This week in history - From our files:

31/07/1862

·       War in America: many towns have been captured by the confederates in Kentucky and Indiana.

·       Piracy and murder off the coast of Spain and subsequent ship fire.

31/07/1871

·       Deadly shipwreck in Bristol Channel.

·       15-year-old Fred James Langham drowned in a bathing place near Winsbeer.

·       9-year-old George Gardner closely escapes drowning in river.

03/08/1927

·       Twins miraculously born in the sidecar of a stranger’s car on the way to the hospital in Cheltenham.

01/08/1934

·       Labourer pleads ‘not guilty’ at Wellington magistrates for cycling without a light.

·       Rural council employee drowns in Fitzhead in only 8-10 inches of water.

·       Cricket ball hits the compartment of a passing train pausing play for over 20 minutes.

·       5 swimming records are broken at Wellington School.

·       Father in Whiteball fined for refusing to send his daughter to school without good reason.

02/08/1950

·       Sierra Leone chiefs come to Wellington and visit Wellington Hospital.

29/07/1970

·       Wellington grocers are fined £10 for selling mouldy sausage rolls to customers.

·       Courtfields School start their extension which aims to cater for 750 pupils.

05/07/1970

·       A West Buckland house is robbed and £300 worth of jewellery is stolen.

·       Fourth sighting of the A38 ghost in the space of 2 years.

05/08/1981

·       Pictures of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer are adorned throughout the streets of Wellington in celebration of the royal wedding.

·       A celebratory barbeque at the monument attracted many locals following the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana.

·       Wellington family are saved in Teignmouth after being swamped by the tide.

·       62-year-old Terry Ayres narrowly escapes death after his car burst into flames on the Wellington bypass.

05/08/1997

·       ‘Spy’ cameras to be installed in Wellington town centre in an effort to combat crime and vandalism.

·       Enquiry is launched after two female Labradors die from poisoning.

06/08/2008

·       Up to 40 drunken youngsters were seen brutally fighting on Fore Street after gang rivalry spirals out of control.

05/08/2015

·       Wellington School chemistry teacher, Chris Jones, 61, tragically dies in a parachuting accident at Dunkeswell Airfield.