Weaverham History Society promotes the study of and interest in history and archaeology with particular reference to Weaverham and the surrounding area.
The Institute of Weaverham
(and impeccable handwriting).
29/09/2022
One of the more recognisable buildings that has been featured before is the Barrymore Institute.
It is not one of the listed buildings in the village but that doesn’t mean it has not played a major part in the history of Weaverham.
An earlier article on this site showed some extracts from the accounts from 1908 to the outbreak of the Great War.
. . .
The Society, Meetings, Membership, Visits
The Society meets at Weaverham Primary Academy, Northwich Road, Weaverham, Northwich, Cheshire, CW8 3BD.
Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month and we invite a guest speaker to talk to us on a topic of historical or archaeological interest, though sometimes the subjects range further afield. You can see what’s planned on our Programme page.
Membership is £15.00 per year with renewals in September. Payments can be made by BACS sort code 09-01-29 a/c 26685458. Meetings are free to members of the Weaverham History Society, children and students. Visitors are requested to pay £3 at each meeting.
We also organise highly enjoyable visits to local places of interest in spring and summer usually by coach from the village and we seem to have started a tradition of having a yearly canal boat trip as well. The Society normally invests in the services of Blue Badge guides on our visits. We also have a very enjoyable Christmas event every year, the talk commonly having a seasonal flavour.
We have articles on a range of topics, mainly about Weaverham, but also covering the surrounding areas. Although not a dedicated family history group, we do have some information on local families, and are always interested to hear from you.
We are continually developing our Archives and we have an array of items (objects, maps, and photos). We are always grateful to receive any contributions.
As we expand our new website you will be able to see some of what we have by visiting our Weaverham Archives page.
The Weaverham History Society also has a Facebook page.
We launched this website in January 2016, but while we move things across you can still find the old website at http://history.weaverham.org.uk/index2015.htm
. . .
Next Meeting
The Trial of Dr Tomanzie
May 14th 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Weaverham Primary Academy Northwich Road, Weaverham,, Cheshire, CW8 3BD
Angela Brabin, retired solicitor with an MA in History and the author of ‘The Black Widows of Liverpool will talk about the trial of Dr Tomanzie. Dr Tomanzie practised as a Doctor in Victorian Liverpool. Dr Tomanzie performed an abortion on a girl who died and was tried at Chester for her murder. Dr Tomanzie had an interesting past, first purporting to be an escaped slave and lecturing on slavery and the American Civil war. Later he married and practised as a herbal doctor in Derry/Londonderry and became wealthy and a town councillor. By the time he moves to Liverpool he is claiming to have a medical degree and practised under the auspices of the Liverpool Artisans Medical Society. However Angela’s talk concentrates on the trial and the light that it throws on the attitude of Victorians (and later) who of course blamed the girls ‘who got themselves pregnant’ and how illegitimate babies were dealt with and general shame of unmarried mothers.
For more information on Dr Tomanzie see https://www.dib.ie/biography/de-tomanzie-ethens-a10251
Image “The Outcast” from https://victorianweb.org/painting/redgrave/paintings/4.html
Change to July’s Speaker
With great regret and sadness, due to the death of Professor Ian Morison, we have had to change our July talk.
Prof. Morison worked for many years at Jodrell Bank and was a founding member of Macclesfield Astronomical Society.
I think the first talk he gave to us was on the history of the Lovell Radio Telescope. Despite astronomy being an unusual topic for talks to a history society Ian was such an interesting speaker we stretched our remit to include things like the History of the Universe and we had him back several times. He always drew in a good attendance of guests to our meetings and we were looking forward to hearing him speak on “Our Island Universe: the Milky Way and its place in space and time.” in July
We will miss him. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.
Steve Warbis of Macclesfield Astronomical Society has kindly stepped in to give an alternative talk.
