True life adventures of a Frome family in the 18th and 19th centuries will be explored at Frome Society’s next Saturday afternoon lecture.
The lecture, on 24th January, will be delivered by Keith Browning, who has researched family histories. It will highlight the lives of the local gentry as they interact with their tenants and parishioners.
Organisers say, “Every level of society had to struggle as Britain was transformed from a country dependent on sheep to one dominated by the effects of the Industrial and Social Revolution, which evolved to become Victoria’s Empire. The story features a family who should be the richest in Britain today but are barely known outside the boundary of Frome and the school chemistry laboratory.
“There is a great inventor, one of the cleverest men in Victorian England, a great technologist, perhaps on par with Edison, but who is almost totally unknown today. His daughter, who was England’s first female pilot, should be a famous name, taking to the air in 1911 but again, a complete unknown, even amongst those who claim to be aviation historians. How these folk link together is the common thread that runs through the talk.
“When Keith Browning retired in 2005, he began researching family histories. Working closely with Frome Society’s Michael McGarvie, he discovered an amazing story which he will tell us about.”
Frome Society’s lectures take place in the Assembly Rooms at the rear of Frome Memorial Theatre, starting at 2.30pm. Visitors are welcome but are asked to pay an entry fee of £5. The Society’s talks are proving very popular and to be sure of a seat, it is advisable to book a place through the Society’s website www.fsls.org.uk
