tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24568024685398685192024-03-04T12:22:07.223-08:00English Historical Fiction AuthorsDebra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.comBlogger2623125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-27910533175329930212023-11-06T13:35:00.002-08:002023-11-06T22:43:27.017-08:00The Oaks Mine Christmas Disaster<p style="text-align: left;">by David A. Jacinto</p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5dbbaf85-7fff-4902-fbda-f13c5d561eed"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">December 12th, 1866, began not unlike most winter days in the village of Hoyle Mill. Two weeks before Christmas, a foggy mist drifted through the valley and gripped the bitterly cold and wet morning. Enthusiasm for Christmas was running high. Most men and boys in the village had been putting in overtime at the Oaks Coal Mine south of Barnsley to make a little extra Christmas money. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That morning, well before dawn, the coal miners shared a final word over tea and crumpets, bangers and mash, or blood sausage, kissed their wives and mothers goodbye, gave each of the little ones a warm hug, and began the short walk from Hoyle Mill to the Oaks Colliery.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> On the darkened path, they were joined by the other collies, chatting, laughing, and sharing jokes in casual conversation. Passing through the gates and into the Oaks yard, they headed toward the cage to go down the shaft into the mine, just as they did every morning.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">One by one, each cage lowered down the telescoping shaft, stopping periodically to deposit miners at various levels. Each disembarking level led into a vast web of interconnecting tunnels, smaller shafts and mining chambers. The last of the miners reached the bottom at a thousand feet below ground, where the cage door was pulled open for the final time. They stepped onto the rough-hewn floor of the landing in the faint light. This brotherhood of miners shared their final morning pleasantries, smiling, laughing, and even singing Christmas songs as they each lit their oil lamps and headed off into the various corners of the mine to dig their own graves where they would spend eternity. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">***</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The first trembling upheaval arrived late that clear blue morning. The cruel whip of nature bringing a sudden crack of doom to the quiet tenor of innocence as the blast fought its way to the surface. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In his office, Thomas Diamond, the mine superintendent, jerked to attention with the thunderous roar of the explosion. He ran to the window to see a monstrous skyrocket of flames and smoke shoot up in every direction from the main entrance to the mine. Bricks disintegrated into powder. Great ascending clouds of chalk, coal, rock, earth, and debris spouted up into the sky and began to fall back in a “black bloody snow”. The hundred-year-old cage support beams went up like matchsticks in the blaze. It seemed the entire surface of the earth had been torn off, burying four hundred miners in the pit.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The massive tree in the yard had been uprooted, fat tendrils of roots rose up from the ground looking like an upside down tree. The fires pooled and strutted, flowing from structure to tree as smoke chased ash into the sky. The appetite for oxygen was such that leaves and branches were sucked into the flames and flashed their disappearance in an instant.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Mr. Diamond rushed out of his office into the wings of the hot breeze cutting through the cold morning. There was the sound of pandemonium. The smell of smoke and burning flesh. The taste of coal dust. Men yelling. The crackle of burning timbers. Moans of pain and screams of agony. Adrenaline pumping, Diamond leaped into the chaos, ignoring the smoke and flames, seemingly contemptuous of the danger. The main entrance to the mine that was supposed to lay before him was no more. The entire yard was unrecognizable. He had been through mining explosions before, but nothing like this. It looked like a war zone after a daylong cannon raid. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Driven to a rush of heightened awareness, Diamond seemed to have a clear vision of just what needed to be done. He knew it was important not to lose his head—to take immediate but thoughtful, deliberate action, carefully planning the dangerous rescue of the men still down in the pit. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">With his right hand cupped over his eyes to see through the heavy smoke and debris drifting back to earth, he held a kerchief to his nose. He searched through the smoky haze to commandeer rescuers from the miners who were scurrying in all directions in terror. He called out and the men jumped at his orders, seemingly thankful to have someone take charge and tell them where to go and what to do.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Miners boiled up from the bowels of the mine and toward him, away from the blazing fires of burning colliery timbers. They reeled in shock and confusion, some calling out in agony, some held up by other men, some saying nothing at all. Wherever Diamond looked, torn and broken bodies and injured animals were shaking in the grip of death, while the uninjured tried in vain to comfort the dying. One miner walked toward Diamond, staring dull-eyed at him without a word. It took a moment to register, the man was near naked, his skin burnt grey.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Over two days the rescue would continue in an attempt to save as many as possible from the firedamp explosions, and following afterdamp asphyxiation. Almost every man and boy from the surrounding villages over the age of ten had been down in that mine. There was not a single family in Hoyle Mill who had not lost someone. Three-hundred and eighty-four men and boys would die, including twenty-six rescuers in a blast on the second day of the rescue attempt. That blast would close down the mine forever, leaving most of the dead buried for eternity. For these miners' families, there would be no more caresses from a husband, kisses from a father, no more “I love you, Mam” from a son, no more childhood memories of a brother. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Oak's irresponsible operators and massively wealthy landowners who had not provided proper ventilation or other safety measures recommended by inspectors would not be held liable in any way. They would not even provide enough money to bury the dead, let alone provide for food, rent, or even survival of these destitute families. Thousands of family members would be left with no way to even keep warm during their cold winter nights of despair after the disaster.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The 1866 Oaks Mine Christmas disaster that killed 384 men and boys was not the first on this seam of coal. In the previous twenty years there had been over five-hundred other minors who had lost their lives. In 1845, six men and boys lost their lives from a firedamp explosion and afterdamp asphyxiation at the Oaks; in 1847, seventy-three men and boys were killed, again firedamp and afterdamp at the Oaks; in 1849 seventy-five at Darley Main on the same seam; in 1851, twelve more were killed at the Oaks, again for the same reason; in 1851, fifty-two were killed at Warnervale. In 1852, twelve more were killed at the Elsecar colliery, firedamp and afterdamp. In 1857, firedamp and afterdamp killed 189 men and boys on the adjacent Lundhill Colliery, and fifty-nine at Edmonds in 1862. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">These avoidable disasters all along this same seam of coal occurred mostly because of poor ventilation and deplorable safety deficiencies. And yet the operators and fabulously wealthy Landlord were not held liable in any way for these deaths, inciting the miners' families to demand an inquest into the Oaks Christmas disaster. That inquest was held in 1867 and would stir interest all across the United Kingdom, rousing Queen Victoria to push for change in laws governing coal mining and other industrial revolution operations. The Oaks Christmas Disaster and the fascinating historical events that followed are all covered in a well documented, historical fiction recently released by Simon & Schuster. “Out of the Darkness”, is based on the true story of a nineteenth century child coal miner rising out of the ashes of poverty and tragedy to change the world. It’s a story of poverty, sacrifice, greed, love, faith and the courage to push aside fear and jump into the refiner’s fire where the finest qualities of character are forged. It’s a story of the great sweep of human desire for freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of justice.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtTGgQbrq_wSsyAPTN9rahq2pCvbZVEHpsd6YgRIw4zcIudCi_ZXd9UGwednZxsYJQwuq5NOKrndsixTe7A60tr9xDdggQClf48EUhPS3bpTJen8yh3tUM8qvfD9hVRunpBEIG_v_D0VSMv-C-_lOBhcTD-P7RBAt-2q4FVuyCniY79JMdRlmJGvOxWU/s1200/Black_White_Modern_Minimal_December_6_National_Miners_Day_Instagram_Post_(1200_x_628_px)_(1200_x_628_px).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtTGgQbrq_wSsyAPTN9rahq2pCvbZVEHpsd6YgRIw4zcIudCi_ZXd9UGwednZxsYJQwuq5NOKrndsixTe7A60tr9xDdggQClf48EUhPS3bpTJen8yh3tUM8qvfD9hVRunpBEIG_v_D0VSMv-C-_lOBhcTD-P7RBAt-2q4FVuyCniY79JMdRlmJGvOxWU/w495-h258/Black_White_Modern_Minimal_December_6_National_Miners_Day_Instagram_Post_(1200_x_628_px)_(1200_x_628_px).png" width="495" /></a></div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">David A. Jacinto</span></p><br /><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Author of: </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Out-Darkness-Courageous-David-Jacinto-ebook/dp/B0C7RLY8TK" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Out of The Darkness</span></a></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-41855755966525602462023-08-19T01:44:00.000-07:002023-08-19T01:44:08.671-07:00The British Women who Flew in World War Two <p style="text-align: center;"><b> <span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The Second
World War was the first in which women played a role in aviation. Russian women
flew combat missions as bomber and fighter pilots, but in Great Britain and the
United States the role of women pilots was supportive rather than direct. Below
is a short description of the important role of British women pilots in WWII.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "Righteous",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmGdRPgaeXXISTLdrJlfgIMt4kSamb33cFitFlun5Tpx6tEge7HY2AQm4z8EYEVwz3LJHbonRyLveJBGt-n-f-xCn8c3kytYaKpwGSx5HYDw2ZBf2wc9F_hv6s6sPk3TMPxz41J119u3EPzzDboHNvllDMOyeDYMTI2aEKND2GnBLaxdueHzfk2CYQ6g/s259/ATA%20Spitfire%20Girls.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmGdRPgaeXXISTLdrJlfgIMt4kSamb33cFitFlun5Tpx6tEge7HY2AQm4z8EYEVwz3LJHbonRyLveJBGt-n-f-xCn8c3kytYaKpwGSx5HYDw2ZBf2wc9F_hv6s6sPk3TMPxz41J119u3EPzzDboHNvllDMOyeDYMTI2aEKND2GnBLaxdueHzfk2CYQ6g/s1600/ATA%20Spitfire%20Girls.jpeg" width="259" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">In the U.K. women flew with the Air Transport
Auxiliary (ATA), which was founded almost immediately after the start of WWII
by senior executives of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) to employ
pilots not fit for military service in supporting roles for the RAF and Fleet
Air Arm (FAA). Although it became the sole ferrying organization of the British
armed forces, it responded flexibly to other requests and also provided air
ambulance, VIP transport and cargo service on an ad hoc basis. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">From the start, the ATA was an organization
dedicated to providing services, not proving a point, and it was open to both
men and women. Indeed, throughout its existence, men pilots out-numbered women
pilots by a significant margin. For example, the first pilots of the organization
were 30 men and 8 women. At its peak in 1944, the ATA employed nearly 700
pilots of which only a little over 100 were women. (Source: T<i>he Forgotten
Pilots</i>. Lettice Curtis (who was herself an ATA pilot). Appendix 1.) Below the founder Gerard d'Erlanger.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-tnvX8aDUD3sAuIrWtWV3kD54qzqGzDVOazJ4IYv65wVN9-J2abd7n1pF4MgrT6U8jd3ULzsOQTY7CdRMA-4RaPVIJq6pi0F0QRSxHtT7mXytq-VtuYhs1VX2YqxkcB1wKt9gGEmtQqtTK3mO7tjIZym7gT13ngHauOX0ymDpOrXGhUwo1DhSNYrfOw/s194/D'Erlanger2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="150" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-tnvX8aDUD3sAuIrWtWV3kD54qzqGzDVOazJ4IYv65wVN9-J2abd7n1pF4MgrT6U8jd3ULzsOQTY7CdRMA-4RaPVIJq6pi0F0QRSxHtT7mXytq-VtuYhs1VX2YqxkcB1wKt9gGEmtQqtTK3mO7tjIZym7gT13ngHauOX0ymDpOrXGhUwo1DhSNYrfOw/s1600/D'Erlanger2.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">The ATA was established by aviation professionals,
and initially only accepted pilots with 500 hours of solo time. By the end of
1940, the needs of the organization were so great that the recruiting
requirements were reduced to just 50 hours solo, and by 1942 the first
candidates without any flying experience were accepted into the organization’s
training program. The latter had started in 1941, when the reduction in flying
hours required for application had been instituted. Pilots with just 50 hours
solo needed additional training to fulfill the tasks assigned.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Rather than duplicating RAF or airline training,
however, the ATA inventively developed a pilot training program designed to
train pilots precisely for the tasks required by the ATA in a minimum amount of
time. Pilots were first trained only on light, training aircraft and then put
to work ferrying these aircraft to RAF training establishments. In doing the
work, the pilots were already earning their keep, contributing directly to the
war effort (relieving RAF pilots from ferrying), and also gaining flying time,
experience and confidence. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5DdFXf7MWkY3NS1J192H3lqOxy0p_b9lWviLIAQsUeCiJ8J62_ik-GIMuy47OCihPPM9aVHUsT3IuvLijENmqwj62qQABpiG_-0jybWXXiJDjj6qh5eR-RbckcfZ102z2t0sBc_c2vBDj70hJNX_dwiYdCMo0mUAM6bUJSj0iWb35bUChXO0DVF8q7g/s719/ATA%20Women%206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="719" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5DdFXf7MWkY3NS1J192H3lqOxy0p_b9lWviLIAQsUeCiJ8J62_ik-GIMuy47OCihPPM9aVHUsT3IuvLijENmqwj62qQABpiG_-0jybWXXiJDjj6qh5eR-RbckcfZ102z2t0sBc_c2vBDj70hJNX_dwiYdCMo0mUAM6bUJSj0iWb35bUChXO0DVF8q7g/s320/ATA%20Women%206.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"> An ATA pilot in a training aircraft. (Photo
courtesy of Michael Fahie) </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Once they had fully mastered these aircraft, the
ATA pilots (whether men or women) advanced to more powerful single-engine
aircraft including fighters, and step-by-step at their own pace to twin-engine
aircraft and eventually heavy bombers. At no time were ATA pilots trained on
aerobatics, air gunnery, formation flying or other military training irrelevant
to ferrying and transport service. Indeed, they were given only minimal training
on instrument flying, as ATA pilots were expected to fly “visual.” By keeping
the topics of training to the minimum, training time was significantly reduced.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Furthermore, by allowing the pilots to progress at
their own pace, no pilots were forced beyond their capabilities. There was no
need for all pilots to qualify on all classes of aircraft, a policy that
ensured all pilots contributed according to their abilities, reducing accidents
and losses. Notably this training scheme was evolved and initially managed by
some of the world's finest flying instructors -- instructors that had
previously been with the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnMYaveVJHKYBxb-nZWh39H4PeJ4ToI4CI7cnrqFDz1imStft9S94mQcgyAMybBSO4W06ZQxSrYWLisBo9aVCgFZ-38QykM2fkI4wIBc7i4pRdXIFsNr__y5H0yYItq-3BNw8IQ2D4EO1IvARe7_r7_NysBZ4aq_TXZ3FGIodobd1dFbUWkYP4-wvfORA/s541/ATA%20in%20Sterling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="541" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnMYaveVJHKYBxb-nZWh39H4PeJ4ToI4CI7cnrqFDz1imStft9S94mQcgyAMybBSO4W06ZQxSrYWLisBo9aVCgFZ-38QykM2fkI4wIBc7i4pRdXIFsNr__y5H0yYItq-3BNw8IQ2D4EO1IvARe7_r7_NysBZ4aq_TXZ3FGIodobd1dFbUWkYP4-wvfORA/s320/ATA%20in%20Sterling.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"> <br /></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">An British woman pilot in cockpit of a Sterling
four-engine bomber (Photo courtesy of Maidenhead Heritage Centre)</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">In the course of the war, the women with the ATA
steadily won the same privileges and status as their male counterparts. They
wore the same uniforms, underwent the same training at the same centralized
flying school, and performed the same duties as their male colleagues as they
qualified successively on the classes of aircraft from training bi-planes to
four-engine bombers. From 1943 onwards, they broke ground by being awarded
equal pay for equal work at a time when other women's auxiliaries (such as the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)) were not. Last but not least, women in the
ATA were promoted on merit and could exercise command authority over male
colleagues. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDptvt2jCvxi47hHIyW1oowo4GGTq1JwhuNtQBvCz4tG1wklhgpvaaUo0sxGn8FYSifVvTLV52GTofBtsOUmm03P_BSNlMHAVxfJwxBwlSx2B_MgxC5qcPPzgNqwUAJWFire4n9L0essFY7IXSacrP9YMqT80yxyZxgxV-BW2jNUrZ1q2o6o4xAke0KWM/s278/Pauline%20Gower2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="181" data-original-width="278" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDptvt2jCvxi47hHIyW1oowo4GGTq1JwhuNtQBvCz4tG1wklhgpvaaUo0sxGn8FYSifVvTLV52GTofBtsOUmm03P_BSNlMHAVxfJwxBwlSx2B_MgxC5qcPPzgNqwUAJWFire4n9L0essFY7IXSacrP9YMqT80yxyZxgxV-BW2jNUrZ1q2o6o4xAke0KWM/s1600/Pauline%20Gower2.jpeg" width="278" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Pauline Gower, the Commander of Women in ATA, whose gentle persistence and diplomatic handling of politicians and generals brought about these successes.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Furthermore, throughout the war, the women in the
ATA were recognized and praised both officially and publicly for their
contribution to the war effort. Five women and 31 male ATA pilots won the MBE.
Four women ATA pilots and two male colleagues earned the BEM. One woman Flight
Captain received a Commendation alongside five male ATA officers, and two women
ATA pilots along with 16 male ATA pilots received the King’s Commendation for
Valuable Service in the Air. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmKiJEXbtEOc9LgvU3Q-7mc43LeWSxH2KPm3GCc3DBEn3F4vaAaN37Y4eTgtd9mA-i6ilhRDO1VDETyG8hJqKzAtGW61DA6AaHOrIx9wT7hn5mrX545IlU2DvoteYPRfpnWyfHPkgf88MT9cgdVTzZEq4zio_AJXRl79Lejbi4CU0IQ13fVha47d9H2M/s833/Pauline%20Gower%20with%20King%20and%20Queen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="833" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAmKiJEXbtEOc9LgvU3Q-7mc43LeWSxH2KPm3GCc3DBEn3F4vaAaN37Y4eTgtd9mA-i6ilhRDO1VDETyG8hJqKzAtGW61DA6AaHOrIx9wT7hn5mrX545IlU2DvoteYPRfpnWyfHPkgf88MT9cgdVTzZEq4zio_AJXRl79Lejbi4CU0IQ13fVha47d9H2M/s320/Pauline%20Gower%20with%20King%20and%20Queen.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Dr. Helena P. Schader is the author of a comparative study of women pilots in the US and UK published by Pen & Sword, <i>Sisters in Arms: The Women who Flew in WWII. </i>A former ATA pilot is the leading female protagonist in her series of novels on the Berlin Airlift, <i>Bridge to Tomorrow</i>. Find out more about Book I in the series, </span><span style="color: #990000; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"><i>Cold Peace</i></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">, <a href="https://crossseaspress.com/cold-peace" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
Helena P. Schraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535398166485310212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-64847317774251358222023-07-31T22:30:00.002-07:002023-08-04T07:32:11.260-07:00 Angevin History<p>by Jack Heerema</p><p> The 19th century historian’s work was not complete unless infused with a touch of misogyny. This is particularly prevalent during the period of the Angevin kings. This was not done in a grand scheme as Lord Macaulay’s desire to have everyone in India speak English. Historians have characterized Queen Eleanor as being headstrong, contrary and willful, of course, these terms could never be applied to King Henry II, who standardized laws uniformly across England. There is always a reason behind the reason. He needed money and quickly to finance his continental wars.</p><p> The contributions of women during this period have been very marginalized. Countess Ella founded both Salisbury Cathedral and Lacock Abbey. The results can still be seen today. Lady Isabel was kind, sympathetic and formable in administrating her Irish holdings. Was she not the daughter of Red Eva who led an army in Ireland? William the Marshall would never have a stronger ally than Lady Isabel. William Longsword, Duke of Salisbury would find a similar companion in Countess Ella. Longsword and King John were half-brothers, yet when Prince Louis of France invaded England, Longsword threw his support behind the prince. There is debate whether King John’s improper advances on Countess Ella contributed Longsword defection.</p><p> History is interpreted through the cultural bias of succeeding generations. A jigsaw dropped to the floor and the search begins for the missing pieces. Slowly they are put back together, but we discover that the color is missing, and every generation picks one they feel fits best. Not many of us have experienced a marriage of convenience or as a source of wealth and power. This piece comes in a multitude of colors. We have not experienced the intense struggle between church and state, leading to the death of Thomas Becket. It is important for a historian to understand the culture in the period he studies to determine why decisions were made.</p><p> King Henry II knew the cultural believes and superstitions held within the commonweal. He understood how to use populism and propaganda to further his ambitions. This insight wasn’t not missing in the church’s world view. In the year 1184 Glastonbury Abbey was almost burned down to the ground. A massive amount of funds was required for the rebuilding and what better source of income than from pilgrims making a journey to a holy site. Through his tribulations with the Welsh, King Harry discovered that Arthur’s last resting place was at Glastonbury Abbey. What better way to rally his people around himself than becoming heir of Excalibur. He died before this scheme came to fruition. The abbot of the abbey, on the other hand, still saw this as an opportunity to collect pledges for the building fund. A massive search began by digging up the entire grounds until the grave was found, behold it was. Pilgrims journeyed to the abbey and turned it into a cathedral. </p><p> Through the reigns of the Angevin kings the tax burdens on the commonweal were onerous and devastating. The continual wars in France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales extorted every penny by succeeding kings. King Richard’s ransom from Austria after fighting in the crusades left a huge swath of destitution and penury in England. Is where the legend of Robin Hood originated. In our own day we have a superman or batman who rises from this devastation like a phoenix and rights the wrongs and injustices done to ordinary people who are powerless and have not the resources to fight for their own rights. We attribute the rise of Robin Hood to the Angevin period. Is this a coincidence? Every myth is rooted in fact which seems to be too heavy to bear.</p><p> When Prince Louis invaded England in 1216, numerous of the commonweal believed the yoke placed on their necks by King John would be removed. This turned brother against brother and many villages, towns and cities were looted and burned by their own people. There was indiscriminate raping and murders constantly. After a year Prince Louis was driven back to France after the Battle of Dover in 1217. This was done through the combined effort of the barons who stayed true to the English throne and rallied around William the Marshall, Duke of Pembroke.</p><p> This is the backdrop for ‘Marigold, Our Lady of Thieves’. It follows the life and fortunes of a foundling named Marion, who is rescued from a skip by Sir Kai ap Gruffydd who becomes her guardian and mentor. This story reveals how the sword Excalibur was found and how it came into her possession. On the way she is introduced to Robin Hood and the Valkyrie who would become her closest friends. The synopsis and reviews for the novel can be found at www.jackheerema.ca </p><p><br /></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4LFWG7D2YtxNp1vsQJUrNsb9YUfqECWM0VfPHU2DEfjIYIHQ72ZcNjk8eeujkX7gEykNm8hMEeKX5uPvYvLmJzBayCziL0AASoGlsUfyQqQ_HAU-l7KIdxeU5uZ1okpsbepDL_g2Wv534CDl_oOZary1rjohvUHzEebW0B55YWdUxDTdxklHyhPqoDU/s756/dad%20book.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="517" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO4LFWG7D2YtxNp1vsQJUrNsb9YUfqECWM0VfPHU2DEfjIYIHQ72ZcNjk8eeujkX7gEykNm8hMEeKX5uPvYvLmJzBayCziL0AASoGlsUfyQqQ_HAU-l7KIdxeU5uZ1okpsbepDL_g2Wv534CDl_oOZary1rjohvUHzEebW0B55YWdUxDTdxklHyhPqoDU/s320/dad%20book.JPG" width="219" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-27031515427788762822023-07-29T03:48:00.003-07:002023-07-29T03:48:59.371-07:00British Women at War: Womens' Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF)<p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">The
youngest and arguably the most dynamic and egalitarian of the womens' services
was the WAAF. While the other women's services were grafted on to institutions
with hundreds of years of traditions without women, the WAAF was founded at
exactly the same time as the RAF itself. That proved to be a significant
advantage, reflected mostly in the attitudes of the men with whom they served.
As the recruiting poster suggests, WAAF didn't "free a man" to go
elsewhere -- they served alongside them except in the air itself.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "Righteous",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqRX6XluLuRF3TOjMhZhLBWlEb_-WjrZQ9Vlt75v1eH6jNUohJl8BIHixrys6kFHiUH5oC8ppo6CBI6HmOGpeE5FP0x0-P89en9XaBIZoe6c0vyJF5ysJFG2uhIEfa_pxTgm6rZ8Gf8ro1DBedj_DfqAE9ZFXSyL5uK9b-tDX9KY47ALOm7kmTftZRsQ/s269/WAAF%20Recruiting%20Poster1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="187" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqRX6XluLuRF3TOjMhZhLBWlEb_-WjrZQ9Vlt75v1eH6jNUohJl8BIHixrys6kFHiUH5oC8ppo6CBI6HmOGpeE5FP0x0-P89en9XaBIZoe6c0vyJF5ysJFG2uhIEfa_pxTgm6rZ8Gf8ro1DBedj_DfqAE9ZFXSyL5uK9b-tDX9KY47ALOm7kmTftZRsQ/s1600/WAAF%20Recruiting%20Poster1.jpeg" width="187" /></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Despite being founded at the
same time as the RAF, the original women's service associated with the
fledgling air force (the Women's Royal Airforce or WRAF) was short-lived.
Founded on 1 April 1918, it was already disbanded by June 1919. Yet in that
short space of time, 556 officers and 31,000 other ranks not only saw service,
they convinced the "powers that be" in the RAF that women could be
useful -- at least in wartime. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Thus, despite being disbanded,
the WRAF was not forgotten. On the one hand, many of the women who had served
stayed in touch and in the late 1930s helped form a voluntary organization
known as "The Emergency Service." On the other hand, senior RAF
officers declaimed that the WRAF was to the RAF like a wife, a sister and a
sweetheart. Even the founder of the RAF, Lord Trenchard, considered the
"W" in front of RAF as "an unnecessary initial" and
insisted the WRAF was "part of the RAF" and -- significantly --
"would be again." [Quoted in: Katherine Bentley Beauman, <i>Partners
in Blue: The Story of the Women's Service with the Royal Air Force</i>, 55-56]
By 1938, women were receiving lectures and drill from active service RAF on an
informal basis. Among the women who availed themselves of these opportunities
were the wives of some of the most senior officers in the RAF including the
Chief of Air Staff. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Officially, however, the WRAF
was not resurrected as the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) until June 1939.
With war obviously approaching, the RAF leadership decided that women were to
be recruited for service in 1) motor transport, 2) clerical duties, 3) cooking
and catering, 4) other "general duties" that might include
messengers, telephone and teleprinter operators. At its inception, 2,000 women
who had signed up for the ATS transferred immediately to the WAAF. The WAAF
proved popular throughout the war and fully 84% of all WAAF were volunteers.
Indeed, early on, there were more volunteers than could be accommodated and
many women were turned away or sent home to await a letter calling them to the
service. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Contemporary expectations had
been that the Germans would launch massive air raids on the United Kingdom at
the outbreak of the war. Fortunately, conventional wisdom was wrong and Britain
was granted nine months of grace before Britain's air war started in earnest in
June 1940. During the period of this "phony war," while most people
weren't looking, the RAF was recruiting selected women "special
duties" clerks. These WAAF for destined for some of the most important
jobs of the war.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">On the one hand, more mature
women deemed particularly discreet and reliable were selected and trained for
work in codes and cypher. (The Royal Navy did the same, incidentally.) More
exceptional was that the forward-thinking C-in-C of Fighter Command, had
requested in 1936 -- three years before the WAAF was officially formed! -- that
women to be trained to perform new, technologically-advanced jobs that had
never existed before. Even more astonishing, the jobs he wanted them for were
positions absolutely vital to the success of Britain's entire air defense. They
were also high-pressure jobs that would have to be performed when under fire:
wireless and radar operators, filterers and plotters. Air Marshal Sir Hugh
Dowding not only insisted WAAF could do the work, he insisted that they receive
commissions as appropriate, scuppering RAF policy about commissions only for
women in administrative positions. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <br /></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySdMGe3JVhSlhPUkEWSDCupRpr5rVvbOeaaGksUFPd8ErE0BfEYqqv1Dph86vr5PxFo8KQQpv8O6C8y0nVYtUBiDdTehtiNRIuGgs_hpQOLugeOybKxZF9jeujL84gRod9e6wMBjiPizTdRfAT-ggfllW10dONQt30VhynOp4WzoBxKNHliHzIm7H2tQ/s235/WAAF%20Radar%20Controller.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="214" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySdMGe3JVhSlhPUkEWSDCupRpr5rVvbOeaaGksUFPd8ErE0BfEYqqv1Dph86vr5PxFo8KQQpv8O6C8y0nVYtUBiDdTehtiNRIuGgs_hpQOLugeOybKxZF9jeujL84gRod9e6wMBjiPizTdRfAT-ggfllW10dONQt30VhynOp4WzoBxKNHliHzIm7H2tQ/s1600/WAAF%20Radar%20Controller.jpeg" width="214" /></a></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">When the Battle of Britain
brought terror to Britain's skies, WAAF were at the front lines and rapidly
demonstrated by sheer competence their worth. They worked at radar stations and
plotting tables while the radar towers or their airfields were bombed. Time and
again, they got up and dusted themselves off to continue working as the raid
receded. Six WAAF received the Military Medal for bravery during the Battle of
Britain. Unsurprisingly after this record, women not only dominated these
trades, later in the war they moved from these jobs into the more senior and
more responsible position of controller. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNWFnTTtnIeoZqA7ltkmPtMwntqkDGgTxhWUR5cXOPul_4yKzZwVknNkttxrOFJyjZa5BgP9jHrApj1lbua8PswFCu-4Lo7WvjJPVOtHhIOdNIZCGoHPDNZDOK4PRG4ZrM0HrePloQE87mHVJhpNJt1VCO3pB_84-93CgH2eF2Lbzfle20yCvQlVYBqY/s250/WAAF%20in%20Sector%20Control%20Room.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="250" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNWFnTTtnIeoZqA7ltkmPtMwntqkDGgTxhWUR5cXOPul_4yKzZwVknNkttxrOFJyjZa5BgP9jHrApj1lbua8PswFCu-4Lo7WvjJPVOtHhIOdNIZCGoHPDNZDOK4PRG4ZrM0HrePloQE87mHVJhpNJt1VCO3pB_84-93CgH2eF2Lbzfle20yCvQlVYBqY/s1600/WAAF%20in%20Sector%20Control%20Room.jpeg" width="250" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br />In addition, in 1941 WAAF were
tasked -- initially only experimentally -- with manning Britain's barrage
balloons. This was a task requiring physical strength and skill. Balloons were
filled with hydrogen and were 63 feet long and 31 feet high when inflated. They
weighed 550 lbs and were controlled (as best as possible) by steal cables. The
hydrogen was inflammable, of course, and handling of the winches and cables was
dangerous. The balloons had to face "bow" to wind, which meant they
had to be re-oriented whenever the wind direction changed. The work was 24/7.
