Arthur Blissett

Author name

Civic Society member Jane Handsley had been researching her family and came across Jesse Handsley who was a Royal Marine with Capt Scott on the 1901-04 Expedition to the Antarctic when their Ship the Discovery became stuck in the ice.

Jesse’s shipmate was another Royal Marine who, she found, was born at 48 Manthorpe Road Grantham. Old records revealed that No 48 had been renumbered as far back as 1900 as No 30. The 1886 Ordnance survey map pinpointed the house and it is still there. We tracked down the owner and he was delighted with the idea of a Blue plaque as his Father had been a whaler in the Southern Seas for many years.

Jane set about the task herself of funding the £420 cost of the plaque with the help of a community fund via her then employer British Sugar Plc and the plaque is now a proud feature of No 30.

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