All articles in Society & Culture
8th February, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
The Duke of Somerset, Scotland and Brexit
For over three hundred years England and Scotland have co-existed peacefully under the common name of Great Britain. But now, with the differing views of their two governments on the outcome of the Brexit vote, the countries face the possibility that their union could be broken….
2nd February, 2017 in Military, Society & Culture
Bread: A slice of First World War history
On 28 June 1914, the assassination in Sarajevo of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria started the chain of events that led inexorably to the declaration of war on 4 August. Neither the British government nor the Germans expected the war to last long. ‘Home before the leaves fall’ w…
18th January, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Burma
2017 marked 75 years since Japan invaded the sovereign state of Burma (the ruling military junta changed its name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989), igniting the longest World War Two campaign fought by British troops. Author Felicity Goodall reveals some little known fact…
13th January, 2017 in History, Local & Family History, Society & Culture
The last Thames frost fair
February 1814: King George III was on the throne, Tory Lord Liverpool was Prime Minister and the Napoleonic Wars would soon be over. It was also the third coldest winter since 1659, when the Central England Temperature (CET) records began. After weeks of bitter chill, blankets of…
11th January, 2017 in History, Society & Culture
It Could Be Ye: England’s first lottery
The first Elizabethans did not need Camelot to warn them: ‘it probably won’t be you.’ They quickly worked out for themselves that odds of 1 in 16,000 in winning Queen Elizabeth I’s great lottery of 1568 – England’s first – were stacked to high and they abstained en mass…
10th January, 2017 in History, Military, Society & Culture
King Shaka’s Zulu
The Zulu nation was founded by King Shaka kaSenzangakhona (the prefix ka meaning ‘son of’), who reigned from 1816 to 1828, and whose nephew Cetshwayo kaMpande was on the throne in 1879. Outside South Africa Shaka has long enjoyed a reputation as a tyrant, a monster of cruelty who…
21st December, 2016 in Military, Society & Culture
The road to rationing: Preparing to feed Britain in WWII
By the time the war broke out in September 1939 the British government had already been planning the distribution of food in wartime for several years. This was not a rare example of forward thinking on the part of the authorities, but rather a reflection of the lessons learned f…
15th December, 2016 in Society & Culture, Trivia & Gift
Mrs Austen’s Christmas pudding
Christmas pudding as we know it first appeared in the reign of King George III. It was said to have been invented especially for him by his chef, because of his inordinate love of English puddings. Before this, the pudding was more of a pottage or porridge, with all the right ing…
8th December, 2016 in Maritime, Society & Culture, Transport & Industry
The Atlantic Telegraph Cable: Communicating across the sea
2016 saw the 150th Anniversary of the Atlantic Telegraph Cable; from Newfoundland to Valentia, Ireland, enabling telegraph communications from New York to London. One of the links in the chain could be found at the secluded Pembrokeshire beach of Abermawr which was the landi…
2nd December, 2016 in History, Society & Culture
Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell and the Pilgrimage of Grace
480 years ago on December 2nd a group of men gathered at Pontefract in Yorkshire to produce a list of grievances against King Henry VIII and his policies. These men were the representatives of a massive number of rebels who had participated in the Pilgrimage of Grace, a revolt of…
28th November, 2016 in History, Society & Culture
Six strange objects from the history of medicine
Nelson’s Spyglass plucks 101 curious objects from British history. From Beowulf’s manuscript, to Queen Victoria’s ballet shoes and, of course, Nelson’s spyglass, author Sophie Campbell provides a weird and wonderful look into history’s best kept artefacts dating back to early tim…
24th November, 2016 in Society & Culture
A history of Christmas carols
Dating back to as early as the 13th Century, Christmas carols have become an integral part of our annual holiday celebrations. Be it in a church, door-to-door, or just a knees-up and a sing-song in the local pub, the joyous sound of carols is one that is synonymous with winter fe…