Second morning cuppa, and I've done it again. Nearly 10am, the horse dentist has arrived to give our our ladies a brush up, and I wandered into the 19th century ... and when I saw this fellow, I just couldn't resist just a wee investigation ..
He's either a huge poseur, a wannabe writer, or .... Hammond with one 'm'? .. could he be the real thing?
Well, he's the real thing. Bournemouth put me off. The Hamonds belong in Norfolk. Lords of the Manor, highranking clergymen ... related to not one peer but a bunch of the blighters ...
This one married Lady Alicia Beresford (12 September 1834), who was related to several more peers (Earl of Tankerville, Baron Decies etc) and .. well, he died 8 February 1876 at Bournemouth, and his little obituary notices summed up his career
Hmmmm. Sent to Cherbourg, eh? But he seems to have taken his post seriously and the national archives hold reams of letters from him to British government high-ups, many, I notice, dealing with the movements of ships, home team and 'enemy'.
I guess this photo was taken not very long before his death ... it's rather splendid, isn't it?
Now, I must get back to the villages of rural Leicestershire: there are some C18th gravestones there which brother John is investigating for his current poetic project ...
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