“The Red Lion is the badge of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of Edward III. He lived from 1340-1399 and the Red Lion began appearing as pub sign during the following century. The Red Lion of Scotland is quartered on the shield of Britain and is there shown as a red lion rampant on a gold...
William Clifton Odger was a prominent figure in Helston life throughout the mid-19th Century. He was born in the town, circa 1797. His father, also William, was a watch & clockmaker and almost certainly an engraver. One of his productions – a beautifully engraved sundial – was presented to John Rowe in 1792 to mark the end of the fourth...
The Blue Anchor Inn is old. Everyone agrees that the house with the half-thatched roof at Helston’s No. 50 Coinagehall Street is old. The question for the historical enquirer is how old? And, further, for how long has it been a public house? As is often the case with venerable establishments such as the Blue Anchor – especially those with a...
LAWFUL WEDLOCK On the basis of currently available information, one may only speculate as to the personal and professional relationship between James Fitzsimmons and John Wedlock. They were immediate colleagues for seven years. Fitzsimmons was the older by several years. Both were skilled tradesmen. Fitzsimmons had served in the British Army and, although no direct evidence has come to light,...
James Fitzsimmons & John Wedlock - Peace Officers in Victorian Helston During the decades surrounding the American Civil War, a myth-laden period of mass Westward migration, expansion and settlement, a number of legendary (“When legend becomes fact, print the legend”) law enforcement officers emerged. Wild Bill Hickock, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Pat Garrett, Luke Short and Ned Buntline among others came...
Helston’s Cross Street takes its name from what the relevant Ancient Monuments Listing describes as a “Preaching cross. Probably pre-Conquest. Wheel-based granite monolith with incised flared Latin cross set into a roughly hewn granite base.” Some feel that this cross may date from the earliest period of Christianity in Cornwall and perhaps reflect echoes of an older religion. The cross...
Introduction “Local history? Why local history?” is a question occasionally asked of those who indulge in this fascinating but, to many, marginal field of study. For myself – in addition to the general historian’s desire to know something about the past in order to make a little more sense of the present - the answer is made up of three...