News & Reports
March 31, 2025|Reports
“Kings Theatre Portsmouth: Then and Now” – Dave Allport
We heard the history of this fine Edwardian Theatre, including its restoration and the famous names who have appeared through its first hundred years. See our website and the March parish magazine for the meeting report. Our first ‘non-virtual’ talk of the year by Dave Allport, theatre guide, actor and backstage grafter, was the perfect…
Find Out More »February 28, 2025|Reports
“1216 and all that: The real story of the Magna Carta” – Nick Barratt
Dr. Nick Barratt joined us on Zoom for Wickham History Society’s second talk of 2025 where sixty five members and guests heard from the leading medievalist on the background to Magna Carta – the genesis of the parliamentary system and a fundamental influence on many other constitutions around the world. People were asking why 1216?…
Find Out More »January 31, 2025|Reports
“Put that light out: The Searchlight Girls of WW2″ – Dr Imogen Corrigan
Wickham History Society’s first talk of 2025 was a virtual one. Imogen Corrigan joined 78 of us from Kent on January 28th to talk about the role of women in the armed forces in the twentieth century and particularly the all female 93rd (Searchlight) Regiment Royal Artillery. Imogen speaks from great experience as she, possibly…
Find Out More »December 31, 2024|Reports
“Ministering Angel” – Jane Glennie
The joint Christmas meeting of the Wickham Society and the History Society saw us welcome actress and historian Jane Glennie in character as Netley Hospital’s Nursing Superintendent Shaw, a good friend and colleague of Florence Nightingale, to hear why she left Netley Hospital in disgrace. In typically forthright way Superintendent Shaw addressed her audience of…
Find Out More »November 30, 2024|Reports
“Op Overlord: Preparing for the D-Day Landings” – Jeremy Prescott
This presentation was developed to commemorate the 80th Anniversary, in 2024, of Op Overlord. We heard about the context and time leading up to the invasion, the senior commanders of the involved nations, the plan, deceptions, rehearsals, logistics (Mulberry Harbour, Pluto pipe), the invasion and its aftermath. The Woodford Room was packed to hear Jeremy…
Find Out More »October 31, 2024|Reports
“Lost Souls: a WW1 Story” – Brenda Margetts
Sixty eight members of Wickham History Society heard Brenda Margetts talk on Tuesday 22nd October about the traumatic and lasting impact of the First World War on a rural family. It made a nice change to have a talk without PowerPoint and lots of facts, but focussing instead on the people, the family and the…
Find Out More »September 30, 2024|Reports
“The Manor of Wickham – Part 2”
Fittingly for a talk on the Manor of Wickham our first meeting of the autumn season of Wickham History Society talks took place at Rookesbury House by kind permission of the Rookesbury estate. Just under a hundred Wickham History Society members and Carpenter Garnier family descendants attended on September 24th to hear Geoff Phillpotts complete…
Find Out More »May 31, 2024|News | Reports
Wickham History Society: Annual Report 2023 – 2024
Chair’s Introduction Firstly, I should like to express our sorrow at the death of Margaret Edgworth. Margaret had joined the Committee relatively recently but had already become very involved in our oral history work. We all miss her enthusiasm and dedication. It is very encouraging that our membership continues to grow – reflecting the care…
Find Out More »May 31, 2024|Reports
“Southampton: Water, Slaughter And Trade” – Andrew Negus
Having completed his four-part history of Portsmouth in the autumn of 2023, Andrew Negus joined us again for the first of a three-part talk on the history of Southampton. Did you know that Southampton has more surviving original stone city walls even than York or that the abbreviation Hants is because our county was originally…
Find Out More »April 30, 2024|Reports
“A Titanic Conspiracy” – Andy Skinner
Our April 23rd speaker, Andy Skinner, works at SeaCity Museum in Southampton and has always been fascinated by the number of conspiracy theories he hears about the ship’s sinking. You would think hitting an iceberg was unusual enough to satisfy the most active imagination but 13 visitors and over 60 members of Wickham History Society…
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