Society member and local historian Jim Bell has painstakingly transcribed news items about Wokingham from local newspapers, starting from the earliest days of reports about the town. Jim has been able to use these records for some of the books he has written. It is Jim’s wish that the fruits of his meticulous work should be made publicly available and the Wokingham Society Committee has willingly agreed to host the complete set of transcriptions on the Society’s website.
The records make fascinating reading, covering as they do the growth of trade in the town; the building of the Town Hall; the establishment of a Town Council following a scandal about poor standards of drinking water; the celebrations associated with important visitors, coronations and jubilees; the significant efforts around the town in both World Wars; and the stories of local people doing extraordinary things.
The Chronology is accessible in eBook, Word and PDF versions. Please be aware that the Word version is a very large file.
Use the ‘Search’ facility in the eBook version to find a particular year or topic.
Visitors to the Chronology may copy material from it (using the Word or PDF version), but are asked to include an
acknowledgement that it was provided by Jim Bell if it is used in any publication.