A History of Horncastle, from the earliest period to the present time

Walter, James ConwayProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.6
Word count
640K words
Chapters
64

Tags

English Originals World History Local GazetteerTown TransformationHistorical CriticismAcademic StudyEclectic ReadingFolk Customs

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A History of Horncastle, from the earliest period to the present time by WalterAuthor: Walter, James Conway,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: Oct 29, 2009

Editor's review

This book is a local history of the town of Horncastle in Lincolnshire, England, narrating from the earliest period to the time of writing. It is a public-domain historical document in the Project Gutenberg free e-book collection. Its value lies in taking a single town as a point of entry and preserving a wealth of local developments, institutional changes, and personal anecdotes, making it primary material for studying English local history, county history, and urban change. For readers accustomed to broad general histories, it offers a rare micro perspective, showing how larger history played out in one specific town. The text is in English, organized chronologically and annalistically, with high information density but a slow narrative pace. It is suitable as reference material for focused study of local history, genealogy, and place-name research, and as further reading for those interested in towns of eastern England. As an early digitized text, it should be read with a verifying eye rather than as a popular storybook.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and introduction first to grasp the chronological divisions, then skip to chapters of interest.
  2. Prepare maps and a place-name list, marking Horncastle's geography and institutions as you read.
  3. Compare the book's chronicles with major events in English history to build a two-level local and national framework.
  4. Take notes on names and places for later verification rather than plowing through word by word.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64

FAQ

Is this book in English or Chinese? The original is in English, a public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg, with the language marked as English. If English reading is difficult, use a dictionary or a translation for support, but relying on machine translation for historical details is not recommended.
Can I read it without a background in English history? Yes, but with lower efficiency. The book assumes some familiarity with English history in its many local institutions, parishes, and figures. It is advisable to review a timeline of major English historical events first, which will make the reading much smoother.
Is it suitable as a travel guide? Not really. This is a local history focused on development and chronicles, not a travel guide; it lacks routes, attractions, and practical information. If traveling there, use it as background reading before the trip rather than a handbook to carry.
What should I watch for when reading the e-book? Public-domain e-texts may retain early typesetting conventions and show traces of scanning or transcription. Maintain a verifying eye for key names, dates, and places, and cross-check important information against other sources.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Walter, James Conway Author · British

James Conway Walter was a British local historian and antiquarian. Public information about his life is limited: his birth and death years, education, and professional positions are not clearly recorded, and his identity is known mainly through his writings. He wrote historical accounts of Woodhall Spa and the surrounding area of Lincolnshire; his representative work, Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood, traces the history and features of the place, while A History of Horncastle, from the earliest period to the present time presents a general history of Horncastle from early times to his own day. Both works belong to the tradition of English local history and antiquarian study, combining documentary references with personal observation and preserving valuable material for later understanding of these Lincolnshire towns. Written for local readers and researchers, his style is plain and fact-centered.