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The Warennes of Sandal Castle, Earls of Surrey and Lords of the Manor of Wakefield – Section 1: From 1066-1088
6 minute read time How to follow the story The story is told over 8 generations of the Warenne family. At the end of each section is a link to the next…or you can find links for the whole series, culminating in the Elland Feud, in the Medieval Section on the main menu. Introduction to Section 1: History comes alive through the stories of families whose fortunes rose or fell as power shifted. This time, we go way back, to the origins of Norman England and the story of the Warenne family, Earls of Surrey and Lords of the Manor of Wakefield. Our story begins in 1066, at the Battle…
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New Video – The Grey Apple Tree – Causes and Events Leading to the Norman Conquest
As told by the Bayeux Tapestry This updated AV has additional content and is now available in 4K video. The Grey Apple Tree brings to life the gripping tale of ambition, betrayal, and the battle that shaped a nation. From the death of Edward the Confessor, through the fierce rivalry of four claimants to the English throne, the story unfolds against the backdrop of one of the most decisive clashes in history—the Battle of Hastings. The battle marked the defeat of King Harold II by William, Duke of Normandy, bringing an end to more than 500 years of Anglo-Saxon rule. This victory established William as King of England and ushered…
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Dying for a Humbug – the Video!
The story of the Bradford arsenic poisonings has already been reported on this website, but I wanted to make a depiction of it as an audio-visual presentation. I’ve had great fun creating the images in historical style and putting it all to music. I do hope you enjoy watching it! If you do, please comment, like and subscribe to the channel ! Link to the Bradford arsenic poisonings full story on my Blog.
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New YouTube Video – The 18th Century Weaver
Richard Wilson’s Long Walk Here’s the short version of Richard’s long walk combined with the Leeds First White Cloth Hall. Enjoy!
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Kirklees Cousins now has a YouTube Channel
I’ve been working hard over the last couple of weeks to make some Audio Visual presentations to accompany this website and, so far, there are just two videos. The first is the story of the events leading to the Battle of Hastings in 1066, where William “The Conqueror” defeated Harold Godwinson to take the throne of England. But who had the right to the English throne? There were actually four claimants! The video explains who they were and how it all came to a head after the death of Edward the Confessor in 1066, as told in the Bayeaux Tapestry. Entitled, the “Grey Apple Tree”, it is about 10 minutes…
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Tracing the Archers of Earlsheaton, Chickenley and Ossett
Because Archer is an occupational surname…like Fletcher, Butcher, Smith and so on, it should have arisen in many different areas of the country, in men who were not actually related to each other but had the same occupation. It’s a little surprising, therefore, that, in the 1881 Census, by far the biggest concentration of families of the name “Archer” resided in the woollen towns of the West Riding, with the second largest group in London and the south east. My Archer family can be traced back to Dewsbury Parish records from 1581 and my branch of the family comes from Chickenley and Earlsheaton (known as Soothill and pronounced “soootil”) and the…
