If you wish to receive invites to Zoom meeting then you may join the BAHS or sign-up to receive our information emails by clicking here.
Tuesday 25th January 2022 at 2:30pm
Talks By Members
Click here to view the recording of these two lectures.
Captain Fox: From Cley to New Zealand
James Fox (1831-1906) was born in Letheringsett but eventually settled in Cley where his home, Maori Pah, sat on the edge of the Glaven marshes. However it was his voyages at sea that set James Fox apart from his contemporaries for he was a master mariner extraordinaire. Fox established the Southern Ocean as the most expedient trade and colonial route to New Zealand and achieved many notable successes. These included the fastest land to land record as well as the accolade of commanding the last trading clipper home to the UK in 1899 when he was aged 68.
Pam Peake
Rudolph Ackermann to Gerald Ackermann
Gerald Ackermann (1876-1960) lived the last twenty-five years of his life in Blakeney and I have many images of his local watercolours to show, but very little biographical detail, so I shall start with his much more illustrious great-grandfather Rudolph Ackermann (1764-1834) whose portrait is in the National Portrait Gallery, before moving on to our local artist.
Richard Jefferson
Tuesday 22nd February at 2:30pm
Octavia Hill, Co-Founder of the National Trust
Click here to view the recording of this lecture.
Best known as one of the founder members of the National Trust, Octavia Hill’s vision was informed by some of the greatest reformers and thinkers of the 19th Century. The talk will examine and explore the remarkable life and many achievements of one of our most influential public figures.
Rob Knee
Tuesday 29th March 2022 at 7:30pm
Murder, Sex and Mayhem in English Churches
Like most people I enjoy the peace and serenity offered by our parish churches, but having visited and recorded over 12,000 of them I have found they also contain countless images of Murder, Sex and Mayhem.
Medieval murals and stained glass depict the martyrdom of saints from home and abroad, and the grisliest of dooms. At a lower level may be found misericords showing whippings, wife beatings, and brawls.
Finally there are many monuments and memorials that show scenes of murder and mayhem in goodly measure including stagecoach crashes, bridge collapses, falling trees, falling bridges, falling chimneys, shootings, stabbings, mine collapses, shipwrecks and explosions. This digital lecture will show a selection of images of murder and mayhem from across the country and explain both the stories behind them and their relevance to particular periods of history.
John Vigar
Tuesday 26th April 2022 at 7:30pm
The King of the Norfolk Poachers and his life story edited by Lilias Rider Haggard
Click here to view the recording of this lecture.
“I had such a liken for the Game I was past stoppin. Poaching is something like drug taking – once begun no goen back, it get hold of you. The life of a poacher is anything but a happy one, still it is exciting at times, and the excitement go a long way to sothe his concience if it trubble him”
Charlotte Paton became fascinated by this colourful character and set out to uncover the truth about him. The trail of broken hearts, broken laws and the complex family tree of Norfolk’s best loved rogue has taken her years to unravel.
It is the biography of a difficult and unreliable man who came to an unexpected and tragic end. You will want to dislike him, but instead you may suddenly find yourself willing him to win.
Charlotte Paton
Tuesday 27th September at 7:30pm
This talk is not available on Zoom.
Manifestations of Madness: Women’s Voices from the Norfolk County Lunatic Asylum
This talk uses a series of case studies, from the Norfolk County Asylum, to explore women of different social status, all diagnosed with gender-specific causes of insanity. Their treatment resulted in a variety of outcomes that both reflect the success and constraint of the medical knowledge at that time. One of the case studies is based on a resident from Cley.
Julie Jakeway
Tuesday 25th October at 7:30pm
This talk is no longer available on Zoom.
19th century industrial activity in Norfolk and its market towns
Although Norfolk fortuitously missed out on the heavy “metal-bashing” industry of northern England, our county had a huge range of smaller-scale but wide-spread industries. This presentation investigates the extent of and influences on activity in five market towns. Were industries sited to access locally available resources? Was a specific geographical location or proximity to large urban centres important? Or were local entrepreneurs the driving forces?
Adrian O’dell
Tuesday 29th November at 7:30pm
Norfolk Born: the development of the tank and the outstanding role of Elliot Hotblack in WW1
Click here to view the recording of this lecture.
It was in World War One (WW1) that tanks were first deployed and in Elveden, on the Norfolk/Suffolk border (described as “the most secret place on earth”) that the first British tank crews were trained. While Eric Hotblack will focus on the fascinating development of the tank, his cousin, Caroline Holland will examine the extraordinary life and career of their great uncle, Elliot Hotblack, who was born in Norfolk and is currently featured in the Tank Men Exhibition at the Tank Museum.
Caroline Holland and Eric Hotblack
