Schoolboy murdered in the street at Buntingford

London Daily News
19/10/1911

Dundee Chronicle 21/11/1911

Violent street crime is rare and when it happened in the past it was covered in newspapers all over country. Lisa is researching the Buntingford Tragedy back in 1911 for her father in law (Clive Hitch) as it was his uncle (George Hitch) which was murdered by a Mary Boddy.   She says she has some old news paper copy's of the little boy and his grave and would like to trace the originals of the photos, which will be far clearer.

Does anyone have any ideas as to where such pictures might have survived? The local papers, which may have included the pictures, are not yet on the British Newspaper Archive and even if they were the quality would not be very high.

Hitch Bricks at Ware Museum

Some Hitch Bricks

Further to my earlier posting about the distinctive bricks made by Caleb Hitch of Ware, Helen has written to say that her grandfather and great grandfather worked with and subsequently bought out Hitch's building firm. In addition Ware Museum has a permanent display on Hitch bricks in the museum with information concerning the Hitch family, as well as the connection between malting and brickmaking. The museum is open from 11am to 4pm Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and 2-4 on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays. 

WW1 Exhibition at Ware Museum

B.T.W. Ware Museum currently has a WW1 exhibition (until January 14th) and will be open for a Dickensian Evening, which is on the 5th December, from about 7pm until 9.30ish.

Caleb Hitch's Patent Bricks

St Albans Brickmakers

I am mainly interested in St Albans Brickmakers but I recently had a query about Caleb Hitch of Ware. In 1828 he was was granted a patent for large interlocking bricks with cavities. They were laid on edge and claimed to be more economical than standard bricks, but because of the complicated form of brick required to turn a corner many different patterns had to be produced. Consequently, they were not widely adopted and outside Ware Hitch bricks are very rare. Has anyone got a good picture of some of these bricks so I can see how they worked?