IF you think you are having a bad day, spare a thought for the thousands of Essex residents who suffered in our county’s past.

But there were also many amazing people and life-changing events from right on our doorstep.

A new book is set to encourage people to look back in time to discover how their ancestors helped to make Essex what it is today.

The book, On This Day in Essex, has been put together by retired engineer and acclaimed historian, John Debenham, 73.

John has helped write two history books. In 2006, he teamed up with professional bookseller Andrew Summers, to write The Essex Hundred, which was packed with 100 poems and timelines connected to the county’s history.

Their second book the Essex Hundred Histories delved into 100 events and personalities from more than 2,000 years of the county’s history.

John has mainly written this book himself. It is a day-by-day record of events in the county’s history – and full of surprising snippets.

For example, few people know that Margaret Thatchers’s first job was in Essex or that Winston Churchill ended his parliamentary career representing an Essex constituency.

While many are aware Elizabeth I gave her famous “Heart of a King” speech in Tilbury, few know writer Daniel Defoe ran a brick factory in the same town years later.

Most intriguingly of all, the book asks the question: Was the most famous writer the world has ever seen – the Bard himself – really an Essex boy? Could William Shakespeare have been a pen name for an Essex man?

John, who studied for a degree and a masters in history after retiring, said: “I’ve really enjoyed doing the book. A lot has gone into it.

“There are lots of funny bits in the book but most of all it has surprising facts that many people just won’t realise about our county.

“History has made us what we are today and it’s fascinating to see what has moulded Essex into what it is.”

In May’s general election, more than 70,000 people had the right to vote in the Harwich and North Essex constituency.

But things were different in the 1679 election when the celebrated diarist Samuel Pepys and Sir Anthony Deane, a master shipwright, were voted to the House of Commons to represent Harwich.

Then the electoral role was made up of just 32 people – the serving members of Harwich Town Council.

Those flicking through the book will find out that September and October were important months when it comes to the most notorious highwayman of them all – Dick Turpin.

On September 21, 1705, the crook was born in Hempstead. He went on to rob hundreds of travellers across the South-East, including around Epping Forest.

On October 2, 1738, after a drunken affray, Dick Turpin, using the alias John Palmer, was arrested in Hull.

From his cell in York, Turpin wrote to his brother in Essex, but the letter was intercepted and his true identity was discovered. Turpin was later hanged in York.

Dedham’s most famous son, the artist John Constable was elected to the Royal Academy at the age of 52, on February 1, 1829.

Essex has a long maritime history, but February 21, 1907, stands out as a tragic date in the annals of the county’s shipping.

The SS Berlin, a ferry for the Great Eastern Railway company, sank off the Hook of Holland. More than 120 passengers and crew, many from Harwich, died in the tragedy.

One of the more grizzly offerings in the book is the story of German-born grocer Charles Fremd, who on November 4, 1914, was hanged at Chelmsford Prison after being convicted of murdering his wife by slitting her throat.

It was the last execution to take place in Chelmsford and Fremd, at the age of 71, was the oldest man to be hanged in Britain.

John added: “Readers can find out something interesting about Essex every day with the book and something that captures the interest.”

l On This Day in Essex costs £9.99. For more, go to www.essex100.com ISBN 9780955229541