Yet the WAAF did so well handling the balloons, that women began replacing men
in the balloon squadrons. Eventually 15,700 WAAF became balloon operators and
made up roughly 60% of Balloon Command.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWg-AK-8N2u0BneTBQ06ypaCn2sf6F_ndktZnd4gDkW5nXBN19csAxH97RfP0ZMnwjIl15IDeJrDOrHTaUlKG1An_95E316C3S-TOXbEnGjkf3SD7GlLV5Pa4GVPAO2FwJ1APjXHwx7xpe9WYh10_VngMirfNlIP8m9JsOE2cUa8NEDglz1BXduv3nWA/s269/WAAF%20and%20Baloon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="269" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWg-AK-8N2u0BneTBQ06ypaCn2sf6F_ndktZnd4gDkW5nXBN19csAxH97RfP0ZMnwjIl15IDeJrDOrHTaUlKG1An_95E316C3S-TOXbEnGjkf3SD7GlLV5Pa4GVPAO2FwJ1APjXHwx7xpe9WYh10_VngMirfNlIP8m9JsOE2cUa8NEDglz1BXduv3nWA/s1600/WAAF%20and%20Baloon.jpeg" width="269" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The WAAF expanded to other
trades as well. In addition to taking on the maintenance of radar and wireless
equipment (a natural extension in some ways of operating those systems) they
were also soon serving as military police, meteorologists, intelligence
officers, doing photographic interpretation, acting as interpreters, working as
laboratory assistants, air traffic controllers, as
draughtsmen and cartographers, stores clerks, parachute packers, and
accountants. (The recruiting poster below shows a WAAF Air Traffic Controller.)<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjta5SJgvgi1E9MLSjB6RMIIIH4jaZm4-TQh1JDVDbzZWorhVY8lH5FOhrCWYZg_2VK7FYWnrLFiIj6_g5gSGq7elqJyeWnUwvFvxvVdTquHk48H9Y54OMpjzr-ozz_oJQoMGwkPrbSH7Woo20hmUpa7ZwVT4fI4Pko65T-LCG3Lqv3DLQ6ouCOtL29Mzw/s247/WAAF%20Recruiting%20-%20Control%20Tower.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="166" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjta5SJgvgi1E9MLSjB6RMIIIH4jaZm4-TQh1JDVDbzZWorhVY8lH5FOhrCWYZg_2VK7FYWnrLFiIj6_g5gSGq7elqJyeWnUwvFvxvVdTquHk48H9Y54OMpjzr-ozz_oJQoMGwkPrbSH7Woo20hmUpa7ZwVT4fI4Pko65T-LCG3Lqv3DLQ6ouCOtL29Mzw/s1600/WAAF%20Recruiting%20-%20Control%20Tower.jpeg" width="166" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br />More astonishing, perhaps, was
that the RAF also trained WAAF as electricians, airframe and engine mechanics
(riggers and fitters), and as instrument repairers, highly technical trades
traditionally done by men. Altogether, the WAAF worked in 110 different trades,
and twenty-two officer branches were open to WAAF officers. The WAAF,
meanwhile, had already in 1941 come under the Air Force Act making WAAF
officially members of the Armed Forces. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisByvI5NRvhiNFjnfL_Et7jH0q-3n0gjO_R6PWJm6wQeNm8IYX4ZR6ESQArt8U7vw27F3b2nV6fA8-I6T-IX1PLYTzbpzC3o-xsEj2Avt8XxOzZT8SigbMq1KLoEEkYHyBNMHx0msZBATGCwfj4IwdWEDY7_QsDIfA1DgfowXyArAtEBiw0Qg2u1_0ClA/s200/WAAF%20Aircrew.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="200" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisByvI5NRvhiNFjnfL_Et7jH0q-3n0gjO_R6PWJm6wQeNm8IYX4ZR6ESQArt8U7vw27F3b2nV6fA8-I6T-IX1PLYTzbpzC3o-xsEj2Avt8XxOzZT8SigbMq1KLoEEkYHyBNMHx0msZBATGCwfj4IwdWEDY7_QsDIfA1DgfowXyArAtEBiw0Qg2u1_0ClA/w320-h293/WAAF%20Aircrew.jpeg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">WAAF officers played a
particularly important role in the latter years of the war as controllers and
wireless operators at bomber stations, and also as intelligence officers
debriefing returning bomber crews. </span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdOR7A0c6GzjgcId0Fk0du1ORv4VPE0eRAtaaUbaoyw1Z5yV6zUE6abs-cmDbUjoNgPyz9Xv95BxVPomGzwNAOyo-IPWxLSSiVp1-jJ0e1une8hsK9oTewaDhU2X-AlG8p2rGbaHuufe0i2Tn_PY1Dn1qhcQlZBdv9t1HMS6XxQ2R6ddaxKkj7-xBLOQ/s299/WAAF%20Intelligence%20Officer%20at%20Bomber%20Debrief.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMdOR7A0c6GzjgcId0Fk0du1ORv4VPE0eRAtaaUbaoyw1Z5yV6zUE6abs-cmDbUjoNgPyz9Xv95BxVPomGzwNAOyo-IPWxLSSiVp1-jJ0e1une8hsK9oTewaDhU2X-AlG8p2rGbaHuufe0i2Tn_PY1Dn1qhcQlZBdv9t1HMS6XxQ2R6ddaxKkj7-xBLOQ/s1600/WAAF%20Intelligence%20Officer%20at%20Bomber%20Debrief.jpeg" width="299" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">In addition, fifteen WAAF
officers were recruited for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), fourteen of
which were sent to France while one parachuted into Yugoslavia. Of these, one
WAAF was executed by the Nazis and another tortured but survived, while the
rest returned unharmed. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The WAAF did not serve in the UK
alone. Women code and ciphers officers were in high demand across the globe,
including in the U.S., Canada and the Middle and Far East. Women photo
interpreters were likewise coveted. Airwomen were also sent overseas to serve
in domestic and clerical trades. Finally, WAAF followed the RAF as it advanced
across continental Europe in the closing months of the war. Altogether, 7,556
WAAF served overseas in the USA, Canada, the Bahamas, India, Ceylon, Singapore,
the Middle East and Mediterranean, and across Western Europe.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Of all the women's services, the
WAAF was the most integrated and this was reflected in the uniform which
followed RAF uniform in design and colour with only marginal or necessary
modifications, such a skirts rather than trousers for dress uniforms. WAAF
working in jobs such as balloon handling or aircraft and radio mechanics wore
RAF overalls. WAAF were also entitled to wear "battle dress" with
trousers and short tunics. (Below a WAAF aircraft mechanic in overalls.) <br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWN46USZl66tN9QRKuAxlQQ5TqZC1zApC3YVFpG-jH_m2FZ5mr9h2ZfHZFsHoBuPazSOZmnZvBNHXC4ir-fuEHZ4zKMAk5SvMg6ZuoFFBwEGeEQx3TiksManpNur5C9oaRMTXrgcwV_cM6Nih6wBlWmo3_bblh3hwzK21bHs5WASJ5ZX0sN82TrDwWdpU/s1315/Photo_2023-07-28_144116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1315" data-original-width="1002" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWN46USZl66tN9QRKuAxlQQ5TqZC1zApC3YVFpG-jH_m2FZ5mr9h2ZfHZFsHoBuPazSOZmnZvBNHXC4ir-fuEHZ4zKMAk5SvMg6ZuoFFBwEGeEQx3TiksManpNur5C9oaRMTXrgcwV_cM6Nih6wBlWmo3_bblh3hwzK21bHs5WASJ5ZX0sN82TrDwWdpU/s320/Photo_2023-07-28_144116.jpg" width="244" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">At their peak, the WAAF numbered
more than 181,000 including roughly 6,000 officers, which made it only
marginally smaller than the ATS (190,000), but more than twice the size of the
WRNS, who maximum force was 75,000. The vast majority of the 217,000
women who served in the WAAF in the course of the war were volunteers,
although 34,000 were conscripts. At the end of the war, WAAF accounted
for 22% of the RAF's overall strength in the UK, and 16% of RAF strength
worldwide. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">WAAF are leading characters Helena P. Schrader's latest release: <i>Cold Peace</i>. This is the first novel in a three-part series, <i>Bridge to Tomorrow</i>, which describes the causes, events and aftermath of the Berlin Airlift (1948-1949). Schrader is a multiple award-winning novelist, who has published three books set in Britain during
WWII: <i>Where Eagles Never Flew, Grounded Eagles</i> and <i>Moral Fibre</i>.
You can find out more about her, her books, reviews and awards at: </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://CrossSeasPress.com"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">https://CrossSeasPress.com</span></a><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">.<br /></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
Helena P. Schraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535398166485310212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-62309423353537824202023-07-08T01:30:00.000-07:002023-07-08T01:30:32.331-07:00British Women at War: The Women's Royal Navy Service <p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #073763;"> <span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The
smallest and most elite of the women's services in the U.K. was undoubtedly the
Women's Royal Naval Service or WRNS. Because its numbers never exceeded 75,000,
the WRNS was never dependent upon conscription; volunteers were sufficient to
fill its needs. It also cultivated and maintained a reputation as being
exclusive and having higher standards.</span></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0SdXNCRI7HjqR8eovXwImJPgzljX7VphyZvoncHsRxycsWA66zdgV_bV5rToCZ7XsjL77fD2Q8HInVAaWQa9THj2p1zRE4eGJnURPrNfxk40gR7UTIZjFOeo97_d5Fnily_I0VnNsjiEsTDgGBzIqdvVIUVHtPT6Y8bwOM6IBfe-uiyB8cL2p6QmE34/s277/WRNS%20Recruiting%20Poster.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="182" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0SdXNCRI7HjqR8eovXwImJPgzljX7VphyZvoncHsRxycsWA66zdgV_bV5rToCZ7XsjL77fD2Q8HInVAaWQa9THj2p1zRE4eGJnURPrNfxk40gR7UTIZjFOeo97_d5Fnily_I0VnNsjiEsTDgGBzIqdvVIUVHtPT6Y8bwOM6IBfe-uiyB8cL2p6QmE34/s1600/WRNS%20Recruiting%20Poster.jpeg" width="182" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">L</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">ike</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> the other women's services, the Women's Royal
Naval Service had its roots in the First World War when it was created in
late 1917 to help meet manpower shortages. The women were used to free up male
ratings from shore-based duties primarily cooking, cleaning and clerical work,
and in both world wars the Admiralty insisted that women would not serve at sea. The
first WRNS was both small and short-lived. Roughly 7,000 women served in it
during the less than two years of its existence; it was disbanded in 1919.
Twenty years later, in August 1939 the WRNS was reformed. Again, its
mandate was to "free men for the fleet" by putting women in shore-based
jobs, such as cleaning, cooking and clerical work.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Yet from the very start, the WRNS was different.
For a start, it was technically part of the the Royal Navy <i>services </i>but
not part of the Royal Navy. Legally, this meant it was a <i>civilian </i>support
service and the WRNS did not technically come under the Naval Discipline Act
until 1977! Second, during the early years applicants needed
"recommendations" -- preferably from RN personnel -- to be considered
at all. Many of the first WRNS were the wives, sisters and daughters of naval
officers. Furthermore, recruiting was at first confined to residents of the
major naval ports of Portsmouth, Plymouth, Chatham and Rosyth, and the WRNS
were expected to live at home!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Furthermore, from its inception in WWI (which
followed the scandals that had plagued the WAAC), the WRNS were jealous of
their reputation. The leadership was explicit in dictating that "WRNS must
... avoid any behavior which, though not incriminating in itself, may be
undesirable...." The catalogue of such undesirable behavior
included smoking in public, drinking alcohol in public, and loitering
around with men. Already in WWI, the WRNS were known as the "prigs and
prudes" -- and were proud of it. When the service was resurrected in WWII,
this tradition was continued. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwKxM910UuqoAmT2UyypftGsomwJ4r9Bjbk_db7HYMNb-vMz0we4bxXwHOxQm1M0e9EWTHBfF8AnRWJFRgg8TujsBSc_UmzVO1_b_yNP7abHvQMGofnHugGkDNbHYzCbJD6u0j0cxJaAh-XOA9KyfLQxLAIAsQxMWwLHjH8jjCBWyDOdyKdOTVR-nNu8/s256/WRNS%20Officers.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="256" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwKxM910UuqoAmT2UyypftGsomwJ4r9Bjbk_db7HYMNb-vMz0we4bxXwHOxQm1M0e9EWTHBfF8AnRWJFRgg8TujsBSc_UmzVO1_b_yNP7abHvQMGofnHugGkDNbHYzCbJD6u0j0cxJaAh-XOA9KyfLQxLAIAsQxMWwLHjH8jjCBWyDOdyKdOTVR-nNu8/s1600/WRNS%20Officers.jpeg" width="256" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br />On the other hand, the WWII leadership came from a
younger generation -- a generation of professional women who sought to fill the
ranks with not just "the right sort" of woman, but women capable of
doing the job. Unlike the leadership of the ATS, the WRNS leadership was
composed of women with a more egalitarian outlook than the service to which
they were attached. The WRNS leadership adopted a policy of strict meritocracy.
A key component of this policy was that no woman could become an officer
without first being a rating and proving herself. This policy did much to
improve morale -- and was notably lacking from the ATS where most officers were
appointed directly, often without qualifications, on the basis of their accent
or social status.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">
Although the WRNS started the war with seven limited categories of work which
can be summarized as clerical, cleaning and cooking, the war rapidly forced
changes. Soon the duties assigned WRNS expanded to motor transport,
storekeepers, messengers, mechanics, telegraphists and R/T operators, signalers
and small-boat handlers. Eventually there were 129 trades including
plotters, radar operators. meteorologists, codes and cipher specialists,
intelligence officers and anti-aircraft crew. Fundamentally, from 1941 onwards,
the WRNS took on all shore-based jobs that did not require physical strength or
sea experience, including training RN personnel for their duties at sea.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVv7Y21u5OVTari5DGKrtoiYiN7fGKccJmELEzfglxYZEa4UvrCJC2S9uKvD4zArBJmL2d9bDCsp4lcc1qpqrbhQ2oDFUIZRcs1L-hvo2qGCa_1Se6CBxytYSrrEvggnc9QTRc14-7EK3p7yUMrV_G-ir7TWxgttlDtOGsPApiTiN8leFbSG5LHg57vZI/s232/WRNS%20ploters.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="131" data-original-width="232" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVv7Y21u5OVTari5DGKrtoiYiN7fGKccJmELEzfglxYZEa4UvrCJC2S9uKvD4zArBJmL2d9bDCsp4lcc1qpqrbhQ2oDFUIZRcs1L-hvo2qGCa_1Se6CBxytYSrrEvggnc9QTRc14-7EK3p7yUMrV_G-ir7TWxgttlDtOGsPApiTiN8leFbSG5LHg57vZI/w320-h181/WRNS%20ploters.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span>Particularly striking was the degree to which the
extremely conservative and hidebound "senior service" eventually
handed over significant responsibility to WRNS. For example, WRNS were largely
responsible for the dispatch of RN vessels. WRNS issued sailing orders and
allocated berths. They also sent, received and decoded messages. Meanwhile,
WRNS were required to be mobile and go where needed rather than live at home.
The chic, feminine uniform distinctly different from the RN uniform and
designed especially for women, was soon supplemented by overalls, bell bottom
trousers, and other forms of practical clothing depending on the job
performed. Silently, the requirement for recommendations in order to
apply also went by the board. </span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs24kbQUxy8Sr-xbg7jZp4o7tYdo-xxhrPVgW_lVmcxoGBAu3txHDxcEQta66kF_WjMtfeymlkDgCi1FqMMJWmB09_a04LFS-Uz54loJGEoG0LTgT796GQGp88lxWJTII3jtxWHaR4bYBxuz9ELFSYcIqB2Jsd7bEXDapO4oFMYe7c5nELCRuf6yL_Dzc/s200/WRNS2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="115" data-original-width="200" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs24kbQUxy8Sr-xbg7jZp4o7tYdo-xxhrPVgW_lVmcxoGBAu3txHDxcEQta66kF_WjMtfeymlkDgCi1FqMMJWmB09_a04LFS-Uz54loJGEoG0LTgT796GQGp88lxWJTII3jtxWHaR4bYBxuz9ELFSYcIqB2Jsd7bEXDapO4oFMYe7c5nELCRuf6yL_Dzc/w320-h184/WRNS2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Meanwhile, the WRNS particularly
distinguished themselves as linguists and in the field of code-breaking and
cypher work. It is noteworthy that the Admiralty had unofficially identified
these areas as potential fields for women before the outbreak of the war.
Dispatch riders was another category of work in which WRNS earned praise and
recognition. The work entailed riding powerful (and very heavy) motorbikes at
speed, often over long distances, on unmarked roads with inadequate headlights
(due to wartime blackout requirements). Inevitably, a number of women had
serious motor accidents, and recruitment for the trade was discontinued, but
those who had already qualified were allowed to continue, several earning
mentions in dispatches or medals for their work. <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdPnpjqwqcI_foXBkfnk94l3McnGoYCFqrnDyV9QZjuqkePy9UjICw6WajGRWdgx-nUpfuYt11FM9UGNcQ6F8LAQldBYoxk1-X1mIhz-fhQBP5LRdTXiYUvdIHa6xKsNRrXRV1-zbLj8GtxlCgWt2ypTR414AnQ_PM4N8mELrkdH8_oPXQJ3PGA65tGg/s251/WRNS%20Dispatchrider.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="251" data-original-width="200" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdPnpjqwqcI_foXBkfnk94l3McnGoYCFqrnDyV9QZjuqkePy9UjICw6WajGRWdgx-nUpfuYt11FM9UGNcQ6F8LAQldBYoxk1-X1mIhz-fhQBP5LRdTXiYUvdIHa6xKsNRrXRV1-zbLj8GtxlCgWt2ypTR414AnQ_PM4N8mELrkdH8_oPXQJ3PGA65tGg/s1600/WRNS%20Dispatchrider.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Although the Admiralty never allowed women to serve
"with the fleet," starting in 1941, small harbor craft were
"manned" by WRNS. Although the boat crews never numbered more
than 573 altogether, it was the most popular of all categories and some WRNS
preferred to give up their petty officer status for the sake of being an
ordinary deck hand on a boat. There was also one small but notable
exception to the otherwise rigid rule about women not serving "with the
fleet." WRNS cipher officers were sent aboard the large troop transports
such as the <i>Queen Mary</i> and <i>Queen Elizabeth</i>. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmr8hGMQYm2hnc7uSdMHkgp4HqwWRqwqd92nLQEdU-f7JGpqZ6gP7Z-jv3RMaczX-WyO4_PduiqY58pwoEb9AjDpP5qGQD3T7x9NxtLEiF3qfL8wSQqKfd-DMM8ruGYwmK3m1PZGJkqunBxoJzYjr_oHOizGQLKtIq98JNvXs80NJ_m_r_oF50JzJ1ENQ/s253/WRNS4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="199" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmr8hGMQYm2hnc7uSdMHkgp4HqwWRqwqd92nLQEdU-f7JGpqZ6gP7Z-jv3RMaczX-WyO4_PduiqY58pwoEb9AjDpP5qGQD3T7x9NxtLEiF3qfL8wSQqKfd-DMM8ruGYwmK3m1PZGJkqunBxoJzYjr_oHOizGQLKtIq98JNvXs80NJ_m_r_oF50JzJ1ENQ/s1600/WRNS4.jpeg" width="199" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Finally, WRNS were deployed overseas, which required them traveling for
the most part by RN vessel to their new overseas assignments. WRNS were sent
overseas starting in 1942 and by the end of the war 6,000 WRNS were serving in
37 overseas locations. In the course of the war, WRNS served in Alexandria,
Port Said, Cairo and Suez, Durban, Kilindini (Kenya), Colombo (Cylon) and
Singapore. </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">At its peak in late 1944, the
WRNS numbered 74,620 who served in all theaters of the war. In the course of
the war, they had made themselves so useful and demonstrated the capabilities
of women so effectively that the WRNS was not disbanded after WWII but
continued until it was fully integrated into the RN in 1993.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">Award-winning
novelist Helena P. Schrader is the author of three books set in Britain during
WWII: <i>Where Eagles Never Flew, Grounded Eagles</i> and <i>Moral Fibre</i>.
You can find out more about them, their awards and read excerpts at: </span><a href="https://CrossSeasPress.com"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">https://CrossSeasPress.com</span></a><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">. </span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p></p>Helena P. Schraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535398166485310212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-35568384706475609122023-06-25T02:39:00.002-07:002023-07-08T01:11:30.990-07:00British Women at War: The Role of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) in WWII<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span> <b> <span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">From the
start of the war, British women were encouraged to volunteer for one of the
three women's auxiliary military services: Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS),
the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) and Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).
The oldest, largest and least glamorous, of the three was the ATS. </span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sBcjsPgmOS2dsKz94M6QfA4LgMEQuyKb852hxKzB44gg03-yDkcHzeE7JLxjaWmAW74Gzpinj9mtt9Ba6NPZUtuBsd-krmWNOtzG-xnCvc-SLoDt2vvaenbIGV9FPTKtAmKyvRrjx0A5rKAAIy97woeOamIaZdTq4nwd-dUQdxYNGBMWcf8rGwp_I-Y/s274/ATS-Recruiting%20Poster%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="184" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sBcjsPgmOS2dsKz94M6QfA4LgMEQuyKb852hxKzB44gg03-yDkcHzeE7JLxjaWmAW74Gzpinj9mtt9Ba6NPZUtuBsd-krmWNOtzG-xnCvc-SLoDt2vvaenbIGV9FPTKtAmKyvRrjx0A5rKAAIy97woeOamIaZdTq4nwd-dUQdxYNGBMWcf8rGwp_I-Y/s1600/ATS-Recruiting%20Poster%202.jpeg" width="184" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">The ATS was officially
authorized by Royal Warrant in September 1938 and was intended to bring
together under a single structure a variety of voluntary organizations which
sought to recruit women volunteers to support the military in time of war. Some
of these groups had roots going back to the First World War or even beyond in
the case of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), which had been formed as
early as 1908. However, except for the FANY, the various women’s auxiliaries
which had sprung up during WWI had been disbanded and so it was necessary to
start anew. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">At its inception, the duties
envisaged for the ATS were defined as driving, cooking, cleaning (orderlies),
clerical work and managing stores. The idea was that women would take over
these functions on the home front inside the army so that men would be freed to
fight, particularly overseas. Although uniformed from the start and divided
into "officers" and "other ranks," it was not until the ATS
was recognized as a component part of the military by act of parliament in
April 1941 that women officers received commissions and enjoyed an equal status
(though not pay!) to men. As a rule, women in the ATS were paid two-thirds of
what the men they were replacing had received. They also received just
four-fifths of the rations of men. Only with respect to leave was there no
discrimination; the women received the same amount as their male counterparts.
Women between the ages of 18 and 43 were eligible, and women between 44 and 50
could enlist if they had served in the last war. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGKKApOXqqHZhAmHl6tMMjUfi0tQMuRKm5ZhW2ISqkdLuZEbfJlNxuiHsrswR1q7YBfIIviKN5qjbv6AXPGZp5WBdWoInJWnkQyufSXO7w7nVC2igock7yV1O4AjlvbyRKBYRXinO3cGAN-vNnKiBTssXsQ0HJL8Bd6DjHOOpETX6yuw12ZZNAO6enAQ/s258/ATS%20Marching.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="258" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRGKKApOXqqHZhAmHl6tMMjUfi0tQMuRKm5ZhW2ISqkdLuZEbfJlNxuiHsrswR1q7YBfIIviKN5qjbv6AXPGZp5WBdWoInJWnkQyufSXO7w7nVC2igock7yV1O4AjlvbyRKBYRXinO3cGAN-vNnKiBTssXsQ0HJL8Bd6DjHOOpETX6yuw12ZZNAO6enAQ/s1600/ATS%20Marching.jpeg" width="258" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;"><span style="mso-ignore: vglayout;"></span></span></a><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">Promotion was far less egalitarian. Practically all
officers were upper class, many were titled, although they often lacked any
other qualification. The right accent and an aura of "authority" were
considered the most important requirements -- at least in the early
years. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">The poor quality of the leadership probably
accounts for the troubles the ATS initially experienced in obtaining adequate
uniforms, billets and respect. Rumors of widespread immorality and unmarried
pregnancy soon spread. Morale plummeted and by the start of 1941, more women
were leaving the ATS than joining. Since it was then still a voluntary
organization, this was possible without negative repercussions. It took a
parliamentary inquiry to expose the allegations as fraudulent and malicious.
Meanwhile, the leadership was rigorously overhauled and a new director
installed. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">Meanwhile, the women of the ATS were demonstrating
their capabilities, and they were taking over an increasing number of jobs. One
of the most important of these was manning anti-aircraft batteries. The
employment of women on "ack-ack" batteries was proposed and advocated
by General Sir Frederick Pile, the CO of the command early in the war. The
driving force behind the acceptance of the idea was numbers: Britain's anti-aircraft
batteries were short 1,114 officers and nearly 18,000 men at the start of
1940. General Pile devised a plan to recruit 15,000 women by the end of
1941 -- and he was willing to pay the women at the same rate as men. Indeed, he
wanted the women fully integrated into the Royal Artillery with the same ranks,
rights, rates of pay and discipline. However, opposition by the ATS leadership
prevented the implementation of his proposal. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">Then in May 1941 the Army Act ended the ATS'
voluntary status, and the way was opened for the deployment of women in
anti-aircraft and searchlight batteries. In March 1942, the conscription of
women was legalized and thereafter the ATS was no longer an exclusively a
volunteer force and its members became subject to the full weight of military
discipline. Public opinion, nevertheless, still opposed the idea of women
"bearing" arms -- or shooting artillery. Instead, the army opted to
create mixed anti-aircraft batteries with both ATS and Royal Artillery personnel
working together. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qdmU-gtHmgE0Dagz-oqtcgmv28dfzdnZbh9GXDdZ5Fp-AfqpU6yJkszb65AB7ViEqNdXFfyWUYQU3IGLXfge2tSXKOaf6yQKTN6lghXf2pYJi9_djUA_yKJPKZles7ejjdJMMl979-CNpCjPLnOFP7jzSBo0VnHFgE9SP6MKVrsV4Jiv-eQ5eLn7o4E/s275/ATS%20-%20Ack-Ack.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qdmU-gtHmgE0Dagz-oqtcgmv28dfzdnZbh9GXDdZ5Fp-AfqpU6yJkszb65AB7ViEqNdXFfyWUYQU3IGLXfge2tSXKOaf6yQKTN6lghXf2pYJi9_djUA_yKJPKZles7ejjdJMMl979-CNpCjPLnOFP7jzSBo0VnHFgE9SP6MKVrsV4Jiv-eQ5eLn7o4E/s1600/ATS%20-%20Ack-Ack.jpeg" width="275" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica;"> Although not allowed to fire the guns, the women
attached to an anti-aircraft battery were responsible for operating and
maintaining advanced equipment such as predictors, height-finders, plotters,
and spotters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ATS women also manned the
searchlight batteries, a role some viewed as the "elite."
Searchlights were radar directed and so they worked as plotters as well as
operators, the latter had to maintain both the beams (not an easy task) and the
generator for the lights, as well as be able to switch it on and off and swing
it manually if necessary. ATS attached to anti-aircraft batteries also did
driving, manned R/T and teleprinter machines, serviced vehicles, did sentry
duty and carried dispatches. </span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegDSdaK1flUCcuoAvSjz1SE72zOMEaef793EgfezT5eU7mTsYDQgMLKZK2KazJvcb7IztklBkEfVMq-D7RBNNn9M-YkxSyCwVLzL9CHOGoMrDddnIwm3nrIQM1wDI45rtC8L6dlXpQOonFnLeDICcSzZWyYHiZURbi1stBSNpZOeCTUSdrb78U6Rd_Ek/s318/ATS-%20Shipping%20out.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="318" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgegDSdaK1flUCcuoAvSjz1SE72zOMEaef793EgfezT5eU7mTsYDQgMLKZK2KazJvcb7IztklBkEfVMq-D7RBNNn9M-YkxSyCwVLzL9CHOGoMrDddnIwm3nrIQM1wDI45rtC8L6dlXpQOonFnLeDICcSzZWyYHiZURbi1stBSNpZOeCTUSdrb78U6Rd_Ek/s1600/ATS-%20Shipping%20out.jpeg" width="318" /></a></div><span style="mso-ignore: vglayout;"></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">The first mixed gun battery was deployed in August
1941 and the first mixed battery credited with downing an enemy aircraft was in
Newcastle in December 1941. The commanding officer of this successful unit went
on record saying:</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><i><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12pt;">As an old soldier, if I were offered the choice of commanding
a mixed battery or a male battery, I would say without hesitation I would take
the mixed battery. The girls cannot be beaten in action and, in my opinion,
they are better than the men on the instruments they are manning. Beyond a
little natural excitement...they are quite as steady if not steadier than the
men. They are amazingly keen to go into action....</span></i><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">By the end of 1942, 170,000 women were manning
Britain's "ack-ack" guns, which made up 77% of all ATS strength.
Meanwhile, the number of other trades in which women were employed had grown
from the original five trades to a total of 77 including postal workers,
ammunition inspectors, translators and librarians. Furthermore, women were
being sent overseas. From just 57 women in the Middle East in August 1941, the
number of ATS stationed overseas grew to roughly 14,000 by the end of the
war. At its height, the ATS numbered 210,308 women. Casualties were
modest. A total of 67 ATS women, most serving on the ack-ack guns, were killed
due to enemy action in the course of the war. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;">Although the reputation of the ATS had improved after it's disastrous low
at the start of 1941, it never managed to match the prestige of the other
women's services and a higher proportion of ATS personnel were conscripts than
in either the WAAF or WRNS, the latter of which was all volunteer.
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Winston Churchill's daughter Mary joined the ATS
in 1941, and in early 1945, Princess Elizabeth also chose to join the ATS, serving
as an ambulance and lorry driver. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASy3sjmGs-UwRbNc_yni6FCx1yLU4Ot8vzg2YZzMBIxwZYPpdtqdtPAokkp8EUbkxM6bkiV9VC92xR4CUwcVO-z6v06YZW0T-6sUN5tlQv5nlK-isKNDukY9zNVSqHX3fyB02cDIUjTDlXBlfsWVEwioDAbwZqUPbbwXJfoVNPHEEOcljUBc0xcAtiwA/s265/Princess%20Elizabeth%20as%20Driver.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="190" data-original-width="265" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASy3sjmGs-UwRbNc_yni6FCx1yLU4Ot8vzg2YZzMBIxwZYPpdtqdtPAokkp8EUbkxM6bkiV9VC92xR4CUwcVO-z6v06YZW0T-6sUN5tlQv5nlK-isKNDukY9zNVSqHX3fyB02cDIUjTDlXBlfsWVEwioDAbwZqUPbbwXJfoVNPHEEOcljUBc0xcAtiwA/s1600/Princess%20Elizabeth%20as%20Driver.jpeg" width="265" /></a></div><br /><span style="mso-ignore: vglayout;"></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">Award-winning
novelist Helena P. Schrader is the author of three books set in Britain during
WWII: <i>Where Eagles Never Flew, Grounded Eagles</i> and <i>Moral Fibre</i>.
You can find out more about them, their awards and read excerpts at: </span><a href="https://CrossSeasPress.com"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">https://CrossSeasPress.com</span></a><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="color: #0b5394; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">. </span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p></p>Helena P. Schraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535398166485310212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-13592984683533745042023-06-24T01:00:00.008-07:002023-06-24T01:13:39.801-07:00Liverpool's Role in the US Civil War<p></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><h1 style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Liverpool in the 1860s</span></h1><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Unlike the rest of Britain, Liverpool’s population and economic
status plummeted after World War Two. Go back 80 years further, though, and you
have Britain’s second great metropolis, thriving off King Cotton and still
benefitting hand-over-fist from the transatlantic slave trade. In modern terms,
it would be a city of four million people, or nearly twice the size of Paris. A
confident, arrogant world player grasping at city statehood. </span></p><p><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Liverpool sucked money into its Cotton Exchange and banks directly
from the trade winds and favourable currents from the new world. Traders got
rich quick, but by 1863 something had stuck in the craw… those Damn Yankees. As
a savage ground war ignited across the Eastern States of a still fledgling
nation, the superior Union Navy blockaded all merchant traffic coming in and
out of the South. Many leagues away in North-West England, a cotton drought set
tempers boiling and the nouveau riche Illuminati of Liverpool rolled their
stall out to scatter this blockade, by fair means and foul. </span></p><p><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Britain’s official neutrality – Lincoln had explicitly warned the
British Government against meddling – was flouted as the Confederate Navy was
built, launched and crewed out of the city. Huge and notorious ironclad
leviathans slipped out of the shipyard at Cammell Laird, steaming out into the
Mersey bound for engagement. No expense was spared, and the South had been
gifted the best technology of the day, with blockade runners like CSS Alabama
and CSS Banshee becoming the scourge of the North. The Rebs suddenly had stock
on water, and it came expressly from Liverpool.</span></p><p><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Via deep-rooted trade connections, the city was deemed
strategically essential to both sides in the war. The United States had long
established a Consulate on Paradise Street, before the Confederacy – floated by
local support – established its own base at Rumford Place and then Abercromby
Square. A Cold War of espionage, legal challenges and sabotage began as agents (including
a number of commissioned female agents) on both sides roamed the city and
infiltrated the docks and ships.</span></p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thomas Haines Dudley and </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">James Dunwoody Bulloch</span></h1><p><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Two men infamously stood out in a growing ensemble American cast:
Union Consul Thomas Haines Dudley, an erstwhile close aide of Lincoln who had a
role in his election, and the formidable James Dunwoody Bulloch, Confederate
Commander and Dudley’s counterpart at Rumford Place. Bulloch was the direct
link in building the clandestine Navy, while Dudley challenged him in British courts
and via his own network of agents who acted on the edge of local laws.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">During the summer of 1863, in the run-up to Gettysburg, the
pivotal battle stateside, Bulloch was succeeding in his charm offensive on the
rich denizens of the city, via gentlemen’s clubs like the Athenaeum, which had a
long association with slave traders. While anti-slavery campaigns were robust,
former slavers had received vast sums in compensation and had reinvested their
monies in the same dirty business, only at the import end of the supply chain.
The CSS Alabama wreaked havoc on the blockade, and destroyed dozens of enemy
vessels before finally succumbing at Cherbourg, more evidence that this war was
fought on both sides of the ocean.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span> </p><p style="margin: 0cm;"> </p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The actions were not confined to the two senior rivals either. Key
Lincoln assassination conspirator John Surratt hid out in the city for several
months after the dirty deed, evading capture and extradition. Liverpool’s
addiction to the vast wealth created by cotton drove the city’s fervent support
of the Rebel Yell, and this included harbouring fugitives and spies like
Surratt. Westminster did little to nothing in terms of disrupting this tryst,
with rumours of collaborations between some senior politicians with investments
tied up in Liverpool’s trading interests and the movement to back Richmond.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><h1 style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Irish Diaspora <br /></span></h1><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">An important backdrop to these events is that Liverpool’s dense
population was swelled by the diaspora after the Great Irish Hunger in the
1840s, which meant that many of the commissioned agents and paid gangs
originated from this generation of immigrants. Both sides in the war recruited
vigorously in the city for their armies and navies. Irish fought on both sides
and continued to build American cities as much as their labour built Liverpool.
Ireland formed a bridge across the ocean, and Liverpool Irish were another
essential link, taking up the lucrative but dirty work offered by Dudley and
Bulloch at a time when any work was sought after. </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This nefarious cooperation of Liverpool and the Confederacy can be
boiled down to an unerring truth; the American Civil War began with a shot
fired from a giant gun built by a Duke Street ironmonger and ended in 1865 with
the surrender of Liverpool-built CSS Shenandoah on the Mersey, with the last
act of defiance coming with their acquiescing to the British rather than Union
Navy.</span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><h1 style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After the War <br /></span></h1><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dunwoody Bulloch settled in the city after the war and is interred
at Smithdown Road cemetery. Today, Liverpool redefines itself as a city of
tolerance and as a proud, ancient melting pot with a strong urge towards social
justice. City historians like Lawrence Westgaph and Malik Al Nasir have opened
up long-closed archives that detail what happened before and after the war,
particularly in terms of slavery, by following the money and proffering
reparations for the middle passage Holocaust. Myths hang tight, and while the
ideas behind the Confederacy maintain an allure to the alt-right in the US, the
frequent appearance of a Confederate saltire on Bulloch’s resting place reminds
us that maybe a few in Liverpool still wished that war had ended differently.
The fundamental difference is that now they’re in a tiny minority.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<h2 style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">About the Author</span></b></h2><h2 style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h2><h2 style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">John
Maxwell is the author of the Civil War thriller “Water Street”. </span></h2><h2 style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h2><h2 style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">Set in
Liverpool in 1863, the American Civil War comes to the British Empire’s
second city and the world’s richest port. Confederate Commander Banastre
X. Dunwoody has a plan to turn the conflict by securing advanced
warships, but the U.S. Government is one step ahead of him. It seeks to
sabotage his efforts through its covert agent – Harriet Dunwoody –
Banastre’s pregnant wife. </span><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></b></h2><h2 style="margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></h2><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bennionkearny.com/book/water-street-jp-maxwell/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Water Street" border="0" data-original-height="1834" data-original-width="1220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC55ychewBbtutyU71xekNklSxtgancCF-lEt4FcDV4oAh8TTQS79L6iU6twZXQvFQvWvD3fDoHX1j4-VxnI8ENCBu2iGH8CKHE3e6_B1iz4LRPMtr1Kqypo-XOUQ4oQvLURCC14HwqXXLYaPMX2KCwC2XUoNW4SOJlNe9yOwVfCOrEfXJnfeEPEqXUBg/w213-h320/Water%20Street%20cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">As in the
Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and, indeed, the United States, by far the largest
number of women mobilized in support of the war effort went into the civilian
labor force to replace men called to arms. Yet whereas women in U.S. factories
were all volunteers and the Germans relied heavily on slave labor from the
Concentration Camps, POWs and occupied Europe, Britain conscripted women into
the munitions and aircraft factories from 1942 onwards. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "Righteous",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PFolIhHqXqJenPDkB6uOu2jl8iqM5SKrF6SJGK8P0Y4XecgIJhdV61dWOn0cSJCT6fvIAY9FL_2_jzBSHL09rmDql0RcidugOHmEOszs8rtfs1yUtMY7grTJV2VmFUnHwLyuTEemWlPM0da82TPiFoRJw79T1sNM3NzjVWNiIavbKdXf-ZHntOiD/s800/Recruiting%20Poster%20-%20Industry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PFolIhHqXqJenPDkB6uOu2jl8iqM5SKrF6SJGK8P0Y4XecgIJhdV61dWOn0cSJCT6fvIAY9FL_2_jzBSHL09rmDql0RcidugOHmEOszs8rtfs1yUtMY7grTJV2VmFUnHwLyuTEemWlPM0da82TPiFoRJw79T1sNM3NzjVWNiIavbKdXf-ZHntOiD/s320/Recruiting%20Poster%20-%20Industry.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Already by 1941, it was obvious to the British
government that there was a serious shortage of manpower both to fight the war
and to produce the instruments of war, particularly munitions, ships and
aircraft. The British government recognized that the only solution was to bring
women into the work-force both by enabling them to fulfill a wider range of
support roles in the armed forces, thereby reducing the number of men that
would have to be conscripted, and on an even larger scale employing them in
factories producing essential war materiel. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">In the spring of 1941, all women between the ages
of 18 and 60 were required to register. By December, a shortage of
1.5 million factory workers in essential war industries was identified and the
decision was taken to conscript women to fill this gap. Although women were
given the option of joining one of the women's auxiliary services, doing civil
defense work or working in industry, fully half of the 1.5 million women called
to national service, 750,000, would be directed into the munitions factories.
