The Rising Down: lives in a Sussex Landscape

In The Rising Down, Alexandra Harris uses a variety of sources to examine the history of the county where she spent much of her life. She discovered that local records, inscriptions, plaques in churches, old books, census records, correspondence, newspaper reports, court documents plus the landscape can all provide clues to the lives of generations of people who lived in the region.

Alexandra Harris shows how even what may appear to be a small clue can lead to the discovery of another part of local history.  Local government records provide references to generations of families who lived in a house or village. Records also outline the affects of agricultural changes in the area on the local population resulting in many in the emigration of many families to Australia and Canada, often via emigration schemes devised to lessen the impact of the unemployed on the local community. Some of the inhabitants also went to Australia as convicts.

Another topic is the effect of the Second World War on the county with the threat of German aircraft dropping bombs, the arrival of troops training before going to France. A house where intelligence personnel stayed before going to or returning from France. Attempts made to protect the county from German invasion.

The author examines the works of artists and writers who lived in or spent time in the area for the influence of the county on their work. Her exploration uncovers many well known names including John Constable, William Cowper, William Blake, Virginia Woolf, Ford Madox Ford and Ivon Hitchens who lived in or visited part of Sussex. But it is often following clues about the lives of the local residents that can lead to discoveries of local history significance. She was often surprised when her discoveries took her to places or objects that she had known as a child but never properly examined.

Although I found many of her local discoveries about Sussex interesting, I was particularly interested in the research patterns used to find the information. This book about the significance of local history in Sussex should inspire many interested in local and family history to carefully examine clues that might help explain the lives of  people from the past and the communities where they lived.

Blockbuster! Fergus Hume & the mystery of the Hansom cab

The mystery of the hansom cab is one of the major works in early crime fiction. Lucy Sussex describes the novel by Fergus Hume as Australia's first literary block buster.

In this book Lucy Sussex writes about what is known of Fergus Hume, the author, particularly in relation to what became a block buster, not just in Australia but also in England and other countries throughout the world. As well as the editions of the book published in English the book has been translated into French, German and Scandinavian languages. First published in Melbourne in 1886, the book has never been out of print.

Fergus Hume, born in Scotland, moved with his family to New Zealand when a child before trying his luck in Melbourne. He had studied to be a lawyer but preferred writing and tried his hand writing pieces for newspapers. He wanted to write drama but there was a preference for overseas productions and he found it difficult to find anyone to seriously look at his plays. He therefore began writing books. The mystery of the hansom cab was first published in Melbourne and then in London where it became a best seller. Unfortunately Hume had sold his rights to the book for a small sum so he did not make a fortune from the book. This was to be his most successful work though he wrote 130 titles. His work was influencial on crime writing in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book was made into a film in 1911, 1915, 1925 and 1936. The story was adapted for radio, became a play and was shown as a telemovie on the ABC in 2012.

A brief review of The mystery of a hansom cab appeared in this blog in 2011.

Fergusson Wright Hume - ADB
Article in Inside Story 8 May 2012
Review of Block Buster! in Sydney Morning Herald June 27 2015