HISTORY GROUP DINNER -- The annual dinner of the Byton, Combe, Kinsham and Stapleton History Group took place in the Hatton Restaurant, Radnorshire Arms, Presteigne, on March 6. The venue is named after Sir Christopher Hatton, favourite and privy councillor of Elizabeth I and one-time owner of the Radnorshire Arms. Forty members enjoyed an excellent dinner and heard Keith Parker, local historian and author of Radnorshire in the 17th Century, give an overview of Presteigne and district in the early 17th century. Documentary evidence indicates that the population was steady at around 850 people, the three main outbreaks of bubonic plague (anthrax) killing about 250 on each occasion, but numbers recovering by inward migration from Mid-Wales. Predominantly Welsh speaking in the 17th century, after the Civil War (when Charles I passed through Presteigne), returning Welsh soldiers tended to speak newly-learned English in their home communities. The plague ended the thriving cloth industry of the district; remaining trades ensured that Presteigne, though never very prosperous, remained largely self-sufficient with most people living on barley and rye bread and, in the hill country, on oatmeal. Powerful families such as the Bradshaws and Harleys rose and declined, threats to juries appear to have been commonplace and street violence a feature of life. The next meeting of the history group will be on Wednesday, May 8 at the Arkwright Hall, Kinsham, at 7.30pm, when the speaker will be Mrs C Beale, MA, talking on 'Hampton Court'.
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