“I am looking forward to returning to the firing line and having another go at the Germans.” Such were the sentiments expressed to a “Herald” representative by Pte. T. Passmore, of Pugsley's street, Green lane, Barnstaple, who is spending a fortnight in his native town, having been wounded while serving with the 1st Devons at …
Thomas Lock Hill a Fishmonger
This week we have had Josh, a work experience student with us, who has written this post on what he discovered about one of his ancestors by using the resources we have here...Barum Athena. This past week, I have been studying my families’ past, and I have come across some things I have found fascinating. …
The Tale of Ulalia Page
An interesting story in the annuals of Barnstaple’s history is that of Ulalia Page of Plymouth who was sentenced to death for murdering her husband when the Assizes were held in Barnstaple in 1590. In Sketches of the Literary History of Barnstaple John Roberts Chanter tells Ulalia's tale using as a guide a diary written …
Behind The Scenes….Stocktaking 2014
Each February we close to the public for a fortnight for stocktaking. This gives us a chance to check our collections and carry out important work we can't do while we are open to the public. This year we focused on accessioning and cataloguing a large donation of library items, checking our pamphlet collections and …
On Our Book-shelves
In the first in our series about items from our Library Collection, Director, Graham Keates has come across an item containing accounts of High Treason... I was searching along our shelves recently when I came across an unusual little volume. It was tucked between Tanner’s Tudor Constitutional Documents (Cambridge, 1922) and Cobbett’s Complete Collection of …
North Devon in 1823
In the second of the series connected with our North Devon Journal Archive our Chairman delves into the goings on in 1823. Barum Athena Last time I wrote about how the Sherborne Mercury reported news from North Devon in 1822. This week I will go on to 1823 – the year before the first appearance …
North Devon in 1822
The following post has been written by our current Chairman and is part of a series of posts contected to our extensive North Devon Journal Archive. Barum Athena. The North Devon Journal was founded in July 1824 and for nearly 30 years remained the only continuously published weekly paper in North Devon. Before 1824 newspaper …
A Few Words From Our Founder
125 years ago today our founder William Frederick Rock addressed the Board of Directors during a planned visit to his native town, what follows is taken from our first minute book. Mr Rock with great feeling addressed the Directors as follows “This is the first and last occasion on which we may hope to be together. It is for me …
A Brief Introduction
Tales from the Archives is designed to give an insight into the North Devon Athenaeum, Past, Present and Future.All the posts will have a common thread, they will either contain an item from our large and varied collections or be about the NDA or the people associated with it in some way. We will have …
