John Cullen in Bottesford, Leicestershire

I first learned of the existence of the poet John Cullen from the Bottesford Living History Project here. He was born in Newport, County Tipperary, Ireland, and left Trinity College, Dublin, before taking a degree. He had married the German Leontine Dordinger (or Derdinger) before he became curate at Bottesford, Leicestershire, from 1867 to 1869. He would have lived at The Manse on the corner or Rectory Lane and Chapel Street.

From Bottesford he became the vicar of St Mary's parish church, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire in 1874, where he stayed until his death in 1914. He initiated the restoration and enlargement of St Mary's in 1877, which included rebuilding of the tower, whose unusual saddleback roof has been said to be influenced by Leontine to remind her of her native home.

Cullen supported women's suffrage and his poetry was well received in the USA. Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, awarded him a doctorate in Divinity in 1893.

Cullen's son Frederick died in 1872 at the age of six months and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, Bottesford.

Cullen died at the vicarage in Radcliffe-on-Trent, although he was buried with his wife (who died in 1906) in Bottesford. He has an entry in the DNB written by Pamela Priestland.

'IN SACRED MEMORY OF
Leontine Eugenie Cullen
WHO DIED ON SEPT. 16 1906,
AGED 66 YEARS.

"Wir seh'n den Himmel offen
Und nicht das Grab allein."

"VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, IF A MAN KEEP MY

SAYING, HE SHALL NEVER SEE DEATH." JOHN 8: 51

"I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED." 2 TIM 1. 12.

ALSO REV. John Cullen, D. D.,
DIED MAY 6TH. 1914, AGED 77 YEARS,
40 YEARS VICAR OF RADCLIFFE-ON-TRENT.'

The full 1893 edition of Cullen's Poems and Idylls is here.

The British Library lists a number of John Cullen's publications, of which these are examples:

Horae Poeticae, New ed., rev. (London: William Macintosh, [1869]

The Life after Death, and the Things to come (London: Hatchards, 1876)

Confirmation: Its nature and obligations (London: Hatchards, 1881)

In What Way Can Romeward Tendencies Be Most Effectually Counteracted and Suppressed? (London: John Kensit, [1888])

Pen Pictures from the Life of Christ (London: R. D. Dickinson, 1889)

Poems and idylls (London: S.W. Partridge, 1893)

Songs of Consolation (London: S. W. Partridge, 1893)

The Fruit of the Spirit, 2nd ed. (London: S. W. Partridge, [1895])

Three Christian Virtues: Faith, Hope, Love, these three (London: Marshall Brothers, [1903]).

Chartists Ernest Jones and Thomas Cooper

I took this shot very recently in Bow Lane, Manchester, England:

'ERNEST JONES
1819-1869

CHARTIST LEADER AND

BARRISTER AT LAW

PRACTISED FROM

CHAMBERS HERE

1863-69'

A link to information on Ernest Jones is here.

This reminded me that I'd taken a blue plaque shot of another Chartist a few years before, at 11 Church Gate, Leicester:

'Leicester City Council

THOMAS COOPER

Chartist

1805-1892

Had a coffee shop at this address

in which he organised the

movement in Leicester'

And a link to information on Thomas Cooper is here.

Thomas Moore and Kegworth, Leicestershire

The Irish poet Tom Moore (1779-1852) lived at The Cedars, London Road, Kegworth, for almost a year, where he wrote several of his 'Irish Melodies', and made preparations for his novel Lalla Rookh (1817).

There is a 'Tom Moore's Walk', where it's said he used to walk along the Long Whatton road to sit and write under 'Tom Moore's [cedar] tree', which I was unfortunately unable to locate because it's no longer there, or rather, all that is left of it is this:

William Lilly and Diseworth, Leicestershire

Hilda Lawson's booklet on the very unusual life of William Lilly (1602-81) is an amazing read. Lilly was born in Diseworth the son of a farmer of modest means, and after a village school education went to the grammar school in Ashby de la Zouch, where, according to his autobiography, he learned to speak Latin as well as he could English. In 1620 Lilly walked to London to work as a kind of secretary to Gilbert Wright, and after his master's death Lilly married Wright's widow, who was 25 years older than Lilly, and the first of his three wives.

By 1632 he had become a consultant astrologer in London, working for both the Roundheads and the Royalists. His most noted work is Christian Astrology Treated in Three Books, and he amassed a large amount of money. Toward the end of his life he became a physician.

Lilly's cottage stands in a prominent position in Diseworth, on the other side of the road from the parish church.

ADDENDUM: In a comment below, Quentin Field-Boden very helpfully provides a link to a YouTube video he's made, containing a number of old photos of the cottage. Here's the link:

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William Lilly's Cottage, Diseworth

John Shakespear and Diseworth, Leicestershire

John Shakespear (1774-1858) was born at Lount near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, initially educated at Staunton Harold, and then, under the patronage of Lord Rawdon, went to London to study Arabic. However, his specialization became Hindustani, on which he wrote a number of books, the most notable being Hindustani Grammar (1813) and A Dictionary of Hindustani and English (1817).

There is a memorial on the north wall of the chancel of St Michael and All Angels Church, Diseworth.

Shakespear retired in 1829 and bought Langley Priory, later home to a number of generations of Shakespears. The above photo shows some of their graves in the cemetery of St Michael and All Angels Church.

William Beveridge and Barrow-Upon-Soar, Leicestershire

William Beveridge (1636-1708) was born in Barrow-Upon-Soar, close to Holy Trinity Church, and his Private Thoughts (1709) for many years was a kind of vade mecum for aspiring clergymen, as well as his most noted work.

King Street, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England

It's sometimes odd, what can greet you when you turn a corner – either metaphorically or physically – but I was pleasantly surprised to find the artwork of Ben Coode–Adams in King Street, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, which depicts various elements of the town.