Throughout the nineteenth century and the first half of the 20th century, young men from Britanny came across the channel from Roscoff to Plymouth and other ports, and fanned out across the country selling onions. Often wearing traditional berets and striped tops,...
In 1914 Exeter City toured in South America, playing 8 matches in Argentina & Brazil. On July 27th (1 week before Britain entered the Great War) they played a Brazil selecao – a team selected from the best players in the country. This was the first...
At the start of World War One, hundreds of thousands of Belgian citizens fled their homes before the advancing Germans. Over 200,000 settled in the UK, of whom around 8,000 came to Devon. In Exeter, they were welcomed by a committee based at 24 Southernhay West....
Scottish missionary Mary Slessor and her adopted Nigerian daughter Atim Eso, aka Janie Annan Slessor, visited Topsham, Devon, in 1885 and 1891. Mary Slessor (2 December 1848 – 13 January 1915) was a Scottish, United Presbyterian missionary who went to work in what is...
The story of Mary Slessor and adopted Nigerian daughter Atim Eso, aka Janie Annan Slessor, and their visits to Topsham, Devon, in 1885 and 1891, By Community Researcher Sally Ayres.
This beautiful statue of the Hindu deity Ganesh lives in Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum. He was brought to Exeter by Sir John Budd Phear of Exmouth, who was a High Court judge in Bengal from 1864 to 1876. He has lived in the Museum since then. In 2013,...
On 19th August 1875, the Fisk University Jubilee Singers gave a concert at Exeter’s Victoria Hall, situated on Queen St where Exeter College Victoria House is now. Among many other claims to fame, Fisk was the destination of the fictional character Louis Gaines...
This drawing come from a sketchbook at Devon Record Office entitled ‘Portraits of Devonshire Characters’ by Tucker. More sketches in our gallery page. The title is “Prince of Abyssinia sketched at St Davids station” and is almost certainly a...
On 28 August 1846, former slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass visited Exeter as part of a tour of the UK to generate support for the abolition of slavery in the United States. His address, ‘A Call for the British Nation to Testify Against Slavery’...
While the British slave trade was abolished in 1807, it was not until 1833 that an Act to abolish slavery itself was finally passed by the British Parliament. Even then, it was only possible for the Government of the day to get the Bill through both Houses of...
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