Samuel Fudge – A Life Far from Sweet.
Further research has been carried out into the life of this Milborne Port character with a penchant for other people’s possessions. It’s quite a long read, sometimes sad and sometimes shocking. So sit tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride… Click here!
William Osmond – Unsung Hero
Milborne Port has its very own agricultural revolutionary in the form of William Osmond, a local shepherd, who in 1873 was victimised by his employer, a wealthy Milborne Wick farmer called Charles Bugg, and sent to prison with six months hard labour for organising agricultural labourers in the area (inspired by George Mitchell, Somerset leader of the National Agricultural Labourers Union). On his release in January 1874, over 2,000 local people marched through Milborne Port in his support. Click here to read more about our Unsung Hero.
Samuel Game – Clockmaker
The discovery of a grandfather clock belonging to Edward Hallett of Swatchford led to further research into local clockmakers with a view to discovering who made it. One possibility was that local clockmaker Samuel Game who was born around 1702 in Milborne Port.
Could Mary Godwin really have lived to the age of 101 in 18th century Milborne Port? Follow this link to see the evidence!
Ruth Raymond
Ruth wrote a will but was ‘dead intestate’…? How could this be? Click here to find out!
Reginald Woolmington – Murderer of Milborne Port?
On the morning of 10th December 1934, twenty-one year old Reginald Woolmington shot dead his seventeen year old wife, Ivy, in a house in Newtown. Three days before the date of his execution, he walked free following a landmark legal case which established the ‘golden thread’ principle that, in general, the prosecution bears the burden of proof in criminal trials. The case is the topic of a recent academic paper published by Richard Glover.
Follow this link to read the whole article.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01440365.2023.2184542
Vernon Noake – 18th century military man and pillar of Milborne Port society. Find out about him here.
The Prankerds – We are very interested in the inscriptions on the plaques, gravestones and chest tombs in St John’s church and in the churchyard. Follow this link to find out about the legacy left to the village by the Prankerd family, inscribed onto the Prankerd tomb.
King Alfred – King of Wessex (848/49 – 899)
Copy and paste this link into your browser to read his will, in which he bequeaths ‘Milbourn’ to his son Ethelward (p. 33):
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dqENAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=manors+owned+by+king+alfred&source=bl&ots=4NBqcsgZA4&sig=ACfU3U1rAPUnL4C9HA2c2YI1zHaxYXvIgQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiNz5br7Jv3AhUNa8AKHYS4BnEQ6AF6BAgTEAM#v=onepage&q=manors%20owned%20by%20king%20alfred&f=false
Did you know that King Alfred’s two elder brothers – Aethelbald (died 860) and Aethelberht (died 865)- are buried in Sherborne Abbey; it is likely that Alfred would have been present at their funerals or would have at least visited their resting places? It is also possible that a third brother was buried there too. For more information, follow this link: king-alfred.com/wp/2019/08/07/sherborne/