We warmly welcome guests to our talks at £5.00 per person. Students are free.
Membership to the Marlborough History Society is £15.00 per annum and if you wish to become a member please click here.
For events/talks held at St Peter’s Church, doors open at 7.00 pm
Please note: There are no talks in June, July, August and December
16 May
Marlborough’s Hidden Places
TIME: 7:30 PMSPEAKER: Bob Holman
Bob Holman has lived in Marlborough for a number of years and is a semi-retired coffee shop owner (The Food Gallery). After discovering the incredible capabilities of his iPhone camera, he has developed a passion for black and white photography.
TOPIC:
Bob Holman is a local photographer who has discovered that there is a wealth of historical features that belong to Marlborough which have been hidden away over the years. A project developed to find and capture on his iPhone what has been hidden away. He has searched for dungeons, sewers and underground storage areas. The original plan was to try and plot a kind of subterranean map of the ‘alleyways’ underneath Marlborough, following the unearthing of one some years ago. Recently, he photographed an abandoned oven at the Castle and Ball Hotel in the High Street, where he crawled through a small hole in the building to find it as staff waited outside. Bob said: “It was very dark, very quiet and damp in there. I wouldn’t say I was scared but it is quite a strange feeling. There was definitely a ‘presence’ down there!”.
19 Sep
The RNLI Bicentenary – 1824 to 2024
TIME: 7:30 PMSPEAKERS: Mary and Ben Bentley
Devizes based husband and wife team Mary and Ben Bentley have been fundraisers for the RNLI for over 20 years. Ben spent 32 years in the Royal Navy and Mary was a nurse for 37 years. They started giving presentations 2 years ago, to numerous groups in Wiltshire and beyond.
TOPIC:
The Marlborough History Society talk coincides with the 200 years anniversary of when the RNLI was formed. They will give a 50 minute illustrated talk regarding the formation and development of the institution from the early 1800s up until the present day. There will also be time for questions and a chance to buy some RNLI souvenirs and Christmas cards.
17 Oct
The Wiltshire Rising Against Oliver Cromwell
TIME: 7:30 PMSPEAKER: Eric Jones
Eric Jones is a retired Professor of Economic History and Author
Topic:
The Penruddock Uprising was a Royalist revolt launched on 11 March 1655, intending to restore Charles II to the throne of England. It was led by John Penruddock, a Wiltshire landowner who fought for Charles I in the First English Civil War; intended as one of a number of co-ordinated risings, the others failed to take place and it was easily suppressed.
21 Nov
Lest We Forget – Fabian Ware and the Imperial War Graves Commission
TIME: 7:30 PMSPEAKER: David Du Croz
David Du Croz was Head of History at Marlborough College for eleven years before retiring in 2007. He became involved with the College’s WWI centenary commemorations and developed a keen interest in events on the Western Front, leading many battlefield tours. He ran courses on the First World War at the Marlborough Summer School and has lectured extensively on various aspects of that war
TOPIC:
The Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission was the brainchild of Fabian Ware, whose own story and that of this most remarkable achievement are the bones of this talk. Together with some of the finest talents in the kingdom – Rudyard Kipling and Edwin Lutyens to name but two – he fashioned the greatest global memorial known to man.
