History

"Here lies the body of
Mr William Hamersley
Merchant who departed
this life August 3rd
1752 aged 65 years"

It was a little disconcerting to look into the graveyard of the Trinity Church in Manhattan and notice a headstone through my lens that had my date of birth on it. Not the year of course unless I've held my age particularly well. What I discovered when I saw this was how little I knew of American history. In particular, the history of New York City.

I didn't realise that NYC was already a large Dutch and English settlement by 1700. I didn't realise the role it played in the colonising of America and the revolution, the war of 1776. I was more than a little humbled by this fact, my guide was kind about my ignorance and was able to share the history he knew. When I got home I found the book New York by Edward Rutherfurd in my local bookstore so I'm enjoying revisiting NYC in the old days and learning more about this interesting city.

Wall Street and surrounds were a thriving financial centre even back in the 1700s with the merchants trading with the home country through the port. Through the place that I stood and took photos of the tall ships and the old fish market, what a thriving place it must have been in those times. I'm really enjoying reading about the building of the Trinity Church and how religious differences were transported into the new city. Visiting places through stories is how I managed to travel when the boys were young and travel was impossible, now I get to visit places as well as read about them.

A truly tall ship