THE CHRIS HOBBS SITE

The above photograph is of the author and was taken at the side of Piazza del Campo in Sienna, Italy - August 2007. I wonder why Crookes, or even Sheffield for that matter, does not have a Palio or similar type of event?

The Genealogy Pages "Family History" are quite extensive. To facilitate the additional information I have created a Family History Index that should assist in the navigation of that section. I have also included in the index, a general section that contains articles that are associated with the history of my family. Nearly all the people who appear in the Family History pages are no longer living and so this section of the site is in effect a Memorial as well as a Resource.

I hope that you'll find the Family History Pages interesting and informative. I will of course be delighted to hear from anyone who can provide me with further insights and information with regard to my ancestors.

In November 2010 I decided that I would create a "blog" to accompany this website. The site is now over twelve years old, and I wanted to expand the content of the site to include information that I have come across but was not detailed enough to warrant an article. It would also allow me to comment on more contemporary matters that effect the area I live in, and also keep people updated on the articles posted. With a nod to Crookes in particular, and Sheffield in general, the blog is called "View From A Hill" .

November 16 is my date of birth and so that section of the site deals naturally enough with the births, deaths and events that have occurred on that date. I have also provided an account of a murder that occurred on that day that ended in a judicial execution. School Days - incidentally they were not "the happiest days of my life" gives a personal view of what it was like to attend a provincial Grammar School in the 1960's as well as providing a counterbalance to many of the wild and inaccurate claims surrounding post war education in the U.K.

Britain and the World since 1953 is intended to put a perspective on the events that have occurred in my lifetime. It is in effect a chronology and almanac with links to other websites and areas of information. The content is continually being extended and it is hoped that it will become a useful reference tool when completed. There is also a page compares the Britain of 1953 with the Britain of 2003

The Location Map is a directional guide for those visiting the area where I live. This section has also been extended to include a brief history of the road I live on (Spring Hill) and the area of the city ( Crookes - Walkley district ) I live in. I have posted to that section, details extracted from the various UK Census' for Spring Hill as well as excerpts from a number of Kelly's Directories - a full index of photographs and articles has been also been posted to the section.

I have also added my acknowledgements to people who have spared me their time and effort in providing me with content and information. It is greatly appreciated. Two such resources that are particularly useful are the Sheffield History Forum and the newer Sheffield Soldiers of the Great War. I would encourage readers of this site to visit both websites as they both contain a mine of information

There is also a copyright notice which I hope will ensure that the information on this site is not sullied by crass commercialism. Any errors are of course mine and mine alone.

"To remain ignorant of what happened before you were born is to remain always a child" - Cicero

"One of the deepest impulses in man is the impulse to record, to scratch a drawing on the tusk or keep a diary, to collect sagas and heap cairns. This instinct as to the enduring value of the past is, one might say, the very basis of civilization" - John Jay Chapman

"To the living we owe our respect, to the dead we owe nothing but the truth." Voltaire.

I should add that I update the "Sheffield" articles as and when relevant information becomes available. Most of them are based on information I came across whilst researching in the local archives and reading old newspapers. I have tried only to put material on the site that is not easily available elsewhere and so that is why there are no articles on The Sheffield Flood, Charlie Peace, The Hillsborough Disaster etc. I am also conscious of the need not to compromise the privacy of the living and so the articles are definitely historical in perspective. I try to adhere to the "forty year rule."

ARTICLES THAT HAVE A SHEFFIELD CONNECTION

1. City of Sheffield - post war aerial views

2. University of Sheffield - Twentieth Century views

3. Dr John Blakely of Crookes and his Trial for Murder 1934.

4. The Crookes Chinese Laundry Murder of 1922 "one of the most sensational crimes Sheffield police have ever investigated"

5. The Sheffield Test Match of 1902

6. The Marples, Sheffield - December 12th 1940

7. Charles Simpson (1895 - 1975) - "faster than Walter Lindrum or Alex'Hurricane' Higgins"

8. The Death of Henry Hughes 1918 - a Soldier from Sheffield

9. The Execution of Soldiers from Sheffield 1914 - 1918

10.Sheffield's Victoria Cross holders

11.Arnold Loosemore (1896 - 1921) - a Sheffield V.C. - How Pte. Loosemore won the VC August 11th 1917

12.John C. Raynes (1887 - 1929) - a Victoria Cross holder from Sheffield

13.The 1936 Cup Final - The last time the Blades appeared in a F.A.Cup Final

14.Herbert Chapman (1878 - 1934) - the greatest football manager? - the section also includes his brother Harry Chapman (1879 - 1916)

15.The first Soccer Broadcast on't wireless - Highbury, 22nd January 1927

16.Sheffield's only F.A.Cup Final - 24th April 1912 Harry Tufnell scorer of the winning goal in the 1912 Final - Photos of the 1912 FA Cup Replay

17.Reverend Tiverton Preedy (1863 - 1928) Founder of Barnsley Football Club and the Ashdown Club - Tiverton's Family

18.The Cleggs of Sheffield - William Johnson Clegg (1827 - 1895) - Sheffield's first Official Receiver

