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The Tacchi Family
Antonio Tacchi was born in 1784 at Bellagio on Lake Como, Lombardy in northern Italy. He was probably one of the many Italians who migrated to England in the early 1800s. Antonio settled in Bedford...
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Buried a Thousand Miles from Home – Bogdan Janicijevic
Do you, like me, sometimes think how sad it is when you look carefully at the words on an old headstone and think to yourself that there’s something important that’s missing? Perhaps you look at...
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The Musical Rose family
Robert Rose was born on 17 October 1814 in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, the son of Robert and Priscilla Rose. He was baptised on 17 February 1815 at the ‘Independent’ church there, a Non-Conformist denomination which...
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JOE CLOUGH – BEDFORD’S FIRST BLACK BUS AND TAXI-DRIVER
Joe Clough was an early immigrant from Jamaica, who became London's first black motorbus driver, an ambulance driver in the First World War, a driver for the National Omnibus Company in Bedford and latterly a...
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The Day Family
The Days were a family who built up their business mainly in the building trade in Bedford but also in ironmongery, at a time when the town of Bedford was rapidly expanding. Through marriage they...
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William Blower, Surgeon
William Blower was born in 1802 at Yardley Hastings, Northamptonshire, and was the son of Mary (1772-1835) and Samuel Blower (1777-1844).Samuel ran his own business as a lace dealer. From a young age William enjoyed...
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A Victorian lady, a siege and a forgotten school
We often have a stereotypical view of all things Victorian. In photos, the men are straight-laced with fashionable muttonchop whiskers, dark clothes and have an aura of high seriousness. The women are silent and anonymous,...
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The Clarabut Family
Richard Clarabut and his brother, Alfred Bouchier Clarabut were two of the eight children of John Stone Clarabut and Mary Blaxland (née Love). John and Mary were both born at Sandwich, Kent and were married...
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Lieutenant-Colonel John Hay Shaw, his wife Rebecca Marian and daughter Lettice Hay Shaw
John Hay Shaw 1840-1923 John was born on 22 September 1840 in Madras, India, (now called Chennai) the son of James Shaw and Anne Amelia Stuart Hay. His mother came from Midlothian, Scotland and her maiden...
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William Ernest and Emma Sowter (née Carroll)
William and Emma were born at Litchurch, Derbyshire. William lived at 106 High Street and Emma lived at 71 Nelson Street. They both went to St. Andrew’s School, Litchurch. It is most likely that William...