OUR meeting this month was, as usual, extremely well attended and continued with what has been a recurring theme recently – crime and punishment. It was also what we describe as a Do it Yourself evening when one or two of our own members give talks on topics of particular interest to them or their research.

The opening talk brought our attention to family heirlooms but in this case modern artefacts that could become the heirlooms of the future if we only think about keeping them and telling their story now. Phil Heather’s future heirloom was a policeman’s whistle, cap and badge which represented his early life training at Hendon – a period which also ended romantically as it was at this time that he met his wife. A modern heirloom is obviously very special to him and his family.

On a different level our second speaker, Mariegold Ward, gave us a very comprehensive and informative insight into the building of Millbank Penitentiary near the Thames in the early 19th Century, at a final cost of £500. Her direct ancestor was the first Chaplin and Mariegold has carried out extensive research into his life there and the life of the first prisoners, both male and female. Although there would be governors, matrons, nurses, cooks and turnkeys the Chaplin would, of course, be involved closely with the everyday running of the prison which would involve much more than moral issues. This was a time of much reform but also of harsh punishment and treatment, including transportation and the use of prison hulks when in 1823 the prison was closed because of contagion. It did reopen in 1824 and continued in existence until demolition in 1890. It sounded a very gruelling existence for everyone – a period which Mariegold brought vividly to life.

At the end of the evening there was a short film which had been downloaded from the internet and although there were a few technical problems and the film did not run to the end, it was both amusing and fascinating. It was a film shot from the front of a tram slowly moving down a street in San Francisco in 1905 – just a year before the traumatic earthquake. The mixture of horses, horse and carriages, pedestrians, newspaper boys and early motor cars dodging each other back and forth across the tram lines in front of the vehicle was amazing to watch – and no-one got hurt!! What I also was surprised to realise, when the film stopped, was this was taken only three years before my father was born. How different life was then!

On Wednesday, May 4 our speaker, Ruth Richardson, will be taking us further back in time with a talk entitled Blanche Parry. Elizabeth I’s Confidante. The Tudors and the age of Elizabeth is one that has long fascinated us, and as a very keen reader of historical novels I must admit to be really looking forward to the evening.

Come and join us at 7pm for tea and coffee on May 4. The talk will commence at 7.30pm and the venue, as always, is the Sixth Form Annexe of the Chase School, Geraldine Close, Barnards Green (the entrance opposite the tennis court not the main school grounds). You can also find more about us on www.mfhs.org.uk.

DAVID HODGSON.