The Blandford Express

Richard Lydford was a teacher of music and the organist at Stalbridge Parish Church. In August 1875, he was sent to prison for having beaten his wife Lemira Lydford and having broken one of her ribs. Only 18 months had elapsed since they had been ‘joined together by God in the bands of holy matrimony.’  Their marriage had ‘caused a good deal of remark not entirely complimentary as Lemira was 72 years of age and the bridegroom not yet 40.’ She was the widow of the former minister of Stalbridge Congregational Chirch. He had come home between one and two o’clock in the morning and had threatened to cut his wife’s throat with a bread knife. Eventually she had escaped the house and had walked around a quarter of a mile in a storm when drenched with rain.  Lydford was apprehended at Semley railway station. James Bartlett, teetotal  editor of the Blandford Express commented: ‘This poor fellow’s case is another sad instance of the effects of strong drink. We understand he has bee...

Benjamin Randell Harris was a rifleman who served in the British Army between 1803 and 1814. Born in Portsmouth, his family moved to Stalbridge in North Dorset when he was still a child. His father, Robert was a shepherd and Benjamin as a youngster would help tend the sheep across the Blandford Downs.   Later, Benjamin would train as a cobbler. In 1803, Benjamin was selected by ballot to join the British Army for which he was paid a bounty of eleven pounds. Forty five years later, a book would be published recounting his army experiences. Like most ordinary soldiers of the time, he was illiterate so he related his memories to Captain Henry Curling who produced the book – A Dorset Rifleman . It is one of the few accounts of the life of a common soldier of the time. During his service, he was randomly selected to be part of a firing squad to execute a deserter – an experience understandingly, he found particularly disturbing. Benjamin Harris served in Ireland, Denmark and in the ...