The legal basis for female conscription was included in the National Service
Act passed 18 December 1941, which made all widows without children and single
women between the ages of twenty and thirty subject to conscription.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">By the end of the war, women up to the age of fifty
were liable for national service and already in 1943, 90% of single women and
80% of married women were in one way or another contributing to the war effort.
The bulk of these women worked in factory jobs, and three-quarters of them
full-time. Yet even though many of these women were called up to fill the place
of men going into the armed services, most were paid a lower wage then the men
they had replaced. The exceptions such as the Air Transport Auxiliary and the
railways were the rare exceptions that granted women equal pay for equal work,
the later due to a national union agreement. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Furthermore, wartime demands meant that working
conditions deteriorated dramatically. In 1940, after Lord Beaverbrook took
charge of the specially created Ministry of Aircraft Production, factories
assembling aircraft or producing the component parts for them started to work
around the clock. The shifts were extended to twelve-hours and weekends and
holidays were cancelled. In the crisis atmosphere created by the Battle of
Britain and Blitz, workers began sleeping in the factories and soon accidents
went up and productivity declined. Such a pace was not sustainable, and
inevitably things settled into a wartime "normal." This was on
average a 58 - 60 hour workweek for men and a 45 to 55 hour workweek for
women. (Below, women workers assembling an aircraft fuselage)</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBzzN1KeOtntD2rG9f5bz0WoGevenUz2RTNn1qc45Bc8hdDHCz0u-84r4QvmONFpCBzssqERUlnJD6s2C7W8YzYHH8GJ3WkPbVURWsVNZSjA8eiQCIwgGgF0Dvnn3FhFDfmjE7zs-JU6nOZw75KUaaM93l1FHXlifTyxS61Z26DVtwClV_gRMC8Wl/s314/Female%20Aircraft%20Factory%20workers.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="161" data-original-width="314" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBzzN1KeOtntD2rG9f5bz0WoGevenUz2RTNn1qc45Bc8hdDHCz0u-84r4QvmONFpCBzssqERUlnJD6s2C7W8YzYHH8GJ3WkPbVURWsVNZSjA8eiQCIwgGgF0Dvnn3FhFDfmjE7zs-JU6nOZw75KUaaM93l1FHXlifTyxS61Z26DVtwClV_gRMC8Wl/s1600/Female%20Aircraft%20Factory%20workers.jpeg" width="314" /></a></div><br /><span style="mso-ignore: vglayout;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">In addition to the shorter workweek, other
concessions were made to the female workforce. Where men had stood, women
were often provided with stools to sit. Tea breaks became regularized, and
canteen food improved. Yet the work still had to get done and while women were
shielded from combat, there was no comparative effort to protect them from
dangerous jobs. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Most notably, nearly a million (950,000) British
women worked in munitions factories, then known as the Royal Ordnance Factories
or ROF. These jobs were better paid and required fewer hours than in other
sectors such as transport, but the risks were enormous. The women worked
filling fuses, detonators, bullets, shells, mines and bombs with explosive
materials, particularly TNT. Health and safety practices were minimal. The
women often suffered from side effects such as skin discoloration and stomach
illnesses from handling toxic chemicals, often with their naked hands. The risk
of explosion was always present, and in addition to 134 fatalities, many more
workers lost limbs in accidents. (Below women working in a munitions factory.)</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fBu-s_p8xTA0Ur2EmkC-f43V0J70oV2J80JHNALlf-axP3ou8Xt5gyr1B4DFICZcPWetEP5-Ce-COoqtc9kGyhPYL5AijCmWpQeqmCMApul3L7Nbbw21VLaHSrghTmxmzCqk0IsHXyY2p0k0gSWsUP45utxTrDiJM007gmFhLmvj3FLl27SK8A6X/s300/Munitions%20factories.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fBu-s_p8xTA0Ur2EmkC-f43V0J70oV2J80JHNALlf-axP3ou8Xt5gyr1B4DFICZcPWetEP5-Ce-COoqtc9kGyhPYL5AijCmWpQeqmCMApul3L7Nbbw21VLaHSrghTmxmzCqk0IsHXyY2p0k0gSWsUP45utxTrDiJM007gmFhLmvj3FLl27SK8A6X/s1600/Munitions%20factories.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span style="mso-ignore: vglayout;"></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Other vital industries that relied heavily on women were the railways
where 105,000 women were employed doing all tasks necessary to keep the trains
running. Women also built tanks and other vehicles and produced and packed
parachutes. The latter job had the perk of being able to keep the scraps of
silk for personal use. Substantial numbers of women were employed by the Post
Office as "engineers" laying and repairing telephone lines. Women
served in the merchant navy as stewardesses aboard troop transports, and worked
as conductors or ticket collectors on public transport buses and trams. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Their contribution to the war
effort is all to often ignored, forgotten or simply dismissed.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt;">Award-winning
novelist Helena P. Schrader is the author of three books set in Britain during
WWII: <i>Where Eagles Never Flew, Grounded Eagles</i> and <i>Moral Fibre</i>.
You can find out more about them, their awards and read excerpts at: </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://CrossSeasPress.com"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">https://CrossSeasPress.com</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: 12pt;">. </span></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p></p>Helena P. Schraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535398166485310212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-60208365320058538182023-06-06T06:16:00.001-07:002023-06-06T06:16:44.729-07:00British Women at War -- The "Land Girls"<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"> <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">by Helena P. Schrader</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Throughout
history, when men went to war, the burden of maintaining agricultural
production — often the mainstay of the economy — fell to the family members
left behind. That meant old people and children – and women. Yet in WWII,
something new happened. Rather than relying on whatever family members happened
to remain behind, the British government organized an external labor force to
help farmers cope; it called on women to help out on the land and created the
“Women’s Land Army.”</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Righteous",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIT5GiEUD-pk1EAGSBH-5nbOm6g5m1NfLCqZ5L06-8qcXwIkKeX2uxIA0yI-TshnwUXG0QYr-C4-30ruekOj6vt4UAF0uIaRJsaDvLlttfvzb5_0_oolft1CHTyc4ttB18fsjmMWRE0Rxoq9s4CLHKNAwYJlW0q6Rbzl7gGUWk_RV3_uXdzNMm-8U6/s275/Recruiting%20Poster%20-%20Land%20Army3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="184" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIT5GiEUD-pk1EAGSBH-5nbOm6g5m1NfLCqZ5L06-8qcXwIkKeX2uxIA0yI-TshnwUXG0QYr-C4-30ruekOj6vt4UAF0uIaRJsaDvLlttfvzb5_0_oolft1CHTyc4ttB18fsjmMWRE0Rxoq9s4CLHKNAwYJlW0q6Rbzl7gGUWk_RV3_uXdzNMm-8U6/s1600/Recruiting%20Poster%20-%20Land%20Army3.jpeg" width="184" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The Women's Land Army (WLA) had its origins in WWI. Established in 1917,
the Women's Land Army employed some 23,000 women before the end of the First
World War. This precedent encouraged early planning for a similar deployment of
women in agricultural work as Europe slid slowly but inexorably towards war in
the late 1930s. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Logically for an agricultural employment scheme, the Women's Land Army
(WLA) was organized geographically and divided into fifty-two regions each with
a "county office." This office employed a permanent and paid staff
which administered recruitment, placement, and complaints. The "local
representative," most commonly an older woman with standing in the
community and an appreciation for agricultural issues (e.g. a woman who owned a
country estate), was responsible for visiting each Land Girl in her district at
least once a month. She noted and reported on billeting, food, pay, time-off
and recreation facilities available. She handled complaints and tried to
mediate between the Land Girls and their employers, but if differences could
not be resolved, the Land Girls were free to change employers.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Young women interested in the WLA applied at a county office and were
interviewed by at least two people. Applicants came from across the country
with widely different educational backgrounds and training. An astonishing
third of all so-called "Land Girls" came from urban backgrounds. Many
conscientious objectors were found among the ranks of the Land Girls. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamIS8Hw71Aex-HYSefakUnjT5OXaY6iuw1bPV8ZXlsQ2eZKr_wISHmkmaGuM-8ltdUIaHvhYNbM_GdG5qLLTL8ETi8icziQtfcNpXyp4yz2o0qF8yDPypiUesj9OG2Yen1glGWq1ZmekTCmYjYq89zK_KP4EttVcJJfSpEeiAayuLyvbXJssgTT66/s259/Women's%20Land%20Army2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamIS8Hw71Aex-HYSefakUnjT5OXaY6iuw1bPV8ZXlsQ2eZKr_wISHmkmaGuM-8ltdUIaHvhYNbM_GdG5qLLTL8ETi8icziQtfcNpXyp4yz2o0qF8yDPypiUesj9OG2Yen1glGWq1ZmekTCmYjYq89zK_KP4EttVcJJfSpEeiAayuLyvbXJssgTT66/s1600/Women's%20Land%20Army2.jpeg" width="259" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The work
week was set at 48 hours in winter and 50 hours in summer, although during
harvest and other periods of particular need the Land Girls like farmers and
agricultural workers around the globe worked dawn to dusk. Most of the year,
however, Land Girls got off work at noon on Saturday and did not need to report
back until Monday morning. The majority spent their weekend at home with their families. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The Land Girls were hired and paid directly by farmers, receiving the
same wages as female agricultural workers -- i.e. the minimum wage of one
pound, two shillings and sixpence a week. However, their room and board were
deducted from this wage, leaving only ten shillings a week for personal
expenses. Girls working more than 20 miles from home were also entitled to a
"railway warrant," which was free train transportation to their home
once every six months. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The work was extremely varied. It included, for example, driving
tractors and ploughs, feeding and herding livestock, milking cows, mucking out
barns, weeding kitchen gardens, harvesting grains, vegetables, and fruits,
threshing, thatching and rat-catching/killing. Land Girls were expected not
only to know how to use all usual farm equipment but also to be able to repair
it. The only kind of work they were exempted from was domestic work --
something not all farmers appreciated in the early years. Furthermore, except
for some correspondence courses, most of the Land Girls had to learn about
farming on the job. </span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9GV-oeF3yVhVVL04RSks_nEdO9eMeU8bkAXx-xA6RJKl8J2cJpTl4Ia2YxSWzBa4J3p4jrDou8neWben5HF28xYpPPyue0LQYP4j0-jmbrYIrPalJcBLSYC3-l5QncpQZ1X7r2J2aoBApkkPL6QGC_5Wn_pCG-JSmYAQuAfAT5L-jnei7-h4xdEv/s1106/Womens%20Land%20Army%20Recruiting%20Poster%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="739" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9GV-oeF3yVhVVL04RSks_nEdO9eMeU8bkAXx-xA6RJKl8J2cJpTl4Ia2YxSWzBa4J3p4jrDou8neWben5HF28xYpPPyue0LQYP4j0-jmbrYIrPalJcBLSYC3-l5QncpQZ1X7r2J2aoBApkkPL6QGC_5Wn_pCG-JSmYAQuAfAT5L-jnei7-h4xdEv/s320/Womens%20Land%20Army%20Recruiting%20Poster%202.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Although Land Girls had a "uniform" and badges that declared
their seniority in the service, the WLA was never a military or paramilitary
organization. There were no ranks, no drill, and no regimentation. Girls could
both give notice and be fired. Many Land Girls lived on the farms where they
worked -- sometimes treated like members of the family, although some had the
misfortune to be treated like cheap labor instead. Others lived in hostels
together with other Land Girls. The biggest problem with individual billeting
was loneliness and boredom. Girls in hostels had each other for company both when
“at home” and for forays to local towns and events. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">In 1942, the "Timber Corps" was formed as a component of the
WLA. The women who joined this corps were engaged in forest management
including felling trees and transporting lumber. They lived in communal huts,
usually 20 to a hut, and engaged in particularly heavy labor. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The major appeal of the WLA was the opportunity to work in the sunshine,
fresh air and away from the bombing. A secondary appeal was the
"extras" like fresh eggs, milk, vegetables and fruits that the girls
were able both to enjoy and to share with families. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Altogether, roughly 90,000 women served in the WLA during the Second
World War. Their contribution is best measured by the fact that the
organization was not disbanded until 1950. From the middle of the war until
that time, Britain's dependence on homegrown foods had become acute, and the
extra labor in the agricultural sector was essential to meet even minimal
demands.</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <br /></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9j-90d-uEJ0TPQyQ7G_-3_oAVOWknYZ44jUYahn776p0de_VwZslwmWGSKpIr5s5KIr8M2tAvckkL0sJOjxEJYIgxHiyD3ez3PCXREf7rBz7ZSsgYHk6mp2s3dW7c00AKbI42UNwiIVHnlWxI4HcJDeQU7GQ6896_cZtRLI7YX1Zhl2r-txdOUUV/s275/Women's%20Land%20Army.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9j-90d-uEJ0TPQyQ7G_-3_oAVOWknYZ44jUYahn776p0de_VwZslwmWGSKpIr5s5KIr8M2tAvckkL0sJOjxEJYIgxHiyD3ez3PCXREf7rBz7ZSsgYHk6mp2s3dW7c00AKbI42UNwiIVHnlWxI4HcJDeQU7GQ6896_cZtRLI7YX1Zhl2r-txdOUUV/s1600/Women's%20Land%20Army.jpeg" width="275" /></a></div><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;">Award-winning
novelist Helena P. Schrader is the author of three books set in Britain during
WWII: <i>Where Eagles Never Flew, Grounded Eagles</i> and <i>Moral Fibre</i>.
You can find out more about them, their awards and read reviews and excerpts at: </span><a href="https://helenapschrader.com" target="_blank">https://helenapschrader.com</a></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></span></p><p></p>Helena P. Schraderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06535398166485310212noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-69578028407946532522023-04-19T04:08:00.000-07:002023-04-19T04:08:22.083-07:00Four interesting facts about Henry VIII<p><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part of a blog series about 'I am Henry,' the new novel and award-winning short film of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, by Jan Hendrik Verstaten & Massimo Barbato</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5c4addbd-7fff-a0c5-e92f-1f0cedac93d1"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the period we were writing ‘I am Henry,’ we stumbled upon some interesting facts. Some of them made it into the book as part of a conversation or a scene, while others were just interesting to us. Here, we want to share some of those facts.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 16pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Henry VIII was a loyal friend to his horses</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It did not surprise us that as a king, Henry VIII would have an interest in horses, but what we did not know was that despite his reputation of being quite a selfish and at times brutal man, he was actually quite attached to his horses. For him they were like real friends. He visited them long after their retirement, and made sure they were well taken care of. Not an obvious soft side to the man. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Henry single handedly brought classical dressage to England. He himself trained the horses for many hours and showed a lot of patience with the horses.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the celebrations after the birth of his son, Henry, the Duke of Cornwall in January 1521, he showed off his dressage skills to Catherine during one of the most lavish jousting tournaments of his reign. In the novel, we re-imagine a terrifying joust Henry must take part in.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><img height="284" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2ZBNLQDBAan49lgNPzZi5Q_ku1zLurleyT2MdWcwHgIJbFXtK76KkzBs2Gr0Y88mFem-5cO8Gxp0WwRkhLDXKWVdgNSuMub-LPoyX1HYeimW7weXGsLHHIMbF5pQDfO65R2R1aJpABPgESMqiyE3tQ=w640-h284" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="640" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Liberation Serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 16pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. To wear a beard or not to wear a beard?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Henry VIII was not only vain, insecure and vulnerable to flattery, he was also extremely competitive. He would always look how he would measure up to others and would demand foreign visitors to describe the physical appearance of their kings and masters. It turns out that in 1519 he had no beard but his planned meeting with Francis I the Field of the Cloth of Gold changed all that. The set date was not suitable for Henry and he wanted to delay it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a token gesture of goodwill, Henry VIII promised not to shave until they would actually meet. Francis I was pleased with the arrangement. It created a kinship between the two kings. The only person unhappy with the change, was Catherine of Aragon. She hated the beard, and it is claimed she gave him a hard time about it. In 1520, Henry VIII and Francis I met at the summit where Henry personally wrestled Francis - and lost. After that encounter, Henry's beard became one of his defining features, and he keeps it in the novel.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Liberation Serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 268px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="A picture containing graphical user interface
Description automatically generated" height="268" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oJSzKoUDKXdkJ-WTY9-w2w3spSqUcG9jIiluRL7KodZcIxvCFtEDvdbub-qEA7_1mdIwCspEyy7Cg9I7pOTWENnV80AEqKiGDCYSokz9J_MePUmc_1zfOy5YuhxZmBbJfK9JK_iILyNVLKccsbDrEA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="602" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 16pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Henry VIII authored one book only. It was an attack on Martin Luther, the German Reformist</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite being seriously talented and accomplished in many areas, Henry VIII is not known for his writing skills. As a result there is not much written material left of his. He wrote only one book and, ironically, it was an attack on the German Reformist Martin Luther. 'Defence of the Seven Sacraments against Martin Luther’. It was published in the summer of 1521, years before the dissolution of the monasteries, which features dramatically in the novel. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the book he called Luther ‘this one little Monk weak in Strength, but in Temper more harmful than all Turks, all Saracens, all Infidels anywhere.’ It has been debated if these words were actually written by Henry himself but they certainly seem to mirror his temperament. The book provided the reason for Pope Leo X to award Henry the title </span><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'Fidei Defensor' </span><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(Defender of the Faith).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Liberation Serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 268px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="Text
Description automatically generated" height="268" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/S2dXF5yqMeOzWeAi5V4NmJoEGxKwLd9ebj2mi-08m3Q_Y_Osnx-aMH5RoRooH-KUCtVUgFed3Ku_MBxQ4Y6dtdOdVfkGTIMFFoEN-E0DdBOzr9_FH9i4a78KFyeVEjfJtEbu00WtjNZ15qGMuUpLuw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="602" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 16pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Henry gave away Anne Boleyn's ancestral home, Hever Castle, to Anne of Cleves as part of the divorce settlement.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all know in what a terrible way Henry VIII treated Anne Boleyn and how George Boleyn, Anne’s brother, was also beheaded as a result of the accusations of incest and treason against them. After the death of their father, Thomas Boleyn, in 1539, Hever Castle became Henry VIII’s property and he bestowed it upon his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves in 1540, as part of the settlement following the annulment of their marriage. Whilst Hever Castle appears in the novel, Anne of Cleves, although she is briefly mentioned, is the only wife of Henry's who does not make an appearance.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Were it not for Elizabeth I, Anne Boleyn and her family would have been almost entirely erased from history. There were Mary Boleyn’s children of course - Catherine and Henry Carey. They were Elizabeth's cousins, although Catherine was rumoured to have been Henry VIII’s daughter. This was never acknowledged, but Elizabeth I was certainly fond of her cousin and elevated her as one of the most senior ladies-in-waiting. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Catherine’s daughter, Lettice Knollys, also served Elizabeth as a Maid of the Privy Chamber, but upset Elizabeth by marrying Lord Dudley, the queen’s favourite, in secret. Elizabeth 1 has a very special role to play in the novel.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Liberation Serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 268px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="A picture containing text
Description automatically generated" height="268" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/pSZsJSDHRD8ET7AbTeg99sLOfMWhoG7lee7In7yaKzd9sn86PxWaudvg692lVswrbJuvbjU9HSw4OB2dpGJdk12ipdHGlxlhaj-DnHwN3_RL2uq5yz_9PA2Z7WQsB59y1VMEVG4gI5CgRYdsM7IL-A" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="602" /></span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am Henry' is an innovative retelling of the story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Due for release in paperback and e-book format by MadeGlobal Publishing, in April 2023. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For more information about the novel and the short film go to linktr.ee/iamhenryfilmandnovel</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Liberation Serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 288px; overflow: hidden; width: 607px;"><img alt="Text, letter
Description automatically generated" height="354.3263511657715" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/jUnQcPiYntKBKGL6hyl-sfZQECIE5axOth_gEAwbhP9ooU13lNCDtrjl2JSmLPmwX5k5r7kZMTKkrR71fnSXvM4uEYAIPb2raM7CbOuq5ZaaOml4I9SFz-aeVhs-MKrM6tVfGrOH51S6sKUfuO2-Kw" style="margin-left: -104.58999598026276px; margin-top: -36.764901638031006px;" width="797.362257361412" /></span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Liberation Serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 288px; overflow: hidden; width: 607px;"><br /></span></span></div></span>Debra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-52036725717761521382023-03-23T08:19:00.001-07:002023-03-23T08:26:21.954-07:00British Women in the Women's Voluntary Services of WWII<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">by Helena Schrader</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">Britain was slow to wake up to the danger of war and pacifist sentiment was strong right up until the Munich Crisis. Yet as early as January 1937, the government charged local authorities with organizing air raid protection. This was formalized in the Air Raid Protection Act of 1938 and from the start, women formed a vital part of plans and execution.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-af472328-7fff-b173-7767-aa93f918c3a2"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 277px; overflow: hidden; width: 182px;"><img height="277" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/q-dFNcsbXXTQW3ewyWjIr1jUaNNFWZ3MO4dRTAJYOaE6aazYVrVhoe3_b6M7FbFEv3J2o5mFUUaLVdM3n_4quARg16EUMi5N-qY31YLxnvtb4a564DbbpkDpsTemHvkZdrroZorXvQCQ4HjSJEQqYQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="182" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The main tasks envisaged for civil defence organizations were air raid wardens to ensure compliance with air raid precautions, first aid and ambulance services, and anti-gas units. In addition, a demand for nurses was anticipated, but nurses were organized as before in existing organizations such as the British Red Cross Society, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs). The various organizations took responsibility for both recruitment and training. Other aspects of civil defence, however, were handled separately as voluntary war work. In these tasks, the pay was only for the actual hours worked, uniforms were initially only an armband and a tin hat. Members had no ranks or command structure, but they did receive training. From the very beginning, women volunteered in greater numbers than men. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition to the above, volunteers were sought to augment the capacity of the fire brigade and the police. They were organized in the Auxiliary Fire Brigade and Women's Auxiliary Police Corps respectively. Some ten thousand women were employed as auxiliary police, while 70,000 women served in the Fire Brigade. Women were not, however, employed fighting fires directly, certainly not in the midst of bombing raids. Primarily, they worked in control centres and fire stations handling switchboards and clerical work. They did fire watching in shifts and sometimes drove fire trucks. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet some visionary women recognized that much more was going to be needed than the government had planned and so the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) was born. The WVS did not have a clear mandate. Instead, it was designed to respond to needs as they came up, but organized regionally to be available anywhere in the country.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It started by offering training courses such as driving in the black-out, first aid, fire-fighting etc. During the war scare associated with the Munich Crisis and at the start of the war a year later, the WVS organized the evacuation of over a million children, pregnant women and young mothers out of urban areas. That is it organized both the registration and mustering of those seeking evacuation and the billeting of evacuees on arrival at the other end. Not all went well in either September 1938 or 1939, but each time "lessons learned" led to improvements that facilitated things the next time evacuation became necessary. </span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 287px; overflow: hidden; width: 175px;"><img height="287" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/CkKOMbSaHynxmtbTeW6k8x7aIhqmx32J15aiwAx8WLDZYUSLzoPCd8Zy-s7KMUnM0uiF-GSLbeOhm-m74r0sipdZ3VQ6SS9d2XYbR9o6h6uQLWz27UY-dPGu8x3JESfFcT9mHqgTPuzKh-HgBdka7A" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="175" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the evacuation of Dunkirk took nine days, the Blitz of London lasted nine months. At the start, London endured 57 straight nights of bombing. At the end, 43.500 civilians had been killed, 159,000 injured and 2.25 million made homeless. And through it all the WVS was in action. It established and ran rest centers where those bombed out could get food and a bed until new housing was organized. It provided clothing and blankets to those who had lost everything. It created and manned Incident Inquiry Points in areas near the destruction to help relatives find one another. It operated mobile canteens to bring tea and sandwiches to firemen, first-aid workers and to the air raid shelters. In some cases, where local supplies could not cope after a massive raid, it organized convoys of food, blankets and clothing from areas of the country not affected by the bombing. These convoys often brought food and clothing donated by the United States or the Commonwealth. On arrival, a in the bombed out area, a distribution point would be set up, which remained sometimes for several days feeding and clothing thousands. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Meanwhile, the WVS had been tasked with carrying out a billeting survey, something soon put to use when Hitler's armies rolled over Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France, sending tens of thousands of refugees to England. The "refugee crisis" came to a crescendo with the emergency evacuation of 340,000 troops off the beaches at Dunkirk. Much has been written about the "little boats" that contributed to the astonishing success of Operation "Dynamo," but less has been written about the women who met those troops with tea and sandwiches, warm, dry clothing, baths and clean socks, and help in contacting families. Across southern England, troop trains were taking the evacuated soldiers out of the landing ports to military bases across the country. At the height of the evacuation, trains arrived at some of the stations every twenty minutes for an eight-minute "food stop." It was the WVS that made and served thousands of sandwiches each day, working 24/7.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 276px; overflow: hidden; width: 183px;"><img height="276" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/4jmVyKRqWgXm0HX3z1liqBKzf_0-tZQFMQ49NuB-TDmf7EOFFH7k-3YQXP4ckFI9G8OWNOA6dA1l9pXC-Iu02pYbAxdPV1usl1BV87mlrhpu-WOlUyCuHKbmLlI_VRn6x-j0HAaZG5C5EtQSzG2iKg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="183" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When the Blitz tapered off, the WVS took over less dramatic but nevertheless vital tasks such as organizing collection drives for scrap metal, waste paper, wool, books for service libraries, and even garbage for pig swill. They organized the distribution of ration books and conducted fundraising. Throughout the war, they provided mobile canteens to help harvest workers and when the Americans joined the war, they established "welcome clubs" for American servicemen. During the Allied landings in Normandy, the WVS returned to the train stations of southern England to again provide tea and sandwiches for troops -- now going on the offensive rather than withdrawing from a defeat. And of course, when the V1s and V2s struck, they again set up rest and information facilities for those who had lost their homes or relatives.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roughly one million British women served in the WVS. Most of them were older women. Women whose children were already out of the house -- often in the armed services or at sea. The founder of the WVS, Lady Reading, claimed: "We know we look shabby and we know our members are not young but we are proud of the fact that we are trusted by ordinary people." [Quoted in Carol Harris. </span><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Women at War 1939-1945</span><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Sutton Publishing, 2000. 47] </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the wartime film </span><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Heart of Britain</span><span style="color: #0e101a; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, the following sentiments were put in the mouth of a character representing a member of the WVS. "You know, you feel such fools, standing there in the crater, holding up mugs of tea while the men bring up bodies. You feel so useless until you know that there is someone in that bombed house who you can actually give the tea to." The evidence of hundreds of memoirs suggests that many hundreds of thousands sincerely welcomed that cup of tea, the sandwich and the warm clothes too.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 190px; overflow: hidden; width: 266px;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/WnnTQpKrUznm8JYNW3uSCY5G0ivYqL4-t1VYUZW5z3v-LU-GZPdwLpg1eElqV2q3zD-WGmOSsU09Ap5BIIp3wpI_yBTj2MgulfZn2HTCKZoMvGvFwIFnqy0NV1x_d0LopE-O3ulGOWeT7C6mnPiA6w=s16000" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Award-winning novelist Helena P. Schrader is the author of three books set in Britain during WWII: </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where Eagles Never Flew, Grounded Eagles</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moral Fibre</span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. You can find out more about them, their awards and read excerpts at: </span><a href="https://crossseaspress.com" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://CrossSeasPress.com</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Debra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-46217758729021254092023-02-15T16:01:00.041-08:002023-02-15T16:01:00.231-08:00Sir John Crosby and Crosby Place, Bishopsgate, London<p><b style="font-size: large;">by Toni Mount</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">In 1466, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">wealthy city grocer </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Sir John Crosby took a
99 year lease on a buildings adjacent to the Priory Church of St Helen in
Bishopsgate, London, paying the prioress, Dame Alice Ashfield [or Ashfed] £11 6s 8d per
year in rent. However, he
demolished the old buildings and began to build his beautiful new house.
Contemporaries noted that it took years before the place was finished and
habitable and the unfortunate Sir John had little time to enjoy its luxuries
before he died. Indeed from around 1475 </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Crosby Place became the London town house of Richard, Duke of Gloucester’s (later King Richard III).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">In my new Sebastian Foxley medieval murder mystery novel, </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The Colour of Bone,</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> much is going on at Crosby Place. This grand mansion – scene of feasting, entertainment and dark deeds in my novel, was centuries later, moved stone by stone across London to Chelsea.</span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYRRhoN77jtY7Z-Nke63Rf6mEsJXv6t8GhJZX1u6IUmVBsZG4UBWjQR87A_cYHOGCo_-Ng_qOxeFKMLGFrc1INGVNnwhWyfFdx-GL-wRKw4sLh1KbUeYf1oYyURydAtLMOTAt5_67s6xBc09_cj4yiGEmbu9WhOmKYHBwtKuWcy0_2njTqrtWZ9N9WA/s440/Crosby%20place%20side%20view.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="440" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYRRhoN77jtY7Z-Nke63Rf6mEsJXv6t8GhJZX1u6IUmVBsZG4UBWjQR87A_cYHOGCo_-Ng_qOxeFKMLGFrc1INGVNnwhWyfFdx-GL-wRKw4sLh1KbUeYf1oYyURydAtLMOTAt5_67s6xBc09_cj4yiGEmbu9WhOmKYHBwtKuWcy0_2njTqrtWZ9N9WA/w320-h181/Crosby%20place%20side%20view.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Great Hall of white stone is the only remaining
part of Sir John’s Crosby Place </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[the rest is 20<sup>th</sup> century] </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The church of St Helen's Bishopsgate still stands in what is now the heart of the financial centre of the modern day city of London. Inside St Helen’s Church,
there is a superb monument tomb of Sir John Crosby and his first wife, Agnes.
He is in armour with a Yorkist Suns-and-Roses collar and she wears a
fashionable late fifteenth-century headdress with her lap-dogs at her feet.
