Blandford Throwback Facts VIII

In 1786, Lord Milton of Milton Abbey, Lord Shaftesbury of St Giles and Lord Arundel of Wardour Castle all attended Blandford Races.

When 74 survivors from a Swanage shipwreck stopped off at the Crown Inn in Blandford on the way to London, the Inn Master gave them all a good dinner and two shillings & sixpence (12.5p) to see them on their way.

In 1787, the Blandford Bank was founded. In 1858, it had to suspend all payments with liabilities of £48,792 and assets of only £18,167.

In 1788, Mr Bailey’s Annual Ball was held in the Assembly Rooms for the young ladies of Mrs Smith’s and the young gentlemen of Mr Chisholm’s and the Reverend P Warton’s Boarding Schools.

In 1789, it cost eighteen shillings and eight pence (93p) for beer and brushes to clean the streets for when King George III passed through the town. He received a ‘tumultuous’ reception on his way to Weymouth where he would regularly bathe in the sea waters.

In 1790, a ‘balloon coach’ called at the Greyhound Inn each day on its way from Exeter to London.

In 1791, innkeeper James Moore changed the name of the Three Swans public house to the George in commemoration of King George III passing through the town two years earlier.

Mailbags for London were sealed at half past two in the afternoon for London. There was no postup to London on Saturdays or down on Mondays.

In 1793, James Shatford, manager of the Salisbury Company of Comedians appeared in Blandford’s ‘New Theatre.’

Blandford born Thomas Rose arrived at Port Jackson, near Sydney in Australia as an early free settler with his wife, Jane and three children aged between 3 & 13 years and an 18 year-old niece.

In 1794, Adam Hunt was sentenced to seven years’ transportation for stealing four pounds and one shilling (£4.05p) from Thomas Hatsell in a house of ill-repute in Blandford.

(Illustration: Blandford Market Place)

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Chimney Sweep Tragedy

Crown Hotel, Blandford is reckoned to be one of Dorset’s oldest hostelries. Yet its most tragic day, during a long history, must surely be when a young chimney sweep lost his life. The chimney sweep, who was just a child, suffocated and was burnt to death in a Crown Hotel chimney which had been alight a little while before. ‘His cries were dreadful and no-one could give assistance. Part of the chimney was taken down before he was got out.’ (Salisbury & Winchester Gazette 27th March 1780) The lad had gone up one chimney and attempting to go down another had become stuck. At the time children were used to climb up chimneys to clean out soot deposits. With hands and knees, they would shimmy up narrow dark flue spaces packed thick with soot and debris. After the 1731 Great Fire of Blandford it was realised that it was important to sweep chimneys regularly while many rebuilt houses had narrower ones. Smaller chimneys and complicated flues were a potential death trap for children. The sw

Murder at Gussage St Michael

Gussage St Michael is a quiet North Dorset village with a population of few more than a couple of hundred. Yet for several months in 1913, it made headlines across the world as far away as Australia and New Zealand. William Walter Burton, a rabbit catcher, was found guilty of murdering his lover, 24 year-old Winifred Mitchell and had buried her in a lonely wood. Winifred Mary Mitchell was 5ft 5 ins tall, dark haired and was employed as a cook. She was known as ‘ Winnie ’ and ‘cookie’ . Winnie wore false teeth that had been given to her by a former employer. On the 9 th August 1913, South Australia’s Adelaide Advertiser reported. ‘ In the annals of crime, there have been few murders so carefully planned and so ingeniously carried out and it will be remembered that the judge in passing sentence of death intimated that Burton was beyond human forgiveness.’ William Burton walked alone to the scaffold and was hanged at Dorchester Prison on the morning of Tuesday 24 th June 1913.

Tarrant Rushton's Nuclear Secret

Tarrant Rushton was a large RAF base used for glider operations during World War II. It was then taken over by Flight Refuelling for the conversion of aircraft for the development of aircraft in-flight refuelling. However, between 1958 & 1965, the Tarrant Rushton airfield had a much more secretive and less publicised role. This was in support of the nation’s nuclear bomber deterrent, as Tarrant Rushton airfield became a QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) dispersal unit. During 1958, contractors Costain reinforced the main runway and carried out other work to ensure the giant bomber aircraft could be accommodated. At times just a few miles from Blandford, there would have been up to four RAF Vickers Valiant bombers at Tarrant Rushton ready to become airborne in minutes charged with nuclear weapons. The bombers were from 148 Squadron at RAF Marham in Norfolk. As there was no suitable accommodation at the airfield, an old US Air Force Hospital building at Martin was used. At the time, the

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