All articles in History
16th December, 2015 in History, Trivia & Gift
Narrow escapes from history
Back in 1993 British newsreader Martyn Lewis caused a measure of controversy when he called for television reporting to feature more ‘good news’ stories. With so much death and destruction around some thought his dream naive. Yet when it comes to studying history it’s actually we…
16th December, 2015 in History, Society & Culture
13 things you never knew about British democracy
Whilst turnout is generally expected to increase for each election, it was not so long ago that a large percentage of the population was ineligible to vote. Before the 1832 Reform Act, only a small number of men (and no women) had the vote and the voting qualifications varied fro…
16th December, 2015 in History, Society & Culture, Women in History
Women and domestic service in Victorian society
In 1891 it was estimated that, country-wide, more than a million – that is, one in three women between the ages of fifteen and twenty – were in domestic service; kitchen maids and maids-of-all work (sometimes referred to as ‘slaveys’) were paid between £6 and £12 a year. ‘Tweenie…
16th December, 2015 in History, Society & Culture
Hard times in prison in the 1880s
In the 1880s most prisons would begin their day by waking their prisoner’s with a ‘warning bell’ at 6.20 a.m. and a rising bell at 6.30 a.m. when the prison bell – a hand bell rung by the warders or a buzzer – would be sounded, signalling for the warders to assemble and the priso…
16th December, 2015 in History, Society & Culture
The secret life of the country house
Scandal existed long before celebrity gossip columns, often hidden behind the closed doors of the Georgian aristocracy. But secrets were impossible to keep in a household of servants who listened at walls and spied through keyholes. The early mass media pounced on these juicy tal…
16th December, 2015 in History, Military
The Battle of Verneuil: A second Agincourt
2015 marked the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt. Thanks to Shakespeare we remember this battle and heroism of Henry V and his tired army against the glorious might of France. But what is less well remembered is how this victory led to much longer lasting achievements…
16th December, 2015 in Biography & Memoir, History
Where did the Black Prince get his name from?
Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine, Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, founder knight of the Order of the Garter, hero of Crécy, victor at Poitiers, the Black Prince, died on 8th June 1376, Trinity Sunday, the feast day for which he had particular reverence. It was recorded th…
16th December, 2015 in Biography & Memoir, History, Natural World
Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers – The first Scot to reach the South Pole
In early January 1912 Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers – to his delighted surprise – was chosen by Captain Robert Scott as a member of the five-man party which would attempt to reach the South Pole. Birdie (born in Greenock, near Glasgow, in 1883) wrote home that he was proud to represent S…
16th December, 2015 in History
Everest revealed
It is now over sixty years since Hillary and Tenzing first set foot on the summit of Everest, yet public interest in the mountain shows no sign of diminishing. The very name ‘Everest’ has passed into common usage to symbolise the summit of achievement in any field of human endeav…
15th December, 2015 in Biography & Memoir, History
Great Scot, it’s Robert the Bruce!
At first glance, King Robert the Bruce might seem a strange choice as a colossus worthy of inclusion in pocket GIANTS, a series exploring the lives and careers of such historical luminaries as William the Conqueror, Jane Austen and Charles Darwin. Although it has been hard r…
15th December, 2015 in History, Society & Culture
On the trail of Magna Carta
Back in 1215, Magna Carta, forced out of King John by the barons, was born amid bloodshed, betrayal and some dodgy business deals. But at its heart, the Great Charter appealed to human beings’ fundamental sense of fairness and our need to live free from fear. Magna Carta showed f…
15th December, 2015 in Biography & Memoir, History
Richard I: A mighty king or a menacing tyrant?
Ask people in the street to name one English king, and most would answer, ‘Richard the Lionheart’. Known to film buffs as ‘King Richard of the Last Reel’, he appears at the end of every Robin Hood epic as the crusader hero returning to right the wrongs suffered by his loyal subje…