The Half Moon and Holloway's Brewery, Hemel Hempstead

Breweries

Alister has provided a useful update on the history of the Half Moon public house, High Street, Hemel Hempstead, at the end of the 18th into the early 19th century. The earliest known owner was a Dr Hugh Smith (does anyone know anything about him), and through marriage the pub became part of the estate of the Holloway's Brewery. On the death of George Holloway in 1827 the brewery was sold but the following pubs were transferred to Weller's Amersham Brewery.

Bull, Markyate

Half Moon, High Street, Hemel Hempstead

Leather Bottle, Leverstock Green

Queens Head, Corner Hall, near Two Waters

Red Lion, Nash Mills

More about the Half Moon

Sales details of Holloway's Brewery, 1827

Mid-February Quickies

Help Desk

Churches

Over the last couple of weeks I have been busier that ever with emails flying in all directions and I have been spending more time than I should on local and family history - except, of course, that I enjoy it and it helps keep me mentally active. In the January progress report I mentioned I had started to sort out my large collection of post cards to help plan future picture updates and the main activity in the last two weeks has been to launch the new church page and the first associated indexes. This will help me to ensure that all suitable views (and in some cases interior pictures) of parish churches are accessible at an appropriate high resolution. Despite this I have also found time for even more posts on my other blog Trapped by the Box.

So here are some of the short items which didn't justify an individual blog post:

Tring

Mikki and I have both added to the page containing details of the From Rags to Riches story but there is still a problem in identifying Rose Louisa Eley. It is possible she is Rosina Sarah Lewis Ely and if she was a prostitute may have deliberately claimed to be younger than she was, and given an incorrect father's name and place of birth. If anyone can find any evidence that clarifies the situation it would be helpful.

Military

Meg has commented on a picture of young soldiers, undoubtedly in connection with the First World War, who had been photographed at the Australian Studios, Watford.  She says: These soldiers are dressed in the typical AIF uniforms of WW1 - they would have a bandana supporting a belt which held their ammunition when at war. I have no idea who they are. Unfortunately we still not know who they are.

I will be attending a Herts at War meeting at County Hall, Hertford, at the end of the month, and will be posting details of how visitors to this site can help. Other First World War activities relate to pictures of the soldiers who ended up in Napsbury and the school site Hemel at War school site which currently concentrates on the Second World War but which is planning to include more material on the previous conflict.

St Michael's, Watford.

The February issue of The Sword, the parish magazine of St Michael's and All Angel's Church, Watford, includes an article on the history of the church in the early years of the 20th century, illustrated by post card images from this web site.

Post Card by Harradance of Ware

Many shops sold post cards with their name and address on "as publishers." In many cases they will have been approached by a post card printer and selected the design from a pattern book. Kate commented that the post cards of the Dunmow Flitch Factory have the same frame as cards sold by Harradance of Ware. Presumably they were printed by the same printer and have a similar date, possibly around 1908.

Markyate

Geraldine tells me that the Markyate Local History Society as a new URL http://www.markyatehistory.org.uk/

Cycling

Following a request from John I am in the process of adding new material to the "Cycling" page.

The Story of Markyate Cell - and the Markyate pages are updated

Markyate Cell has an interesting history, starting as a nunnery in the 12th century, and was converted into a private house in the 16th century. It is associated with the myth of The Wicked Lady of Markyate Cell, and the above picture shows the house before a fire which led to rebuilding in 1840.

At the same time the Markyate pages have been given a significant face lift, including some new information about the books.

Markyate - On the County Boundary with Bedfordshire

Until 1877 the village of Market Street, or Markyate, was in three separate ecclesiastical parishes - Studham, Caddington and Flamstead and later became a civil parish in 1897. This causes difficulties as to knowing what the records mean, and where the records are held. For instance someone living in the house they were born in at the time of the 1901 census may be living in Markyate but Markyate (as a parish) did not exist when they were born - so what will they record as their place of birth. In addition civil registration records might be in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, or Luton, Beds.

This post has arisen because the help messaging facility has been broken and as a result I have been feeling somewhat deprived as I have had fewer help requests than usual . I saw a request linked to Markyate on Rootsweb relating to the birth of a Mary Vass (possibly in the Markyate area) circa 1780 and her death as Mrs Mary Cain circa 1861. You may see the original request, and my reply, on Rootsweb - but I have also posted them as VASS/CAIN. Markyate, late 18th & 19th centuries on this site - with added links.