News, research, views from the Bigg-Wither family http://www.bigg-wither.com 2008-07-04T11:05:04+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/images/M_images/rss20.gif text/html 2008-01-23T10:45:14+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/Places/Pioneer_deserves_to_keep_his_mountain.htm The suggestion by the Hermitage Hotel and Alpine Guides to rename Mt Ollivier Mt Hillary shows a fairly casual disregard for history. If implemented it would seem to me somewhat akin to the recent midnight removal of war memorial pillars from Greymouth.I don't doubt the sincerity of the suggestion, but since Mt Ollivier is a relatively easy climb, and within range for anyone setting out from the Hermitage, it seems impossible to avoid the impression that the proposal has a commercial aspect.Did someone imagine the amount of traffic the mountain would generate as guided tourists set out to climb Mt... text/html 2007-12-21T17:01:06+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/History/SV_Pudsey_Dawson.htm The SV Pudsey Dawson was the vessel that George and Fanny OLIVER came to New Zealand on in 1855. They disembarked at Wellington on the 23rd December 1853. The following from the 'Through Mighty Seas' website. From the Cumberland Pacquet newspaper, Tuesday, 16th November 1852, page 3: A very fine vessel was launched on Thursday last from the ship-building yard of Messrs.Lumley Kennedy and Co., of this town. The high reputation so long enjoyed by this eminent firm is fully maintained by this, their latest production. She is a very handsome and well-finished vessel, of 693 tons,... text/html 2007-12-19T19:36:40+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/People/Indian_Mutiny_remembered_in_new_book.htm A new book marking the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny was launched on, Friday 17 August 2007, at The Gurkha Museum in Winchester.'Rifles and Kukris: Delhi 1857' is published by Lieutenant-General Sir Christopher Wallace, a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire and Chairman of The Royal Green Jacket and Gurkha battalions, both of whom were involved in the Indian Mutiny. The mutiny, although unsuccessful, marked the early beginnings of the end of British rule in India.The fighting in Delhi was severe: 1,170 British soldiers, including Green Jackets and Gurkhas, were killed or wounded on 14 September 1857, the... text/html 2007-11-05T10:29:45+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/People/Caleb_Heathcote_1666-1721.htm Scarsdale Manor And Its First Lord, Colonel Caleb Heathcote The Manor of Scarsdale is inseparably connected with the life and personality of Colonel Caleb Heathcote, its founder and first Lord of the Manor, for although at his death he left a son to inherit the title, the son was a minor at the time and did not live to reach his majority, and the title became extinct with the son's death for lack of an heir male to succeed. Colonel Caleb Heathcote was descended from a family well known in England, and still better known by the careers of his... text/html 2007-05-21T03:40:56+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/Places/_Yes_to_Manydown.htm From the archive, first published Friday 1st Aug 2003. HAMPSHIRE County Council leaders have confirmed their backing for the 200-acre Manydown site west of Basingstoke to be earmarked as a major development area. After a debate on major development areas, the county Cabinet voted unanimously in favour of the recommendation: That support be conveyed to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council for the West of Basingstoke - Manydown - major development area as representing the most appropriate location to meet the strategic development needs of Basingstoke post 2011 and the continuing role of the county council in bringing... text/html 2007-05-05T04:21:46+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/People/Guy_Carleton_1st_Baron_Dorchester_KB.htm Guy Carleton, first Lord Dorchester 1724-1808, governor of Quebec, was the third son of Christopher Carleton of Newry, county Down, and his wife, Catherine, daughter of Henry Ball of county Donegal. He was born at Strabane 3 Sept. 1724. The father died when Guy was about fourteen, and the mother afterwards married the Rev. Thomas Skelton of Newry. According to Samuel Burdy, the biographer of Philip Skelton, Sir Guy's eminence in the world was owing in a great degree — to the care which his step-father, Thomas Skelton, took of his education (Complete Works of Rev. P. Skelton,... text/html 2007-04-02T02:38:21+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/People/Fergie_s_bleak_years_as_a_royal.htm LONDON - Life inside Buckingham Palace was bleak and undermining, and new royal family members were left alone and unsupported, the Duchess of York says in an interview to be broadcast this week.The duchess makes the comments about her life with the royal family during the late 80s in a therapy interview with Dr Pamela Connolly, wife of the comedian Billy Connolly.She tells of her great love for her ex-husband and her conviction that he was the best of the lot .The marriage to Prince Andrew stood no chance, she feels, because she saw so little of... text/html 2007-03-24T03:56:08+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/People/A_New_Zealand_Pioneer.htm Edinburgh-born and the son of a printer, William Thomson was employed as an accountant in Glasgow. He emigrated with his family, arrived in Canterbury in 1853 on the Hampshire, a vessel of about 600 tons. Theirs had been ‘a protracted voyage of five months’. Thomson attended the ball on Queen Victoria’s birthday – on 24 May – in Highland costume. The Lyttelton Maori ‘hearing of his costume, gathered along Norwich Quay to see the Taipo coming – rather peculiar considering their style of dress’. Thomson bought a property at Governors Bay which he called ‘Hemingford’. It became the famous... text/html 2006-11-04T19:09:19+01:00 http://www.bigg-wither.com http://www.bigg-wither.com/People/George_Wither_1588-1667.htm George Wither (11 June 1588 – 2 May 1667) was an English poet and satirist.Son of George Wither, of Hampshire, he was born at Bentworth, near Alton. He was sent to Magdalen College, Oxford, at the age of fifteen, and remained at the university for two years. His neighbors appear to have had no great opinion of him, for they advised his father to put him to some mechanic trade. He was, however, sent to one of the Inns of Chancery, eventually obtaining an introduction at Court. He wrote an elegy (1612) on the death of Henry Frederick, Prince of...