Literary Links, Discover Sir George Newnes…On Our Shelves!

To celebrate the life of Charles Kingsley a few years ago we traced the local links between him and PG Wodehouse via Rudyard Kipling and H H Munro (aka Saki). However, these are not the only Literary Links in North Devon. On this day in 1851 George Newnes was born in Matlock, Derbyshire, the youngest …

10 Facts About the North Devon Athenaeum

Over the course of 2018 we are aiming to bring you a total of 130 facts about us and what we do to celebrate our 130th Anniversary. To kick things off, here are 10 facts about the Athenaeum in general. 1. An Athenaeum is a literary club-room, a library or place of learning. The word …

Death of Barnstaple’s Grand Old Man – Thomas Wainwright

100 years ago today the local newspapers published the news of the death of perhaps the most well-known Librarians of the North Devon Athenaeum, Thomas Wainwright. Born in Leeds in 1826, Wainwright moved to Barstaple having spent time in London and Bridport. In trying to write a post about him I came accross this obituary …

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 …