The Storyteller: A grim almanac of birthdays

Last week, I celebrated my birthday (number 62), on the Glorious Twelfth, the start of the Grouse shooting season, which always heralds in good weather to mark the occasion.

This year, as always, I was very spoilt by my partner, Sarah, who got me lots of things to keep me busy, new things to wear, and plenty to go and watch, at the start of next year...she knows just what I like!

I had lots of other cards and gifts, from family members, and various friends, who all wanted to make a tribute at this auspicious time of the year. I even had several people, who took the opportunity to express how much they like reading my articles, in whichever publication they find them. It is always good to hear that my efforts are appreciated!

So, I would like to take this opportunity, to thank everyone for their kind words, and gifts, but there is one gift in particular, from my good friend Nichola, that I would like to dwell on, as it is a new book for my research library, which has already inspired this latest article, that I wish to share with you...

It’s called, “A Grim Almanac of Devon”, by John Van Der Kiste, and, basically, its a day by day calendar of the year, giving a grim fact for each day, plucked from history.

As Nichola presented me with the book, at our Exeter TIP-X meeting (a meeting of my Exeter based paranormal investigation group), on the eve of my birthday, it seemed only fitting that I read out the entry for the 12th of August.

I then went on to read out the entry for my partner, Sarah’s birthday, and I’ve since gone on to read those for both my parents, and, as I now share them with you here, you will see that mine, when compared alongside the others, is fairly mundane...almost...

The 12th of August,1805, entry, refers to one, Betsy Rogers, who was hanged on this day, in Exeter, for the murder of her husband, Charles, in Plymouth, on the 10th of May...so you can see how swiftly justice was served, back in those days!

The entry goes on to say that they had been married for seven years, when, one afternoon, after a particularly heated argument, she stabbed him in the chest, with a penknife...valued at one penny!

Now this seems a rather unusual fact to raise at a murder trial, the actual value of the murder weapon. It suggests the wound couldn’t have been particularly serious, or deep, but he sadly bled to death six hours later.

It would seem that poor Betsy didn’t intend to murder her husband, but was executed, all the same, as the result of a rather tragic miscalculation on her part.

Sarah’s entry, for her birthday on the 26th of January, refers to a much more historic event, and a location that can still be visited, to view the aftermath of said event, all these years later. For on this day, in 1917, the village of Hallsands was washed away, thankfully with no loss of life, but sadly rendering 158 people homeless.

This completely preventable disaster, occurred, when the Admiralty, wanting to expand the dockyards in Plymouth, granted a contract to a large, national engineering firm, to dredge the shingle from along the coastline between Hallsands and Beesands.

At the time of this undertaking, the village comprised 37 houses, and, to the inhabitants, it was blindingly obvious what the results of this activity would be, but their protests went unheeded.

Eventually, in 1902, it was finally noticed that the level of the beach had started to fall, leaving the foundations of the properties exposed to further erosion, by storms, and high tides. The dredging was finally ceased, but, sadly, too late. The violence of that winter’s storms, in 1917, proved too much, and the village was, literally, washed away.

The inhabitants only had time to grab what few possessions they could carry, then retreated to the safety of the cliffs above, to watch, as their homes were destroyed.

Most of the villagers opted to be rehoused in the vicinity, but, in the only remaining habitable property, its owner, one Elizabeth Prettejohn, stayed put, until her death, in 1964...the year after I was born, funnily enough.

The villagers were offered a shocking £6,000 in compensation, between them, but the amount was never paid in full...funny how some things never change over time!

Moving on to my father’s birthday, the 21st of April, the book references the war years, in particular, 1941, and the night the City of Plymouth witnessed the worst amount of damage, and loss of life, ever, due to German air raids.

They were targeting the naval dockyards, but, sadly, the whole city centre suffered as well. Not just  buildings were destroyed, but the people sheltering inside them, were tragically killed too...such a shocking waste of life!

Finally, I turned to my mother’s birthday, the 14th of April, and this proved to be the most historic event of all four. For on this night, in 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg, resulting in the loss of 1,517 lives, including 24 Devonians.

Among them, were two young men from Exeter, one of whom was Henry (“Harry”) Ryland Dyer, who was actually the third assistant engineer, on the ill fated ship.

I can highly recommend this fascinating almanac, especially if you wish to discover what grim event took place on your own birthday, and I’m sure I will be returning to it, when I’m in need of more inspiration, for future articles.