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A picture of Maori's performing a Haka painted by Joseph Jenner Merrett, 1816-54

Bristol and The Haka – 1917

I hazard a guess the first time any Bristolian had ever seen the Haka was on Saturday the 29 December 1917. The Haka is synonymous as a precursor to rugby matches involving the New...
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A jam pan for making jam

The Family Tree of a Jam Pan

Today, 7 August 2023, I made five pots of Strawberry Jam in the Jam Pan. My young man grows fruit at the allotment but don’t worry if you don’t do the same. Strawberries are...
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Sad Memories of a failed Rock Chick

On 23 March 1958 Buddy Holly and the Crickets played at Bristol’s Colston Hall. I had a ticket but nobody to go with. I was in the doldrums, and it was a Sunday. I...
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Coronation day, 1953

Tuesday June 2nd, 1953, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. I was 16, pleased to get the day off school, [five years of misery], and shortly due to start work at J.S. Fry &...
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Coronation 1937 Herbert St Whitehall

Coronation Street Party, George VI, Herbert Street, Whitehall, 1937

12.5.1937, one month before I was born. Very few men, except for those in drag; women in pinnies; numerous kids….…. Do you recognise anyone? First posted in https://bristolfamilyhistoryblog.wordpress.com/2015/06/16 Thanks to Dorothy Acford.
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James Peters, 1879-1954, England Rugby Union International and Gentleman

‘Peters, it may be mentioned is, as a Rugby player, English whatever his nationality proper may be.’   Western Mail, 8.9.1906. N.B. This account contains terms that are no longer acceptable, though were in common...
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My World Cup, 1966

Did I dream it? Did it really happen? And did Mum really say “Well, I’ve never seen anything like that…..the poor chap,” as the North Korean player in one of the qualifying rounds came...
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The Miller Family Football Team, 1914

The Miller Family Football Team, 1914

With the Euros on our collective minds I am honouring our Brislington family team, the Miller family. By 1901 the Millers arrived at 9 Grove Road with a large family and were soon blessed...
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James Peters: The First Black Rugby player to represent England

Now that a breath taking Six Nations has drawn to a close I would like to shed some light on James Peters, the first black rugby player to represent England. It would be eighty...
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