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RJ1611

@rfj1611.bsky.social
495 followers 332 following 1.8K posts

Genealogist & family historian, studying with the IHGS | 17th century & British/English Civil Wars researcher | Biographer of ECW painter William Dobson | currently cataloguing 1640s British portraits | Loves Jack Russells, tea and peanut butter

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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 1h
The young drivers in NI complaining about new graduated rules on licences need to wind their necks in. You don't know how to drive just coz you passed a test. 6mths of further practice without mates in the back may actually save your life. Driving is a skill, not a privilege or a social club.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 2h
I wish people would quit with the 'how many books have you read this week/month/year' posts, as this is inevitably followed by smug & implausibly high tallies, and worried readers saying 'I've only managed 1, is that ok?' It's not a competition. As long as you read, you're good. 👍 #BookSky
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Citizen Brooks 🆘 🇺🇸 @citizenbrooks.bsky.social · 10h
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 19h
Oh feck off, Macron. We haven't said we're re-joining the EU.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 20h
God bless you, Dame Esther. Rest in peace. 😢 And shame on the government, who let her down. #EstherRantzen
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 23h
Great to know! 👍
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Here's a thought, Israel. Don't act like superior, sanctimonious, genocidal fuckwits who murder children & show no sorrow about wiping an entire population off their land, & jihadists or other aggrieved parties won't think crashing yr planes is a suitable response. Innocent victims you ain't. 🤷‍♀️
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Hands up who had "Sussexes whine about the press near their children" on their bingo card? 🖐 Honestly, those two are a pain in the arse. What did they think was going to happen coming back? They forgot the reasons they left, & none of those things have changed. PLEASE just eff off back to US. 🙏
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Leasehold is a con. You don't own the property, you just pay a lot for the right to live there, & STILL have to pay fees, rents & markups to someone else. It's no better than renting. You still must pay/ask others for the rights outright owners have, like pets, redecorating, etc. 👇
bbc.co.uk
Angela Rayner announces crackdown on 'cowboy' leasehold property agents
The housing secretary used her Labour conference speech to announce protections for leaseholders facing 'injustice'.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It's happened. Waitrose is now selling mince pies. Which will be past their use by date long before Christmas. 😵‍💫
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Wow. Just...wow! 👏😀 What a fabulous little guy! That's some talent at 7! And kudos to his parents for really getting behind his interests and encouraging him. #MeltonMowbray
bbc.co.uk
Boy showcases his 'tiny gallery' of artworks in Melton Mowbray
Max has curated his own miniature exhibition outside his Melton Mowbray home.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Remind me again why it's such a great idea to have so many US forces using bases in the UK? #Fairford
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Birthday present. 😁 🎉📚 #Booksky
Hardback copy of "The New Dark Ages" by James Marriott. It is subtitled "The end of reading and the dawn of a post-literate society".
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
#Booksky HELP PLEASE! I may have finally identified an illustrated children's book I've been searching for for 40 years & now need to track down a copy. It is (I hope!) "The Lonely Vampire" by Valerie Sutter, published 1980. Can anyone suggest where else I could search? Tried Ebay, Abe, etc. 🙏
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Making #HelpToBuy only available on new-builds was the reason I couldn't get one. There were a pitiful number of available new-builds in my area, and I didn't want to have to move 50 miles away from my family, job & and support network to find one. This won't even make a dent in the problem. 👇
bbc.co.uk
Andy Burnham announces scheme to help first-time buyers
The prime minister says he wants people without support from the "bank of mum and dad" to receive help.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Happy birthday meeeeee! 🥂 Birthday cookies gratefully accepted. 🍪😊 *waits* 🎁
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I'm sorry but there's only one word for this. Tacky. Oh, & ugly. Reaally ugly. I feel for other mourners in the cemetery having to walk past this God-awful monstrosity. And the man's son sounds like a right arse, calling ppl 'jealous' because they 'can't do what we have done'. Please. #Sheffield
bbc.co.uk
Huge monument to Michael Collins appears in Sheffield cemetery
Sheffield City Council says the monument to Michael Collins was put up without final permission.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It's a slow day at the BBC. News Online has a live page running at the National Giant Veg competition. 🍅🍆🥕🥔
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ksarshelter @ksarshelter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
There isn't much left of the month and we are still really struggling and trying to figure out the changes we need to make to survive. If you’re able to help, please consider it. I know the world is hurting right now. So are we. #animalrescue #allpawsmatter #dogsofbluesky #charity #fundraising
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Perhaps putting 'undue burden on the owners' might make those who take no responsibility for their dogs' behaviour and welfare actually think twice before having one. Unfit owners, not the dogs, are the problem, & always the animal suffers. Most decent owners won't mind a bit of extra 'burden'.
bbc.co.uk
Ministers reject dog ownership licence scheme
A taskforce had suggested new legal requirements could help promote dog control and reduce attacks.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Respect to everyone who walked out on #Netanyahu at the UN. 👏👏👏 That man doesn't deserve to be listened to by civilized people. He is an evil, despicable, smug, genocidal, arrogant piece of garbage. And he's worse than Trump because he is NOT an idiot. He knows damn well what's happening.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Hearing reports Burnham could lift ban on alcohol on football stands, saying it's 'unfair' when other sports allow it. 🤦‍♀️ Other sports don't have pissed, numbskull wankers causing havoc and picking tribal fights with other fans outside stadiums on match days. What could go wrong? Good grief. 🙄
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
#AOC as President is an amazing thought. But it will never happen. USA is too steeped in misogyny & an ingrained hatred of women. And that's before you start on the racism. Yes, they elected a black man, but he was still....a man. USA needs to grow up before its ready for a woman in charge.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Family consent refusals are precisely the problem. Education around organ donation was abysmal BEFORE they introduced presumed consent, & nothing has changed since. if you're going to assume everyone is a donor, families shouldn't have a veto except in very exceptional cases, especially where a 👇
bbc.co.uk
The 'selfless decision' that saved our boy's life
Ollie is still thriving and happy 10 years after receiving a liver transplant from 17-year-old Miriam.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Does anyone else find that when you tell #Ancestry to ignore a hint, it takes multiple further ignores for it to actually do it? Photo hints are the worst for me, atm. I just can't get them to go away. Ancestry need to work on site responsiveness, as it just ignores user commands. 😫 #genealogy
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I'm not sure Manchester will be as thrilled as our Andy about this...🤐
bbc.co.uk
Manchester to host world leaders at G20 summit in 2027
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he was pleased he would be welcoming US President Donald Trump to the city.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
#SussexSquad? Oh, don't make me vomit. 🤢🙄 Not on my feed, thanks. #Blocked
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
How long before it's blamed on diversity hires and immigrant workers? 🤦🤷‍♂️
bbc.co.uk
Flights delyed at major US airports after cable cut by construction workers
A US aviation official says the damage was caused in New Jersey, prompting delays in New York City, Boston and Philadelphia.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
@bsky.app I don't know who Jayden Daniels is, and I really don't care about his bloody elbow. Must we have multiple trendings about the same thing, which, as per usual, is entirely US-centric? We really need better trending algorithms. I hate to say it but 'the other place' is way ahead on this.
Screenshot of Bluesky's Trending tile. 