19.Sir Charles Clegg (1851 - 1937) - "Football's first knight"

20.The World's First Floodlit Football Match - Bramall Lane, Sheffield - 14th October 1878

21.Horatio Bright(1827 - 1906) - Horatio Brights Family - Sheffield and Liverpool "a remarkable figure of his day in the second half of the last (nineteenth) century" - Also The Funeral of Horatio Bright 1906 and Horatio Bright - The Mausoleum at Moscar

22.A Tragic Accident in Sheffield - August 1957

23.John Fowler (1817 - 1898) and the Forth Rail Bridge 1890

24.The Sheffield Gale of 1962

25.A Letter to Sheffield from Germany - May 1945

26.A Death in Longley, Sheffield - October 1953

27.George Orwell and Sheffield - March 1936 "Sheffield, I suppose, could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World..."

28.The Execution of Frederick Nodder - December 1937 - "a filthy and repulsive creature"

29.A Daring Robbery at the Rodney Inn, Loxley, Sheffield - October 1856

30.The Smallpox Epidemic - Sheffield 1887 - "..one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity"

31.Sherlock Holmes and the Gestapo

32.The Sheffield Workhouse Scandal - January 1882 - "Wood's body was ultimately found laid on a slab at the Medical School ready for the anatomical lecturer .."

33.The Nunnery Pit Accident - Sheffield December 1923

34."Apalling Disaster at Sheffield - Eight children killed" - Matthew Street, Sheffield 25th August 1886

35.The Beighton Rail Disaster - February 1942

36.The Death of Samuel Wynne - Bramall Lane - May 1927 - "No-one could have imagined the probability of such a dramatic close to the life of Wynne"

37.Enid Blyton (1897 - 1968) and the Sheffield Connection

38.Death in the Don Brewery - June 1900 also includes - "A Man Smothered in Malt at Sheffield" April 1853

39.Crushed to Death - Leppings Lane, Hillsborough, Sheffield "Mr Clegg stated that everything would be done to prevent a future occurrence"

40.The Beighton Doodlebug - Xmas Eve 1944 - "The Angel of Death is abroad in land only if you can't hear the flutter of his wings..."

41.A Christmas Execution - John Eastwood (Sheffield) - 28th December 1923 - "I never meant it"

42.Sheffield Wednesday FC - The Unusual Death of Walter Holbem 1884 - 1930

43.The Opening of Abbeydale Boys Grammar School - Sheffield 23rd July 1959

44.The Sheffield Skating Tragedy - Killamarsh November 1915

45.The Appalling Crash at Moscar - Sheffield August 1907 - "Can there be a future in Sheffield for these vehicles"

46.Murder at White Croft Sheffield - 11th July 1884 - “Oh my children, my children. Lord have mercy on my children” The Aftermath of the White Croft Murders

47.Jet Crash on Hospital - Lodge Moor Sheffield 9th December 1955

48.Sheffield's First Air Raid - 25th September 1916 - "There is no such thing as a non-combatant in this war".

49.Rab Howell (1869 - 1937) - "the only true Romany to play for England"

50.Queen Victoria's Visit to Sheffield - 21st May 1897 - and the Official Opening of Sheffield's Town Hall - "Her Majesty was much touched by the loyal enthusiasm that was exhibited"

"We are ceasing to regard smoke and filth as necessary evils and are striving after remedies. Perhaps our children will once again see roses blooming in Attercliffe and trout on the rise near Lady's Bridge". J.D. Leader (1891)

Some cities love their antiquities, Sheffield has few to boast of, and therefore treats them with scorn. Someday it will regret it

"Each Generation imagines itself more intelligent than the one that went before it and wiser than the one that comes after it"
George Orwell

"Any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats"
-- George Orwell, "Benefit of Clergy: Some Notes on Salvador Dali

This website has been operative in its various guises since 8th November 1999. After six years I decided to upgrade the Guestbook. Unfortunately due to the activities of spammers I have had to remove the feature. And so if you have any comments, suggestions and information relating to the Site, please contact me directly by EMAIL and where necessary, I will reply to any requests etc.

CONTENTS OF THE SITE
1. The Hobbs Family History	12. Famous Last Words and All Back To My Place - Spring 1998.
2. The Hobbs Family History Index	13. Britain and the World since 1953
3. The Hobbs Family Tree - four generations	14. Britain 1953 - 2003 A comparison
4. The Ancestors of Thomas Eric Shutt 1926 - 1975	15. A Brief History of Crookes
5. Family History News and Notes	16. Photographs and Articles - Crookes and Walkley, Sheffield
6. A Relationship Schedule for Genealogists	17. The Location of Crookes, Sheffield
7. A Calendar For Genealogical Research	18. A History of Spring Hill, Crookes, Sheffield
8. School Days in Sheffield (1965 - 1972)	19. Crookes Picture Palace 1912 - 1960 - Unity Church, Crookesmoor
9. November 16th	20. Friends of Walkley Cemetery
10.A Murder in Leeds on November 16th	21. U.K. Military Executions 1914 - 1918
11.The Times dated 16 November 1953	22. Save St Hilda's Petition 2012