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The Great Flood of 1841

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Jan 21, 2011

Tagged in: Wylye valley , WSA 1336/98 , World War 1 , Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre , Wiltshire , William McGonagall’s , weather , waterproofs , Warminster , verses , Tilshead , The Great flood , thaw , Terry Bracher , Tay Railway Bridge disaster , story , Stoke Winterbourne , stanzas , souls , snow storm , Shrewton , Sarum , Salisbury Plain , River Wylye , River Till , records , rebuild , Project group , poetic , poem , Orcheston , newspapers , Maddington , local , letter , investigating , indexes , homeless , historical record , Hanging Langford , Flood Cottages , flash flood , event , Elston House , Elston , drowning , doggerel , document , disasters , destitute , currents charity , county , compassion , communities , commemorating , collections , Codford , Blewdon’s House , author , Ann Doughty , 1841 , 1789

I just happened to be trawling through some indexes to our records when a subject caught my eye - the Great flood in the Wylye Valley 1841. Now I am just about to visit the Wylye World War 1 Project group, one of several trips to the south of our county this week, and have an eye on the weather since the heavy rain over the last few days. Investigating this story in more detail it appears that the flood took place 170 years ago, almost to the day!  (Apparently there was a similar flood in 1789 around the same time of year - I am taking my waterproofs).  What particularly drew me to the reference was a note concerning a piece of doggerel about the event.

 

I have always been curious about doggerel and other poetic forms as an historical record commemorating events (and people), especially disasters, such as William McGonagall’s poem on the Tay Railway Bridge disaster of 1879. But what I found was even more astonishing; forget the 8 verses by McGonagall, our document contains 51 verses, in part 1, and a further 25 in part 2, a grand total of 76 stanzas detailing an event that, according to contemporary local newspapers, lasted a mere 12 hours, though with such force and hugely disastrous consequences for the local communities. The document (WSA 1336/98) is a transcript of a letter by Ann Doughty of Hanging Langford to her mother some days after the flood with a doggerel rhyme by an unknown author.

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'An Election's A Fair'... stories of bribery, corruprion and intrigue in Wiltshire's electoral past

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Apr 27, 2010

Tagged in: Yorkshire Farmerscould my ancestors vote , Wyndham , Wootton Bassett , women’s suffrage , Wolves and Moon , Wiltshire’s parliamentary elections , Wiltshire Studies Library , Wiltshire , William Pole-Tynley-Long-Wellesley , William Pitt the Elder , William Herbert , White Hart , Warminster , voters , vote , village , Victoria County History , Veteran , Veritas , Trowbridge , three horse race , Sir Manasseh Lopes , Secret ballots , school history lessons , satirical , Salisbury , Rusticus , rotten boroughs , Robert Cecil , riots , resources , residents , representatives , Reform Act , pseudonyms , poll books , politics , political history , political fame , poem , pocket borough , Penruddock , Paul Methuen , parliamentary representation , original document , Old Sarum , Old Moonraker , Notorious Quorom , north - south divide , nominees , New Moonraker , Mr Poppham , MPs , Mild Inquirer , male suffrage , Lunatic , Ludgershall , Lord Bruce , Long , letters , Landsdowne family , Knights of the Shire , Kaleidoscopiana Wiltoniensia , Jonathan Swift Junior , intrigue , History Centre , Hindon , Heytesbury , Henry Herbert , Great Bedwyn , gentry , First World War , events , eligible to vote , electorate , election squibs , election material , eighteenth and nineteenth century , Earls of Abingdon , Earl of Mornington , Duke of Wellington , Downton , Dorset Farmers , Cricklade , county , Corsham , corruption , Cornwall , contested elections , Constant Reader , Candidus , candidate , burgesses , Bribery , Bradford on Avon , Bertie family , Benett of Pythouse , A’Court family , aristocracy , Antiquorum , antics , Ambrose Goddard , 3rd Earl of Pembroke of Wilton , 1st Earl of Salisbury , 1832 , 1768

Bribery, corruption, intrigue, rotten boroughs and riots …oh dear, that will be Wiltshire’s parliamentary elections in eighteenth and nineteenth century! Present events always give us an opportunity to take the long-view and here at the History Centre we have a range of resources on the political history of the county and borough, from excellent accounts published in the Victoria County History for Wiltshire to election squibs, poll books and original documents.


'The Antiquities of Malmesbury', described as 'A parliamentary election, as lampooed in 1792' in VCH Wiltshire Vol. 14, opposite p.221 (our Ref: P41146).
'The Antiquities of Malmesbury', described as 'A parliamentary election, as lampooned in 1792' in VCH Wiltshire Vol. 14, opposite p.221 (our Ref: P41146).

Wiltshire’s early claim to political fame was the impressive size of its parliamentary representation. Until 1832 it elected two Knights of the Shire (representing the whole county), two MPs for Salisbury, and two burgesses for each of its 15 boroughs, a grand total of 34 seats. Only Cornwall had higher. This was especially impressive given that many of the boroughs were the size of a village, and few of their residents could vote.  The most notable, of course, was Old Sarum, which retuned two MPs and in 1768, it is claimed, had an electorate of, er…one, though usually could count on seven. Other small boroughs included Great Bedwyn, Cricklade, Downton, Heytesbury, Hindon, Ludgershall and Wootton Bassett. Yet other towns like Bradford on Avon, Corsham, Trowbridge, and Warminster could not send representatives to parliament. To find out about the great political contest of 1818 and Marlborough making the national news in 1832, please 'read more'...



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