The Blandford Express

A wedding, due to take place in Southampton, had to be cancelled because the bridegroom, Uriah Jones (29) was shot when visiting his fiancé in Sixpenny Handley a few days earlier. As he was kissing his intended Beatrice Sheen (23) ‘goodnight’, sixty-eight shotgun pellets crashed through a window into Uriah Jones’s neck killing him. Fortunately, Miss Sheen was only slightly injured. Suspicion fell on Percy Brownsea, also of Sixpenny Handley, who had enjoyed a previous relationship with Miss Sheen.. He had claimed she had severed this relationship because Uriah Jones, known as Hughie, had money, a house and a lorry. Brownsea had tried his hardest to get her to reconsider her decision. Uriah Jones was a partner with his brother and father in a Southampton sand and gravel business. Brownsea, a woodman and ex-serviceman, was taken into custody by the Dorset Police. He admitted to firing the gun saying he was drunk at the time and he only meant to frighten them. He remembered that Miss Sheen...

North America, it seems has many place names with links to the English county of Dorset.  Wimborne is a Southern Alberta hamlet in Canada. Each year on 1st July, it celebrates ‘Wimborne Day’ with fireworks,  live music and  lawnmower races. The latter being organised by the Lawnmower Fanatics of Alberta. Not to be outdone, Wimborne in Dorset, England has its own Mower Club. Wareham is a town in Massachusetts, USA and was the home of Benjamin Briggs, the  captain of the Mary Celeste - a vessel discovered abandoned and deserted in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872. The town has the country’s oldest nail manufacturing factory. There is also a Wareham in Ontario, Canada.  Bridport, Vermont in the USA is a small town of around 1,200 people and was founded back in 1761. Its moto is ‘there’s only one Bridport, USA.’ It also hosts a ‘Bridport Day’ on 14th June. Apparently during the American Revolution, the British burnt down every house in Bridport except one. Weymouth, Massa...

Genges, at the corner of Dorchester’s High West Street and Trinity Street, was once the largest store in the town. Each year, Genges would have a Santa’s Grotto. At Christmas time, back in 1951, Dorchester children in the Grotto, waiting their presents, experienced something of a surprise. Father Christmas lit up a cigarette and his beard just burst into flames. The name of Genges can be seen above the former store’s frontage in High West Street. (Source: Sunday Express - 16th December 1951.)

Despite being only ten  years old, Charlie King of Orchard Street, Blandford was much travelled. With his passion for trains, he had visited  many destinations by rail including Plymouth, Bournemouth, Dover, Templecombe, London, Bath and Weymouth.  Only problem was that he made these journeys on his own and without a ticket. In total, it was reckoned Charlie made as many as sixteen such rail trips without paying his fare. When asked for his rail ticket he would admit he had none and would explain that his mother had given it to the train guard at Blandford. Whichever was his destination he would say he was travelling to meet his uncle. He claimed he was encouraged by other children at his school to go on his railway adventures. Because of his exploits, Charlie King became particularly well known to Sergeant Underwood of the Blandford Police. Matters came to a head when in December 1877 he had to appear before Blandford Magistrates, the Viscount Portman and James John Farq...

Thrilling scenes were witnessed at the top of a hill just out of Charmouth towards Lyme Regis when a fully-grown lion escaped from a van belonging to Chapman’s Zoo. The lion, known as Pasha, was in transit with three tigers between Bridport and Lyme Regis. This all occurred around a Friday lunchtime. The van was being coupled to a tractor when it suddenly ran backwards and crashed into a tree. This caused the doors of the van to burst open which enabled Pasha to escape onto the roadway. The animal did not look overjoyed and just settled down along the roadway. Points of vantage of the spectacle were taken up by the men, women and children of Charmouth. However the best view was obtained by a gentleman who ascended a telegraph pole. An unsuccessful attempt was made to lasso Pasha. A motorcyclist starting his engine startled Pasha causing him to move onto a field belonging to Mr. Goodland of Lilly Farm. There the animal espied some cows. The lion bounded up to them seizing one by the thr...

Poaching in Dorset in the 1800s was a crime chiefly driven by the rural poor’s  need for food. It represented a conflict between landowners who claimed exclusive rights to the valuable game on their estates and the poor who felt a traditional right to access food. Encounters between poachers and gamekeepers were often violent and convicted poachers faced severe penalties. Man-traps were frequently left in place to capture poachers. A desperate poaching affray took place in September 1893 on the estate of Lord Wolverton at Iwerne Minster. Four men who had set nets in a rabbit warren were surprised by an equal number of gamekeepers. The poachers were armed with bludgeons and this all took place around 2 o’clock in the morning. Gamekeeper to Lord Wolverton, Tom Lane said the keepers were first attacked with sticks and he was struck by a heavy blow to his head. They were then stoned but after some hard fighting the four poachers were finally captured. The poachers were in possession of...