Austin Whitaker was born in Hull, grew up in Cheshire and was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Liverpool College, crossing the Mersey to school every day from his home in Birkenhead.  In 1925 he went up to Magdalen College, Oxford, obtaining a degree good enough to land him a post as a lecturer in…

Although White the naturalist is well documented, there is little on White the historian. His entry in ODNB notes that in recording his local parish he sought ‘pleasing information’ and ‘cheerful employment’, with a   requirement to ‘light upon ancient customs and manners … especially on those that were monastic’.  However, of course, his real contribution…

Born in Otterbourne, where she lived all her life, Charlotte M Yonge was a famous and successful authoress of the 19th century. Her best-selling work, which brought her world-wide fame and fortune, was The Heir of Redclyffe. But this was only one of well over a hundred books which she published in her lifetime as…

Samuel Winbolt was educated at Christ’s Hospital and read classics and history at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, obtaining a Masters in 1892.  He then returned to his alma mater and spent his entire working life (until 1926) teaching at the school.

It is somewhat ironic that Willis was a leading genealogist, given that it proved quite a challenge to find reliable biographical information about him. This was mainly because he has a fairly common name and initially it was not clear if a quantity surveyor, who published a number of books on the subject, was the…

George Willis was born in Henry Place, Basingstoke, to George Willis, watchmaker and jeweller and Sarah Hunt, the oldest of their four children.  George Willis senior was soon established in premises in Wote Street in the centre of the town, and the family lived above the shop before moving to Cliddesden Road.

Williams-Freeman was born at Hamble Cliff, Southampton, the youngest of three sons.  He attended Haileybury College and looked set to follow his eldest brother into the Army.  At Woolwich, however, he changed direction and opted for the medical profession, graduating from Durham in 1885 and obtaining the Gold Medal in his MD exam three years…

After a career in publishing and journalism in London, William Whiteman and his wife Mimo came to live in Northfield Cottage, Church Road, Steep, a thatched house on the corner of Church Road and Mill Lane. This was probably in the 1960s, as he and Mimo had married in 1965 in Petersfield. It was perhaps…

William was born and bred in Sheffield. Aged 18, ‘he joined the late Mr Edward Baines of Leeds in the preparation of county histories and directories’. After about four years Baines retired and White took over the business. He moved it to Sheffield, with White’s Directories being formally established in 1822. The next step was…

White was a Londoner, with his birth being registered in West Ham. Nothing has been discovered about his early years or details of his higher education. He was, however, well qualified securing a BSc (Econ) degree and a doctorate and was also a ‘barrister-at-law’. According to information on the dust jacket of the second edition…