A Year in Pictures 2022

While we were rather quiet on the blog front last year, we had plenty to keep us busy during year as we take a look back at 2022 in pictures. January The beginning of the year saw some book post and a rather happy librarian, it was also the start of some serious behind the …

The 1921 Census and North Devon

The 1920’s were known as the “Roaring Twenties” with the “Bright Young Things” of the wealthy classes life had never been better with their hedonistic wild behaviour shocking society. A legacy from the First World War was that women were much more independent. For young women, known as “Flappers,” gone were the tight corseted, floor …

Voices of Exmoor: Remembering Ted Lethaby

As part of our joint event with the North Devon Record Office and Barnstaple Local Studies Library, Voices of Exmoor and North Devon, Rob Lamerton from Libraries Unlimited writes about one of the contributors to the Exmoor Oral History Archive which is held by the North Devon Record Office... I can’t claim to have been …

Voices of Exmoor: Helping to Unlock the Stories of Our Past

As part of our joint event with the North Devon Record Office and Barnstaple Local Studies Library, Voices of Exmoor and North Devon, Inca from The Plough Youth Theatre writes about working on their new film Listening to Lynmouth (the Rising of 1952)’. The film, which tells the story of the devastating flood that hit …

When the Bath and West Came to Town

This weekend sees the return of the Bath and West of England Society’s show at Shepton Mallet in Somerset. The Society was originally called the Bath Society and was established in 1777 ‘for the encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in the Counties of Somerset, Wilts, Gloucester and Dorset’. By 1779 Devon and Cornwall …

The Ballad of Barnstaple’s Gaols

We often come across intriguing items which have a story to tell when we are looking for something else in our collections, this generally happens when we are doing something quickly for someone! This was the case when I kept coming across images of a rather imposing building from various angles and in various states …

Home From Dujailah – Braunton Sergeant’s Experiences in Mesopotamia

In August 1916 one of the journalists from the North Devon Journal visited Sergt. George Kerswell in Braunton. George Kerswell was born in Dunsford, near Exeter, in 1878 before moving to Braunton. By the time he went to war he had a wife, two sons and a step-daughter and was in the thick of the …

The Priscott Twins

Fred and Reg Priscott, twin brothers, served with the 1st 6th Devons in both India and Mesopotamia during the First World War. Born 18th October 1895, in Barnstaple, they were the Regiments only serving twins. Before the war both Frederick John and Reginald James Priscott were working for local furniture maker Shapland and Petter and …

Mervyn Ninnis – Trenches Like Canals

Whilst scanning items for our North Devon War Items project on our Facebook page, I came across several stories about the men who served in the war which made me want to find out more about them. One of these men was Mervyn Ninnis of the Devonshire Regiment. Born on the 9th January 1889, in …

North Devon Men in the Great Naval Battle

In this second post to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland  is a transcript taken from the North Devon Journal published the following week. In its report covering the battle the Journal published information about those who survived as well as those who did not... In the Great Naval battle on May …