It has pointed out to me more than once that I am like a dog with a bone.

In essence, once I get interested or annoyed by something it tends to consume me such that I am reluctant to just let it pass.

On many occasions this trait has manifested itself over issues that I have been unhappy about.

I was once bounced into paying a £500 pound deposit on a car by an overzealous salesman who twice phoned me in the evening.

Sleep did not come easily and I resolved the problem next day. I did not buy the car.

Being like a dog with a bone is not altogether a bad character trait. It has meant that when I have had setbacks I will not give in.

One particular external examiner took issue with my research. To counter his unjust criticism I added another 8,000 word chapter. His subsequent review made no mention of the revision.

My recent interest in the Charity School of 1717 and its detailed minute book has been deemed a unique historical document. I have become completely hooked on exploring it in minute detail. I have just completed transcribing all 93 meetings of the managers highlighting its dedicated work. It illustrates the abject poverty of the time. The early death of a child is written up only as ‘withdrawn’ so that deaths are not recorded in the minutes.

The school placed children at 14 out as apprentices and wanted to show they had strong, fit children worthy of a seven-year bond to a master. Only two child deaths are actually minuted over a six-year period.

Clothing was provided for all pupils but misbehaviour saw children dismissed and clothing withdrawn. Discipline was strictly enforced.

My dog with a bone approach has enabled me to uncover the person who wrote the minutes. By a process of elimination Mr Stanley West emerged as the author with his flamboyant writing style and often amusing spelling.

My exploration continues as I map the locations where apprentices were placed around the city giving a picture of commercial life in the early 18th century.

This bone has more on it to chew. Many will view my investigation a waste of time. I have already been told just that but people with a bone to chew do not give up that easily.

John Howells.
John Howells (Submitted)