Agnes predeceased Sir John in 1460 and he designed their joint tomb. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sir John was knighted by
Edward IV in 1471 for taking a leading role in the defence of London against
Thomas Neville, known as the Bastard of Fauconburg, who attempted to take the
city on behalf of the Lancastrians while Edward was away fighting in the
South-West of England. Sir John openly supported the Yorkist cause during the
Wars of the Roses yet he wasn’t primarily a soldier but a wealthy merchant and
member of the Grocers’ Company. He died in January or February 1476, leaving
his second wife, Anne, a widow and owner of their luxurious mansion, Crosby
Place, but it was far too large for her and she rented it out to the Duke of
Gloucester as his town house. Most noblemen, archbishops and bishops had their
own private residences in London but Gloucester didn’t, perhaps because he
spent little time in the city before he became king. Once he was king, he had
the Tower of London and Westminster Palace to live in but it’s thought he
continued to rent Crosby Place, maybe using it as first class guest
accommodation. <o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFJ8PMQZSmBXq9B8lkDOY7LazvKNSToqVZ5NqAsIssm6EByIaeaZSJkIvat8oWYgU7WEs7oEaenbTkvhioy8p72S-X7RUIZwRGUbQct3Bu99y1iZU94Dhn2-5M88ilIb2Iuo3f_S6MYO1THPef6ttLytrf-pDNP4xmQdJssG3WUiKuVKc96r8LWJ8gg/s749/The%20tomb%20of%20Sir%20John%20and%20Agnes%20Crosby%20in%20St%20Helen%E2%80%99s%20Church.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="749" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGFJ8PMQZSmBXq9B8lkDOY7LazvKNSToqVZ5NqAsIssm6EByIaeaZSJkIvat8oWYgU7WEs7oEaenbTkvhioy8p72S-X7RUIZwRGUbQct3Bu99y1iZU94Dhn2-5M88ilIb2Iuo3f_S6MYO1THPef6ttLytrf-pDNP4xmQdJssG3WUiKuVKc96r8LWJ8gg/s320/The%20tomb%20of%20Sir%20John%20and%20Agnes%20Crosby%20in%20St%20Helen%E2%80%99s%20Church.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The tomb of Sir John and Agnes Crosby in St Helen’s
Church [GRM 2022]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sir John also bequeathed
500 marks to St Helen’s Church, money which was used to redesign the interior
of the nave. A row of arches and a screen shielded the nuns from the common
folk but Sir John’s bequest was used to build taller, more elegant arches and a
new screen in 1480. [This rebuild is the first crime scene in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Colour of Bone.</i>]<o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcaMtvUAjoeRakizjGBEUifCsVIOZK7qhTu0ECNNwNjnKAEdQ2pYEwo-Wjefup1Tl2SHCOiD4LFJYBvA2DACQDFwPK8kQsGBF2ufuq3fS6KH-8xAUyRPFjU_OquKZUZ9qeAkrtG8f5dtcGGI_kwuIpDiDTPdrSGM-ca1tCZ7VXgicVYiGYhcqkm_bUsw/s2000/Sir%20John%E2%80%99s%20four%20new%20arches%20viewed%20from%20the%20Nuns%E2%80%99%20Choir,.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcaMtvUAjoeRakizjGBEUifCsVIOZK7qhTu0ECNNwNjnKAEdQ2pYEwo-Wjefup1Tl2SHCOiD4LFJYBvA2DACQDFwPK8kQsGBF2ufuq3fS6KH-8xAUyRPFjU_OquKZUZ9qeAkrtG8f5dtcGGI_kwuIpDiDTPdrSGM-ca1tCZ7VXgicVYiGYhcqkm_bUsw/s320/Sir%20John%E2%80%99s%20four%20new%20arches%20viewed%20from%20the%20Nuns%E2%80%99%20Choir,.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">Sir John’s four new arches viewed from the Nuns’ Choir
[GRM 2022]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Meanwhile, Crosby Place
was at the centre of the action when the Duke of Gloucester became King Richard
III in 1483. In his play on the subject, Shakespeare has the mansion as the
setting where Gloucester is offered the crown, although this more probably
occurred at Baynards Castle, the Duchess of York’s London property down on the
riverside. Shakespeare certainly knew Crosby Place as he lived in St Helen’s
parish for some time, appearing on a list of rate-payers. Some sources suggest
that Gloucester had bought the property outright, rather than leasing it, but
this seems unlikely because after his defeat at Bosworth in 1485, Henry Tudor
seized all his possessions but not Crosby Place. Such a desirable residence wouldn’t
have been overlooked, so it must have reverted to Crosby’s relatives after King
Richard was killed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The mansion again became
the focus for royalty in 1501 when Katherine of Aragon arrived in London in
November to marry her first bridegroom, Prince Arthur. Crosby Place was then
the home of a wealthy goldsmith, Alderman Bartholomew Rede, who would serve as
London’s Lord Mayor the following year. Katherine spent two nights in the
luxurious mansion before the wedding in St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday 14<sup>th</sup>
November. <o:p style="font-size: 12pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtpe5PuVVNslwlbIeOGw4DDIUgAJqx61M3la2sCChXfgDG7tdOn3j8np0NRXJ-wb7A1iZVJmPSZCY3Em6hSMlrHXkLGliC02GPGGxf1SpkwdNn1RM_u6X1qQMcGsSqa2abRIjS6F3Tkl2mmZc2hbrH0ad7FyrExL1pl3r2UXaR04Onkw-_l4pWle_1g/s500/The%20Great%20Hall%20of%20Crosby%20Place.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="334" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtpe5PuVVNslwlbIeOGw4DDIUgAJqx61M3la2sCChXfgDG7tdOn3j8np0NRXJ-wb7A1iZVJmPSZCY3Em6hSMlrHXkLGliC02GPGGxf1SpkwdNn1RM_u6X1qQMcGsSqa2abRIjS6F3Tkl2mmZc2hbrH0ad7FyrExL1pl3r2UXaR04Onkw-_l4pWle_1g/s320/The%20Great%20Hall%20of%20Crosby%20Place.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;">The Great Hall of Crosby Place much as Katherine of
Aragon and Sir Thomas More would have seen it.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/USER/Documents/MadeGlobal/Foxley%20Novels/Colour%20of%20Bone/Bone%20Blog%20tour/Blog%204%20Sir%20John%20Crosby%20and%20Crosby%20Place.doc#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10pt;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[i]</span></span></span></a></p>A later famous occupant was Sir Thomas More although documentary evidence suggests he held the lease for a few months only and it’s uncertain whether or not he ever actually lived there. John Stow described Crosby Place in 1598, in his Survey of London as ‘of stone and timber, very large and beautiful and the highest in London’, so it was still impressive more than a century later.<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 115%;">If you want to know
what’s going on at Crosby Place, in the Duke of Gloucester’s household in 1480,
you can follow Sebastian Foxley’s new adventures in the my medieval murder
mystery, <a href="http://mybook.to/Col_Bone" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Colour of Bone.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://mybook.to/Col_Bone" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="537" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVbNCFP9KOihlM9UYLN3th3sk3G_MiqwlkZZ5-tq8ufaqD9FVh3wBuh2-0-uCGjbROyDnyuPg5jc4SPFbpxaQkMItC76bZEHlFNSnUGU2FcKtXTyDb7MxPomchBDjhcqZJuNNQIIhTz4Pv3t4JF2mj0Xh9Uf3duwP6Bslct7_9M6FvT0TGCaL1T7r7A/s320/colour_of_bone_early_transparent.png" width="159" /></a></div>[Some parts of this article and photographs first appeared in Tudor Life magazine]<p></p>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face="AGaramondPro-Bold, serif">Toni Mount </span></b><span face="AGaramondPro-Regular, serif">earned her Master’s Degree by completing original
research into a unique 15th-century medical manuscript at the Wellcome Library in London. She is the author of several successful non-fiction books
including the number one bestseller, Everyday Life in Medieval England, which
reflects her detailed knowledge in the lives of ordinary people in the Middle
Ages. Toni’s enthusiastic understanding of the period allows her to create
accurate, atmospheric settings and realistic characters for her Sebastian
Foxley medieval murder mysteries. Toni’s first career was as a scientist and
this brings an extra dimension to her novels. It also led to her new biography
of Sir Isaac Newton. She writes regularly for </span><i><span face="AGaramondPro-Italic, serif">The
Richard III Society Bulletin </span></i><span face="AGaramondPro-Regular, serif">and
</span><span face="AGaramondPro-Italic, serif">other magazines<i> </i></span><span face="AGaramondPro-Regular, serif">and is a major contributor of online courses to MedievalCourses.com. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3lHG9hN2D0j1854PODq9RUubKoXEYUjFcdHA84KfYEW39QZRHX0dWFjKkoOr461rhz_JbkyMm-o7-6gm8GqX2-prk0lCmgD8qoNMe_U3yRnyO5T0QRQxH_N0K2KlN3OB9i2MhWPV4lCV5ew6pD1NjnC-HeOREg9Fh3MLMkD9_RJlkN-KhzbmQsaqTg/s1080/the_colour_of_bone_book_tour_2023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3lHG9hN2D0j1854PODq9RUubKoXEYUjFcdHA84KfYEW39QZRHX0dWFjKkoOr461rhz_JbkyMm-o7-6gm8GqX2-prk0lCmgD8qoNMe_U3yRnyO5T0QRQxH_N0K2KlN3OB9i2MhWPV4lCV5ew6pD1NjnC-HeOREg9Fh3MLMkD9_RJlkN-KhzbmQsaqTg/s320/the_colour_of_bone_book_tour_2023.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="AGaramondPro-Regular, serif"><br /></span><p></p><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="file:///C:/Users/USER/Documents/MadeGlobal/Foxley%20Novels/Colour%20of%20Bone/Bone%20Blog%20tour/Blog%204%20Sir%20John%20Crosby%20and%20Crosby%20Place.doc#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Crosby Place is known today as Crosby
Moran Hall and stands on Chelsea Embankment, by coincidence just a stone’s throw
from More’s Garden, once the site of Sir Thomas More’s fine house in Chelsea.
The medieval hall was all that remained of Crosby Place when, in 1910, it was
moved, stone by stone, from Bishopsgate in the city of London to its new site on the north bank of the River Thames. It has been
sympathetically restored and greatly extended since 1988. It’s in private ownership.
<o:p style="font-size: 10pt;"></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Toni Mounthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07932393366444095165noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-35613257189504337552023-02-06T22:26:00.000-08:002023-02-06T22:26:09.778-08:00Sleeve Puffs, Lace Ruffs, and The Queen's Wardrobe<h4>
by Sandra Byrd</h4>
<br />
"Queen Elizabeth was so fond of her clothes that she would never part with any of them, and it is said that at her death there were three thousand dresses and 'head attires' in her wardrobe." So claims Herbert Norris in his tome, <i>Tudor Costume and Fashion</i>. <br />
<br />
Elizabeth actually was known to give away some of her clothing—to her ladies, to maids of honor, and to other less well-off nobles. But there is no doubt that the woman, like her mother and father before her, was a clothes horse. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0QX4TJMfB7lkCAOPNk8zVCFc5XuUOWu7mv8zS89hOkEZN8WXCPc7r0vpWGvlc8FSr8AsSy9WvSkSzCc79Tfu_lWAsMFnJf3cjEN3QPkaZWZhNMPEAx74JjFrrHKExx_492ki3szBAI0L/s1600/queen-elizabeth-i-in-coronation-robes-circa-1559_i-G-13-1352-18YS000Z.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD0QX4TJMfB7lkCAOPNk8zVCFc5XuUOWu7mv8zS89hOkEZN8WXCPc7r0vpWGvlc8FSr8AsSy9WvSkSzCc79Tfu_lWAsMFnJf3cjEN3QPkaZWZhNMPEAx74JjFrrHKExx_492ki3szBAI0L/s320/queen-elizabeth-i-in-coronation-robes-circa-1559_i-G-13-1352-18YS000Z.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen Elizabeth I Coronation Robes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Her coronation robes, according to Norris, "consisted of a dress with a long train of gold tissue lined with white sarcenet and bordered with ermine, and worn over the Spanish farthingale." Of interest is the fact that, of course, ermine, the winter white fur of the English stoat, is common among the robes of state, sometimes being powdered (as was the queen's visage) to make it even whiter.<br />
<br />
Although both Queen Anne Boleyn and her daughter were particular to French fashion, the queen retained a fondness for the Spanish hoop and underskirt fashion nearly all of her reign. But how did the queen, and others of the age, know what was fashionable in France, or anywhere else?<br />
<br />
Portraits of ladies and nobles in other lands were available through diplomatic channels, and they provided insight into continental fashion. Queen Elizabeth tried, in vain, to bring over a French seamstress at least once during her reign.<br />
<br />
More interesting, though, were the fashion dolls that were sent from land to land. Helena von Snakenborg, Marchioness of Northampton, sent such a doll to her Swedish sister, Karin Bonde, in 1604. Helena's letter to her sister says, "As regards the doll, which, dearest sister, you have mention in your letter, we have sent our servant up to London, to have it dressed in the best and latest fashion of the season. When it is ready it shall be sent to you as you desire." According to Janet Arnold's <i>Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd</i>, there is just such a little doll preserved at a museum in Stockholm, dating from the late 16th century.<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Isis33/media/Bevarat/16th/003prins.jpg.html" target="_blank"> <span style="color: yellow;">Click here to see the doll.</span></a><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHjt4Js8ZAN5z_9N6HKLfOZeQ-UHDEzeLQXxAGZ6DVjnkT-R6aBP5NaVuZ6VWlEYMRNllU78aM0tv0hMT1Ca7a1Huhqz3VMxB4gxXgaKe2NqNw7rxSz8uFEpjKXwLlWXsdRqkoTS2jQt6/s1600/Helena+von+Snakenborg.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHjt4Js8ZAN5z_9N6HKLfOZeQ-UHDEzeLQXxAGZ6DVjnkT-R6aBP5NaVuZ6VWlEYMRNllU78aM0tv0hMT1Ca7a1Huhqz3VMxB4gxXgaKe2NqNw7rxSz8uFEpjKXwLlWXsdRqkoTS2jQt6/s320/Helena+von+Snakenborg.jpg" width="243" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Helena (Elin) von Snakenborg, <br />
Marchioness of Northampton</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
There are two fashion accessories for both men and women that are particularly noted to the Elizabethan era: the ruff and gloves. Norris teaches that the ruff started out as "a cutwork or lace edging on the neckbands of gentlemen's shirts" before the reign of Elizabeth's brother, Edward VI. But they continued to grow until, as John Davis writes in <i>Life in Elizabethan Days,</i> "ruffs a foot deep are very usual and a gallant's head sticking out of them looks (as a courtier remarked) 'like John the Baptist's head upon a platter.'"<br />
<br />
The ruffs were often lace or linen, and were formed and curled on hot irons. Norris states that, "Starch, called by the Puritans as 'the Devil's liquor'" was brought over from the Netherlands, and that a Dutch woman whose husband was Elizabeth's coachman "monopolized in England the knowledge of clear starching."<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The queen was famously vain of her long white fingers, and rightly so. To protect them, and to show them to their best advantage, she often wore gloves. Gloves were most often made of soft kid, and were embroidered and embossed, or had delicate ruffs of their own sewn on. Norris says that perfumed gloves were not common until later in Elizabeth's reign, when they became very popular indeed. The queen received a dozen pair of them as gifts for the New Year, 1599.<br />
<br />
The queen was famous, like her father, for an abhorrence to "evil smells." This made perfumed gloves very popular, but also an easy vehicle for those who would like to poison her through inhalants. In 2012, the London department store Selfridges sponsored an exhibition of gloves to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The centerpiece of the exhibit? The gloves worn by Queen Elizabeth I at her 1559 coronation. You can view the entire collection here: <a href="http://www.bornrich.com/selfridges-showcase-queen-elizabeths-royal-gloves-collection.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Selfridge's Diamond Jubilee Glove Exhibit.</span></a><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4bxvt4rT_VyeOB51OBzelF8Lfojrcut1glN36hnsEXhdbIeiQY5u8BQH2j_qC7zXAT_LjdylV1ExC7Pe-ZXQE1JqJPqDJ7D2qgBI7irxVoY7A58Gki68uO5ltuaK5NRsiqzUcq6PF5xE/s1600/James+I.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD4bxvt4rT_VyeOB51OBzelF8Lfojrcut1glN36hnsEXhdbIeiQY5u8BQH2j_qC7zXAT_LjdylV1ExC7Pe-ZXQE1JqJPqDJ7D2qgBI7irxVoY7A58Gki68uO5ltuaK5NRsiqzUcq6PF5xE/s320/James+I.jpg" width="221" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James I</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span>According to <i>Lace: A History</i>, by Santina Levey, in today's money, Queen Elizabeth I averaged £9535 4 wardrobe each of the last four years of her reign; James I (That's King James of the King James Bible) averaged £36,377 per year during the first five years of his. In today's money, that's roughly £1,191,875 ($1,883,163) per year for Elizabeth or £4,547,125 ($7,184,458) for James. So perhaps the Stuarts were the biggest clothes horses of all!<br />
<br />
~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><p style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 19.32px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The author of more than fifty books, Sandra’s work has received many awards, nominations, and accolades, including a starred review from </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Publisher’s Weekly</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> and multiple starred reviews and Best Book selections from </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Library Journal</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">. Other awards include the </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Historical Novel Society</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">’s Editor’s Choice award, two Christy Awards finalists, a </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Bookpage </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Top Pick for Romance, and inclusion on </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Booklist’s</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> Top Ten Inspirational Books of the Year list.</span></span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 19.32px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">As an editor and an in-demand writing coach, Sandra is passionate about helping writers develop their talents and has mentored hundreds of writers at all stages of their writing careers. </span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 19.32px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">A dedicated foodie, Sandra cooks through the topic and location of every book she writes. In addition, she collects vintage glass and serve ware in her free time, loves long walks with her husband, and Sunday Suppers with her growing family. </span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 19.32px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 19.32px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">Find the <i>Tudor Ladies in Waiting </i>series <a href="https://tinyurl.com/TudorLadiesinWaiting" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></p></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-13752749695374793852023-02-02T20:57:00.003-08:002023-02-06T22:27:46.403-08:00Elizabeth I at Table<b> by Sandra Byrd</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBMSZ2qhCbnTh80w4rwQfamPiqZ4m0Fy9ByOzsZPpDhJkUPwVPDLGs3BE5kazebXMjGCVhmyXafTbMfJoLoa-PckLSMQPCuirg3SYLwYC0-V_E0t0g1uA1SIoNT4K-T4UpItSdcN7xihu/s1600/Elizabeth_I_in_coronation_robes.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBMSZ2qhCbnTh80w4rwQfamPiqZ4m0Fy9ByOzsZPpDhJkUPwVPDLGs3BE5kazebXMjGCVhmyXafTbMfJoLoa-PckLSMQPCuirg3SYLwYC0-V_E0t0g1uA1SIoNT4K-T4UpItSdcN7xihu/s320/Elizabeth_I_in_coronation_robes.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><i>"Queen Elizabeth was an intellectual,"</i> Colin Spencer tells us in his book <b>British Food: An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History</b>, <i>"highly civilised, and greatly disdained soporific indulgence in huge banquets and orgies of drinking. The menu for her dinner on 17 November 1576, a date that marked the eighteenth anniversary of her succession, was not a special one... A first course of choice of beef, mutton, veal, swan or goose, capon, conies, fruit, custard and fritters, manchet (the best white bread made up in small loaves) ale and wine. Second course provided lamb or kid, herons or pheasants, cocks or godwits, chickens, pigeons, larks, tart butter and fritters." </i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJRJpSj9DLh-7_2sJaMMjDlhdr0Ml2KKxEFaGCYyHd2EWGZLGF9zHd9hkmjAB0Hwo-w22H-36Nut_A7I-6NKH1nJye8FIRVzocu-NoBTa9LCFchqCg-N1m_y1kQZch5EGsfqZH7m1afTG/s1600/British+Foods.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJRJpSj9DLh-7_2sJaMMjDlhdr0Ml2KKxEFaGCYyHd2EWGZLGF9zHd9hkmjAB0Hwo-w22H-36Nut_A7I-6NKH1nJye8FIRVzocu-NoBTa9LCFchqCg-N1m_y1kQZch5EGsfqZH7m1afTG/s1600/British+Foods.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
Although this may seem like quite a bit of food to us, historian Eric Ives tells us in <b>The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn t</b>hat at a feast held at the 1532 Field of the Cloth of Gold celebrated by Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, there were 170 dishes. As can be seen by the regularly increasing size of Henry's armor (his waist measured 52" at the end of his reign!) these dishes were not only presented to display his wealth but were regularly indulged in. Elizabeth, on the other hand, wore her small rings clear through to the end of her reign. <br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
She cared, too, that her friends ate well for their health. Toward the end of his life, the queen teased her favorite Robert Dudley about his girth. Author Anne Somerset, in her biography, <b>Elizabeth I</b>, says the queen <i>"chaffed him that he should cut his daily meat consumption to 'two ounces of flesh ... and for his drink the twentieth part of a pint of wine.'"</i><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"></div><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdKEMd0g7uCKAO6RF95GCUXUW1Us936sazJFGOSjFomLqL5rt5UL9mhUeZCwbtYij64283e-nQVrba4WbHcloYlm1g8ayx4dqfhaoMQlFMVMnqNVd7_aumcoJaVhulH4Gt_CtCDYFI1dy7/s1600/Syllabub.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdKEMd0g7uCKAO6RF95GCUXUW1Us936sazJFGOSjFomLqL5rt5UL9mhUeZCwbtYij64283e-nQVrba4WbHcloYlm1g8ayx4dqfhaoMQlFMVMnqNVd7_aumcoJaVhulH4Gt_CtCDYFI1dy7/s200/Syllabub.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Syllabub</td></tr>
</tbody></table></span>If the Queen herself indulged immoderately in any course it was sweets. She was known to prefer syllabubs: sweetened wine or cider blended with milk and sugar and whipped into a light, sweet foam, as well as marchpane, an almond paste candy most often known to us as marzipan. Tradition tells us that Elizabeth had bad teeth and that for a while, women attempted to blacken their teeth cosmetically to fit in with her royal appearance.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Elizabeth's sparse eating habits likely contributed to her long life, but her sweet tooth may have brought about her end. Biographer Alison Plowden says,<i> "The immediate physical cause of the queen's last illness seems to have been a streptococcal throat infection, possibly connected with dental sepsis."</i><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
Spencer says, <i>"Elizabeth was keen to bolster the fishing industry by making sure that people consumed fish in Lent and on fast days, because her fleet partly depended on the availability of the fisherman and their craft." </i> According to author Richard Balkwill in <b>Food and Feasts in Tudor Times,</b> the fish the queen ate so often of would have been kept fresh by being wrapped in cool seaweed and stored in a wet larder at Hampton Court Palace. England's first sushi?<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxroEP6y79C3LDIFKe9WbUoCxhI6xOhfEZd9U1GiumB3lyN7DMyAqVzoAwSPkJFFMNA1SYHuan2Rtz1dAqku-JQGt-ecLUPoquo25qcCKSmAh6PSo13-Kiiz-PUH3Sy8D3urPT16jd-a6/s1600/Hampton+Court+Kitchen.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxroEP6y79C3LDIFKe9WbUoCxhI6xOhfEZd9U1GiumB3lyN7DMyAqVzoAwSPkJFFMNA1SYHuan2Rtz1dAqku-JQGt-ecLUPoquo25qcCKSmAh6PSo13-Kiiz-PUH3Sy8D3urPT16jd-a6/s320/Hampton+Court+Kitchen.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hampton Court Kitchens</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
By the end of the Tudor era, food choices for all were not so much predicated by religious calendars and royal decree as by the wealth of the individual. Author Spencer writes, <i>"It was now becoming possible for individuals to rise in the world, and if you had money, you flaunted it." </i>Sumptuary laws were flouted, and <i>"nothing could stop the gentry from flaunting their riches in food and clothing."</i> Which meant, of course, black teeth properly earned for the well-to-do of any rank. <br />
<br />
~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />
<br /><div><p style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The author of more than fifty books, Sandra’s work has received many awards, nominations, and accolades, including a starred review from </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Publisher’s Weekly</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> and multiple starred reviews and Best Book selections from </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Library Journal</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">. Other awards include the </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Historical Novel Society</span><span style="font-kerning: none;">’s Editor’s Choice award, two Christy Awards finalists, a </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Bookpage </span><span style="font-kerning: none;">Top Pick for Romance, and inclusion on </span><span face="TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT" style="font-kerning: none; font-style: italic;">Booklist’s</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> Top Ten Inspirational Books of the Year list.</span></span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">As an editor and an in-demand writing coach, Sandra is passionate about helping writers develop their talents and has mentored hundreds of writers at all stages of their writing careers. </span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;">A dedicated foodie, Sandra cooks through the topic and location of every book she writes. In addition, she collects vintage glass and serve ware in her free time, loves long walks with her husband, and Sunday Suppers with her growing family. </span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10.7px;"><span style="font-kerning: none; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Find the </span><i style="font-family: Cambria;">Tudor Ladies in Waiting </i><span style="font-family: Cambria;">series </span><a href="https://tinyurl.com/TudorLadiesinWaiting" style="font-family: Cambria;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: Cambria;">.</span></span></p>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-51064937375474359562022-12-20T08:08:00.002-08:002023-03-21T07:35:23.959-07:00 Artúr mac Áedáin of Dál Riata and his time<p><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Marco Mazzi</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-099d2815-7fff-309d-aa7f-603b2ca2e731"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we speak of "Dark Ages", we refer to those centuries (5th - 9th) of which we have scarce and often unreliable historical sources. But the lack of information doesn't necessarily mean they were uncivilized times or that important events didn't take place. On the contrary, recent archeological and historiographic research tells us that those were times "of dynamic development, cultural creativity, and long-distance networking", as Professor Peter S. Wells points out.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 305px; overflow: hidden; width: 463px;"><img alt="https://scarf.scot/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2022/04/Detail-from-the-sarcophagus-at-Govan-Old-Parish-Church-perhaps-representing-St-Constantine-c-CSG-CIC-Glasgow-Museums-and-Libraries-Collections.jpg" height="305" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/bONg3BWnModxnS5GP_juN3lEF8KbnrIszhtAnIM6IuU-VS_1C3Ovkp1AkgbLE73lciTAaR2ZgU6hwq88FIvLcxwVaqim4fokjlAf2qx4r7oWxLaVeqTBy5UFMGkB-TAl92ygvGUKRkcOsmsZqCjwQSzu62qMGKXaIENesVdKHJdQInHb7wcX-sRR6AEn0UwpqO3V9HBSPw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="463" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #44546a; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Detail from the Sarcophagus, Govan Old Parish Church. Public domain</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The land we today call Scotland experienced in the 6th century a most unique period in its history: the events of the following three hundred years would have unfolded from what happened in the 6th century.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At that time, southern Scotland was inhabited by the Celtic Britons, while in northern Scotland lived the mysterious ancient Picts. On the southeastern shores, the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples coming from the European continent, were slowly settling into those which for them were relatively new lands. On the northwestern coastal region lived the so-called Scots (but that is not what they used to call themselves) whose kingdom, Dál Riata, had linguistic and social connections to the Irish Gaels of Ireland, while it is still debated whether or not the Dalradians (or Scots) had Irish origin.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of these very different peoples lived in a semi-tribal society, where many clans joined to form petty kingdoms led by a high chieftain or king. The relations between neighboring populations (Britons, Dalradians/Scots, Picts, even Angles) ranged from war, to competition, to mixed marriages in order to forge political alliances. Some of these petty kingdoms, in particular Dál Riata, held commercial relations not only in the region, but also with distant countries on the European continent, through seafaring networking. Recent discoveries have shown that Dál Riata was a kingdom based on the trade of luxury goods, including gold and silver, worked by the Dalradian smiths.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this scenario, during the 6th century Christianity appeared as a major game changer. Celtic Britons in the south of Scotland had previously known the Christian religion, but the definitive withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain, in the 5th century, had caused the abandonment of Christian beliefs and a revival of the ancestral religion and society of the druids. Now, in the 6th century, Christian missionaries from Ireland brought back Christianity to Scotland, this time for good. A main actor in this missionary work was Saint Columba, whose abbey on the island of Iona, in Dál Riata, became a hub of evangelization for all of northern Britain.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 436px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="A representation of what the Spike Island monastery may have included.
The Wooden Church, Devenish, Co Fermanagh. An example of a waterside 6th century Irish monastery. Stone buildings and churches were very rare in 7th century Ireland." height="436" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/8WVQOupne851uRhO9KZEktvA2SUOjIlcL33VtyY9u0Xlne92crqDJEDlp26TRA44JoJScWO8iwctTeuKBMaEqHE1vLqI7enfEsp1PxPDK2L4H6RC-RPLkpSecYDYAu0Fm7w0j3jIz-qIxYjnkCMYFjS6I3MFX2H-4p6W6YxUknzQwVxawFcaOe3LVKeXl0gRHznGbRcRNg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="828.4707975387573" /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #44546a; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An example of a 6th century Gaelic monastery, as it may have been the Abbey of Iona in its early years.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #44546a; font-size: 9pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Artistic drawing by Philip Armstrong</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the last quarter of the 6th century, the most powerful ruler in this region was King Áedán mac Gabráin of Dál Riata.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">None of the sources for his life are contemporary: the earliest, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life of Columba </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vita Columbae</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) was written at the end of the 7th century by an abbot of Iona, Adomnán, who, according to some scholars such as James E. Fraser, draw extensively from an existing body of accounts, all subsequent King Áedán's death by some decades, anyways. All the other sources were written centuries later.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Furthermore, none of these sources are historically reliable. Some of them are hagiographies, some are poems and literary tales, or inconsistent lists of kings compiled hundreds of years later, based mostly on oral accounts. Modern historians had to compare all the different sources and select the more credible information, discarding the implausible details.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Needless to say, the paucity of the historical record makes treating the biographies of Áedán mac Gabráin and his contemporaries extremely difficult.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nonetheless, historians can identify some facts amongst the many gaps in the records.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Proceeding with selective research, for example, we came to know the existence of a very peculiar character who lived in Scotland in the second half of the 6th century. His name was Artúr mac Áedáin, son of the above-mentioned King Áedán of Dál Riata.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Artúr of Dál Riata is mentioned in three sources: the already mentioned </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life of Columba </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(7th century); the genealogical section of </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The History of the Men of Scotland </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Senchus fer n-Alban</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), which is believed to have been originally compiled between the 7th and the 10th century; and the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Annals of Tigernach </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Annála Tiarnaigh</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), chronicles dating between the 11th and the 12th centuries.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Senchus fer n-Alban </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">his name is actually recorded apparently as Áedán's grandson (but as already mentioned, the list shows some inconsistencies). In the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Life of Columba</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, anyways, which dates only a few decades after Áedán's death, Artúr is part of a story which clearly describes him as Áedán's oldest son, and how he predeceased his father.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bardic poem </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y Gododdin</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, believed to have been transmitted from oral poetry dating from the 7th century (but the oldest manuscript is dated from the 13th century, most probably copied from earlier versions), honoured the memory of a great and famous warrior named Artúr, though there isn't any evidence which links that name to Artúr mac Áedáin, besides the fact that the events celebrated in </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y Gododdin</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are set in the same region where Artúr lived and only a few years after his death: the poem consists of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic Kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles at a place named Catraeth around the year 600.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cross checking the references found in all the different sources, we can draw a possible picture of the historical Artúr of Dál Riata. And it turns out that through the mist of the "Dark Ages", we can glimpse a very unique character.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As is often the case when it comes to the sources on the "Dark Ages", we don't have any date related to Artúr of Dál Riata. We can infer the range of his lifetime indirectly, from references contained in some sources. So, presumably he was born around the 550s and died in battle around the 580s or 590s.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His name is Brittonic, even if he was born into a Gaelic clan of Dál Riata. The reason for that is that his mother, Áedán's first wife, is indirectly recorded as a Briton woman. In the hagiography </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Acta Sancti Laisriani</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, written in Latin centuries later, it's mentioned as Áedán's daughter, Gemma or Maithgemma (also a Brittonic name), niece of a Briton king: meaning that Áedán's wife was sister to that Briton king. It's not possible to be sure if this hagiography contains some seeds of historical truth, but Maithgemma and Artur are both Brittonic names. Additionally, several Welsh works in the following centuries claim a Brittonic pedigree for Áedán. His own mother is recorded as a Briton high-ranking woman, daughter of Dumnagual Hen ("Dyfnwal the Old"), a 6th century king of the neighbouring Brittonic Kingdom of Alt Clut (later known as Strathclyde, in the area of the modern Glasgow). Though these pedigrees are inconsistent and likely dubious, they are notable in highlighting Áedán's close association with the Britons.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thus, it appears that Artúr was probably three-quarters Briton, closely related by blood to the Briton rulers of the neighbouring Kingdom of Alt Clut, which stretched in the territory between Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall, in southern Scotland. The Briton king mentioned in the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Acta Sancti Laisriani </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">could have been the famous Riderch Hael ("Rhydderch the Generous") of Alt Clut, contemporary of Áedán and Artúr, who reigned between the last quarter of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century. Riderch Hael joined an alliance with another important Briton king, Urbgen of Rheged, whose figure later merged into the Welsh legends as Urien Pendragon.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The meaning of the word "king" when referring to that society is somewhat different than what we would usually expect. It indicates a figure who ruled a confederation of clans as their high chieftain. The Brittonic word was </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">guletic</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, which means "land-holder". The kingdoms ruled by those petty kings were not organised states, but rather territories under their influence, without defined borders. When a so-called-king became powerful enough, he usually tried to submit the neighbouring territories to his influence, and that led to bloody wars which often led to a shift in the powers of the region. One more aspect to take into consideration is that the armies were much smaller than what they would become many centuries later. Usually they consisted of just a few dozen men, so the correct term would be "warbands", rather than "armies". Only in rare circumstances, a confederation of different warbands from allied kingdoms would reach maybe a (very) few hundred men.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Artúr of Dál Riata was in his teenage years when the battle of Arfderydd was fought in southern Scotland (almost 200 miles away to the south from Dál Riata), which supposedly happened in the year 573 according to the 10th century chronicles </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Annales Cambriae</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">; an alliance of Christian Briton leaders defeated a pagan Briton ruler, Gwenddoleu, and his retinue. It was possibly a defeat of the ancient druids' supporters, which set off the definitive predominance of Christianity in the region, at least in the Brittonic territories. Some sources, though not all of them, report that Artúr's uncle (if we want to consider believable the kinship reference in the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Acta Sancti Laisriani</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) Rhydderch Hael was among the leaders fighting on the winning side. According to Old Welsh sources (hundreds of years subsequent to the event), Gwenddoleu's bard, named Lailoken, escaped from the battle and went insane wandering in the forests of the territories of Alt Clut. These semi-unhistorical sources tell how Lailoken became a madman with prophetic abilities and became known as Myrddin Wyllt ("Myrddin the Wild"), eventually getting in contact with Rhydderch Hael, to whom he predicted the future. The figure of Myrddin Wyllt will develop much later, through several versions, into the character of Merlin the wizard belonging to the Arthurian legends.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One year after the battle of Arfderydd, Artúr's father was ordained as King of Dál Riata by the hands of Saint Columba himself. It's the first known example in all Britain and Ireland of a king anointed by a Christian priest, and that is another sign of the spread of Christianity not only among the Britons, but among the Scots too.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the oldest son of the Dalradian king, and at the same time as a nephew of the ruler of one of the most important Celtic Brittonic kingdoms, Artúr of Dál Riata was in a position of power from a young age.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Historian Michael D. Wood and others take into consideration some references in semi-historical sources, whose reliability cannot be confirmed: according to those sources, at some point Áedán mac Gabráin, more and more involved in the Christian transformation of his kingdom under the influence of Columba of Iona, provisionally retreated to a religious life and gave his son Artúr the supreme command of the Dalradian forces, making him the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">de facto</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> leader of Dál Riata.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It would be Artúr, then, who led the Scots in several battles mainly against the Picts. Under this hypothesis, in his position as leader and considering that he was three-quarters Briton, Artúr would have probably had to deal with the Briton rulers active at that time at the southern borders of Dál Riata, especially with his uncle Rhydderch Hael and his allies, including Urien Pendragon. That epithet, Pendragon, with the meaning of "Highest Commander", was traditionally linked to Urien of Rheged probably because around the year 590 he was at the head of a Brittonic coalition in their first recorded war against the Angles of Bernicia, as is recounted in the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Historia Brittonum</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a semi-historical account dated from the 10th century. In that war Urien died, betrayed by a conspiracy of a Briton leader jealous of his power, and his figure was consigned to legend.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Artúr was not involved in that coalition, mainly because he was a leader of a Gaelic kingdom, adversary of the Brittonic kingdoms, but also because in the same period he was busy with his own battles at the Pictish borders.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">According to some pedigrees, Áedán of Dál Riata claimed as his own territory an area between the Brittonic Kingdom of Gododdin (centered maybe around the modern city of Edinburgh) and the region called Manau, in the southern Pictish territories. His claims derived from matrilineal line, since his mother was a daughter of a Briton king of Alt Clut (Strathclyde). That's the reason why his son Artúr was active as military leader in that region.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Miathi, as they are mentioned in </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vita Columbae</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, were a population living in that area. Probably they are to be identified with the Southern Picts, but their identity might be traced back from the ancient Maeatae, a confederation of tribes that rebelled against the occupying Roman legions in the 3rd century.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was against the Miathi that Artúr fought his last battle. It's not clear when, but around the 580s or the 590s. According to </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vita Columbae</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in that terrible battle two of Áedán's sons, Artúr and Eochaid Find, lost their lives, though at the end the Dalradian forces defeated the Miathi.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the tragic "battle of the Miathi", Áedán mac Gabráin came back to the throne of Dál Riata, even though he was already in his fifties or even in his sixties, and he led the Scots maybe until around the time of his death in 609. Or he may have been deposed or have abdicated following his defeat around the year 603 at the battle of Degsastan, recorded also by Bede in his </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The victor of that battle was the Angle king Æthelfrith of Bernicia, the first unifier of the territories which will come to form the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As for Artúr, we don't know if he was buried after the battle of the Miathi or what was his body's fate. But most probably his fame as a great warrior and leader outlived him. We have cited already the Old/Middle Welsh poem </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Y Gododdin </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and in particular the stanza in which is mentioned a warrior named Artur in passing, as a paragon of incomparable bravery. There's no evidence about who it could be that mentioned Artur, but considering that the stanza might date back to a few decades after the battle and that the poem is set in the same region as the battle of the Miathi, it could plausibly be a reference to Artúr mac Áedáin of Dál Riata.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is a common view among historians that the earliest bardic poetry in the Old Welsh language of which we are in possession originated in the Brittonic lands of southern Scotland in the 6th and the 7th centuries and recounts the deeds of heroes belonging to that region's folklore.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If that is so, could it be possible that some of the feats of the commander Artúr became part of the Welsh legends? It is very possible, even if most of it was lost and what survives to our days was just a part of it. Actually, some of Artúr's contemporaries are an important part of those legends: figures such as Urien Pendragon and Myrddin/Merlin are legendary characters whose identities are rooted in real people who lived in the 6th century.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's not the purpose of this article to prove anything, just to suggest with how much interest our popular imagination plunges into historical events that have been embellished and dramatically changed in the legendary accounts.</span></p><br /><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sources include:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Clarkson, Tim. THE MEN OF THE NORTH. The Britons of Southern Scotland. 2010, Birlinn Ltd.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Wells, Peter S. BARBARIAN TO ANGELS. The Dark Ages Reconsidered. 2008, W. W. Norton.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Wood, Michael D. IN SEARCH OF MYTHS AND HEROES. 2007, University of California Press.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Adomnán of Iona. THE LIFE OF SAINT COLUMBA. As Told by Saint Adomnán (edited with an introduction by Phillip Campbell). 2021, Cruachan Hill Press.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- Bede. AN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE (edited by B. Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors). 1992, Oxford: Clarendon Press.</span></p><br />~~~~~<br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An avid reader, Marco Mazzi has cultivated his passion for writing articles on different subjects for years, from history to modern society to sport. Marco has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication, besides a Musical Arts degree in Viola, which led him to the profession of classical musician. He has always been a history buff, and he has written several historical articles. He currently lives in South Africa, and he is a Lecturer at UKZN University. CHRONICLES OF ALBION is available <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Albion-Winds-Marco-Mazzi-ebook/dp/B0BYWDG81J/ref=sr_1_2?crid=56WDLTIALCTP&keywords=chronicles+of+albion&qid=1679253983&sprefix=%2Caps%2C1090&sr=8-2" target="_blank">HERE.</a></span></span>Debra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-15104721285438560112022-10-21T22:41:00.002-07:002022-10-24T01:58:41.219-07:00‘Cheek by jowl’—the Royal Academy’s Exhibition, 1776by Philippa Jane Keyworth <div><br /></div><div>When one thinks of an art exhibition these days, one might imagine an enormous white space,
interspersed here and there with paintings. Carefully crafted. Minimalist. </div><div><br /></div><div>Not so in the 18th century. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Royal Academy of Arts annual exhibition</b></div><div> </div><div>For my recent novel, I decided to set a scene at the Royal Academy of Art’s annual exhibition.
