Local Histories

By Tim Lambert His Early Life Martin Luther was a religious reformer who lived in the 16th century. Luther was born on 10 November 1483 in the German town of Eisleben. (In those days Germany was not a single country but was a federation of states called the Holy Roman Empire). His father was Hans… Continue reading A Biography of Martin Luther

By Tim Lambert The early life of Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe was a great Elizabethan playwright. He was baptised in Canterbury, Kent on 26 February 1564. The exact date of his birth is not certain but he was born the same year as William Shakespeare during the reign of Elizabeth I. His father John Marlowe… Continue reading A Biography of Christopher Marlowe

By Tim Lambert His Early Life Thomas More was an English statesman and writer of the early 16th century. Thomas More was born on 7 February 1478 in Milk Street in London. (At that time London was a bustling town of perhaps 60,000 or 70,000 people). His father, John More was a lawyer and the… Continue reading A Biography of Thomas More

By Tim Lambert His Early Life William Shakespeare was baptized on 26 April 1564. We don’t know the exact date of his birth but in the 16th century, it was normal for babies to be baptised within a few days of their birth (because so many died). Shakespeare was born the same year as Christopher… Continue reading A Biography of William Shakespeare

By Tim Lambert The Early Life of Tyndale William Tyndale was a great man of the 16th century. Little is known about his childhood. Tyndale was born about 1494 in Gloucestershire. He came from a family of landowners and wool merchants. We also know that Tyndale had two brothers. The family was well off and… Continue reading A Biography of William Tyndale

By Tim Lambert Alexander Graham Bell was the man who invented the telephone. He was born in Edinburgh on 3 March 1847. Bell’s father taught elocution and Alexander was expected to follow. He was educated at Edinburgh High School, Edinburgh University, and the University of London. Afterward, he taught elocution and music. Then in 1870,… Continue reading A Biography of Alexander Graham Bell

By Tim Lambert Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born in Portsea, Portsmouth on 9 April 1806. His father Isambard Marc Brunel was also an engineer. He was born in France in 1769 but he fled abroad in 1793 during the French Revolution. In 1799 he married Sophia Kingdom and they had 3 children, Sophia, Isambard, and Emma. Isambard… Continue reading A Biography of Isambard Kingdom Brunel

By Tim Lambert His Early Life Charles Dickens was born in a house in Mile End Terrace on the edge of Portsmouth on 7 February 1812. (It was given the name Mile End because it was about a mile from the gate in the wall around Portsmouth). At that time Portsmouth was dominated by the… Continue reading A Biography of Charles Dickens

By Tim Lambert Joseph Lister is famous as the surgeon who invented antiseptic surgery. Lister was born on 5 April 1827 in Upton in Essex. He was one of 7 children and his father was a wine merchant. The Lister family were Quakers. At the age of 11, Joseph Lister was sent to school in… Continue reading A Biography of Joseph Lister