About

ONCE UPON A TIME I thought that a Witham website could contain everything that I wanted it to. But of course I was wrong. I am still surrounded by loads of files and papers, which could be really interesting on the website. But I shall never have the time to put them there. So let me explain that I am leaving all my papers about the history of Witham to the Essex Record Office, with their consent. So you should eventually be able to see them there when I’m gone, if you make the right arrangements.

As well as the files I mentioned, there are boxes of photos. And especially there’s a large card index, mostly to people but also to places. There is quite a lot of information about the 17th century, which so far is not represented very much on this website. I rarely add to the card index now, but I still find it really invaluable for tracking people down.  So I hope you will too.

I often quote from other people. After all, it is their history that I am writing, not mine. When a writer does this, they are morally, sometimes legally, to admit it. And of course I have always tried very hard to do so. After all, I have had so much help from everybody over many many years.

However, not everyone is so honest.  One group in Witham takes material from my website continually, and reproduces it as their own, with no suggestion that anyone else, such as me, played any part in it. This  especially applies to photo.In my website there are well over three thousand photos, each with their histories and descriptions and previous owners. How much effort would it take to include that information in this other site. And thus to enable anyone to enquire of me for any other information.