Victorian side hustle energy at its finest. The courtroom scene where they bring Thomas Bessie in a hamper and he's looking around "with a frightened air" while they debate whether matted fur counts as wings is absurdly charming. I love that you tracked down that 1970s book about animal frauds, the idea of the stuffed cat still being out there somewhere waiting to be rediscovered on eBay is genuinly compelling tbh.
Great to hear you’re enjoying them, Nath. I use the online British Newspaper Archive service to find the stories. You have to buy a subscription but it’s really user-friendly once you get the hang of it. The library collection of newspapers is on microfilm, which is very fiddly to use and you can’t search for specific things.
Do you just do for fun or earn a living from this uni project etc.
Oh really thanks for the heads up when hit a dead end on my tree I intend to get a purse some leads from there. I have some interesting story’s already just need evidence to back some points up. My grandad recently just passed at 82 he was and old rag and bone man and in and out of jail so told me a tale or two lol if interested maybe easy finds and write up’s for you? DM if interested :)
Victorian side hustle energy at its finest. The courtroom scene where they bring Thomas Bessie in a hamper and he's looking around "with a frightened air" while they debate whether matted fur counts as wings is absurdly charming. I love that you tracked down that 1970s book about animal frauds, the idea of the stuffed cat still being out there somewhere waiting to be rediscovered on eBay is genuinly compelling tbh.
The taxidermy has to be out there somewhere, it’s surely not the kind of thing you’d chuck in a skip!
Hi Thomas I live in Leeds and love your stories doing my family tree and need to come to the library to learn how to look at the old papers
Great to hear you’re enjoying them, Nath. I use the online British Newspaper Archive service to find the stories. You have to buy a subscription but it’s really user-friendly once you get the hang of it. The library collection of newspapers is on microfilm, which is very fiddly to use and you can’t search for specific things.
Do you just do for fun or earn a living from this uni project etc.
Oh really thanks for the heads up when hit a dead end on my tree I intend to get a purse some leads from there. I have some interesting story’s already just need evidence to back some points up. My grandad recently just passed at 82 he was and old rag and bone man and in and out of jail so told me a tale or two lol if interested maybe easy finds and write up’s for you? DM if interested :)
We're getting a new cat today, but I don't think she has wings. Not yet anyhow....
Oh that’s exciting, enjoy your new cat!