All articles in Society & Culture
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 Society & Culture
The swinging sixties
If you were not a teenager in the ’60s, then the chances are that they did not swing too much for you. However, the working class, (and Northerners!) started to have a voice on screen and in literature; and teenagers (like me) found there were plenty of jobs available. We had our…
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 Military, Society & Culture
The ninja or samurai myth
Next to the modern concept that ninjutsu (arts of the ninja) is a specific form of martial art, the ninja versus samurai myth is the second most popular misconception concerning the Japanese spy-commandos known as the shinobi. Throughout popular thought and modern media, the idea…
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 Military, Society & Culture
The boys who won the First World War
Officers of the line, many fresh from public school and the rugby and cricket fields, have not been given enough credit for their achievements in World War I – until now. Much recent writing on the Great War has veered between the highest-ranked and the humble: a determined rehab…
16th December, 2015 in Military, Society & Culture
Black servicemen: Unsung heroes of the First World War
The near-total exclusion from our history books of black servicemen in the First World War is shameful. One of the few exceptions has been Walter Tull (1888-1918). In recent years he has become the most celebrated black British soldier of the First World War. Walter Tull enlisted…
15th December, 2015 in Military, Society & Culture
Knitting for Tommy
For anyone keen to embark on knitting for Tommy during the war, there was no shortage of ideas or instruction. Pamphlets or books dedicated to patterns for comforts were produced by yarn manufacturers, associations and charities, and simple patterns for much-needed items such as…
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 Military, Society & Culture
Christmas 1914
There are two facts about Christmas 1914 that are known by all and will probably be so another 100 years from now. One is that everybody believed the Great War would be over by then and festive peace would be celebrated around the home fires, and the other is that extraordinary t…
15th December, 2015 in Local & Family History, Military, Society & Culture
The ‘Dead End Kids’ of the London Blitz
In 1939 when the evacuation of London was in full flow, nobody stopped to consider that the children being sent away would quickly pine for the big city they knew and loved. Within weeks a handful returned to the capital. The handful quickly turned into a trickle that soon b…
15th December, 2015 in History, Military, Society & Culture
Memories of VE Day
It is a cherished legend in my family, at least cherished by me, that on the night of VE Day my mother was brought home from the pub in a wheelbarrow. I was only six at the time (well, six and three-quarters), so took no part in the celebrations, but I was thrilled beyond belief…