Now write the books!

Eminent historian Jon Nichol had just returned from organising a history conference in Spain ,  -History Education in a Changing World: -The Past as a Tool for the Future when he stepped in at very short notice to talk to Starcross History about the history of Starcross.
In just a couple of days, Jon was able to gather enough material about Starcross's past to fill 6 large tables and a notice board. He had decided to focus on Victorian Starcross, and had asked the question 'Did Queen Victoria ever come to Starcross.' The internet provided the answer; on a page from one of her diaries. It described a journey from Budly Salterton to Powderham, in her yacht HMY Victoria and Albert -

but Jon hadn't included the next page of the diary. Could that have mentioned something of Starcross? 'What did Starcross look like as Queen Victoria sailed past? What would Queen Victoria have thought?'
To find the answers, the history group examined the quantities of photographs, maps and documents, and then reflected on the picture painted of life in Victorian Starcross. Census material from the internet contained familiar  surnames, particularly, Anning. Occupations included railway porter, railway policeman, housekeeper, and blacksmith. There was talk of the Starcross Quay, which was called Ashes Quay; and more conversation about Ashes Field. What did we know about the Ash family of Starcross?
Photographs of Starcross today also asked questions. Why was Brickyard Lane so named? Another photograph was of a local resident who had told Jon all sorts of lovely stories about Starcross, which he had written down for us to read. Some of us already knew those stories, but some of us hadn't heard them before. This made us realise that we must make records of our oral histories.
Jon emphasised that today's biggest resource is the internet. There's information available to everyone, on any topic.
There was enough material on those 6 tables, to enable us to write a book about Victorian Starcross... but perhaps we would like to write about another aspect of Starcross's history?

BTW here's the next page - no thoughts from Victoria about Starcross, and Powderham Castle - (Lord Devon's place) was only seen from a distance. Aaahhh. shame...
but our imaginations worked hard as we thought about what  Victoria's impressions of our village might have been; as she sailed so close on 30th August, 1843

 

wiki - HMY Victoria and Albert 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other ships with the same name, see List of ships named HMY Victoria and Albert.

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

HMY Victoria and Albert

HMY Victoria and Albert, depicted during a royal visit to Le Tréport, France; September 1843.
History
Namesake:	Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort
Builder:	Pembroke Dock
Laid down:	1842
Launched:	25 April 1843
Renamed:	Osborne, 1855
Fate:	Scrapped, 1868
General characteristics
Type:	Royal Yacht
Tons burthen:	1034
Installed power:	430 hp (320 kW) steam engine
Propulsion:	Twin paddles
Armament:	2 guns

HMY Victoria and Albert was a twin-paddle steamer launched 25 April 1843. It functioned as a royal yacht of the sovereign of the United Kingdom, owned and operated by the Royal Navy. She was laid down in 1842 at Pembroke Dock and was designed by William Symonds. She measured 1,034 tons burthen, carried two guns, and was the first royal yacht to be steam powered, being fitted with a 430 horsepower (320 kW) engine.

Queen Victoria and Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire on the Royal yacht during the Sultan's official visit to United Kingdom.

She made twenty voyages. After the launch on 16 January 1855 of HMY Victoria and Albert II, she was renamed Osborne. She was scrapped in 1868.c

The ship's figurehead is preserved above the door of the South Office Block in Portsmouth's Royal Dockyard.^[1]

References

• Queen Victoria's Journals. Journal entry: Wednesday 30th August 1843. http://www.queenvictoriasjournals.org/search/displayItem.do?FormatType=fulltextimgsrc&QueryType=articles&ResultsID=2947854968511&filterSequence=0&PageNumber=1&ItemNumber=1&ItemID=qvj03986&volumeType=PSBEA  Accessed online 15/09/2016  

• HMY Albert and Victoria  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMY_Victoria_and_Albert accessed online 15/09/2016

• 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881 Census. Crown Copyright. The National Archives, London England available online http://www.ukcensusonline.com/index.php accessed 15/09/2016