1. Yom Kippur observance
2. Jayden Daniels suffers elbow injury
3. Users share their "origin" video game"
4. Jayden Daniels injured again
5. Jayden Daniels injured on air
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I've just transcribed the minutes of a Quaker monthly meeting from 1921. I'm almost cross-eyed. 😖 I now want to just crawl into bed with my laptop, my Stargate Atlantis DVDs & a lot of tea. Sadly I still have two essays to write. Major Sheppard will have to wait. 😞 #sigh #genealogy
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I don't even know where to start with this.🙄 #boohoo #poormen #worldssmallestviolin
Neswpaper headline from an interview with the author Louis de Bernieres. It says Men are expendable. They don't have the respect they once had."
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I've just seen an advert for an advent calendar, where every day opens to a new model of a highland cow. It's September. SEPTEMBER, FFS!!!! And highland cows????? Let me off this rock, PLEASE. 😫
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I'd heard about the 7 Stage Collapse before, but this really explains it well. USA had already passed the point of no return, then elected a paedophile, racist, misogynistic piece of garbage as president, TWICE, so he could accelerate the decline even further. I can't see a way back.
youtube.com
7 Stage Collapse Pattern: America is at Stage 5
YouTube video by The Parallel Truth
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
How could they not see this? BEFORE half the world pointed it out to them?? Time was these things would go through layers of competent editors and proofers before getting anywhere near print. These days it's just one dingbat working from home. As a PR fail this is epically bad. 🤦 #Converse
bbc.co.uk
Converse pulls 'deeply upsetting' advert after backlash
Social media users say an image from the brand's Instagram account resembled a KKK hood and hanging.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Oceans belong to the sharks, not us. This poor creature acting naturally in its own environment - gruesome though that is - will now be killed because humans think we have more right to be in their waters than they do. We are so entitled.
bbc.co.uk
Perth shark attack: Beaches shut as deadly attack prompts rare kill order
Police boats and helicopters are patrolling Perth's beaches as authorities continue their search for the swimmer's body, and the shark that attacked him.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Oh, #Denmark... 😞😖 #smh #Greenland
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This didn't age well...🫣 #BarackObama Great book, btw. Highly recommended reading.
Obama on first meeting President Bush:

"As I watched my mostly Republican Senate colleagues hang on his every word, I was reminded of the dangerous isolation that power can bring, and appreciated the Founders' wisdom on designing a system to keep power in check". (From "The Audacity of Hope".
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
#Carney says he is not proposing what he refers to as "a third bloc", in order to become "a great power rival only with better manners." OUCH! 😅🔥 (Quote from BBC News Live page)
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Your baby is a day overdue. You go to the midwife for a procedure to get it all moving so you KNOW it will be soon. And you GO TO THE CINEMA?? I'm sorry but that is idiotic. The staff had to help deliver a baby, & the poor kid is stuck with 'Cineworld' on her birth certificate. 🙄
bbc.co.uk
Baby born in cinema has Broughton Cineworld on birth certificate
Elsie Lamb was born in the Cineworld at Broughton, Flintshire, about 40 minutes into the film.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
From one extreme to the other. Why did you do this to yourselves, and the rest of the world, USA? Just...why? 😢 From erudition and hope to ignorance and hate. You are a nation lost.
Excerpt from Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope".

"I would usually smile and nod and say I understood the skepticism, but that there was - and always had been - another tradition to politics, a tradition that stretched from the days of the country's founding to the glory of the civil rights movement, a tradition based on the simple idea that we have a stake in one another, and that what binds us together is greater than what drives us apart, and that if enough people believe in the truth of that proposition and act on it, then we might not solve every problem, but we can get something meaningful done."A screenshot of a Trump post from X. I won't dirty my fingers typing out his vile and repulsive words, but you can probably imagine the kind of offensive garbage it contains.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Help! 🫠 #earlyModern #EnglishCivilWar #17thcentury #palaeography
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Can anyone make out this word? "..his Ma[jesties] former..?...for the like." The letter is requesting a position for a chap called Washington, & the above line is suggesting His Maj had previously approved or agreed it. The horizontal line above suggests it's a contraction. #history
A 1640s letter I haven't transcribed yet!
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
A computer error? When did companies top taking responsibility for proof-reading or editing their own advertising and blame it on the machines? 🙄 If it's your flyer, whatever is in it is on YOU, not the computer you told to write it. #ChesterZoo
bbc.co.uk
Chester Zoo mistakenly advertises 'child predator tour' tickets
Chester Zoo, which was selling tickets to see lions and tigers, says the mistake was a computer error.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
THEY DID IT! Congrats to @niallharbison.bsky.social and everyone at @happydoggo.com who put so much into this weekend to make Tina's dream come true. What a legacy that dog has created. ❤️🐕 #ForTina
A screenshot from Niall Harbison's fundraiser page for his 120k run this weekend, to raise money to build a hospital for sick street dogs in Thailand. In white text on a purple background it says:

AMOUNT RAISED SO FAR:
£1,534,333 of $1,500,000 goal
102% of the way there
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Donate billions to #Reform if you like. Trillions, even. It still won't buy decency, morality or respect. And it won't buy my vote.
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Please folks, donate if you can! Even just a few £/$/€ will help! Niall is back in the UK and running to raise money for Tina's sick street dogs' hospital in Thailand. It's an incredible mission, especially when you know Niall and Tina's history. Please watch ahd support. Thank you! 🥰🐕 x
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Niall Harbison @niallharbison.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Europe is now asleep. 🇺🇸 America and rest of world we need your help! I am currently 50km into the 120km run to raise money for Tina’s hospital. You can donate here 🙏 www.happydoggo.com/tinas-hospit...
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Dear Merriam Webster I am terribly sorry for attempting to search for a word using British English. I understand that American is the only acceptable way & humbly beg your forgiveness. You can also feck right off for telling me the word 'doesn't exist'. 😠
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
It was only pointed out to me today that KOBO is an anagram of BOOK... 🤦‍♀️😳🙄
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RJ1611 @rfj1611.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I'm so tired of the endless offensive, pig-ignorant, immature and barely coherent ramblings & gibberings from the Felon. So I'm going to read this, to remind myself there WAS a time the US had a dignified, intelligent, compassionate and, ffs, LITERATE President. #BarackObama #Hope
The front cover of Barack Obama's book "The Audacity of Hope". He sits smiling at the camera, wearing a black suit and white shirt, in front of a plain cream-coloured background.
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