George Borrow: Oulton and Beyond

Our member Ivan A. W. Bunn, himself an Oulton man, has spent many years researching the decades that George Borrow lived and was associated with Oulton, near Lowestoft, Suffolk.  Ivan first published a short version of his research during 1981 in the now scarce George Borrow’s Oulton.  In Oulton and Beyond Ivan has added decades more research and the result is a truly fascinating and very in-depth study of everything to do with George Borrow and Oulton.

Cover of George Borrow: Oulton and Beyond

There’s so much here to please the Borrovian it’s difficult to know what to pick out.  The financial manoeuvrings that led to Borrow owning the Oulton Hall Estate, or Peto’s claim of selling the gravel, or the solicitor with the doggy past, Mr. Pilgrim, are all covered.  But then too is the fate of Borrow’s horse, Mary Borrow’s buying provisions, their neighbours and so on.

Ivan has also provided many suitable illustrations for the book from various sources: there’s drawings and photographs of Oulton at the time, a portrait George Bickers (a servant of Borrow), the advert for Borrow’s lost dog etc.  The reviewer’s copy is almost worn out which is probably the best advertisement that can be given.

A great many thanks to Ivan for producing this wonderful resource.

The book can be ordered from various sources, the ISBN being 978-1514893317.