Facebook post #031 (Aug 2020)
Before we move on from Dad’s Dad’s family, a brief reprise of the family’s A-Lister. Captain Matthew Webb was a genuine Victorian hero once he achieved the first swim of the English Channel 125 years ago this week. He was brought up in one of our stomping grounds, in what is now Telford, and he learned to swim in the River Severn. He travelled the world with the Royal Navy before taking up swimming as a career, of sorts. The picture is a scan of his calling card, which I managed to acquire a few years ago. Somewhere in the family, we should still have his Stanhope Gold Medal (presented for attempting to rescue a man overboard from the SS Russia), and an award for his most famous feat. Lots more on the blog.