The Royal Academy of Arts (often known in the present day as the RA), was founded in 1768.
Sir William Chambers, an architect, brought a petition signed by 36 artists before King George
III to seek permission to ‘establish a society for promoting the Arts of Design’. When the
sovereign granted it, the RA and its annual exhibition was born, the latter known today as the
Summer Exhibition. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM5UedUhsrc88WbjwHCs2QS_jmng_0VphYXyDzfKyyWrz_eM_NBpOyVxkry_xRwiUu3EOM5SQGGy0qYvwj8v5jmHAfhHRtCqncjyn7JbPKoe-hEEY_8VciN26V3yBJVO_bM4sYGPOA6P3RVvqdsoM9Hh13rYmb42FdNstVF9ds9IvnurcTwhI1Ik6vyQ/s800/William_Hunter's_life_class_for_the_Royal_Academy_of_Art_at_Wellcome_V0006843.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="800" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM5UedUhsrc88WbjwHCs2QS_jmng_0VphYXyDzfKyyWrz_eM_NBpOyVxkry_xRwiUu3EOM5SQGGy0qYvwj8v5jmHAfhHRtCqncjyn7JbPKoe-hEEY_8VciN26V3yBJVO_bM4sYGPOA6P3RVvqdsoM9Hh13rYmb42FdNstVF9ds9IvnurcTwhI1Ik6vyQ/s320/William_Hunter's_life_class_for_the_Royal_Academy_of_Art_at_Wellcome_V0006843.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Hunter's Life Class <br />for the Royal Academy of Art</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b>Who could submit work? </b></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"[an] Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures and Designs, which shall be open to all
Artists of distinguished merit." </div><div style="text-align: center;">From <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/250-years-of-the-summer-exhibition/ngLSPH_wH-DtJQ" target="_blank">the Royal Academy’s foundation document</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The Summer Exhibition remains one of the oldest open submission exhibitions in the world. This
means you need no artistic pedigree in order to submit a piece for exhibit. It was a great
egalitarian experiment in the vein of 18th century Enlightenment thinking that carries on to this
day. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">‘...it’s a democracy of a sort, a very arbitrary one, I’m in charge!’
- Grayson Perry jokes in a <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/story/250-years-of-the-summer-exhibition/ngLSPH_wH-DtJQ" target="_blank">Google culture and arts article </a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Who could attend? </b></div><div><br /></div><div>And the visitors to the annual exhibition in the late 18th century were not all aristocracy either.
Anyone could pay the shilling admission fee and admire the latest creations from the leading
artists of the day. </div><div><br /></div><div>The academicians had to charge something, or—according to them—they might have to suffer
the, </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">‘noxious effluvia of the vulgar herd’ </div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps now you can see why I might think this a fascinating setting? One in which I could base
a scene filled with drama and intrigue in 1776? Just imagine it, the plethora of paintings staring
down at the great swathes of artists, nobility and the middling orders gazing up. The sound and
the buzz… </div><div><br /></div><div><b>What did it look like?</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>So, back to the task at hand, I had decided to set a scene at the exhibition. Now I had to find out
where it was held, what it looked like, which paintings were there in 1776. As any modern-dayer
worth their salt would do, I began searching for contemporary images of the exhibition. Visual
sources can be one of the most accessible ways to explore the past. I’m such a fan of it that I
based my undergraduate dissertation on such sources, pouring over prints, paintings and etchings
for many hours. And now I needed to find images of the exhibition. </div><div><br /></div><div>You read that right—by the way—I wanted to find ‘artwork of artwork’.
And when I did, well, that was when I realised that the RA’s exhibition in 1776 was the furthest
thing from a minimalist affair.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLUx_HuS78f-l7xjQoEeDZGvw15QVhVZ4_7stYWQT7cK6jrkoeP1kwk4Re2itJMh1D7iJoiELGwfTqulyA16t6R6VsgXkFBDxCL4OjH5VdNEEmel6rEK3aoOjs4TsHsjWr-EV5_KZ8wRTTO2hcM4g3ucOm5V1e4HFFKGmyKWOi9vuYno_l6r3cH65Gg/s712/Richard_Earlom_-_The_Exhibition_of_the_Royal_Academy_of_Painting_1771_-_B1978.43.798_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="712" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLUx_HuS78f-l7xjQoEeDZGvw15QVhVZ4_7stYWQT7cK6jrkoeP1kwk4Re2itJMh1D7iJoiELGwfTqulyA16t6R6VsgXkFBDxCL4OjH5VdNEEmel6rEK3aoOjs4TsHsjWr-EV5_KZ8wRTTO2hcM4g3ucOm5V1e4HFFKGmyKWOi9vuYno_l6r3cH65Gg/s320/Richard_Earlom_-_The_Exhibition_of_the_Royal_Academy_of_Painting_1771_-_B1978.43.798_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> Richard Earlom<br />The Exhibition at the Royal Academy <br />in Pall Mall in 1771, 20 May 1772. Mezzotint. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Check out <a href="https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/how-to-read-it-richard-earlom-great-spectacle-summer-exhibition-1771" target="_blank">the RA’s reading of this print</a> as each figure/painting/decoration has meaning. </div><div><br /></div><div>Paintings at the exhibition were hung cheek-by-jowl from dado rail to ceiling. It would have been
an overwhelming sight upon first entry, and one which would have taken visitors some time to
absorb.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>To save wall space, pictures were hung frame-by-frame from chair rail to ceiling. The higher canvases,
sometimes more than five tiers overhead, were tilted forward to enhance visibility and reduce glare. The
huge, sky-lit galleries reverberated with the noise of the thronging crowds who, as usual at social occasions
in Georgian England, brought their hunting hounds and lap dogs</i>.
- ‘Britain's Royal Academy of Art in the Late 1700s and Early 1800s’</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/britains-royal-academy-of-art-in-the-late-1700s-and-early-1800s.html" target="_blank">National Gallery ofArt </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> If you were an artist whose work was accepted for display, it would then have been arranged by
the academicians (members who ran the RA), meaning you could be a new artist displayed
alongside established names. That’s still the case today. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Artists coveted the ‘on-the-line’ spots, where you would have your work seen to advantage at
around or just above eye level. Anything higher than that was… not great. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I mean, it’s just a case of logistics. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Who would be able to see it? So undesirable was the happenstance, that a term was coined
especially for it: ‘skied’. No artist wished to be ‘skied’. That was not only an insult, it was bad for
business. For the exhibition could make an artist, as it wasn’t just to display work, it was to sell it! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So here we are, standing in a room with walls mounted to the ceiling with paintings, and it wasn’t
just the one room. The first location of the Royal Academy’s annual exhibition was a set of
auctioneer’s rooms in Pall Mall. The visitor would have progressed through them, within a great
swell of people, pouring into the main chamber where the principle works were hung.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcInTSkEkNeMbCrLrcVNzDJ3dcbueAN8YL8z0wLCZs9PhZpR8hRrWsmS1p2_zsqTEVT2iMHrO-TX3zUzAxb2k48k9Raw2iQajBactgzp8DPJtVdVekh4ZgX0aKADJCwHmB5qitu6lZQbqSR-mBng8Nb6BwNQvYCGolVcVsD6ME0ajxgvcAnAIGjZeS2A/s759/John_Boultbee_(1753-1812)_-_Two_Hunters,_'Prophet'_and_'Surprise'_-_138302_-_National_Trust.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="759" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcInTSkEkNeMbCrLrcVNzDJ3dcbueAN8YL8z0wLCZs9PhZpR8hRrWsmS1p2_zsqTEVT2iMHrO-TX3zUzAxb2k48k9Raw2iQajBactgzp8DPJtVdVekh4ZgX0aKADJCwHmB5qitu6lZQbqSR-mBng8Nb6BwNQvYCGolVcVsD6ME0ajxgvcAnAIGjZeS2A/s320/John_Boultbee_(1753-1812)_-_Two_Hunters,_'Prophet'_and_'Surprise'_-_138302_-_National_Trust.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Hunters, 'Prophet' and 'Surprise'<br />John Boultbee<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How would you know who had created what? </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Visitors would have been given a catalogue of the works on display—gratis—to carry around
with them. I was delighted to find the original catalogue of the 1776 exhibition digitised <a href="https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/exhibition-catalogue/ra-sec-vol8-1776" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwrgWUja5-aDbcUy2jUIqOfIGY_CnZVKidMMX-ONUQqCajcZ4B9n6XpJ39zsRvkFYHIXBP5NdslLwfy6JWFR7YZyMoEG55XRMqD9n79MqEuLL2PSEXKvQPykqDpR3-3OpTgLGY85Njojhggwp56hFgp3fiKv98zd4KnlCIxIJQ53WfEXJB5iVa5VY3g/s717/Queen_Eleanor_sucking_the_poison_from_King_Edward's_arm._Col_Wellcome_V0015276%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="717" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwrgWUja5-aDbcUy2jUIqOfIGY_CnZVKidMMX-ONUQqCajcZ4B9n6XpJ39zsRvkFYHIXBP5NdslLwfy6JWFR7YZyMoEG55XRMqD9n79MqEuLL2PSEXKvQPykqDpR3-3OpTgLGY85Njojhggwp56hFgp3fiKv98zd4KnlCIxIJQ53WfEXJB5iVa5VY3g/s320/Queen_Eleanor_sucking_the_poison_from_King_Edward's_arm._Col_Wellcome_V0015276%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen Eleanor Sucking the Blood <br />from King Edward's Arm<br />Coloured stipple etching by Wynne Ryland, 1780 <br />after A. Kauffman<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It was a glorious find for a historian like me. I was able to read about the pieces of art on display,
and then look them up on Google. This led me to featuring several in my book including works
by Boultbee, Cosway and Kauffman. The latter is a particular favourite of mine. Angelica
Kauffman was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy and a celebrated painter of
the day. It’s always pleasing to read about an independently successful woman from the past.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAM44Y1gd9X9rhAPLqjLEMso5cm-8NafmD9R_RVVMFPc9cYhAVSpivDxK7-Oswgxj6Vy0fdnu0YxQ7i9MWKOQkXyAVcq8CMzHivbgZIoChQ8Hg4TpY48k5P5Q4tajW5OCl7YiG6VyttbMv0ik2-vnoTbLZ79-kcYAa8hXKQlYoWCdiUYDftyslsUl1IA/s600/484px-Richard_Cosway_-_Madonna_and_Child_-_Google_Art_Project.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="484" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAM44Y1gd9X9rhAPLqjLEMso5cm-8NafmD9R_RVVMFPc9cYhAVSpivDxK7-Oswgxj6Vy0fdnu0YxQ7i9MWKOQkXyAVcq8CMzHivbgZIoChQ8Hg4TpY48k5P5Q4tajW5OCl7YiG6VyttbMv0ik2-vnoTbLZ79-kcYAa8hXKQlYoWCdiUYDftyslsUl1IA/s320/484px-Richard_Cosway_-_Madonna_and_Child_-_Google_Art_Project.jpeg" width="258" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madonna and Child<br />Richard Cosway<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b>What does it have to do with my novel?</b> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So there it is, a wonderful historical backdrop in which to set a scene. The great cross-section of
Society, oozing through the rooms, jostling one another, speaking, pointing, exclaiming. Oh yes,
a very good backdrop, one in which the heroine of a Georgian romance might set about
uncovering Societal secrets. And a backdrop where the hero might just wish to find out what
she’s up to… </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b> References:</b> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ol><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Hunter%2527s_life_class_for_the_Royal_Academy_of_Art_at_Wellcome_V0006843.jpg&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw3hsFUHeNybeZjx5rTpawwH" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Hunter%27s_life_class_for_the_Royal_Academy_of_Art_at_Wellcome_V0006843.jpg" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">William Hunter's life class for the Royal Academy of Art at old Somerset House. Mezzotint, 1783, after J. Zoffany</a></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: underline;">250 Years of the Summer Exhibition, Arts and Culture, Google</span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Earlom_-_The_Exhibition_of_the_Royal_Academy_of_Painting_1771_-_B1978.43.798_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw3Kd-hFVlSqBRoCGwem4LjM" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Earlom_-_The_Exhibition_of_the_Royal_Academy_of_Painting_1771_-_B1978.43.798_-_Yale_Center_for_British_Art.jpg" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Richard Earlom, The Exhibition at the Royal Academy in Pall Mall in 1771, 20 May 1772. Mezzotint</a></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/how-to-read-it-richard-earlom-great-spectacle-summer-exhibition-1771&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw3nePHLDtmhXKH1cg1fU18V" href="https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/how-to-read-it-richard-earlom-great-spectacle-summer-exhibition-1771" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.02em;" target="_blank">How to read it: The Exhibition of the Royal Academy in Pall Mall, 1771</a></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/britains-royal-academy-of-art-in-the-late-1700s-and-early-1800s.html&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw3c22z3mMKSPs8uoRujXoAo" href="https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/britains-royal-academy-of-art-in-the-late-1700s-and-early-1800s.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Britain's Royal Academy of Art in the Late 1700s and Early 1800s</a></span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Boultbee_(1753-1812)_-_Two_Hunters,_%2527Prophet%2527_and_%2527Surprise%2527_-_138302_-_National_Trust.jpg&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw1fgA66oq-KzvMURNv12oS2" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Boultbee_(1753-1812)_-_Two_Hunters,_%27Prophet%27_and_%27Surprise%27_-_138302_-_National_Trust.jpg" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank"><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 13.3px;">Two Hunters: 'Prophet' and 'Surprise', </span><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;">John Boultbee </span><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;">(1753–1812)</span></a></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/exhibition-catalogue/ra-sec-vol8-1776&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw2g9wPY6Sq4stbF3O_3Ahew" href="https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/exhibition-catalogue/ra-sec-vol8-1776" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; letter-spacing: -0.16px;" target="_blank">The exhibition of the Royal Academy, MDCCLXXVI. (1776). The eighth., <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">1776</span></a></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Eleanor_sucking_the_poison_from_King_Edward%2527s_arm._Col_Wellcome_V0015276.jpg&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw2j3-cDUjigU7fkneL2EQJg" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Eleanor_sucking_the_poison_from_King_Edward%27s_arm._Col_Wellcome_V0015276.jpg" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Queen Eleanor sucking the poison from King Edward's arm. Coloured stipple etching by Wynne Ryland, 1780, after A. Kauffman.</a></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 13.3px;"><span style="color: black;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Cosway_-_Madonna_and_Child_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw1QurySfH7ICnbG9EZM5XRc" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Cosway_-_Madonna_and_Child_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Madonna and Child, Richard Cosway (1742-1821)</a></span></span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00917808/document&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw0Jt3M8a_1xN5xCIqgmAfJX" href="https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00917808/document" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Difficult Beginning ? The Early Years of the RoyalAcademy of Arts in London, Isabelle Baudino</a></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="letter-spacing: -0.02em;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://wellcomecollection.org/&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw0hygLH-lGLi7x5gCoAVkiJ" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Wellcome Collection</a></span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/summer-exhibition&source=gmail&ust=1666629375266000&usg=AOvVaw3whQILwbdhxxr27FCt9cL0" href="https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/summer-exhibition" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">About the Exhibition, Royal Academy</a></li></ol><div><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">~~~~~</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80xXWSc1jFpdd1JdLoEKWCrZlKU3GbrWB8gyMchAGMQpc1_wuoORitC6FIj1sqX2eLawaWZXdA55xmSqKmHMJOzaBlf9B_8RAyRU5wU8C8SOZX9V7lxs9AL9oKN6puhef_ClApXqcmDvkiSTlvIZbPhSNKigbTRY1-zk4WGMgyvkMNY--DPK9XggfNQ/s720/Author%20headshot.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="720" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi80xXWSc1jFpdd1JdLoEKWCrZlKU3GbrWB8gyMchAGMQpc1_wuoORitC6FIj1sqX2eLawaWZXdA55xmSqKmHMJOzaBlf9B_8RAyRU5wU8C8SOZX9V7lxs9AL9oKN6puhef_ClApXqcmDvkiSTlvIZbPhSNKigbTRY1-zk4WGMgyvkMNY--DPK9XggfNQ/s320/Author%20headshot.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Philippa Jane Keyworth</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Philippa Jane Keyworth, also known as P. 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with them through London, Bath, Cornwall and beyond and you'll find yourself falling in love.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRDm3pLY3aaB2bPuQECeHc5QJTXLQGhDY4azkKNz2cwpGgji1jsbxjymNSnR_30VBcMXzI7x6l2yG8mr88pBsOsrXxmuhhP922AcxMZFNZBHt5RQdy7vtAh9y6aYgrG06Hgl1D-FysBNlb0UOAbLRlNT1jh498Svyy8kx0m7oaCRSZCW6DShg_nZ39w/s499/Lord%20of%20Worth.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRDm3pLY3aaB2bPuQECeHc5QJTXLQGhDY4azkKNz2cwpGgji1jsbxjymNSnR_30VBcMXzI7x6l2yG8mr88pBsOsrXxmuhhP922AcxMZFNZBHt5RQdy7vtAh9y6aYgrG06Hgl1D-FysBNlb0UOAbLRlNT1jh498Svyy8kx0m7oaCRSZCW6DShg_nZ39w/s320/Lord%20of%20Worth.jpg" width="201" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><a href="https://dl.bookfunnel.com/od5rzcl3at" target="_blank">Get your free sample of Lord of Worth</a></div><div><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WXNRNC4?geniuslink=true" target="_blank">Purchase Lord of Worth</a></div></div>Debra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-58475341345233157392022-09-28T16:19:00.004-07:002022-09-28T16:24:39.326-07:00Treasures of Guildhall Library – the library of London History<p> by Isabelle Chevallot</p><p>In the six hundred years since it was first established there have been several incarnations of Guildhall Library. The first library at Guildhall was founded around 1425, under the terms of the will of Richard Whittington ‘a rich and pious merchant’ who served as Lord Mayor of London. In English folklore, Richard or ‘Dick’ Whittington became a legend, reportedly rising from poverty by making his fortune through the sale of his cat to a rat-infested country and for centuries he has been immortalised in pantomime. However, Whittington did not come from a poor background. He made his fortune as a mercer and then from making loans, including to the king, which provided financial profits, together with access to the royal ear and a position of influence.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="554" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/3qw5t3A7En6EHJFhbzYEewN4b45-uEoh-yAGVB3sDBvzTFc1mVUh-7BCkb8B72M8AEKMrH_L6EjAwDc2PRMD9ODaPS_HVY5-0n0x1IFFffGZ8J89ekB4cUkigC-IJzo25pkRBbzGRuTMOSqPYuVCt4MoayLDFOcCbBrd_bJysL3da2Z1kIr__9jx0NCSyQfV2SoFGw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="427" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-325094c3-7fff-7c55-5157-6f6fce437ec1"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Richard Whittington pictured with a skull</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-7c6abee7-7fff-12b5-6ed4-e4b3726ef1b8"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When Richard Whittington died in March 1423, he left his entire fortune to charity and the City. Some of this money was used to found a library to serve the college of priests at Guildhall. There is no surviving catalogue of the contents of this collection, but it is logical to conclude that it was a library of theological books. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2e81503b-7fff-e6de-8952-171862abb9aa"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 304px; overflow: hidden; width: 457px;"><img alt="A picture containing text, alcohol, beverage
Description automatically generated" height="304" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/hMy4beZpRsIwg5fIq_XnOmFLpTd4hRwEDavXSAezUEAi9FaQXgJdQzfyYc2BX8WAOyeILB3ODweBkEuE9U6Hewqcmya9jEu8tdD005naGANu_ee3E_7RS1PWiIAlqw8gUFB2_hGntZtkLHrLcRogQI3Ns4kVdoGeJ_z4ujDjU2QTL5zPk_FWt9dBQ_76O_kPqnQPhA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="457" /></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-5293a74a-7fff-a2c4-7f0c-c833bcba6e66"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In his ‘</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Survey of London Written in the Year 1598’ </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pictured above,</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John Stow describes a "fair and large library, furnished with books, pertaining to the Guildhall and college". He tells us that during the reign of Edward VI (around 1549) the whole collection was 'sent for' by the Lord Protector, the Duke of Somerset. The books were loaded on to carts and taken away but were not returned. It is probable that the Duke 'borrowed' the books to furnish Somerset House, his new palace on the Strand. </span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="218" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/71d2V87qeGx-r9XH0d0gl_XqZZBIciM6yuTFwYr8Ag-PbB7liio4ZmDyujvgsAUIptI4xEkOCftdPgBMDtxm5WHVTmKkDwYZO7oUJxH7pNz7wlZR27BKU-Mn0yFCpFnIA3S1XJCI11Zl5IT7ssOKN_VCk7HwL8kfhbDBAlJ-4CY2KeTtZ7jlNf8OuDimoWxUYOib0w" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="187" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-db09a77c-7fff-360c-8af1-e535bdeb4fa9"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Duke of Somerset</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-3f38c5c7-7fff-d67c-635c-622c2a1c7124"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only one book from the original collection has found its way back to Guildhall Library, a 13th century copy of Petrus de Riga's Aurora, a metrical Latin version of the Bible pictured below.</span></span><div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1ddb6d45-7fff-fd9f-7bf2-d505091f7bb1"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 275px; overflow: hidden; width: 516px;"><img alt="Text, letter
Description automatically generated" height="275" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/2mFr-VJCHq1zyN6p0Hxd1WbYzNhbuXwGCaWfriVRPsW5umohEJQltI5eIvCyrjiJcuTuE2msDoXI6yeBCtsPUJoZwoKkLC6GHyHzW9rNySidMjKvmUnyvqjwqQgC1NHkMaWnyuokf64gFSwS5AFzXbSKfmbkGu1f6M5vtE3wNnmiYwIYMScjsm-1buTtiP6HoEmoSg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="516" /></span></span></span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-4f2fb417-7fff-e7bf-f179-64f00e7a2a3a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />The Corporation does not appear to have attempted to recover the library from the acquisitive Duke and there was a gap of around 300 years until another library was formed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is one other work which may be a survivor of the original library, a fourteenth century copy of the Chronicles of France pictured below.</span></p></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-73496700-7fff-9ecd-9a41-aeb32f73392b"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-11ada366-7fff-e157-4051-dd491d387969"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 752px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="Image" height="640" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/81dE1MbnRMYIhn_WeVqAhDQu9ud-wfnU1jBpVBGFPqUWjRqvzw868IaNOI0tmXlSjnjs2urVPuKKfBROFHi88wGvntrRCk_IgARVhuEo0SEhSCQ6ebOVy1fUt9uM0buW26LsI04U5IC4vSISfb35ZIj0gziHv4CEzzTZQVb0SMmRc_JJxbmuifOgV357YO_C7AAVnA=w512-h640" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="512" /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">We think this may have been held in the original collection because there is a record in the City Archives of a manuscript copy of the Chronicles having been returned to Guildhall in 1516 after having been a ‘long tyme in the keping of’ Robert Fabyan. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">There is no record of Guildhall Library acquiring a copy of the Chronicles, so it is fair to assume that this copy is one and the same. It also seems likely that some marginalia in this volume is in the hand of Robert Fabyan. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3193204f-7fff-f8d2-9122-a58d06e0f674"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 422px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="A picture containing text, window, picture frame
Description automatically generated" height="280" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/wFShHAObcRmY5haI1-wB8jHELL6yJduciq8HRavQxp61SrdP5Mn98Z1eSiYZwRJqio0qD9C6AIyxeqmDezedNATCrDOXsWmXDN8w0ZR7wltv3JNA9inuAe2Etr3ffbg47gol8MRNiaf3YOlL5vi7gGLSgFs3WEDn0LuV3nZOP41oKXU0vS8EHZe2WKVvhPtLT8Q0qg=w400-h280" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></span></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 422px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-5c827bac-7fff-3b91-dc58-37a077e43c66"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">In 1828 a small library was opened for use initially only by members of the Corporation. There were only 1700 volumes in the library at this time but as the library grew so did its membership, with tickets being granted to literary men as well as Members.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6e13636d-7fff-9f85-9ac9-710f37ecf2c4"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 312px; overflow: hidden; width: 416px;"><img alt="A picture containing building, outdoor, old, stone
Description automatically generated" height="312" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/muFyGMG5jRDHuUdwXwYUrKcoR1qT7pY2dUGrUfrnqRHspk7UKPRfUYMkciwcVMC--FIKBK28gsIMVHCAk4f-Ie7xBekp-mDk2mVf_13dCfKcZbBO7KdojJ2Tl4hL2tfU4bwwwGhTFqZbW7Y6dqfj54j5D7z5xMWFuQp6MU1ZUESJc9LbDwnLAM32iIujmi9_micQMQ" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="416" /></span></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This small library increased in size and importance and eventually outgrew its accommodation, and a new building was planned to the East of Guildhall and into Basinghall Street. The Corporation and Common Council decided that from now on access to its books should be made available to the public free of charge.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The new library building was designed by Horace Jones (the City architect) and opened to the general public in 1873</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By then the library contained about 60,000 volumes of works covering the history of London, its architecture, topography, its suburbs and a large collection of early printed plays connected with the city. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is this building which is now called ‘The Old Library’ and the office of the Guildhall Librarian is now the Chief Commoner’s parlour.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Around 25 000 volumes were lost in the Second World War, on 29th-30th December 1940, through the destruction of some of the library’s storerooms, but the damage to the library building itself was not extensive. However, the area around Guildhall was devastated by the bombing and for the second time in its 600-year history the hall itself had lost its roof - the first time had been during the Great Fire of 1666. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the war, the library continued to grow and flourish, expanding into the Guildhall crypt for some much-needed extra stack space. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e63659bc-7fff-8156-1eeb-de225a42a9ef"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 351px; overflow: hidden; width: 445px;"><img height="351" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5P8_fwYryRFcOsoNkW1GtDz7aa_Kwuf8vQrC7HcEe1w6UBP9MW-4l9_Mj0rk0eOO-0akLUetPEIzvGBS81DRE0rLCdvzaLjQS7l-7rR6gXDKsu5OwLLP07UKKbkpflicqTa2oFosgFvzP7D9ULU5oa7gx--PE2dsBeVq0mINDvi84Dx6MIE-ol5pjbAcNDvoJNTsHw" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="445" /></span></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The image above shows the ‘Old Library’, as it is now called, depicted shortly before its closure and the layout had changed little in the 100 years of its existence.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-c3be0e40-7fff-0d44-45a1-0c0f984c7b89"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As part of the post-war Guildhall reconstruction scheme, the Corporation decided to develop the West Wing and incorporate a new modern library. The present Guildhall Library, in the West Wing of Guildhall, opened on 21 October 1974. It was designed by the architects Sir Giles Scott, Son and Partners, it ranged over five floors, two of which were purpose built for the storage of the now vast printed books and manuscript collections. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="267" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/goH69IiqT4J8t2HodtJ2y_kXH-BRFL9m6oSt2ZqBEXKq_G2DlLA3lsZwCDlM8u-10Ig2l56Jm74fq-20tLaoF_kuN_Azwgf6KPXl1ryXdjkl0AMXrx85tjzW4WQYhvdoVAXqvAVb3kFPmJokdeAjMWMVn8snlvW3B8HvoSRuocUfTQnmDH52NWp6twkbMg24Gl_50g=w400-h267" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0866bc89-7fff-f814-ad2f-9482f4c773f2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guildhall Library today</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-09518b74-7fff-903f-2f04-d3a35290222d"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guildhall Library is the Library of London History. Our core collection covers London and its history and is the largest collection in the world devoted to the history of a single city. We hold over 200,000 titles dating from the 15th to the 21st centuries including books, pamphlets, periodicals, trade directories and poll books. The collection covers all aspects of life in London, past and present, its trade, people and buildings and the whole of London, in addition to the City. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The library holds internationally renowned collections of books on family and local history, wine and food, Samuel Pepys, John Wilkes and Thomas More, business and parliamentary history, poll books plus the libraries of the Clock Makers', Gardeners' and Fletchers' Companies, the Antiquarian Horological Society, Gresham College and the Charles Lamb Society.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Archive collections include the archives of 80 City livery companies, the Lloyd's Marine Collection and the London Stock Exchange.</span></p><div></div></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ddc34c0e-7fff-8951-ee47-0fa1b4f4dcb4"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While it is impossible to do justice to Guildhall Library’s collections in a single blog post, I shall highlight some of our more iconic treasures. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7d83a661-7fff-314f-54aa-1b3d6d8fccd7"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 490px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="Text, letter
Description automatically generated" height="326" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/QajKPU9s7CoftRsw5HBe97p45DYSmPDP-7rmNMtqFYz2GHzfqUQi2OWEZRobAEVP_JDxJYTVkE2AQHY1XTioEMDLw7skai-iVT85Y12ejK36whYbBo8Cqq_GWZ6XG-PqVbWYCRy1HYgKm3nySRTJOnmF4VReiFHZo023Tdp8oC4Bxi27IYLJ1Zok75GEJ_ijf0V8nA=w400-h326" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d8eff2aa-7fff-0c1a-84b5-2382b9d8bdab"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The jewel in our crown pictured above is our copy of Shakespeare’s 1</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: super;">st</span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> folio: </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> which was published in November 1623 around seven years after his death. It is the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays – containing 36 plays. By the year of his death, only 18 of his 37 plays had been published. Eighteen plays appeared for the first time in the First Folio, and these included - </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, The Tempest </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twelfth Night</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Without the First Folio these would likely have been lost. No substantial manuscripts of Shakespeare’s work survive. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9e6d30e1-7fff-3a22-d092-bd250e432df2"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Many copies lack this iconic title page, which would have been removed due to its value, to be sold or displayed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7a885b4a-7fff-19eb-a4b9-6b1263bd26c7"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 674px; overflow: hidden; width: 503px;"><img alt="Text
Description automatically generated" height="674" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/wfC8gTTNUHQq9x3njj99aSF7nsX5l2wV12zyeeDMCm8UTlKHukKw2Ypp7sqzjbFeJdk_WkFgZ0CB--TN8k1IVxOmXNgxVTaS3smPSQlNofc7pSmQeVcEMxOnjjqYkUTl3hLUycZEdECWAzmXQh0fv1a9W3VW--rMIQaPW-eKQp9DklcQHQFEinffjfBZAsqfuviHFA" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="503" /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-9f990430-7fff-b08f-51e4-ed633e1507a1"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1891 the Parish Clerks deposited the London Bills of Mortality at Guildhall Library. The earliest printed bills in the collection date from the late 16</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> century, with a virtually complete run from 1664 to the middle of the 19</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Century. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Bills of Mortality record the number of deaths each week and provide a statistical record of disease in London. They began to be produced after an outbreak of plague in 1592 (although there are a few earlier instances). From 1603, after another outbreak, they were made on a weekly basis, with the view to giving authorities and inhabitants full information as to the increases or decreases in the number of deaths.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Parish Clerks collected and published the information every week. The printed bills were distributed on Thursdays at a subscription charge of a penny a sheet or 4 shillings per annum. They were delivered to the King and the Lord Mayor first by 8 am and then went on sale at 10am.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The Bills of Mortality allow historians to trace the relentless march of the Great Plague, week by week and parish by parish as it progressed across the City. They show that September 1665 was the worst month for deaths from plague which reached 7165 for the week 12th – 19th September.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ee124962-7fff-e34d-ec1d-441889c682df"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this time the bills were edged with a border adorned with skull and crossbones, skeletons and implements of burial. At the top the inscription Memento Mori meaning ‘remember you will die’ sits beneath a winged hourglass representing the flight of time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 630px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="Text
Description automatically generated" height="400" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/M13GhLyTTWm2yCuVplJZQJJArICJ5YTj2wfo_4xFs96HPgpP2mbLwQuAvq5HxlPGdOirNrNRzz6ccY8zKIu4B7QD69IBB_scj5Nahs6G3oplQcx4LElT-u2M0Zp8zYJdZZl8mt3fZOUnyf4mrjzepCdEHTQnnyr9hNulB5AYnygwqHiT6E5wV1M2U5OuBcobYbLI6A=w382-h400" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="382" /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6b3bb212-7fff-d4f3-c6a2-74bea4e4bf47"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From 1629 The Bills of Mortality included information about the cause of death with a summary count of those killed by named ‘diseases and casualties’. These covered a wide range of illnesses some of which are readily identifiable to us today some which are not. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the week shown here in addition to the 4237 individuals who died of plague, other diseases we would recognise include consumption and jaundice. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For sudden violent deaths more details about the circumstances are often provided - as seen here: Broke her skull by a fall in the street at St Mary Woolchurch.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6f18fb41-7fff-1e37-75d5-ad9703ded906"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are some diseases you may not recognise such as Tissick, which caused nine deaths and probably refers to tuberculosis or consumption and Rising of the Lights, which caused 18 deaths. The lights are likely to be lungs and Rising of the Lights would have referred to croup or pleurisy. Those who died as a result of fright, grief and ‘suddenly’ are also recorded.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d3836497-7fff-615b-5512-710eaad002de"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 556px; overflow: hidden; width: 347px;"><img alt="A picture containing text
Description automatically generated" height="556" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/iY3jKDbREwTJGVW2P2Je_UclnDIgmObd3L1uFLVvurj4YAsQVoyk7hYOYh038tRQKz8KtL6GczRrECVrbn6S51E_ITf92mUCprxRldmBnkto8pyTLpSSAFB203fvabYlRwtfyLdgmnYiLQEAN9Yj_0rMaW1OAeT4ZT1W1wpz8spLJffWJBGB9P51VP88Tear6jHzEg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="347" /></span></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another important item in our London collection is this first edition copy of '</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The city & country purchaser & builder' </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by Stephen Primatt, printed in 1667, a year after the Fire of London had devastated some 430 acres, destroying over 13,000 houses, 87 churches, and 52 livery company halls in the City.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-213705e6-7fff-e904-3a22-10b9facfdf42"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the rebuilding programme led by Wren and Hooke would re-establish the public face of London, there was also a massive need for private redevelopment and Primatt’s was the first treatise issued in response to these private efforts. It is the first and also the most important book about the rebuilding of the houses and shops of London. It is also ‘the first work in English on building valuation, measurements and prices’.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-494b3f1a-7fff-1180-9815-5d40e3579b27"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 490px; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="Calendar
Description automatically generated with low confidence" height="326" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/pf2Ink34wdE-nlvJRGIN79wIEZZBmaC7xOuYEKLp_b0ufwqP0z7gQL6tmo1Rh971rAqbpxpQkd8_mlfdoPKOHvkjztckPlEJMFQOmnQeE9ecxu6dmHD7S6OfpR_m-Q_7x6b9yStA8HPbP_whmbOWxsuQo7TQH6bae1hKb_50E0iukDAL9ULDe2-x2JiRLJOSIm27Bw=w400-h326" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></span></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1cf23e59-7fff-9351-bfaa-600fdcb2baf5"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Guildhall Library holds first edition copies of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">'Microcosm of London'</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> commissioned by Rudolph Ackermann and published 1808-10. It contains aquatint plates covering all the well-known public buildings of London at the time. From the elegant ladies of Sadler’s Wells to the brawling fish wives at Billingsgate Market, shown in this image, all of London life is captured. Thomas Rowlandson – a caricaturist, watercolourist, draughtsman and engraver – supplied the figures, while Augustus Pugin drew the architect.</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 518px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; overflow: hidden; width: 602px;"><img alt="A picture containing text, different, various
