Burymead
This week at Burymead we found these two Medical bags in brilliant condition, one belonging to Dr. Machen, who recently retired from Regal Chambers Surgery in Hitchin.
One is an obstetrician’s bag containing cutting needle, Wrigley’s forceps, suture, cord powder and other assorted medical items.
The other was a general medical bag, containing bandages, scalpels and a syringe as well as other medical equipment (for example glass bottles).
We both thought these were both very interesting as it was fascinating to look at what actually was in a Doctor’s bag, but especially the obstetrician’s bag as some of the equipment isn’t commonly used any more. We hope you have found this as interesting as we did.
This week at Burymead we found a huge amount of brilliantly stored carrier bags from Hitchin shops past and present. We found it really interesting to look through them, and it certainly provoked some conversation between the staff present about the shops we remember and what they used to sell.
We hope you enjoy looking at the selection we have chosen and feel free to share with us what memories you have of Hitchin’s High Street.
Whilst continuing our audit of the social history store at Burymead we have come across two interesting items; they are a human jawbone and an incomplete set of teeth.
The first object, the jawbone was dug up in the grounds of Hitchin Priory in 1852 and is believed to be that of a young male.
The second item is an incomplete set of human teeth with some detail of them being from the body of a Joan Biggs who was a suicide victim who was later exhumed in 1906 from what we believe to be the crossroads by the Radcliffe pub in Hitchin. The body was exhumed as the grave had become a landmark.
We have attempted to research who Joan Biggs was, but so far have been unable to find a record of her so feel she may have been from another area or perhaps an asylum or almshouse.
If you have any further information regarding these two items please comment on the post and we will be in touch!