The Life of a GP in Banbury in the 1960s

Very modern history – what it was like in general practice in Banbury and surroundings, with daily commitments to the Horton Hospital;   and living above the GP surgery in the days before modern Accident/Emergency and ambulance services.

Professor Sir Roy Meadow

Roy Meadow started his professional life in the West Bar Surgery, and went on to train as a Physician then a Paediatrician He was Professor of Paediatrics in Leeds, and the Inaugural President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.  He is the author or many books and research publications.

The Battle of Middleton Cheney, 1643

On the afternoon of Saturday 6th May 1643 a parliamentarian force from Northampton attempted to capture the town and Castle of Banbury. Surprised by a royalist cavalry brigade under the Earl of Northampton, they were pursued back to Middleton Cheney where they attempted to make a final stand.  

In a brief but decisive engagement, the young Earl showed his capability as a cavalry commander in his first independent action. Victory here enabled a much-needed supply train to be delivered safely to the King at Oxford.

In this talk Gregg Archer pieces together the available sources to tell the story of the battle and the events surrounding it. He will also take a closer look at the people who fought it, and propose a location where many stood and died on that fateful day.

Gregg Archer

Gregg Archer is the co-chair of the Mercia Region of The Battlefields Trust. When not working in the hospitality industry he is researching the lesser known engagements of the 17th Century Civil Wars. His research on the 1645 battle of Radcot Bridge was previously published in the Battlefields Trust Journal “Battalia”.

Truth is stranger than fiction: the extraordinary life of Marjorie Crosby Slomczynska (born Banbury 1884)

Marjorie Crosby was born in Banbury in 1884 and died in Poland in 1954. In between was a truly remarkable life, filled with drama, heartache, love, passion, tragedy and scandal … the journey takes us to pre-1914 St Petersburg, Dublin, Warsaw in the 1920s, Paris and Hollywood in the ‘30s, and life and death in Nazi-occupied Poland. It was all a far cry from Banbury, where her family had lived for over three centuries. Alan Crosby, her great-nephew, tells her extraordinary story.

Dr. Alan Crosby

Alan Crosby has been editor of The Local Historian since 2001. Ten generations of his Crosby forebears lived in Banbury, from the time of Elizabeth I, and he has published several articles in Cake & Cockhorse. These include a study of his great-great grandfather George Crosby (1820-1886), who was mayor in 1872.

How Enclosure shaped Oxfordshire’s landscape

The sub-title to this talk could be ‘How common right became private property’, as the past thousand years has seen the gradual privatisation of much land that had always been held, used and cropped in common.   How, when and why did this come about, and what is the evidence around us?

Deborah Hayter

Deborah has an MA from Leicester University’s Department of English Local History, and has been teaching Local and Landscape History in Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education for some 20 years.

The Personal History of Shoes

Shoes are deeply personal objects. They say a great deal about us and the roles that we play in society. They also have a unique connection with their wearer, since they mould to our body and bear its imprint. In many cultures, the shoe is taken to stand for its owner, embodying their personality or their spirit. They tell stories about our lives and, as such, provide very rich sources for historians.

In this talk, Matthew McCormack will explore the history of shoes, and will think about the importance of shoes for their wearers. He will discuss his research on the Georgian period but will also bring the story of shoes up to the present day, and will bring along some objects for a hands-on demonstration.

Professor Matthew McCormack

Matthew is Professor of History at the University of Northampton. He has appeared on TV and radio, and has published widely on British history. His most recent book is Citizenship and Gender in Britain, 1688-1928 (2019) and he is currently writing a book called Shoes and the Georgian Man.

The Long Wittenham Hall and the Origins of Wessex

The archaeology of the Upper Thames Valley indicates that in the very Early Medieval period this part of the country was at the heart of the development of new post-Roman power structures. Excavations at Long Wittenham of a special hall building revealed other fascinating aspects of that story and were followed by the reconstruction of the hall in-situ using contemporary methods and tools. The talk will cover both the excavations and the reconstruction work.

Dr. Jane Harrison

Jane Harrison is a fieldwork archaeologist and Early Medieval archaeology specialist. She has run excavations covering all periods from Oxfordshire to Orkney and recently on Hadrian’s Wall and in North Northumberland. Jane has published books and articles covering those excavations and on her research into the Vikings of the North Atlantic

 Importance of Burton Dassett Southend: combining history and archaeology.

It was once said that archaeology is an expensive way of telling us what we know already. The excavations at Burton Dassett disprove this gibe. Many aspects of the past are only partly documented by written sources, and archaeological evidence extends our understanding. We learn from the work at Burton Dassett about town and country, houses, diet, farming, piety, literacy, and much else.   Southend was a lively commercial centre in the middle ages which was then more or less deserted, and the excavations which have told us so much about it took place in advance of the destruction caused by the building of the M40 along the valley.

Professor Chris Dyer.  

Chris Dyer has taught at the Universities of Edinburgh, Birmingham and Leicester. He is now the emeritus Professor of History, at the Centre for Regional and Local History in Leicester.  His research covers the fields of social and economic history, landscape history, and archaeology. He is active in societies and research groups. He has an impressive list of publications, of which the most recent is Peasants Making History c. 1200-1540.

Document and Story session

Our last indoor session on Thursday April 18th is billed as a ‘Document and Story session’ and the idea is that members who have a document with an interesting story – it could be a will, an agreement, a ticket to an interesting event, an advertisement – should share the story. I have already received a couple of suggestions but would ideally like some more. I will need to have these in advance so that we can scan them into powerpoint slides (so that everyone can see them) so please keep them coming!

BHS members