I joined the Common Lot because I’m really interested in history and I wanted to learn new things and meet some new people. Being a citizen researcher was a really incredible experience and I met some amazing people who were great characters and who shared lot of interesting information. I particularly enjoyed being part of a team made up of varied people of different ages.
I did my research on a man called Obadiah Short, focusing specifically on his childhood as he was a child in the Anglia Square area in the early 19th century
Here are some interesting facts I found out about his childhood.
- His grandfather, who he lived with after the death of his parents, had two thumbs on one hand.
- When Hanover was taken by England there was great celebration. One of Obadiah’s uncles put a sixpenny loaf on a pole, stating that bread would now become cheaper.
- One of his few memories of when his parents were still alive was when he fell from the top floor of his house to the bottom and knocked out his front teeth.
- One relative told him a story of being on a battlefield and picking up a skull by putting his finger in the eye socket like a bowling ball.
By Maya Howells, age 13