Description automatically generated" height="344" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Pztstuds0CcIFwsiCHC_1cj-eflLfjvZls-jd7B9hYkdSTrGB9JHWSHmfieqEB7eAAqnRADT9x-BuILPVps2YKCnAYgr_odss6a999f1wwuwbFLLRHiP1jDlWkSwRNt9XopGOjVEg83jWliKL3P8ktDEXr2-836RucNzQ2uObXCs9WNYvy6Nioq-p1RH_wCcBx42rg=w400-h344" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="400" /></span></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-cb6827c0-7fff-4188-7055-7be070939141"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pictured above, is from a book of hand-coloured engravings depicting the costume worn by the children of each charity school in London taking part in the anniversary service at St Paul’s Cathedral, to draw attention to the plight of the children and raise money. Dating from around 1805, it consists of 5 plates of hand-coloured engravings by John Page. There are 124 children each depicted in the distinctive uniforms which were a feature of the charity schools. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-13238f5b-7fff-0845-0033-32837c702d07" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guildhall Library is a public library and open to all. For more information about visiting:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/libraries/guildhall-library" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/libraries/guildhall-library</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The library has a varied programme of </span><a href="https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/guildhall-library/guildhall-library-events-and-exhibitions/guildhall-library-events" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline;">events</span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> the majority of which are free and can also be accessed online. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Images Copyright of </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Guildhall Library, City of London.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">~~~~~</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the past twelve years Isabelle Chevallot has worked as a librarian at Guildhall Library where she presents talks, runs workshops, leads discussion groups and even organises Regency Balls to engage people in history. Her debut historical fiction medieval adventure novel </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Song and the Sword</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is due to be published on 29</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: super;">th</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> September 2022 in ebook, paperback and audiobook format. For more information:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-eeb25c2e-7fff-78ed-ea5a-9654d3e9d881"></span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBWG6RQS?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Song and the Sword - Kindle edition by Chevallot, Isabelle . Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-30e56b34-7fff-2c39-dc94-facacefff164"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 644px; overflow: hidden; width: 417px;"><img alt="Calendar
Description automatically generated with low confidence" height="644" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/AKQcRCvNuBmkpc488JKHfeuSUCtPkQDZGbeEv-202qNSSKav5S0GJHw9G6UywbIN3y8z2ZMAJYqsLzxsS7gVF6VQ1jVLPdDX8J4-WvesV1xqdnahhypm4qCOl1sEgjXHYVOQoc8KPFj0OC1ZUWnV1136CoyGlphArD4948-MYHPOgVIYdgxdgM69M1jayK8PJDnsYg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="417" /></span></span></span></p></span></div></span></div></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d6424424-7fff-cb65-6689-d70035a259b2"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></p></div>Debra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-11917243760916724982022-09-04T21:01:00.047-07:002023-08-20T09:06:35.646-07:00The Marriage Drama of Frances Vane Stewart, 3rd Marchioness of Londonderry <p> By Lauren Gilbert</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Frances_Anne_Vane%2C_marchioness_of_Londonderry%2C_with_her_son_George%2C_future_5th_marquess_of_Londonderry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="285" height="450" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Frances_Anne_Vane%2C_marchioness_of_Londonderry%2C_with_her_son_George%2C_future_5th_marquess_of_Londonderry.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frances_Anne_Vane,_marchioness_of_Londonderry,_with_her_son_George,_future_5th_marquess_of_Londonderry.jpg">Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane-Tempest, Marchioness of Londonderry (1800-1865) and her Son George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, Viscount Seaham, later 5th Marquess of Londonderry (1821-1884) by Thomas Lawrence, public domain</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /><br />The Hon. Frances Anne Vane Tempest was born January 17, 1800, in St. James’s Square, London. Frances Anne was admired and respected for her successes as a political and a society hostess, her business acumen, and her position in society. She capably ran estates in England and Ireland, and was known for being strong minded. Her background certainly prepared her to think for herself, to trust her own judgment, and to stand her ground. Her parents were fascinating people in their own rights. <br /><br /> Her father was Sir Henry Vane-Tempest of Long Newton, County Durham, 2nd Bearonet. He was born with the last name of Vane, and added Tempest by royal patent, after he inherited his late maternal uncle John Tempest’s estates in County Durham and Wynyard in 1793. This inheritance made him very wealthy, as the estates included significant coal mines. His uncle’s will required that the name Tempest be adopted. He replaced his uncle as M.P. for the City of Durham 1794-1800 and for County Durham 1807-1813. Also a sportsman, he owned a successful racing stable, including a horse named Hambletonian. (Henry gambled, and won, 3000 pounds on this horse to win at Newmarket in March 1799.) Sir Henry had a bad reputation as womaniser, and was known for having a bad temper. Henry Vane-Tempest’s father died in 1794, and he inherited the title, becoming 2nd Baronet. He had one sibling, his sister Frances, who married Michael Angelo Taylor, M. P. for the City of Durham. Frances’s marriage to Mr. Taylor caused an estrangement, but brother and sister eventually reconciled. Sir Henry also had an illegitimate son, named John, born about 1792, who apparently remained in County Durham. In April 1799, he married Anne Catherine McDonnell, Countess of Antrim. <br /><br />Anne Catherine MacDonnell was born in 1775 in County Durham to Randal MacDonnell, 6th Earl of Antrim and 1st Marquis of Antrim and Viscount Dunluce, and his wife Letitia Morres. The Marquis and his lady left no sons. When he died in 1791, the Marquisate became extinct. However, the Earldom had a remainder which allowed it to pass on to daughters if there were no sons. As the eldest surviving daughter, Anne Catherine became Countess of Antrim and Viscountess Dunluce in her own right. She also inherited significant property in Northern Ireland. She met Sir Henry when she was about 18 years old, and her family tried to discourage the match, to no avail. Lady Anne and Sir Henry were married at her home in Hanover Square, London. <br /><br />Although it seemed a good match, both being young, good looking and wealthy, unfortunately, it was not. Sir Henry was bad tempered and neglectful; both were extravagant and fond of partying. Lady Anne and Sir Henry alienated her family, and Lady Anne did not like Sir Henry’s sister, Frances Taylor, who visited frequently. Frances Anne, the only surviving child of the marriage, was born at Sir Henry’s estate of Long Newton, in County Durham. According to her own account, her parents were by turns neglectful and harsh, leaving her to form a close attachment to her aunt Mrs. Taylor, who was kind and paid attention to her. She also became scheming and independent. <br /><br />Frances Anne was allowed to visit her aunt and formed a friendship with her half-brother. Sir Henry at least showed her affection, gave her money, and wrote his daughter affectionate notes when she was away. She formed a great attachment to him, although she and her mother never seemed to become close. Sir Henry’s death on August 1, 1813, was a serious blow to Frances Anne. She was 13 years old and a significant heiress. <br /><br />The power structure changed. Frances Anne was now the owner of her father’s estates. Her father’s will left Frances Anne to the joint guardianship of her mother and her aunt. Her mother kept her own fortune and inherited personal property from Sir Henry, as well. Disagreements between Lady Anne and Mrs. Taylor flared up, and the result was that Frances Anne became a Ward in Chancery. Before leaving Wynyard, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor made sure that Frances Anne understood her position fully, and incited Frances Anne to oppose her mother. Frances Anne also had a temper and quarrelled with her mother. After a quarrel, in the heat of her anger, Frances Anne wrote to her aunt appealing for rescue. She was then about 14 years old. Her aunt responded by appealing to the Count of Chancery. The Countess of Antrim and Mrs. Taylor duly pursued the case in London. <br /><br />In the process of the case, the Countess of Antrim consulted with John Beckett, Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department. Mr. Beckett, a friend of the late Sir Henry, offered her advice and (apparently) a flirtation. During this period, because no one could seem to handle her, Frances Anne was set up, in the care of her governess Mrs. Cade, in her own establishment, a house in Portman Square, London. Frances Anne, who was basically on her own, without effective supervision, made the acquaintance of Mr. Beckett’s younger brother, Edmund, who was about 24 and engaged to be married. Thus, drama began. <br /><br />Frances Anne and Edmund began a relationship where they spent time together during the days and engaged in a clandestine correspondence. He even gave her a ring. This situation lasted about 4 months until Mrs. Cade came across their correspondence. Unbelievably, neither her mother nor her governess, nor Edmund’s brother (nor apparently Edmund’s betrothed) noticed this very shocking situation until this point. Frances had to give back the ring he had given her and his letters; Edmund returned the letters she had written to him. The whole affair remarkably seemed to have occurred without notice by society, and did not generate a scandal. <br /><br />Marriage was an unavoidable issue for a major heiress of the time, and Frances Anne was no exception, despite her youth. Even though she was a minor and had guardians, she had no hesitation in speaking for herself and turned down more than one proposal. She was looking forward to being presented at court at age 17, but this plan was derailed by a marriage, this time by her mother. The Countess of Antrim remarried on June 27, 1817, to a singer named Edmund Phelps. She had met Mr. Phelps approximately a month or so previously. A wedding after such a brief acquaintance would have been surprising enough, but Mr. Phelps was a singer, a man of no fortune or connections of his own. The fact that he took his wife’s name, MacDonnell, afterwards did little to mask the state of affairs. Frances Anne did not attend, and the marriage was considered undignified, to say the least. Frances Anne’s presentation was postponed until 1818. <br /><br />The newspapers reported Frances Anne’s presentation at court in February 1818. The Queen held a drawing room for the celebration of her birthday, which was attended by the Prince Regent and other members of the royal family. Frances Anne was presented by her mother, the Countess of Antrim. Following her presentation, she no was longer under her governess’s watch and, at 18, was maturing into a woman of some stature. Her mother and her aunt took her about to different society events. (Not together; they each accompanied her to separate events.) According to her biography, written by Edith, Marchioness of Londonderry, based on Frances Anne’s memoir, she met Lord Charles Stewart at her mother’s home early in February 1818. <br /><br />Lord Charles Stewart was over 20 years older than she, a widower with a son, and she was not overly impressed, even though he was related to the Foreign Secretary, and was serving as Ambassador to Austria. Despite the slow start, she saw more of him at her mother’s home and at court. Mrs. Taylor did not care for the connection for various reasons, but the Countess of Antrim was completely supportive. As Frances Anne and Lord Charles saw more of each other, they became attached, and, in April of 1818, she accepted his proposal, without discussing the matter with either her mother or aunt. Although the Countess of Antrim approved, her aunt and uncle Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were quite angry. As one of her guardians, with Frances Anne being a ward in Chancery, Mrs. Taylor was not a force to be ignored. <br /><br />The Countess of Antrim requested that the Lord Chancellor’s Court refer her daughter’s case to a Master to determine an appropriate settlement for daughter in relation to her impending marriage to Lord Stewart. Her mother’s petition was reported in the newspapers, including The Commercial Chronicle (London) of Saturday, April 25, 1818. Mrs. Taylor responded with a request of her own, asking that the Countess of Antrim denied contact with her daughter unless Frances Anne was accompanied by her governess. She accused the countess of promoting the match without the consent of either the Court or the co-guardian. She also included a memo detailing her reasons for opposing the marriage of Frances Anne and Lord Charles Stewart. Mrs. Taylor’s petition was also widely reported in great detail. The fireworks began, especially after the Lord Chancellor granted the injunction requiring that no one see Frances Anne without her governess being present. <br /><br />Mrs. Taylor’s reasons for disapproving of the marriage included the facts that she considered Lord Stewart to be after Frances for her money, that he was too old for her, that he had a bad reputation, that insanity ran in his family, that his title would descend to his son by his previous marriage and Frances’s children would be disadvantaged, and that the marriage was improper for her. As the case went on, Lord Stewart refuted her charges. Although Frances’s fortune surpassed his, he had a respectable fortune and income of his own; he was willing to make settlements for Frances and any children; in his capacity as a soldier and ambassador, he was not a man of ill repute (although he had acquired a reputation of a ladies’ man and a drinker); the charge of insanity in his family was not proved. (He could not refute the age difference.) <br /><br /> The case went on for some months, and the Master ruled that the marriage would not be improper; it might not be the most advantageous marriage, but Lord Stewart had successfully established his situation, and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor had presented no evidence supporting Mrs. Taylor’s claims. In July 1818, although the Lord Chancellor sympathised with Mrs. Taylor, and had talked to Frances Anne himself, he felt he could not overrule the Master’s report, and found the marriage to be not improper. He commented specifically on Frances Anne’s determination to proceed with the marriage. He did, however stipulate that the couple could not celebrate the marriage until after the appeal to the House of Lords was resolved. (Data indicates that there was nothing preventing the settlement negotiations during the appeal.) Mrs. Taylor expressed her determination to appeal. Interestingly, newspaper reports indicate that a house was taken in Putney for Frances Anne and her governess Mrs. Cade in August. Lord Stewart returned to Vienna, where he indicated he planned to stay until the appeal was finished. <br /><br />Newspaper accounts in November 1818 show that Frances Anne and Mrs. Cade were still in Putney. In January 1819, the Countess of Antrim was not yet in London, but Frances Anne had returned to London and was living in Norfolk Street. Although Mrs. Taylor had expressed her intent to appeal, newspaper accounts indicate she had apparently failed to pursue it vigorously, as the court questioned her about her intentions and ultimately dismissed the application in late January 1819. The Countess of Antrim held a dinner where she entertained Lord Stewart, Frances Anne and others at her home in Bruton Street in mid-February. Mrs. Taylor did try again to have the marriage blocked, but was unsuccessful. In late March 1819, the Order of Restraint preventing their marriage was finally discharged. <br /><br /> Lord Charles and Frances Anne were finally married at her mother’s house in Bruton Street, by special licence, on April 3, 1819. In accordance with Sir Henry’s will, Lord Charles Stewart and his wife took the last name of Vane by Royal Warrant. The entire affair was a <i>cause célèbre</i>. The case was covered extensively by newspapers across the United Kingdom and abroad. A romantic poem, called THE COUNTESS OF CARRICK, dedicated to Frances Anne by name, was widely advertised for sale in February 1819. The whole situation effectively destroyed her relationship with her aunt and uncle. The circumstances had to have been intensely uncomfortable and embarrassing for the couple themselves and their extended family, to have so much attention focused on such personal matters.<p class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/James_Godsell_Middleton_(1805-1874)_-_Charles_William_Stewart_(Later_Vane)_(1778%E2%80%931854)%2C_Baron_Stewart%2C_Later_3rd_Marquess_of_Londonderry%2C_KG%2C_in_Garter_Robes_-_1219983_-_National_Trust.jpg/407px-thumbnail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="407" height="600" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/James_Godsell_Middleton_(1805-1874)_-_Charles_William_Stewart_(Later_Vane)_(1778%E2%80%931854)%2C_Baron_Stewart%2C_Later_3rd_Marquess_of_Londonderry%2C_KG%2C_in_Garter_Robes_-_1219983_-_National_Trust.jpg/407px-thumbnail.jpg" width="407" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Godsell_Middleton_(1805-1874)_-_Charles_William_Stewart_(Later_Vane)_(1778%E2%80%931854),_Baron_Stewart,_Later_3rd_Marquess_of_Londonderry,_KG,_in_Garter_Robes_-_1219983_-_National_Trust.jpg" target="_blank">Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (1778-1854) by James Godsell Middleton, photo by BotMultiChill, July 5, 2020-public domain</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="color: windowtext;"><br /></span></p>
<br /><br />Fortunately, the couple enjoyed a long and prosperous marriage and had 6 children. She became a noted hostess. They purchased properties, including Holdernesse House (later renamed Londonderry House) in London and Seaham Hall in County Durham. Upon the suicide of Lord Charles’s half-brother in 1822, Charles became the 3rd Marquis of Londonderry. Subsequently, he was also granted the titles Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham, both of which were remaindered to heirs from his marriage to Frances Anne (an answer to Mrs. Taylor’s concern). They expanded the coal industry on their estates and developed a port at Seaham to facilitate shipping. Already quite affluent, they became even wealthier. Frances Anne was quite interested and active in these concerns and, before Charles died, their family was among the wealthiest in the UK. When Charles died in 1854, the title of Marquis of Londonderry went to his oldest son Frederick by his first wife, and the titles of Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham to his son George, his oldest son with Frances Anne. She ran the businesses herself. Sadly, Frederick died without an heir and Frances Anne’s son George became the 5th Marquis of Londonderry. Frances Anne died on January 20, 1865, at Seaham. <br /><br />Sources include: <br /><br />FRANCES ANNE The Life and Times of Frances Anne Marchioness of Londonderry and her husband Charles Third Marquess of Londonderry, by Edith, Marchioness of Londonderry, D. B. E. London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. 1958. <br /><br />THE LADIES OF LONDONDERRY Women and Political Patronage, by Diane Urquhart. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020 (1st published by I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. in 2007). <br /><br />Christening record: City of West Minster Archives, Westminster Baptisms, transcriptions, via <a href="http://www.findmypast.co.uk">FindMyPast</a> showing birthdate January 17, 1800, and baptism date February 14, 1800, in St. James, Piccadilly, Parish. <br /><br />Marriage Record: Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Bans, 1754-1935; St. George, Hanover Square, 1798-1802, p. 132 of 616, showing marriage by special license at the home in Bruton Street by special license on the 3rd day of April 1819, via <a href="http://www.Ancestry.com">Ancestry</a> . <br /><br />Various newspaper articles from multiple cities, via <a href="http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/">BritishNewspaperArchive</a> , including THE GLOBE, Friday, February 27, 1818, p. 2, London, England, one of many which covered her presentation; COMMERCIAL CHRONICLE, Saturday, April 25, 1818, p. 4, London, England, among those which discussed her mother’s petition regarding a settlement; BELL’S WEEKLY MESSENGER, April 26, 1818, p. 6-7, London, England, one of those which addressed Mrs. Taylor’s counter petition; BALDWIN’S WEEKLY JOURNAL, Saturday, July 18, 1818, p. 3, London, England which discussed the judgement; THE DURHAM COUNTY ADVERTISER, Saturday, August 29, 1818, p. 2, which mentioned her sojourn in Putney; MORNING POST, Saturday, February 6, 1819, p. 2, London, England, which contained the advertisement for THE COUNTESS OF CARRICK; EXETER FLYING POST, Thursday, April 9, 1819, p. 4, Devon, England, one of those which reported that the order of restraint was lifted; and the SUSSEX ADVERTISER, Monday, April 12, 1819, p. 4, Sussex, England, among the many which reported their wedding. THE LONDON GAZETTE, published May 26, 1819, issue: 17480, p. 906, found at <a href="http://www.thegazette.co.uk/london/issue/17480/page/906">TheGazette</a>, reported the name change to Vane (as did other papers). <br /><br />Images: Wikimedia Commons<div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Lauren Gilbert is fascinated with English literature and history, particularly the Regency era. Lauren has a BA degree in liberal arts
English and Art History. A long-time member of JASNA, she delivered a breakout session at the Annual General Meeting in 2001. She was keynote
speaker for Jane Austen Fest in Mt Dora, FL in 2022. A RATIONAL ATTACHMENT is her second novel. Her essays appear in both volumes of CASTLES,
CUSTOMS AND KINGS: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors. Her
current project is a non-fiction book. Visit her <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lauren-Gilbert/e/B005C138CE/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1" target="_blank">Amazon Author Page</a>, her <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LaurenGilbert.author" target="_blank">Facebook author page</a> or her <a href="http://www.lauren-gilbert.com" target="_blank">website</a> for more information. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2yrxGWW3Tsg1draMvSpSvnApxRtgFnah_v4C0a2SjuBEXoI3xv89vZybuArAR7iGkap_aMin9-EJM-_GjjrjCYzspSuv6XccRN33JympPqzeTLmW-f0LItQlEbodrxtg5xxjN8bmfi_1xJntwIVmXNtGSr1aPmn-36y_yxwN5DqwZgQ6Sj1X5ywfK/s499/A%20Rational%20Attachment%20cover%20from%20Amazon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="314" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2yrxGWW3Tsg1draMvSpSvnApxRtgFnah_v4C0a2SjuBEXoI3xv89vZybuArAR7iGkap_aMin9-EJM-_GjjrjCYzspSuv6XccRN33JympPqzeTLmW-f0LItQlEbodrxtg5xxjN8bmfi_1xJntwIVmXNtGSr1aPmn-36y_yxwN5DqwZgQ6Sj1X5ywfK/w171-h272/A%20Rational%20Attachment%20cover%20from%20Amazon.jpg" width="171" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Lauren Gilberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02938146663557663891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-72593836641576766982022-08-30T20:13:00.005-07:002022-09-04T00:50:12.546-07:00Iona, Clan Donald and the Cathedral of the Isles <p>by Regan Walker</p><p>The Isle of Iona is a very special place as anyone who has been there can tell you. A small isle that lies about a mile off the west coast of the larger Isle of Mull in the Scottish Hebrides, Iona has a long and illustrious history. Today is it a tourist destination and the faithful make pilgrimages to its shores and its Abbey Church. I have walked the white sand beaches, felt the constant breeze on my face and experienced the tranquility that characterizes this sacred place.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdb3t4jvEWIpvR4TEg4bkVwaeUBtEed85ErixIfOwX3RZcbDGn2dQ1BJpldSsdiecpIO4ouHbqFTp2LQldhPWCDPGCE4eTtP8ou6q3CrGDtZkdIjvrpxz7RpE-Y2xLExa2KxQS3rrwhl6ZQj51lZ4-hdRdnuPdREIZ3f6MqHBt66O248ePFVWxAhYelw/s640/Iona%20beach%20from%20Wiki%20Commons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdb3t4jvEWIpvR4TEg4bkVwaeUBtEed85ErixIfOwX3RZcbDGn2dQ1BJpldSsdiecpIO4ouHbqFTp2LQldhPWCDPGCE4eTtP8ou6q3CrGDtZkdIjvrpxz7RpE-Y2xLExa2KxQS3rrwhl6ZQj51lZ4-hdRdnuPdREIZ3f6MqHBt66O248ePFVWxAhYelw/s320/Iona%20beach%20from%20Wiki%20Commons.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iona Beach<br />Photo by Robert Guthrie, Wiki Commons</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Surrounded by turquoise water, the rocky shores of the isle must have called to the early Irish missionary monks, Oran and Columba, who came here in 563 to establish a monastery from which they could evangelize the Picts. It was here the Book of Kells was originally created before it was taken to Ireland for safety.</p><p>Oran was the first monk to be buried on the isle and the small stone chapel, “St Oran’s Chapel”, was erected over his grave. Beginning with Somerled in the 12th century, the chapel became the burial chamber of the Lords of the Isles. He was the progenitor of Clan Donald. In my story of his descendant, Angus Og Macdonald, you can experience the ceremony to bury his father, Angus Mor, the Lord of the Isles.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAHLJDUaFbv2Mp6xYpH7YlxhyaHe-Ts7VF-JOVnbx5PsoQNXgn0XGCtTp5Vr1tYFlvnEu09C7Qf4v_K8gofm04O24CifcS2xCazt3fO2-L4UJ9k0gD6sUajme-dj3liaPRTjGh_3b818ls9vfe4RE_tXLVfYt0ee4THXrpzRu-2Nppm9a02TbMFQgzg/s1599/St%20Oran's%20Chapel,%20Iona%20-%20from%20Wiki%20Commons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1599" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAHLJDUaFbv2Mp6xYpH7YlxhyaHe-Ts7VF-JOVnbx5PsoQNXgn0XGCtTp5Vr1tYFlvnEu09C7Qf4v_K8gofm04O24CifcS2xCazt3fO2-L4UJ9k0gD6sUajme-dj3liaPRTjGh_3b818ls9vfe4RE_tXLVfYt0ee4THXrpzRu-2Nppm9a02TbMFQgzg/s320/St%20Oran's%20Chapel,%20Iona%20-%20from%20Wiki%20Commons.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Oran's Chapel<br />Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Schwerdf" style="background: none rgb(248, 249, 250); color: #0645ad; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 21px; text-align: start;" title="User:Schwerdf">August Schwerdfege</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The graveyard, Reilig Odhrain, named in Oran’s honor, that surrounded St Oran’s Chapel, became the burial place of various isle chieftains as well as Norse, Scottish and Irish kings. The tall carved crosses that stand before the chapel and the abbey are each dedicated to a saint. The hereditary master masons on Iona were famous for their stone carving.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulG3yoo31IQuDwI29LQMf0bWn33I16rkZEfciZ-3U_xFzYSz1JKChe9dv9U034PRe1MUjIuEu1dfQvqSTQ9yeZ1oTu-8f_4Mz8bcpW3jWn1KGSu92gepUFvSCIh0rIcnGDeOpdr_5eqINKm0xkkCaWDiaPG8fenobo5PzexROqxp7-RjvR1JifzsAZg/s751/St%20Martin's%20Cross.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="563" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgulG3yoo31IQuDwI29LQMf0bWn33I16rkZEfciZ-3U_xFzYSz1JKChe9dv9U034PRe1MUjIuEu1dfQvqSTQ9yeZ1oTu-8f_4Mz8bcpW3jWn1KGSu92gepUFvSCIh0rIcnGDeOpdr_5eqINKm0xkkCaWDiaPG8fenobo5PzexROqxp7-RjvR1JifzsAZg/s320/St%20Martin's%20Cross.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Martin's Cross<br />Photo by Regan Walker</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The most magnificent structures on the isle are the Abbey and the Abbey Church, hewn out of red stone and restored as you see them today. The pictures are my own.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jpyQEL2n5GenrDvT3GoPRK9tOQ8qtzcik8TUwm8MlIUerH3j35rMRGFIbVLlKpVAKf701kR-1YvFnIo-QEIyxbgOcy6msym6AtgZdO8v2_oUL7Rc-M5-Ejd0qq6V9JS3ZWCExs0BII1r2u4fZwVZXxE9c74d7xZF9duYq4xn8dnJUsclFG-yrnsXRQ/s981/Iona%20Abbey%20Church.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jpyQEL2n5GenrDvT3GoPRK9tOQ8qtzcik8TUwm8MlIUerH3j35rMRGFIbVLlKpVAKf701kR-1YvFnIo-QEIyxbgOcy6msym6AtgZdO8v2_oUL7Rc-M5-Ejd0qq6V9JS3ZWCExs0BII1r2u4fZwVZXxE9c74d7xZF9duYq4xn8dnJUsclFG-yrnsXRQ/s320/Iona%20Abbey%20Church.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iona Abbey Church<br />Photo by Regan Walker</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The church is a medieval masterpiece but today the inside looks nothing like it would have at the time of my story when the stones were painted with brilliant colors and the abbey lined with colorful tiles.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeBGFlaO8YGc8LgciV65ZrkFOarC6rMcY9JhlGvJziDIioHa0JOZ7IeMTq_7zYyIWLh7-iH_Ypte7suD4JTJe4c8ipDTOIKD3rk3VDQ7QEtX0agim-KAZGih4EVmjEdhmUh3tqG94EjN4Dpdl6_WwScLnyESDyBmX1HLsrT_0sgpFclq_nFchfpzkiw/s981/Inside%20the%20Abbey%20Church.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeBGFlaO8YGc8LgciV65ZrkFOarC6rMcY9JhlGvJziDIioHa0JOZ7IeMTq_7zYyIWLh7-iH_Ypte7suD4JTJe4c8ipDTOIKD3rk3VDQ7QEtX0agim-KAZGih4EVmjEdhmUh3tqG94EjN4Dpdl6_WwScLnyESDyBmX1HLsrT_0sgpFclq_nFchfpzkiw/s320/Inside%20the%20Abbey%20Church.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Abbey Church<br />Photo by Regan Walker</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Ian Ross Macdonnell, author of <i>Clan Donald and Iona Abbey: 1200-1500,</i> with whom I consulted for my story, helped me to understand that Iona Abbey and the Abbey Church (the “Cathedral of the Isles”), are Clan Donald’s legacy. They stand as monuments to the faith of its chiefs who protected and maintained them for centuries. When a chief of Clan Donald, a Lord of the Isles, died, all the clans in the Isles came to Iona to honor him in death and to observe the ceremony that lasted eight days.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWL7fFaLI5QMvn8KtKCcqzCKD0v7Aen4ffkd31hytJsXVsPlU-GxMKxItU13qEfPyp7S7wYaKt86JqylFZxZpkYGpYo9rwOG4NFwFAJW46tYui5-NqlTEGa-GGD0jDSLjKFynnsXE7iFvchBcU_C5hFX2oFJut4h_wQpMB3YJpkxoGNn2IZYpSAQr2A/s981/Abbey%20Church%202..jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZWL7fFaLI5QMvn8KtKCcqzCKD0v7Aen4ffkd31hytJsXVsPlU-GxMKxItU13qEfPyp7S7wYaKt86JqylFZxZpkYGpYo9rwOG4NFwFAJW46tYui5-NqlTEGa-GGD0jDSLjKFynnsXE7iFvchBcU_C5hFX2oFJut4h_wQpMB3YJpkxoGNn2IZYpSAQr2A/s320/Abbey%20Church%202..jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Abbey Church<br />Photo by Regan Walker<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>~~~~~<div><br /></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="font-size: small;">Regan Walker is an award-winning author of historical fiction set in the Regency, Georgian and Medieval eras. Her newest venture, <i>The Clan Donald Saga</i>, spans several centuries and tells the stories of the great sea lords, the Lords of the Isles, who plied the waters of the Hebrides in their galleys, ruling the western Highlands and the Isles for four hundred years. She has made several trips to Scotland as a part of her research. Regan lives in San Diego with her dog “Cody”, a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, who walks with her on the beach early every morning.</span></div><div><span face="verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyZZSO3_9VJn8aTO1YMXEA0gewGlTAX5LHh8nG08chGcrXHN3fvLEtQy4kAA_jkskndYU2M9FCo84y2NdtDXBm1nPHRDqr2mCKAZqx0gr9c20aeAbxb3ly3-BZEGK9Q1cI3fExCVC3QxLJQCxR7MEpLTOWwh8R52QBOdg6ytc3Ydr4BjELCHoJwkKbQ/s547/Regan's%20alternate%20headshot,%20small.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="513" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyZZSO3_9VJn8aTO1YMXEA0gewGlTAX5LHh8nG08chGcrXHN3fvLEtQy4kAA_jkskndYU2M9FCo84y2NdtDXBm1nPHRDqr2mCKAZqx0gr9c20aeAbxb3ly3-BZEGK9Q1cI3fExCVC3QxLJQCxR7MEpLTOWwh8R52QBOdg6ytc3Ydr4BjELCHoJwkKbQ/s320/Regan's%20alternate%20headshot,%20small.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYIZw_uDo7SJMt3JuDSf0D6bbKv63MHWA1mzaqbiYDF4BqXBW_ttvTYBI60v00J9seV7nwq9AajDH41PSnv5LGQq7YZibrrQ2rP4JOELa2Qq6v0wt93yl3beZvoJYc7sYuaBysTPed6V-0R1b4ABBpQHbN5sFljWGtm9KuWRkwhmcMA_kUhM2KGOe5A/s800/ReganWalker_Bound%20by%20Honor_800.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHYIZw_uDo7SJMt3JuDSf0D6bbKv63MHWA1mzaqbiYDF4BqXBW_ttvTYBI60v00J9seV7nwq9AajDH41PSnv5LGQq7YZibrrQ2rP4JOELa2Qq6v0wt93yl3beZvoJYc7sYuaBysTPed6V-0R1b4ABBpQHbN5sFljWGtm9KuWRkwhmcMA_kUhM2KGOe5A/s320/ReganWalker_Bound%20by%20Honor_800.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7RCXDMDic6gdgRlrUl3CPwAZhT1aNysaFRfBf70p2KwVyBjCoLKW5gDXRXVHGMdssPx-9IjyUMpIQcuONlYcvcRfq2aKeReaRseAnMvU3FEqTzYrYqjQOUp7hkRUqdun1LGZFzAPSJ3mV2-4Qh_fIZ4e2h37uQW6B6Hq7UlmeB4F0Nj60MTDHEhw7Tg/s547/Regan's%20alternate%20headshot,%20small.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div></div>Debra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-68551827334456661892022-07-07T23:28:00.000-07:002022-07-07T23:28:09.726-07:00 Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon – Haute Couturiere and Entrepreneur<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif">by Tessa Arlen</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">In 1893 a thirty-year-old
woman wakes up one morning to discover that her alcoholic and spendthrift
husband has run off—again, this time with a pantomime dancer. There is no money
in the bank and even if there were women in 1893 rarely had their own bank
accounts, or access to their husband’s. The rent on her fashionable house, just
off Berkley Square, is due next month, but she has no idea who their landlord
is: that was again something husbands and fathers took care of. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztftdIBh4I8EoPlaRqfYr4ZckWxLSpUtG4r-xp9eVUoceXPbQI2ugqo9RuHCd-IlGpRtA-kb8QsK1ump75PKAZ_O4cWLhnR4YFBQ74o-n7fpvfVxaA20AXUo2qjsIHBOwl9wd_rw32YXYgWZqgXeOMqhs3wZhJ2Xj_5rG96-LU5JKlADp5zMkrxjEmA/s800/Fig%201%20Lucy%20Lady%20Duff-Gordan%20headshot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjztftdIBh4I8EoPlaRqfYr4ZckWxLSpUtG4r-xp9eVUoceXPbQI2ugqo9RuHCd-IlGpRtA-kb8QsK1ump75PKAZ_O4cWLhnR4YFBQ74o-n7fpvfVxaA20AXUo2qjsIHBOwl9wd_rw32YXYgWZqgXeOMqhs3wZhJ2Xj_5rG96-LU5JKlADp5zMkrxjEmA/s320/Fig%201%20Lucy%20Lady%20Duff-Gordan%20headshot.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon (nee Wallace)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Lucy Wallace is
a hair away from destitution: a single mother with a five year old daughter and
only an aging mother and a temperamental sister, Elinor, to turn to. Lucy’s
worst dilemma is that she has not been educated to earn a living. Of course,
she can read and write, and her embroidery and needlework are enviably fine,
but beyond becoming a governess or a paid companion she has nothing to offer
the world that will result in a salary large enough to keep them. She is a
perfect example of a woman from the genteel class of 19</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">th</sup><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> century
Britain.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoCaption"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_DpV3XxkSXYc8hGG5J_FItxzUVrV0r-eLH2PNEiJqySw-aLu7afx_y0_7VoZDWR9DzXAJdPZc9lL8PEth8HqcQad4WU2yR1_XiXqMPBXhQU2JmVyLFIVValBfI4Yka_DEiXsVIv2w1zOIu-iSENTNdfe5pDzHjCKeW6KgAp2V-hwSj-dctOXlfHuDw/s734/Fig%202%20Dressmakers%20of%20London.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="734" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO_DpV3XxkSXYc8hGG5J_FItxzUVrV0r-eLH2PNEiJqySw-aLu7afx_y0_7VoZDWR9DzXAJdPZc9lL8PEth8HqcQad4WU2yR1_XiXqMPBXhQU2JmVyLFIVValBfI4Yka_DEiXsVIv2w1zOIu-iSENTNdfe5pDzHjCKeW6KgAp2V-hwSj-dctOXlfHuDw/s320/Fig%202%20Dressmakers%20of%20London.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">The dressmakers of London</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoCaption"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">But Lucy has
the beginning of a plan to earn money…it is a brave one and luckily she is not worldly
enough to realize that the competition to design and make dresses is desperate
in London. Thousands of modistes and milliners open and close shops all over
the city every day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">In that moment
she decides that she must divorce her husband—she can only obtain a divorce for
desertion. Cruelty, incompatibility or stealing their wives’ money are not
grounds for divorce in 1893. When women married their property and children
belonged to the husband. Lucy is not so naïve that she does not knows that the
social stigma will cost more than her solicitor’s fees. She won’t let herself
think about the friends who will cut her, or point her out with pity as “That
woman . . .” But divorce is the final hurdle to her freedom and however
distasteful and frightening the divorce court is, she has no choice—if her
husband returns he will drink away any money she has managed to make. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">She lies in bed
and calculates how far she can stretch the frugal sum she has put by from her
dress allowance and her pin money. She can just about keep going until her
business venture, if she dares to call it that, takes off. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrodJJS2V0B_IXgbnyZ_fTOVLMAar2tilQ4n0UJblgTLZ5T5ex4tqXCvxK_5n0I6hJ52q3Gh6AOxjvm5n5534_JigyirHHpWUGemrFxki8xP6zp_ykf6iEdVQVt7oM4ii1FbxkM8VmvnEA_EC004_Ng_R_s4Rg4Qsc8pfnXmLtVbmnW7wodTdJxdO5g/s1000/Fig%203%20Seamstresses%20at%20work%201910.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="1000" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrodJJS2V0B_IXgbnyZ_fTOVLMAar2tilQ4n0UJblgTLZ5T5ex4tqXCvxK_5n0I6hJ52q3Gh6AOxjvm5n5534_JigyirHHpWUGemrFxki8xP6zp_ykf6iEdVQVt7oM4ii1FbxkM8VmvnEA_EC004_Ng_R_s4Rg4Qsc8pfnXmLtVbmnW7wodTdJxdO5g/s320/Fig%203%20Seamstresses%20at%20work%201910.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Seamstresses at work in an atelier 1910</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">She must not
let fear paralyze her. She throws back the bedclothes and gets out of bed: the
first thing she must do is give her servants notice. As she says goodbye to
women who have cooked, cleaned and cared for her for ten years, she cannot
bring herself to fire the sixteen-year-old scullery maid, a workhouse orphan taken
on only two weeks earlier. There is something about the girl that appeals to Lucy,
and she is not so desparate that she must turn a young girl out on the street
to starve? They are in the same boat!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Her mother is
appalled about the divorce, but even more horrified that Lucy is thinking of
going into ‘trade’. Her sister, married to a rich man, is determined that Lucy will
make a go of a dressmaking business: after all Lucy’s doll’s clothes, made from
scraps of silk and lace, were the envy of their childhood playmates! Elinor
reassures her sister that success will be hers: Lucy has a flair for color, and
eye for line and style—and anyway she has no choice but to succeed. Elinor has
rich friends, and surely the more sophisticated of them won’t bat an eyelash
about an unsavory divorce. Elinor promises that her rich husband will vouch for
her credit.<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxyl1dRw0J7oWZQXkkZgBer7j-UVhU_pyZTSIQMrtHRw0S0PBYDAh2jTJF4gsGxWVv5HSjfeHfSWyuYSzZqrMu-Z9bqrzSPduJRKveCXo_h8aMVMCdt67ZPMbxf8KKv_4xHx2u4SNWlBR3Skc4DbgZwU419LYMtiQ64ZSWEQbbF7eaxm7g2xUD8iAPFQ/s936/Fig%204%20detail%20of%20Lucile%20pink%20dress.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="625" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxyl1dRw0J7oWZQXkkZgBer7j-UVhU_pyZTSIQMrtHRw0S0PBYDAh2jTJF4gsGxWVv5HSjfeHfSWyuYSzZqrMu-Z9bqrzSPduJRKveCXo_h8aMVMCdt67ZPMbxf8KKv_4xHx2u4SNWlBR3Skc4DbgZwU419LYMtiQ64ZSWEQbbF7eaxm7g2xUD8iAPFQ/s320/Fig%204%20detail%20of%20Lucile%20pink%20dress.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">The embellished skirt of a Lucile dress 1906</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Gradually Lucy
Wallace builds her clientele. It is slow going but she begins to succeed. Rich
and titled women flock to her tiny little house and sip tea in her cramped
drawing room as they wait for fittings for morning, afternoon, and evening dresses.
