All articles in Biography & Memoir
24th October, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, History, Women in History
Tsar-crossed lovers? The truth about Nicholas II and ‘Matilda’
In 2017 controversy has erupted in Russia over a new film. Matilda, directed by Aleksei Uchitel, dealt with the love affair between the future Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia, and the young Polish ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska (Matilda Kshesinskaya) of the Imperial Ball…
11th October, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Society & Culture, Women in History
Elizabeth Fry: Saint of prison reform
‘We long to burn her alive’, wrote the Reverend Sydney Smith in 1821 of Elizabeth Fry. ‘Examples of living virtue disturb our repose and give birth to distressing comparisons.’ Even in her lifetime there was a daunting purity about Elizabeth Fry, which chilled her own sisters and…
4th October, 2017 in Aviation, Biography & Memoir, Military
A view from the RAF front line during the Cold War
I was a 20-year old pilot when I arrived on No 16 Squadron, based at RAF Laarbruch in what was then West Germany. It was May 1964 and I was joining an operational RAF squadron whose primary role was to fly at low level, by day and night, to deliver tactical nuclear bombs to…
21st September, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Fiction, Local & Family History
The origins of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth
J.R.R. Tolkien lived for much of his early life in and around the British industrial city of Birmingham, but he was born in Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State in southern Africa in 1892. Both his parents, Arthur and Mabel, had moved there from the Birmingham area and married i…
20th September, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, History
What if the Princes in the Tower survived into Tudor England?
For many people, the story of the Princes in the Tower is a brief and tragic tale of murder and betrayal. The sons of King Edward IV are usually accepted as having been murdered in 1483 on the order of their uncle, Richard III. The Survival of the Princes in the Tower examines th…
5th September, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, History, Women in History
Catherine Parr: Henry VIII’s last love
Catherine, William and Anne Parr were born within a short four-year span, between the winters of 1511-12 and 1515-16. Close in age, they became emotionally close to each other as children, a bond no doubt strengthened by the early loss of their father. As adults, they continued t…
18th August, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Local & Family History
Abel Heywood: From hothead radical to Manchester city father
Abel Heywood lived in Manchester at a time of dramatic and permanent change. The city was arguably the most important place in the world in the 19th century, at the heart of the social and economic changes that created modern Britain. It both repelled and fascinated contemporary…
7th August, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Entertainment, Women in History
Dorothy Squires’ love: Roger Moore
When letters, written in Italian landed on Dorothy Squires’ doormat, it signalled that her life was about to change forever. Her then husband, Roger Moore of ‘007’ fame, had been filming in Rome but unbeknown to Dorothy filming had finished and he was back in the country. Dot had…
7th August, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Entertainment, Society & Culture
Travelling the world in a double-decker bus
Richard King, author of Band on the Bus, reveals how a small wager at the end of the ‘Summer of Love’ in 1967 sowed the seeds of an adventure that was to completely change his life… One evening in my ‘local’, a small country pub, The Deers Hut, just outside the Hampshir…
18th July, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Military, Women in History
Was Mata Hari condemned because of her sexuality?
Mata Hari was a Dutch fantasist, an exotic dancer and a grand courtesan. She was shot on 15 October 1917 as a German spy but what was the basis of the case against her? She had once stated, ‘I loved men: a strongly built male brought me to a state of ecstasy.’ And that was the tr…
17th July, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, Women in History
Literary legends: Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters
18 July 2017 was a special day for literature aficionados across the globe, for it marked the 200th anniversary of the death of perhaps the most beloved writer of them all: Jane Austen. It was on this day in 1817, in a modest house in Winchester, that Jane drew her last breath ag…
4th July, 2017 in Biography & Memoir, History, Society & Culture
Thomas Cook’s first tours to the continent
Soon after the emotional blow of his mother’s death, Thomas Cook took a brave step. He gave up his printing business so he could become a full-time tourist operator, having already been in travel commercially for ten years. Liverpool and Wales were augmented by more destinations…