Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Aug 30, 2011
Tagged in:
Wiltshire Militia ,
William Phillips ,
The National Archives ,
serve ,
Salisbury ,
poor relief ,
pension ,
Norwich ,
north Wiltshire ,
Napoleonic Wars ,
muster rolls ,
help desk ,
First World War ,
County Treasurer ,
constables ,
Chippenham ,
Chelsea Hospital ,
army
There has recently become available at the Help Desk a partial index of those men who served in the Wiltshire Militia during the Napoleonic Wars 1793-1815. A brief description of the creation and function of the Militia will explain how and why this could be of use to researchers, together with the five unique features that set them apart from other military forces of the period.
The Infantry drilling, 1807
The first of these features was that the Militia Act of 1758 introduced the idea of conscription. The Regular Army before this date and up to the First World War was officially a volunteer army, but it was felt that volunteering would not raise enough men to serve the purpose of the new force, which was to defend the country in the face of an invasion threat and replace the Regular Army at home during a time of war. Each county was ordered to raise a certain number of infantry men (800 for Wiltshire); each parish was allotted its quota of this total, which was to be selected by ballot from a list drawn up by the parish constables containing the names of all males between the ages of 18-50 (later reduced to 45) with a number of exceptions, including peers, parish officials, clergymen, teachers, preachers, articled clerks, apprentices and members of the regular army. The term of service was for 3 years (later 5) after which time the whole process began again, although men could re-enlist and were encouraged to do so by means of a bounty.
Posted by: Blog Administrator
on Dec 17, 2010
Tagged in:
workshop ,
Wiltshire ,
walls ,
vagabonds ,
Thomas Platt ,
The Old Bridewell ,
The Grange ,
suspects ,
surgeon ,
State of the Prisons ,
Southwell ,
solitary confinement ,
segmental ,
sashes ,
Salisbury ,
rogues ,
Richard Ingleman gaol ,
red-brick houses ,
prison reformer ,
Principal ,
pre-trial ,
polygonal prison ,
Police station ,
Oxford ,
Norwich ,
Nether Stowey ,
Margaret Parrott ,
London ,
Lincs ,
Ladies’ School ,
keystone ,
John Howard ,
Jane E. Hollis ,
jail ,
initials ,
infirmary ,
idle poor ,
Health of Prisoners Act ,
grafitti’d ,
governess ,
garden ,
Folkingham ,
fire ,
exercise yard ,
Eliza Hopkins ,
Dorothy Treasure ,
Devizes Almshouse Trust ,
Devizes ,
detaining ,
County Gaol ,
committee ,
Cheltenham ,
burnt down ,
Bridewell Street ,
Bridewell prison ,
bridewell ,
Borough ,
boarded with her ,
attics ,
apothecary ,
almswomen
In the centre of Devizes is an unassuming building, not very different from those red-brick houses flanking it. It has large, airy two-by-two pane sashes with typical segmental arches which contain a shaped keystone. Behind the net curtains can be glimpsed a cosy living room, and a pretty garden beyond. This is The Grange and it was once the old Devizes jail, or bridewell, in Bridewell Street.
The Old Bridewell, Devizes
The Bridewell started life in 1579 as a timber-framed building in the street which now bears its name. It was established after the opening of the Bridewell prison in London in 1556 as a new type of prison to deal with the growing numbers of those regarded as rogues and vagabonds or the idle poor. This example had been followed in Oxford in 1562, Salisbury in 1564 and Norwich in 1565. It was burnt down twice and rebuilt: after a fire in 1619 and another more serious fire in 1630, but still in timber, much of which survives today.