They all agree that Lucy Wallace’s gowns are superbly original and for what is
more than half the price of a Paris model! And there are no dreadful Channel
crossings to be made, or the irritation of dealing with the patronizing attitude
of the great fashion salons on the </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #202124;">Rue
de la Paix</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">. Charles Frederick Worth is such a dreadful old snob, and </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">it is impossible
to get an appointment with Jacques Doucet these days.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07lwhu5b2t_8QOgeNBMgPETJ7y7Mko9xbmgA7r4qv5yeLYyMwEoa_xmGB_SqmugT3VTlzuQFp-EBsgOupKRyVrbT9zk-XSJSINc7FI7GdqNf4BDghZG359a-TPn_5C4qkz-uQnUVs9TNLPDtHaV_AHXxIbGDXIy-NjZmTTTGxfM3IYV58t_GH1XgOkQ/s750/Fig%205%20Rue%20de%20la%20Paix%20Paris.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="750" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg07lwhu5b2t_8QOgeNBMgPETJ7y7Mko9xbmgA7r4qv5yeLYyMwEoa_xmGB_SqmugT3VTlzuQFp-EBsgOupKRyVrbT9zk-XSJSINc7FI7GdqNf4BDghZG359a-TPn_5C4qkz-uQnUVs9TNLPDtHaV_AHXxIbGDXIy-NjZmTTTGxfM3IYV58t_GH1XgOkQ/s320/Fig%205%20Rue%20de%20la%20Paix%20Paris.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">The great fashion houses of Rue de la Paix, Paris</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Lucy is helped
by her scullery maid, the young orphan from the workhouse with a quick mind,
deft hands and an aptitude for organization and arithmetic. Together the two
women work long hours, taking on seamstresses, embroiders, and tailors as business
grows.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">There are
set-backs: many of them. Cash flow is a nightmare, and Lucy has no skill as a businesswoman:
the aristocracy are terrifyingly offhand about paying their bills on time, or
in some cases ever. Silk merchants will not extend credit to single women;
skilled workwomen are expensive and Lucy refuses to take advantage of cheap
piecework labor (women making parts of a garment in their homes for starvation
wages). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ987MvWMOICelNpMYE-lclJP5cpCJVJRyXjcx9CvuGvlG9JEVTUnnE5GKk_u4AKukucEGnH4FQxvhtxi_hbM802coGhG8E4Wwcjc-ZBs_JvfvrkfdHomgQ8MJ04ImNANtzbJtafYBbCa-RL7z-C2GXiYhM3RX5nkKrSNIj6IQcvtezaCHy-7lcES5GQ/s1200/Fig%206%20cottage%20pieceworkers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1200" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ987MvWMOICelNpMYE-lclJP5cpCJVJRyXjcx9CvuGvlG9JEVTUnnE5GKk_u4AKukucEGnH4FQxvhtxi_hbM802coGhG8E4Wwcjc-ZBs_JvfvrkfdHomgQ8MJ04ImNANtzbJtafYBbCa-RL7z-C2GXiYhM3RX5nkKrSNIj6IQcvtezaCHy-7lcES5GQ/s320/Fig%206%20cottage%20pieceworkers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Piecework from home involved the whole family--for starvation wages</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">The dining room
is her atelier; the drawing room full to overflowing with clients waiting for a
fitting in the morning room; the three attic rooms house seamstresses. They
moved to upmarket Hanover Square and to the luxury of space enough for fitting
rooms galore!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">The fashions
change rapidly and to become a top designer Lucy can’t simply copy Paris models,
she must be innovative, original and create her own look. Lucy’s label “Lucile”
becomes known for its informality, its joie de vivre and its vibrant colors.
She is fresh, daring and discovers that she has a flair for publicity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeJN34RxTCIMiSZsgPO_oCQlN_omMwgMhFElPEOc29EXwuElmbwJBl124xPJpQUze7rTNy4SNLWh_BgmzZDzw5MZ0A0Dx7UsLi9hRdDAiy40-PhYoMGWcN0TmgX2nXPfJJCb4KNTkA58MthfOxyhuAZ4CzkSUwkB-2BdK7gjp9ENcxZoU_QPcJHnCZQ/s800/Fig%207%20detail%20of%20Lucile%20green%20dress.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeJN34RxTCIMiSZsgPO_oCQlN_omMwgMhFElPEOc29EXwuElmbwJBl124xPJpQUze7rTNy4SNLWh_BgmzZDzw5MZ0A0Dx7UsLi9hRdDAiy40-PhYoMGWcN0TmgX2nXPfJJCb4KNTkA58MthfOxyhuAZ4CzkSUwkB-2BdK7gjp9ENcxZoU_QPcJHnCZQ/s320/Fig%207%20detail%20of%20Lucile%20green%20dress.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Detail of one of Lucile's dresses</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoCaption"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Lucy’s clients
are ladies of fashion from a new generation: they are young society hostesses;
stage actresses; women of title and means—even their husband’s mistresses patronize
Lucy’s salon. Lady Brook the Countess of
Warwick, the Prince of Wales’s new mistress never pays for a single gown, but
she reigns supreme in the sophisticated Marlborough Set where no woman would
dream of wearing the same dress twice to a grand occasion. Mrs. Cynthia
Asquith, the Prime Minister’s wife, brings her avant garde literary friends to
be dressed by Lucy; The famous Westend stage actress Ellen Terry insists her
costumes are designed by Lucy, and even </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #202122; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Victoria
Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif">the
Queen of Spain sends her maid over to make an appointment to consult with Lucy
when her majesty is in London.</span></p>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6-cYUcy-Th96O1y9jd_eQ0Pykd8yFTx5oZNlOKG8iq9axYYs4H9duMJ6eC9uX-VjVAorQ8DMdy1jfCsC6y0zUeSMk5cIl6aeNYOlXeYGKOLQSCRYwzur9ZXTMl5xQk04NnjSqH_xT0wwHGkh2o63yaGMMppLlaGLmKrpNsMYc3vRSjg7qMf9W4TVng/s800/Figure%208%20Lucile%20Hapopiness%20gown.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="800" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6-cYUcy-Th96O1y9jd_eQ0Pykd8yFTx5oZNlOKG8iq9axYYs4H9duMJ6eC9uX-VjVAorQ8DMdy1jfCsC6y0zUeSMk5cIl6aeNYOlXeYGKOLQSCRYwzur9ZXTMl5xQk04NnjSqH_xT0wwHGkh2o63yaGMMppLlaGLmKrpNsMYc3vRSjg7qMf9W4TVng/s320/Figure%208%20Lucile%20Hapopiness%20gown.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Bodice detail of a dress Lucy named "Happiness"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="MsoCaption"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Lucy’s natural
ability to listen to what her clients want and her tact to advise on what would
actually suit them are among her greatest gifts. She creates what she calls
Dresses of Emotion, each designed for its individual wearer. She gives her
favorite gowns names: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Passion Flower’s First Kiss; The Sigh of Lips Unsatisfied,
</i><span face="Arial, sans-serif">and</span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> A Dream of Endless Summer.</i><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> She also develops a talent for
publicity! </span></p><p class="MsoCaption"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3fZcPSkWnTUd24xNjuP4hHqgbI1Eo1HH7ZOhxMyTtRiHrdcW0SAKJwp57YHhLRMNszzhE10QNxTBl5_QC9tDvSViE40GdvajQbdOVhoPXzRuU67dfMAA9DNjp0jiRg5io9MlgIatKkCKZZ3tHApm22BGLEHE_SXIqdN6aDxBYzKvJxHvq2lTxuEtew/s750/Fig%209%20Lucile%20Gown%20at%20a%20live%20mannequin%20show.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="556" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG3fZcPSkWnTUd24xNjuP4hHqgbI1Eo1HH7ZOhxMyTtRiHrdcW0SAKJwp57YHhLRMNszzhE10QNxTBl5_QC9tDvSViE40GdvajQbdOVhoPXzRuU67dfMAA9DNjp0jiRg5io9MlgIatKkCKZZ3tHApm22BGLEHE_SXIqdN6aDxBYzKvJxHvq2lTxuEtew/s320/Fig%209%20Lucile%20Gown%20at%20a%20live%20mannequin%20show.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="text-align: left;">Lucile Ltd. is one of the first fashion houses in London to introduce their new season’s models in a live mannequin show.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoCaption"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">As a new
century dawns Lucy is ready to prise women out of hard, unforgiving whalebone
corsetry and into softer more alluring and female lines—her silky lingerie is
displayed in the Rose Room of her new Hanover Square salon, on a bed once slept
in by Louis XIV mistress the </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #202124;">Marquise
de Montespan.</span></p>
<p class="MsoCaption"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Lucile
was the first fashion house in London to introduce the new season's models in a
live mannequin parade</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #202124;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">When Lucy
marries Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon, society is willing to accept that Lucy has
reached the pinnacle of success. She may not be presented at court because she
is a divorcee, and worst of all in trade, but she can, and does, open a fashion
house in New York, Chicago and with unashamed audacity in Paris. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">Truly, could
life be more perfect? Lucy Duff Gordon has become one of the most sought after haute
couturières of the early 1900s, but as history has taught us: change is
constant. On one bitterly cold night in April 1912 a catastrophe of such
magnitude occurs and changes the course of Lucy Duff Gordon’s life forever. And
once again she must rise above social ostracization and public humiliation to
find a way out of this dilemma to save not only her business, but her marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif">~~~~~</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfimX7Fz3UTl6ipT_FYa7hBkbLM2iBGKvyNOphSCXExYl161lVMrWBaI1oon6slO33ncpvaOcqcLaQqcPhQQT456mz6cBM_epLRDr96DVEKrjqT288fOueY_l6sms_u99Y8ozTES4p5QK4GNPkagM0JeKJFbWxCUYgGcFE3t1Lz-habR2pdRc0i3YnIw/s2538/Tessa%20Arlen%20headshot.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2538" data-original-width="2479" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfimX7Fz3UTl6ipT_FYa7hBkbLM2iBGKvyNOphSCXExYl161lVMrWBaI1oon6slO33ncpvaOcqcLaQqcPhQQT456mz6cBM_epLRDr96DVEKrjqT288fOueY_l6sms_u99Y8ozTES4p5QK4GNPkagM0JeKJFbWxCUYgGcFE3t1Lz-habR2pdRc0i3YnIw/s320/Tessa%20Arlen%20headshot.jpg" width="313" /></a></div>Tessa Arlen
writes historical fiction when she is not toiling away in her garden. She is
the author of the Edwardian mystery series: <i>Lady Montfort</i> and <i>Mrs. Jackson; the
Woman of World War II</i> mystery series.<i> Poppy Redfern</i>. And two standalone
historical novels: <i>In Royal Service to the Queen</i> and <i>A Dress of Violet Taffeta</i>.
<o:p></o:p><p></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM8INynTv4U2W55teoaj5FQOqd5GDqdicOsmTBaWJz1nv2yDePEoGd4HGrfwwQcwTcsprujJUygJi1fo_ssB_IGOHbghCCG3PmajW2nrsL8yv_eiSrWrUGod-9ptQlpLCPDotHhDGLF7Y2kgvUnriD5wcmStC58QNL7swWKT1ABJUwEO8e38JySKTCdA/s2560/A%20Dress%20of%20Violet%20Taffeta%202022%20cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1707" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM8INynTv4U2W55teoaj5FQOqd5GDqdicOsmTBaWJz1nv2yDePEoGd4HGrfwwQcwTcsprujJUygJi1fo_ssB_IGOHbghCCG3PmajW2nrsL8yv_eiSrWrUGod-9ptQlpLCPDotHhDGLF7Y2kgvUnriD5wcmStC58QNL7swWKT1ABJUwEO8e38JySKTCdA/s320/A%20Dress%20of%20Violet%20Taffeta%202022%20cover.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /></div>Debra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-84775322611340424352022-05-11T14:11:00.011-07:002022-05-14T03:15:17.390-07:00The Gunning Sisters & the Cost of Celebrityby Nancy Bilyeau<div><br /></div><div>On an autumn day in 1760, a woman's funeral was held in London. So many mourners mobbed the church--one count puts the crowd at ten thousand--that it suggests the burying of a royal. But the deceased was far from royal. <div><br /></div><div>She was Maria Coventry, born Maria Gunning and raised in obscurity in County Roscommon, Ireland. Yet during the second half of her short life Maria would have been well accustomed to mobs.<br /><br />The Gunning sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, were beautiful no doubt, but their effect on the population was extreme if not bizarre. We are told that at times they required sword-bearing guards to protect them from fevered crowds, that people stayed up all night to be in position to catch just a glimpse of one descending from a carriage.<br /><br />In George Selwyn's memoirs, he writes, "Someone proposes a stroll to Betty's fruit shop [in St. James's Street]. Suddenly the cry is raised ' The Gunnings are coming!' and we all tumble out to gaze and criticise."</div><div><br /></div><div>Horace Walpole wrote of them as "two Irish girls of no fortune who make more noise than any of their predecessors since the days of Helen, and are declared the handsomest women alive."<p>Aristocratic men who ordinarily would have been keen to make financially prudent marriages ("acre to acre" went the saying) abandoned all pragmatism and fought to marry a penniless Gunning sister within weeks, even days, of coming into contact with her.</p><p>Maria married an earl, and Elizabeth married a duke and, after he died, a second duke. </p><p>Attractive young women had caused sensations at the English court before, whether it was Anne Boleyn in the 16th century or Frances Stewart in the 17th century. In the mid-18th century, the fame that was attainable for a young beauty changed in nature, becoming greater in scope and more threatening too.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGALIqPU5MuizQy9sNvHK9yzAmvgf4oLuwemMn8YL83ZEtCioBW8LliJuWgfO3bGhymnFIHacaLA1jzYw-8u5c3iRgRw1cLqKR1AeEvhZWop8sMcht4ESLQ0plXYsRCRDGPiD0dsdrPTVrUHYP00IuErpUwPbbTm42AgHnQtYA4tkGCGKVv6B5EjBEkg/s430/Maria_Coventry,_Countess_of_Coventry_(after_Francis_Cotes).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Maria Gunning" border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="354" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGALIqPU5MuizQy9sNvHK9yzAmvgf4oLuwemMn8YL83ZEtCioBW8LliJuWgfO3bGhymnFIHacaLA1jzYw-8u5c3iRgRw1cLqKR1AeEvhZWop8sMcht4ESLQ0plXYsRCRDGPiD0dsdrPTVrUHYP00IuErpUwPbbTm42AgHnQtYA4tkGCGKVv6B5EjBEkg/w263-h320/Maria_Coventry,_Countess_of_Coventry_(after_Francis_Cotes).jpg" width="263" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria, Countess of Coventry, credit: wikipedia</td></tr></tbody></table><br />One of the changes that affected the Gunnings was the growth of the popular press.<div><br /></div><div>"So it was that a free press and a very weak libel law created a climate of speculation and gossip far freer than we have today, far more direct, personal and scurrilous," wrote Stella Tilyard. "Information, paid for by eager editors, poured into publishers' offices and straight into type. Readers were discovering the heady pleasures of scandals in high places."</div><div><br /></div><div>Along with a bolder press came the rise of the British portrait painter. Sir Joshua Reynolds, first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, is believed to have created the concept of celebrity, "a hybrid of fame driven by commerce and the cult of personality," according to the book<i> Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity</i>.</div><div><br /></div>In an article published in <i>The Guardian</i>, curator Louise Cooling writes that "Catherine Maria 'Kitty' Fisher was the most celebrated courtesan in England in the 1760s and was one of the first celebrities to be famous simply for being famous." It was a portrait of Kitty painted by Joshua Reynolds, posing her as Cleopatra dissolving a pearl, that turned her into "an 18th century Kardashian" and "the original influencer," according to <i>The Guardian.</i><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6C1qztGVdkoYx_YLwFhVz9wJyXj3Kj_TdzDiLfsyuePPagdFA6OJSZCye-4AqUfwSUdW1jpi4W-dSbeH8eiMqEii8EaIVdIHSXUuuGy5uk_la8T_I2bglxsKPv-TYQ-FMVGiSDtOhaM82S5yV49flOlsGOorwKzLryljlb7HUtQy_15iFpsk1LhjaQ/s248/1fisher.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="203" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6C1qztGVdkoYx_YLwFhVz9wJyXj3Kj_TdzDiLfsyuePPagdFA6OJSZCye-4AqUfwSUdW1jpi4W-dSbeH8eiMqEii8EaIVdIHSXUuuGy5uk_la8T_I2bglxsKPv-TYQ-FMVGiSDtOhaM82S5yV49flOlsGOorwKzLryljlb7HUtQy_15iFpsk1LhjaQ/s1600/1fisher.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reynolds' portrait of Kitty Fisher</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>It was a spectacular portrait of Elizabeth Gunning by Reynolds that brought her a rush of special attention. She sat for the artist for an unusually long time. He worked on the portrait from January 1758 to June of the following year. It is praised by art historians as one of the first examples of Reynolds; "fully realized aesthetics."</div><div><br /></div><div>It could be fairly argued that it was the Gunning sisters who carry the distinction of being the original influencers. They did inspire a cult of personality.</div><div><br /></div><div>We know next to nothing of Kitty Fisher's early life. As for the Gunning sisters, much more has been written about their background. But how much of it is accurate is up for debate. Some tales carry a whiff of the apocryphal.</div><div><br /></div>Their father was John Gunning of Castle Coot, yet it does seem clear there was a shortage of money. The mother and children took a house in Dublin while the father hid from creditors. There is one story that an actress, Mrs. Bellamy, heard raised voices on the other side of a wall, rushed inside the strange house to help, interrupted a fight over eviction, and rescued Mrs. Gunning and her "beautiful children" with a loan.<div><br /></div><div>Some reports say the sisters afterward dabbled in acting, others that, when they had the chance to attend a ball in Dublin, their mother begged a theatrical contact to lend her daughters costumes so they could go to the ball. Their own dresses were close to rags. Shades of Cinderella...<div><br /></div><div>Whatever they wore, Elizabeth and Maria caused a sensation at the Dublin ball. Their mother was advised to "take them to London." Somehow she raised the money t do just that.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Thus the captivating aristocratic Gunning sisters, whose distinguishing feature was that there were two of them, were sent on a carefully managed progress from their home in Ireland to England in 1750 to be launched on the marriage market," wrote Tilyard.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In 1752, both Elizabeth and Maria married two of the most eligible single men in England. They were judged successes--though whether their marriages were happy is another matter.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was when between Elizabeth was between husbands that she posed for Reynolds. Both sisters were quite tall; Elizabeth's willowy figure in the portrait and fashionable coloring suggest why she might have been so celebrated.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj61G5GqykJK73bcLx1um9Y0Zb7n9T28_8qDsZMinJFfy3ZOZIDNNu0PsUaiR_ZTTXeJbOw6cssZ0GAf9OZHhlyVpTPu-hrbdGus3V1jILJxpbVtdJ82LZBg5Y7K4sWuEqsfz_-gbdQX_BZIVQZdJm0TOIWQ8u0ZE2VofqUDYasIpkcj1p_L6oESBe5UA/s1330/Sir_Joshua_Reynolds_-_Elizabeth_Gunning,_Duchess_of_Hamilton_and_Argyll_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1330" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj61G5GqykJK73bcLx1um9Y0Zb7n9T28_8qDsZMinJFfy3ZOZIDNNu0PsUaiR_ZTTXeJbOw6cssZ0GAf9OZHhlyVpTPu-hrbdGus3V1jILJxpbVtdJ82LZBg5Y7K4sWuEqsfz_-gbdQX_BZIVQZdJm0TOIWQ8u0ZE2VofqUDYasIpkcj1p_L6oESBe5UA/w240-h400/Sir_Joshua_Reynolds_-_Elizabeth_Gunning,_Duchess_of_Hamilton_and_Argyll_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth Gunning<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Her first husband, the Duke of Hamilton, was a notorious rake and gambling addict who insisted on marriage shortly after meeting her. The second, John Campbell, the Duke of Argyll, was despised by Walpole as "sordidly covetous." Nonetheless, Elizabeth seems to have developed a steeliness about the whole business. She had eight children, served as a Lady of Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte, and died at Argyll House at age 57.</div><div><br /></div>The older sister, Maria, had a different kind of marriage and court career. She possessed an impulsive, outspoken nature that some people found charming. When George II asked her if she were sorry that there were no more masquerades that season, she answered that no she was tired of them, but there was one thing she did want to see—a royal funeral. The King used to tell this story himself "with much amusement."</div><div><br /></div><div>Her marriage did not turn out to be a happy one. When she and the Earl of Coventry went to France, she began using rouge as the other ladies did, including Madame de Pompadour, but her husband hated it, and once chased her in public to rub it off her face. </div><div><br /></div><div>More seriously, the earl had a flagrant affair with none other than Kitty Fisher. Maria, unlike most other aristocratic wives, did not look the other way.</div><div><br /></div>According to one account, "in the park Lady Coventry asked Kitty Fisher for "the name of the dressmaker who had made her dress." Kitty Fisher answered she ..."had better ask Lord Coventry as he had given her the dress as a gift." To that, Maria raged at her "impertinence."<div><br /></div><div>Maria's health deteriorated. While one theory is tuberculosis, another frequently repeated story is that she died of lead poisoning caused by overuse of cosmetics. (This was the same cause of death rumored to strike down her rival Kitty Fisher.) There was no autopsy, so we'll never know.</div><div><br /></div><div>She didn't slow down willingly. One chronicler wrote, "With all the spirit of a true belle, however, she refused to quit the paths of pleasure, and was seen attending a celebrated murder trial only a few days before she was forced to take to her bed."</div><div><br /></div><div>Maria Coventry died at the age of twenty-seven.<br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div>Nancy Bilyeau wrote about the art world of 1764 London in her historical novel <i>The Fugitive Colours</i>, with Joshua Reynolds and Kitty Fisher appearing as characters. The book was published in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia on March 12th.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSI94ILToUQU8SpVYuNvixQ2lrJOPgDyeXdr3pvN_0_bsxEYu0ESgJ7wzxXACuy2HCa2cq4d1widUqoTl8SvI2dupdbPnDpZBh6hJAHyUIi8dR3ip9dtjLFRaUwQqAM4QwwGoG2jMLz9fBOgG-ls1aBN8R9mJh98Mha24XjW8IciRD-G6vQAnbi30PDw/s2338/The%20Fugitive%20Colours%20(FINAL).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2338" data-original-width="1524" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSI94ILToUQU8SpVYuNvixQ2lrJOPgDyeXdr3pvN_0_bsxEYu0ESgJ7wzxXACuy2HCa2cq4d1widUqoTl8SvI2dupdbPnDpZBh6hJAHyUIi8dR3ip9dtjLFRaUwQqAM4QwwGoG2jMLz9fBOgG-ls1aBN8R9mJh98Mha24XjW8IciRD-G6vQAnbi30PDw/s320/The%20Fugitive%20Colours%20(FINAL).jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div class="gs" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; width: 1240.21px;"><div><div class="ii gt" id=":1zt" jslog="20277; u014N:xr6bB; 4:W251bGwsbnVsbCxbXV0." style="direction: ltr; margin: 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="a3s aiL" id=":1zs" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.5; overflow: hidden;"><div dir="ltr"><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>"A cracking historical spy thriller."- Historical Novel Society<br /><br />"Deftly written and deeply atmospheric, <i>The Fugitive Colours</i> is a book </div><div>you'll have trouble putting down!"</div><div>--Kate Quinn, New York Times Bestselling Author of <i>The Diamond Eye</i><br /><br />Links:<br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1C7N22ER8BGTP&keywords=the+fugitive+colours&qid=1652294135&sprefix=the+fugitive+colours%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-1">Amazon</a><br /><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-fugitive-colours/9781839014666">Bookshop.org</a><br /><br /><br /><a href="#">www.nancybilyeau.com</a><br /><br /><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="hq gt a10" id=":20n" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; margin: 15px 0px;"><div class="a3I" style="height: 1px; left: -10000px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: -10000px; width: 1px;">Attachments area</div><div id=":20r"></div><div class="aQH" id=":20q" style="margin-bottom: -16px; margin-left: -16px; padding-top: 16px;"><div class="aZK" style="clear: both; height: 0px; overflow: hidden;"></div></div></div><div class="hi" style="background: rgb(242, 242, 242); border-bottom-left-radius: 1px; border-bottom-right-radius: 1px; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: auto;"></div></div></div></div><div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div></div></div></div></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-16646363567025367362022-05-05T11:15:00.000-07:002022-05-05T11:15:58.665-07:00"A Horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" by Jeri Westerson<p> In 1485, King Richard III of England was unhorsed and killed on Bosworth field. Poor Richard. He lost his life and his dynasty. The crown went to Welsh Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who became Henry VII of England, father to the infamous and ubiquitous Henry VIII.</p><p>Who was Richard? Was he really the villain he is portrayed to be in Shakespeare's tragic play (whence the title's quote comes)? Was he the diabolical instigator of the murders of the Princes in the Tower? Or is he really the innocent as portrayed in Josephine Tey's 1951 novella The Daughter of Time?</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDB1y__s0FpUMhrG6K-nOmCBm4aG6UQELKL1m1kcZzbXnjWZRhe9y4U9PZkf04Sp4m1_xV5LAbgeCLyu9ffu6kPX_0-o83-dBiYHe_8Gvug4WaeSAafuVZWEUU9QqByJS4w5qALVXk_k_g_KGAtafiEhLn3v7DXGLPiV--Q3rq5em7PDhw7a56cDw/s446/Richard_III_earliest_surviving_portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDB1y__s0FpUMhrG6K-nOmCBm4aG6UQELKL1m1kcZzbXnjWZRhe9y4U9PZkf04Sp4m1_xV5LAbgeCLyu9ffu6kPX_0-o83-dBiYHe_8Gvug4WaeSAafuVZWEUU9QqByJS4w5qALVXk_k_g_KGAtafiEhLn3v7DXGLPiV--Q3rq5em7PDhw7a56cDw/s320/Richard_III_earliest_surviving_portrait.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Earliest surviving portrait of Richard III, 1520</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I doubt we'll ever know the real truth, though I tend to think that he was, perhaps, a little of both. He was a medieval man, after all, seeking the highest place in the land. But he was a loyal and accomplished warrior, fighting to restore his brother, King Edward IV to the throne during the War of the Roses. He was appointed to many posts under his brother's reign, in recognition of his loyalty and service: Constable of England, Chief Justice of North Wales, Chief Steward and Chamberlain of Wales, High Sheriff of Cumberland for life, Great Chamberlain, Lord High Admiral of England, Lieutenant of the North and Commander-in-Chief against the Scots and hereditary Warden of the West Marches, and later Lord Protector when his brother the king died and his young son, King Edward V and Richard’s nephew was a bit too young to rule. In other words, he was no slouch.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46uInExHNL5N30KpdXgQ8tqJJyGKO8Z-lOeYtPDLAlR1amjLc6ZvRUvTjXpzd0sVqkWzxMbJfJvJirJJZNU3Aey1GRrtKE8h1xwqkLu870seKT0SNCF1qpgVd-IhaVUZetkWtKriHPXBXTjoFX5tXgHi1w0d2LEzPLmQw7mDsL5i78dcUpyL8f2cD/s1460/Princes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1460" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46uInExHNL5N30KpdXgQ8tqJJyGKO8Z-lOeYtPDLAlR1amjLc6ZvRUvTjXpzd0sVqkWzxMbJfJvJirJJZNU3Aey1GRrtKE8h1xwqkLu870seKT0SNCF1qpgVd-IhaVUZetkWtKriHPXBXTjoFX5tXgHi1w0d2LEzPLmQw7mDsL5i78dcUpyL8f2cD/s320/Princes.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Two Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower</i>, painted by Sir John Everett Millais </td></tr></tbody></table><br />However, he seemed to be surrounded by conspirators, whether actual or imagined, and many were executed for treason. And the Princes in the Tower were later declared illegitimate because Edward IV was supposedly married first to Eleanor Butler and therefore made his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, the mother of the princes, invalid. The princes just sort of...disappeared, and no one knows what happened to them, though much speculation has plagued historians ever since.</p><p>Rebellion was afoot, though, and when Richard went to his fateful battle at Bosworth field it was all going to be settled one way or another. Or was it? History is a funny thing. Yes, it's based on documents and firsthand and thirdhand accounts. To the victor go the spoils, but records are there and the information available offers only a glimpse that is sometimes interpreted one way and then another. That's what makes it interesting. In fact, sometimes new archaeological information comes to light. Not only do historians have to re-evaluate where exactly was the battleground, but because of artifacts found, they had to reconsider how the battle was fought.</p><p>Alf Oliver's farm will never be the same. This is the fellow who has an arable farm just off the old Roman road from Atherstone to Leicester in England. According to a 2017 article in the London Times, to get to Alf's farm:</p><p><i>"...you drive south and west from the Bosworth visitor centre on Ambion Hill, which is now, rather awkwardly, two miles adrift of the true site. Past a farm selling “battlefield beef” you park in a lane, tramp round one small field with a dip, cross a drainage ditch and arrive at a flat, triangular ploughed field exposed to the elements on all sides."</i></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQcVhYnnLnykhSwr5Nfj7B8yTl6BDoQJ318qCklamzBtWvjlCcInZrcXf6aYULjoh1gyjrE84u4JcJ3wPNxrXDKwk5-PFz6tGCTTxgfPeP9NLYuOuO16Mmvs36auZLGlMAYgtqRgnJzCIvmfK4l8Uoy4kyfuC9XGTcQ5OtoyKRwubACIQK2_sv85oC/s1293/Boar_Badge_of_Richard_III_from_Bosworth_Field.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1293" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQcVhYnnLnykhSwr5Nfj7B8yTl6BDoQJ318qCklamzBtWvjlCcInZrcXf6aYULjoh1gyjrE84u4JcJ3wPNxrXDKwk5-PFz6tGCTTxgfPeP9NLYuOuO16Mmvs36auZLGlMAYgtqRgnJzCIvmfK4l8Uoy4kyfuC9XGTcQ5OtoyKRwubACIQK2_sv85oC/s320/Boar_Badge_of_Richard_III_from_Bosworth_Field.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard III's boar badge from Bosworth, British Museum</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The exact location of the battle of Bosworth Field where Richard III lost his crown and his life and made way for the reign of the Tudors, was unknown. Archaeologists finally located it October 2016 but were reluctant to give its exact location before they had a chance to dig it up for artifacts. And artifacts they found! Boar badges, Richard’s talisman, were found. Bones, weaponry. And, most interesting, they also discovered cannon balls and shot leading historians to the conclusion that heavy movable artillery were used much earlier for battles than expected, as well as the use of “gonners”. That will change a lot of author’s fiction for that time period. Perhaps that horse was blown out from under Richard with a cannonball!