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Professor Tom Kilburn CBE FRS – a Personal View of a Remarkable Man
A Dewsbury born mathematician and computer scientist, who was involved in the development of five computers of great historical significance, including the first stored-memory computer, the “Baby”, over the course of a 30-year career. Includes interviews with his pre-war friend and fellow footballer, who happened to be the author’s father. Early years I grew up knowing about Tom Kilburn. He was born at 111 Town Street, Earlsheaton, Dewsbury, on 11th August 1921, just round the corner from where I was brought up. Tom’s father was a clerk at Mark Oldroyd’s woollen mill and later became Company Secretary. An intelligent boy, Tom was educated at the Wheelwright Boys Grammar School (WBGS),…
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The Bradford Arsenic Poisonings
Death from poisoning was not uncommon in the days before the regulation of poisons. Arsenic trioxide (usually referred to as simply "arsenic") was a common feature of everyday life in Victorian Britain.
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Misdemeanour, Felony and Bankruptcy
A brief history of crime and punishment from the 17th to 19th centuries. The Wakefield House of Correction, Rothwell Debtors' Prison and York Castle Prison are highlighted. The article gives family case histories of those who skirted the edges of the law and were sometimes punished.
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Are You Mad?
A look at the treatment of madness form the middle ages to the present with particular emphasis on the West Riding Asylums and individual cases from the author's family history.
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Martha Arnold of Mirfield and the Kirklees Luddites
Searching for Martha Arnold, who married Mirfield-born Thomas Sheard, turned up echoes of the Luddite uprising in West Yorkshire and a possible family connection.
