nd March 1912 at Bedford Cemetery, of Mr Augustus Hill, Chief Officer, and one of the founders of the Bedford Fire Brigade, Secretary of...
Who would have thought that a former pupil of Bedford Grammar School might become a spiritualist medium, exponent of levitation, and a founder of the Society of Psychical Research? Perhaps he was a charlatan, but...
On Thursday 6th August 1891 a young woman in her early twenties described as being pretty, well-dressed, about 5ft 4ins with reddish brown hair, and a plump round figure, boarded the Midland night train from...
Dr Rowland Hill Coombs (1844-1929) was an exceptionally eminent Bedfordian who lived a long life full of many achievements and diverse interests. His father, Dr. James Coombs was a doctor and a chemist, who, like...