This memoir provides a glimpse into the well-known and long-standing local Bedford company of W. & H. Peacock during the years 1902-1988. This memoir provides a glimpse into the well-known and long-standing local Bedford company of W. & H. Peacock during the years 1902-1988. The author draws on a wide variety of sources, many from his own collection, including property instruction books, business ephemera and auctioneers' handbooks and also from the recollections of his colleagues. The memoir includes information about other well-known firms of auctioneers and estate agents in the area and is the first to tell a story of auctioneering and estate agency in Bedfordshire. Of lasting value to local, family and social historians is the appendix of all known property auctions undertaken by Peacocks. Transcribed from the original auctioneers' handbooks (now lost), the list has been supplemented with references to newspaper advertisements and auction catalogues in the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service. The auction records give, where possible, the date and venue of the auction, a description of the property and the auction price. Some additional information is provided if known, such as the name of the person instructing Peacocks, the names of tenants and the rental value of the property. The introduction by Richard Moore-Colyer explores the history of auctioneering in England from the seventeenth century, when auctions were conducted very differently.

The Bedford (Amateur) Musical Society, now Bedford Choral Society, was formed in 1867. The Bedford (Amateur) Musical Society, now Bedford Choral Society, was formed in 1867. Its beginnings were not auspicious - an article in a local newspaper reported that 'no one felt very sanguine about the success of the proposed Society ... the idea being that musical people were a quarrelsome lot and could not hold together for any length of time.' Despite this, the Society has had a long and almost continuous history and is still thriving today. This volume records the characters who shaped the Society through the years, the varied musical programmes and the links with well-known performers and musicians. It includes the BBC Music Department's move to Bedford early in the Second World War and its support for the Society as it re-established itself. The volume has an introduction by Donald Burrows, Professor of Music at the Open University who provides an historical setting for the development of the Society within the context of national musical developments.