</p><p>Now, since I was invested in researching and writing about the late fourteenth century in my medieval mystery series, we can further turn this around to the reign of Richard II. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj855HaRfEQiazWs97ImBkc6QuWzLEOOLfJzBy2Sou478PUF_Y_nDs7z4v4A-LucACiLT9l0jLFucDvU6h9ISCsxRcwcGYEuBGXW1Itgoees61hcvDIulYgRy_AkApasick1CmZ1MlDfc6Z0bc-n8WcrbcaEOr6XxwPiOm3yrRiiO6M_Es-dQFlXc7D/s600/Johnofgaunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="469" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj855HaRfEQiazWs97ImBkc6QuWzLEOOLfJzBy2Sou478PUF_Y_nDs7z4v4A-LucACiLT9l0jLFucDvU6h9ISCsxRcwcGYEuBGXW1Itgoees61hcvDIulYgRy_AkApasick1CmZ1MlDfc6Z0bc-n8WcrbcaEOr6XxwPiOm3yrRiiO6M_Es-dQFlXc7D/s320/Johnofgaunt.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, painted later c. 1593 </td></tr></tbody></table><br />In his household, John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster had the court poet Geoffrey Chaucer as a loyal friend and servant. Was it because he liked the poet or liked his sister-in-law more? For the duke entertained Chaucer’s sister-in-law Katherine Swynford as his mistress for over twenty-five years, and even married her a year after his second wife, Constanza of Castille, died. Katherine wasn’t his first mistress. When he was a young man he took one of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting as a mistress, Marie de St. Hiliare, and had a daughter with her, named Blanche Plantagenet. All told, he had about fourteen children both legitimate and ill-, with nine living into adulthood. His illegitimate children from Katherine Swynford were made legitimate by King Richard II when John finally married her, but they were barred from inheriting the throne.</p><p>Meanwhile, King Richard II had a falling out with the duke’s legitimate son Henry Bolingbroke and kicked him out of the country. But it is Lancaster who gets the last laugh. By the end of the century, Richard is forced to abdicate and is then left to starve to death in Lancaster’s favorite castle, Pontefract. Lancaster’s son Henry seized the throne and thus the royal House of Lancaster began. Unfortunately, the venerable duke was in his grave by then.</p><p>But speaking of inheriting the throne, Gaunt’s eldest son by Katherine Swynford, John, had a granddaughter, Margaret Beaufort, whose son became Henry VII and took the throne from the last Plantagenet, Richard III. And Henry VII in turn married Elizabeth of York (who was also related to John of Gaunt), thus ending the York and Lancaster feud known as the War of the Roses, and allowing Gaunt's and Katherine's descendants to get the throne at last.</p><div>____________</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jeri Westerson</b> writes the critically acclaimed Crispin Guest Medieval Noir series, and will be releasing her humorous medieval caper <b>Oswald the Thief</b> at the end of May 2022. Her newest mystery series set in Tudor England, <b>Courting Dragons; A King's Fool Mystery </b>with Henry VIII's real court jester Will Somers as protagonist, will be released January 2023. See all of her books--including an urban fantasy, a werewolf mystery series, a gaslamp-steampunk fantasy, and a LGBTQ rom-com mystery series--at JeriWesterson.com</div>Jeri Westersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621322664609246112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-57316354525124716022022-04-28T21:00:00.025-07:002023-08-20T09:10:23.728-07:00A Visit to the Seaside: Worthing<br /><br />by Lauren Gilbert<br /><br />Located on the coast in West Sussex, Worthing is between 50-60 miles south of London, and 10-12 miles west of Brighton and Hove (depending on routes taken). It has a long and fascinating history. <br /><br />Stone Age people were in the area approximately 60,000 years ago. By the New Stone Age or Neolithic era (between about 4000 BCE to about 2000BCE), Worthing was the centre of flint mining; Romans also settled the area. The Iron Age (about 750 BCE-about 43 AD) hillfort Cissbury Ring is the largest hill fort in Sussex, and the 2nd largest in England. It contains one of the Neolithic flint mines found in the area.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Easternmost_part_of_Cissbury_Ring_-_geograph.org.uk_-_868795.jpg"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Easternmost_part_of_Cissbury_Ring_-_geograph.org.uk_-_868795.jpg" width="400" /></a><div><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Easternmost_part_of_Cissbury_Ring_-_geograph.org.uk_-_868795.jpg" target="_blank">Easternmost Part of Cissbury Ring by Slbs June 29, 2008 Creative Commons </a><br /><br />At the Norman Conquest, the Manor of Worthing included the Ordinges and Mordinges estates. William de Braose received the Manor. The estates were joined, and Bramber Castle was built. The Manor was then leased to Robert Le Sauvage. Worthing was included in the Domesday Book.<br /><br /><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Bramber_Castle_1.jpg/580px-Bramber_Castle_1.jpg"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Bramber_Castle_1.jpg/580px-Bramber_Castle_1.jpg" width="302" /></a><br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bramber_Castle_1.jpg" target="_blank">Remains of the Norman keep of Old Bramber Castle by Margaret Anne Clarke Sept. 20, 2013, Creative Commons</a><br /><br /><br />During Georgian Era, Worthing saw great change. For decades, Worthing was a fishing village, with mackerel as the prime catch, until the temperate climate and seaside started attracting visitors in the 1750s. It was also a stronghold of smugglers throughout the 19th century. <br /><br /> As other watering places such as Brighton became more congested, less crowded places, such as Worthing, became more attractive. As physicians extolled the benefits of sea bathing for health, more visitors came. George III (who had popularized Weymouth as a seaside destination, visiting numerous times in 1789-1805) thought it might improve Princess Amelia’s health and brought her to Worthing in 1798. <br /><br />By 1803, streets had been built, along with some hotels and fine homes. The early visitors were wealthy fashionables, who expected comfortable accommodations and entertainment. The medical benefits of sea bathing attracted some. Others confined themselves to travel within the United Kingdom due to the difficulties of foreign travel resulting from the Napoleonic Wars. In 1803, Parliament passed an Act, establishing Worthing as the Town of Worthing, and establishing a group of commissioners to manage cleaning, lighting, improving streets and roads, and to establish a police force. <br /><br />There is also a Jane Austen connection-she stayed at Stanford’s Cottage in Worthing, with her mother, her sister Cassandra and her friend Martha Lloyd for several weeks in late 1805. Worthing is considered the likely inspiration for <i>SANDITON</i>. Edward Ogle (a prominent businessman) and Warwick House, which he purchased in 1801, may have been models for Mr. Parker and Trafalgar House.(1) Now known as Stanford Cottage now has a blue plaque declaring that Jane Austen stayed there.<br /><br />In 1813, John Feltham described Worthing and said, “In a short space of time, a few miserable fishing huts and smugglers’ dens have been exchanged for buildings sufficiently extensive and elegant to accommodate the first families in the kingdom. The establishment of two respectable libraries (Spooner’s and Stafford’s) at each of which the newspapers are regularly received, and the erection of commodious warm baths (Wickes’s) within a few years; sufficiently prove how far it has risen in public estimation.” (2)<br /><br />In 1821, The Esplanade was built to create a suitable place for people to promenade. After 1825, Worthing was no longer considered a fashionable resort, and drew a much smaller crowd of visitors, which resulted in financial difficulties for the town in the 1830s. It became a suitable resort for families and those seeking health. <br /><br />During the Victorian Era, as its status declined, Worthing again experienced financial difficulties in the 1850s. In 1862, the Pier was built, and in 1865, the Esplanade was expanded and renamed the Marine Parade. By 1889, a pavilion had been built on the southern end of the Pier. Paddle steamers, providing popular day trips along the coast, moored there to pick up and drop off passengers. Oscar Wilde is known to have spent time there in 1893, and liked it well enough to spend the summer and autumn of 1894 in Worthing, writing <i>THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST</i>. In 1897, a bandstand was built west of the pier. Band concerts became a crowd-pleasing feature.<br /><br /><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/The_pier%2C_Worthing%2C_England-LCCN2002708279.jpg/800px-The_pier%2C_Worthing%2C_England-LCCN2002708279.jpg"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/The_pier%2C_Worthing%2C_England-LCCN2002708279.jpg/800px-The_pier%2C_Worthing%2C_England-LCCN2002708279.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_pier,_Worthing,_England-LCCN2002708279.jpg" target="_blank">The Pier, Worthing, England-print-1890-1900, Library of Congress, public domain<br /></a><br />The Pier was badly damaged during a storm on March 24, 1913 (Easter Monday). Repairs were begun promptly, and the pier reopened in 1914. In September 1933, fire destroyed the South Pavilion. This was repaired, and the pavilion subsequently reopened. <br /><br />On October 9, 1934, there were clashes between Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists and anti-fascist protestors, an event which became known as the Battle of South Street. During World War II, Worthing was a prime defensive place in the event of an enemy landing along the coast. In 1942, it became a popular recreation area for the troops. Worthing also served as the embarkation site for the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. <br /><br />After World War II, the town was repaired and refurbished. The population has grown steadily. In the 1960s, Worthing was a popular music venue. It evolved to a retirement haven in the 1970s and 1980s. From the 1990s to present, major corporations have located there, attracting younger workers with families. In 1998, 1999 and 2000, Worthing was voted the most profitable town in Britain by Experian. In the 21st century, Worthing continues to grow and thrive as the seaside location continues to attract visitors and residents. <br /><br />NOTES: <br /><br />(1) Edmonds, Antony. <i>JANE AUSTEN’S WORTHING The Real Sanditon</i>. Pp. 9-11, pp. 14-30. <br /><br />(2) Feltham, John. <i>A GUIDE TO ALL THE WATERING AND SEA-BATHING PLACES FOR 1813</i>. Vol. 2, p. 463. <br /><br />Sources include: <br /><br />Edmonds, Antony. <i>JANE AUSTEN’S WORTHING The Real Sanditon</i>. 2015: Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire. <br /><br />Evans, John. <i>PICTURE OF WORTHING To Which Is Added An Account of Arundel and Shoreham, with Other Parts of the Surrounding Country.</i> 1805: printed by C. Stower, London. Reprint published by Sagwan Press, imprint of Creative Media Partners. Scholar Select. <br /><br />Feltham, John. <i>A GUIDE TO ALL THE WATERING AND SEA-BATHING PLACES FOR 1813. With a description of The Lakes; A Sketch of A Tour in Wales and Itineraries</i>. Vol. 2 1813: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, London. Reprint published by Franklin Classics, an imprint of Creative Media Partners. Scholar Select. <br /><br />Visitworthing.co “History of Worthing.” (No author or post date shown.) <a href="https://archive.ph/20130505133449/http://www.visitworthing.co.uk/AboutWorthing/" target="_blank">HERE</a><br /><br />En.wikipedia.org “Worthing,” last edited April 20, 2022. (No author shown.) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worthing" target="_blank">HERE</a><br /><br />All images from Wikimedia Commons.<div><br /></div><div><br /><div>Lauren Gilbert was introduced to English authors early in life. An avid reader, she pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a minor in Art History. She is a contributing writer to both volumes of <i>CASTLES, CUSTOMS AND KINGS: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors</i>. She has two novels, <i>HEYERWOOD A Novel</i> and <i>A RATIONAL ATTACHMENT</i>, currently in print and is working on a new nonfiction work. A long-time member of JASNA, she has presented programs for the JASNA Palm Beaches Region, the JASNA annual general meeting in 2011, and the Jane Austen Fest in Mount Dora in 2022. She lives in Florida with her husband. <a href="#">Visit her website here.</a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWevPicwTGh43xeSIYITM7vmwKvIQYGIZ9yfVtRWDlub8RpKCdp33RwkiOfbrr_62Qyy5hHhWa6AlKE0mMV6tbi70swHBxW4e3ZSUwxxnLlt91gx9Ic6Xrq7Xf97ERqIsKK1bTesfc7j4nUyD3CV00zAkxDdHYyRV8ZdKMJ1UlWocPJUVe_rqPobSS/s240/A%20Rational%20Attachment%20thumbnail.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWevPicwTGh43xeSIYITM7vmwKvIQYGIZ9yfVtRWDlub8RpKCdp33RwkiOfbrr_62Qyy5hHhWa6AlKE0mMV6tbi70swHBxW4e3ZSUwxxnLlt91gx9Ic6Xrq7Xf97ERqIsKK1bTesfc7j4nUyD3CV00zAkxDdHYyRV8ZdKMJ1UlWocPJUVe_rqPobSS/s1600/A%20Rational%20Attachment%20thumbnail.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><br /></p>
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</div></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Lauren Gilberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02938146663557663891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-88756722918059510452022-03-17T23:00:00.003-07:002022-03-21T17:31:56.424-07:00 "The Most Extraordinary Person of the Age"<p>By Nancy Bilyeau</p><p>It was the spring of 1810. Ordinarily, the death in London of an 81-year-old French émigré of aristocratic birth who'd long been living in genteel poverty would arouse little attention. The city was flooded with aristocrats during the French Revolution's Reign of Terror. Some of them never left.</p><div>But as the body of the deceased, known as the Chevalier d’Éon, was being prepared for burial, medical authorities swooped in to perform an investigation.</div><div><br />Its purpose? To answer a question that had been raised in society in the 1770s and persisted ever since, a debate that obsessed so many that the London Stock Exchange made it a betting-pool subject.</div><div><br /><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;">Was the Chevalier d’Éon a man or a woman?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiA6oFj1s8D_S7Ck_hekDcWE-Xuu2kQWg9SZFr3SFTQ_LkFeE7vXP7gFsYx2Lx3fwTkz_x8dgYisaPECaEzaUP0aUYQDx8P_kzfKS8ZheTd8JBrmmXKlkvqi5S9ligq7kcM7-fi1D2SgNJMvPBydS0YNxexSNyf3Gk_Qbr3tQ1RrBg17H4GAp9v3ibH9g=s951" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiA6oFj1s8D_S7Ck_hekDcWE-Xuu2kQWg9SZFr3SFTQ_LkFeE7vXP7gFsYx2Lx3fwTkz_x8dgYisaPECaEzaUP0aUYQDx8P_kzfKS8ZheTd8JBrmmXKlkvqi5S9ligq7kcM7-fi1D2SgNJMvPBydS0YNxexSNyf3Gk_Qbr3tQ1RrBg17H4GAp9v3ibH9g=s320" width="269" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait made in 1792</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Born on October 5, 1728, d’Éon’s full name was Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d’Éon de Beaumont. The only son of Louis Deon de Beaumont--an advocate in Parliament, a King's Counsellor, and a member of the petite noblesse--he was raised in the elite, dissolute world of <i>Dangerous Liaisons</i>.<br /><div><br /></div>In his early 20s, d’Éon continued to present as male. He was charming and intelligent, a gifted mimic. He was carefully educated and took a position at the highest level of civil service, also gaining fame as an expert fencer, but his life changed dramatically when he was recruited to become a member of an elite spy service for France called <i>le Secret du Roi</i> (the King’s Secret).<div><br /></div>Louis XV, great-grandson of Louis XIV, was the absolute monarch of France and as such perhaps the most powerful man in the world for a period during the mid-18th century. It was a heavy burden to him. He often seemed morose, his Versailles duties lightened by frolicking with a string of delectable mistresses, from Madame de Pompadour to Madame de Berri.<div><br /></div><div><div>His duties extended beyond the crushing protocol of Versailles. France was a country often at war, and Louis XV struggled to make the right decisions in diplomatic and military matters. To better assist him, he split his diplomatic service in two: official and secret channels. Formed more than a century before MI6 in England, <i>le Secret du Roi </i>employed no more than 32 people at any time, undertaking missions in other countries vital to the interests of France.</div><div><br /></div>D’Éon’s first assignment was a challenging one: travel to Russia using a false identity to advance a key diplomatic objective. This was when d’Éon first dressed as a woman, although there are two stories. One was that he impersonated a French lady-in-waiting from the beginning to ingratiate himself with Empress Elizabeth (daughter of Peter the Great); the second, that he won the heart of the Russian court when he dressed as a beautiful woman at one of the Empress’s Metamorphoses balls. She adored cross-dressing balls, a taste shared by Catherine the Great later on.<div><br /></div>After what became the Seven Years War broke out, d’Éon returned to France. His bravery and military achievements won him titles and acclaim although, unfortunately, the English won the war.<br /><br />His next assignment was to go to London in 1762, pretending to be a diplomat dealing with end-of-the-war issues like exchange of prisoners. Actually he was performing spy missions for Louis XV, such as learning of weaknesses in England’s defenses and conveying that information to Versailles. This was the time of invisible ink and ciphers. The French had suffered a bitter defeat, one that left England poised to dominate Europe as never before. Louis XV's directive to his spies was to "interfere with the ambitions of the English" as much as possible. (This resentment would lead to the famed French support of the British colonists in America in the 1770s.)<br /><div><div class="inad ad-widget-wrapper primary-ad-wrapper" id="primary-P458277-10-wrapper" style="background-color: #fffcf3; box-sizing: border-box; color: #57330f; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><div id="primary-P458277-10" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div></div><div class="ad-widget-wrapper primary-ad-wrapper" id="primary-P458277-10-wrapper" style="background-color: #fffcf3; box-sizing: border-box; color: #57330f; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><div class="primary-ad-widget" id="primary-P458277-10" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></div></div></div><div><br /></div>His secret mission notwithstanding, the Chevalier was a hit with the English court. The rumors were that Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, found him as charming as had the Russian Empress Elizabeth.<br /><br />However, this was when the Chevalier and the French King had a falling out. He was jealous of a fellow diplomat and felt misunderstood and threatened. He threatened to expose Louis XV’s sexual secrets to the public unless he received a pension. After months of high drama, including an attempted poisoning and failed kidnapping, the pension flowed.<br /><br />Around this time, his fondness for wearing women’s clothes and his androgynous appearance led to rumors that the Chevalier was, in fact, a woman biologically. The London Stock Exchange placed its question for wagers. He did not deny or confirm it.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZBfOGC5KaSVZZW8mSWSVcRvog2IJEZBAwUpEsjIwwxCcksxTNQGsghON0h8Xp6e14ExKeLfFGgYblZsBGYpbY028k1WrqYAXq4wRDzgsCUlQU9SBPUnAYuahlFtPf8LeRv1A9NpG0nKb-Cnr5afqArs8Fu57uJA2_2dzzZVW2RPiSqkKamtvOTGr7Rw=s497" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZBfOGC5KaSVZZW8mSWSVcRvog2IJEZBAwUpEsjIwwxCcksxTNQGsghON0h8Xp6e14ExKeLfFGgYblZsBGYpbY028k1WrqYAXq4wRDzgsCUlQU9SBPUnAYuahlFtPf8LeRv1A9NpG0nKb-Cnr5afqArs8Fu57uJA2_2dzzZVW2RPiSqkKamtvOTGr7Rw=s320" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A contemporary illustration showing the Chevalier's gender fluidity</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>After Louis XV died in 1774, the Chevalier d’Éon, 48, returned to France. The Chevalier now presented only as a woman. She told the court that she had been born a female, forcing her father, desperate for a male heir, to execute a fraud.<div><br /></div>This was more or less accepted by everyone, taking the lead of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The queen even sponsored her wardrobe, created for the Chevalier by royal milliner Rose Bertin. She wore beautiful dresses <i>and</i> military ribbons. Moreover, d’Éon wrote a memoir, drawing on her literary talents.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiFkZZR-0VYR--vo4BMe4lwbrBVTqVF-dHYUreThJFADVkLpIYCzGiKSnnrygudwHiQee05-sqn4SRQEg3YI7nbLjnk59f4b5i0C-B4tFwuYqS3mcWrQypR3xjWW9p577eG3SlnB-tvH54DGWmapC4Iun8hWgnWdpeVhepH5qJoVr3_Rqhl6ILc-IFEQ=s413" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjiFkZZR-0VYR--vo4BMe4lwbrBVTqVF-dHYUreThJFADVkLpIYCzGiKSnnrygudwHiQee05-sqn4SRQEg3YI7nbLjnk59f4b5i0C-B4tFwuYqS3mcWrQypR3xjWW9p577eG3SlnB-tvH54DGWmapC4Iun8hWgnWdpeVhepH5qJoVr3_Rqhl6ILc-IFEQ=s320" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fashion-conscious Marie Antoinette helped the Chevalier pay for a new wardrobe</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div><br /></div><div>Biographer Gary Kates, who wrote <i>Monsieur D'Eon Is a Woman</i>, wrote that her sexual partners are unknown, whether in France, England, or Russia. There were never any marriages or public liaisons. Either she was extremely discreet or she did not have lovers.</div><div><br /></div><div>"In today's context, the story of d'Éon divides historians," <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/#">according to the ArtUK.org</a> story "The Gender Fluidity of the Chevalier d'Éon." "While some regard d'Éon as a proto-'trans' figure, others such as Gary Kates refute this notion, arguing instead that they switched gender as part of a social and political strategy. The fascinating story of d'Éon raises questions about the role of gender in eighteenth-century Europe, indicating that perhaps a more open attitude about gender and sexual politics long preceded contemporary conversations about LGBTQ+ identities."<br /><br />The French Revolution was unfriendly to aristocrats of any gender, and d’Éon made her way to England again. At first the Chevalier was as celebrated as ever. "It must indeed be acknowledged that she is the most extraordinary person of the age ... we have seen no one who has united so many military, political, and literary talents," according to The Annual Register for London.</div><div><br /></div><div>But with Louis XVI overthrown, the Chevalier's pension was halted, and she ran out of money. After selling her jewelry and books, she started appearing in fencing tournaments dressed as a woman, fighting for cash.</div><div><br />Fencing didn't bring in enough money, and the Chevalier served some months in debtors’ prison. In old age, she lived with a widowed friend, Mrs. Coles, in modest circumstances as she battled ill health. "D'Éon spent roughly the last decade of [her] life inside the apartment, on cold days rarely even leaving [her] bed," wrote Kates.<br /><br />After her death, the medical investigation revealed its report: the Chevalier d’Éon had male organs. However there were “questionable” aspects too, ones left vague in the report. This leaves open the possibility that the Chevalier had features of both genders.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today the Chevalier d’Éon is buried in the churchyard of St. Pancras Old Church.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5vQ12cs2E_JYNGWLwsknhjQ5KXr0x7dznCJrNqofJ4uH30N4CdQD4t6jWRHhi_aEziv8LFofFuz8e0I1Jg3JLWgE1bN6TJSLBtVD-kV_TpzTxTR5sclGfsR3unkRBQK9kleUySyZVZarrJxh85JoN2XaSAkWuKnSAIVTbODH1N8vCW7NtqODfL9xPkQ=s1080" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5vQ12cs2E_JYNGWLwsknhjQ5KXr0x7dznCJrNqofJ4uH30N4CdQD4t6jWRHhi_aEziv8LFofFuz8e0I1Jg3JLWgE1bN6TJSLBtVD-kV_TpzTxTR5sclGfsR3unkRBQK9kleUySyZVZarrJxh85JoN2XaSAkWuKnSAIVTbODH1N8vCW7NtqODfL9xPkQ=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The Chevalier d’Éon is a character in <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fugitive-Colours-Genevieve-Planch%C3%A9-Book-ebook/dp/B09M74M6FP">The Fugitive Colours</a>,</i> a historical novel set in the espionage-rich London of 1764.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div>On March 18-23, <i>The Blue</i>, the first book in this series, is discounted on amazon.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the US, you can find <i>The Blue</i> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+blue+bilyeau&i=digital-text&crid=Z39BF8A795JF&sprefix=the+blue+bilyeau%2Cdigital-text%2C77&ref=nb_sb_noss_1">here</a>.</div><div>In the UK, <i>The Blue</i> can be found <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07HZ4C3K5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=12BQPD8DV608P&keywords=blue+nancy+bilyeau&qid=1647476085&sprefix=blue+nancy+bilyeau%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1">here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ4Y6RSp-tT2oooxNCSxEJTGGkg1QPgob6il0tV-YfwnCor6JSma4FqIzsPVQM8pXvOvASM6W60v15n1QNMZZVMI-Nm6o-Dvw7hLjD8DCr0Dd5Dad7C0_xOdzzqEv4Lz4_Bk6ROay5o8N-BieBb_AK66gHm_dRO48fULsGjJ9EGZn5o1Ri6dlZDSyEwA=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ4Y6RSp-tT2oooxNCSxEJTGGkg1QPgob6il0tV-YfwnCor6JSma4FqIzsPVQM8pXvOvASM6W60v15n1QNMZZVMI-Nm6o-Dvw7hLjD8DCr0Dd5Dad7C0_xOdzzqEv4Lz4_Bk6ROay5o8N-BieBb_AK66gHm_dRO48fULsGjJ9EGZn5o1Ri6dlZDSyEwA=s320" width="213" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>To learn more, go to <a href="http://www.nancybilyeau.com">www.nancybilyeau.com</a> </div><div><br /></div></div>Nancy Bilyeauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081147714919653976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-52628573291348901662022-02-27T08:40:00.004-08:002023-08-20T09:09:34.086-07:00Lady Mary Wroth, Author and Courtier<p> By Lauren Gilbert</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Lady_Mary_Wroth.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="268" height="450" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Lady_Mary_Wroth.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lady_Mary_Wroth.jpg" target="_blank">Lady Mary Wroth c 1620 </a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Born Mary Sidney, she was the daughter of Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester & Viscount de L’Isle and his wife Barbara Gamage, a Welsh heiress. She was born about 1587 (possibly October 18) possibly in Penshurst Place in Kent or in Baynard’s Castle, London (the Sidney family’s London headquarters). Robert Sidney was the younger brother of Sir Philip Sidney and Lady Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke. Robert Sidney was also a poet. He was appointed Governor of Flushing, the Netherlands, in 1588, where his wife and daughter Mary accompanied him. A brother, William, was born there. When she couldn’t accompany her parents, Mary was in the household of the Countess of Pembroke for much of her childhood. <br /><br />Out of eleven pregnancies, Lord and Lady Leicester had six surviving children including Mary, and seemed to have an affectionate family unit. When at home together, the children had a tutor, who apparently gave the children a good education. When staying in the household of her aunt, the Countess of Pembroke, Mary shared her cousins’ tutor. She was known to have talent for writing, playing the virginals and dancing. In 1602, Mary danced at court, before Queen Elizabeth, whose reign would end at her death the next year. <br /><br />When James I succeeded in 1603, he appointed Lord Leicester as Lord Chamberlain of Queen Anne’s household. His increased status put Mary, now about fifteen or sixteen years old, in a position to attend court as one of Queen Anne’s attendants. Mary was married in 1604, at about age seventeen to Sir Robert Wroth, who at about age twenty-seven, was about ten years older. He was a wealthy landowner and one of the king’s many hunting companions. He had been knighted in 1603. In 1613, he was chosen to be sheriff of Essex. <br /><br />There are suggestions that the couple was unhappy, possibly an arranged or forced marriage. There were rumours of incompatibility early on. There are also suggestions that he was a profligate spender and womaniser. Lord Wroth inherited Loughton House and Durrants in Essex from his father c. 1605-1606. (Loughton House was a family home, and Durrants a hunting lodge.) Lady Wroth continued to attend court after her marriage, although she was not a member of the Queen’s household, and acted at Whitehall in one of Ben Jonson’s masques, The Masque of Blackness” on Twelfth Night 1605. This introduced her into literary society. <br /><br />Lord and Lady Wroth had one child, a son named James, born in February 1613 or 1614, after about ten years of marriage, suggesting a possible rapprochement. Lord Wroth died March 14, 1614. She was left a widow with a very young child, a jointure of 1200 pounds per year (about $320,220.00 USD today), and debts totaling 23,000 pounds (approximately $6,138,000.00 USD today). Although there were three trustees involved, it appears she managed her estates herself, and wasn’t very good at it. She lived primarily at Loughton House, a widow the last forty years of her life. Sadly, little James died in July 1616, which resulted in Lady Wroth’s losing many of her rights as widow regarding her late husband’s estates. <br /><br />As with many court ladies, there were rumours about Lady Wroth. One was a rumoured affair with Ben Jonson, for which there seems to be no evidence, so that is likely untrue. (He dedicated his play The Alchemist to her in 1612. He also wrote a sonnet, “A Sonnet to the Noble Lady, The Lady Mary Wroth,” which was not published until after his death, and was known to seek and receive patronage from Lady Wroth’s mother as well as Lady Wroth.) It is worth noting that Jonson was not the only poet to write poetry to her. <br /><br />Lady Wroth did have an affair with her cousin, William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1580-1630). He was her first cousin (son of Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke). When children, Lady Wroth and her cousin were close, and there is an indication that they may have been more than friends. Lord Pembroke was a wealthy and powerful courtier (even though he was not a favourite of King James). He was also a poet in his own right-his poems were collected and published by John Donne. <br /><br />It is not known when Mary and William became lovers (there is an implication that the affair began while her husband was still living). Whenever it started, their affair lasted until the mid-1620’s. Lady Wroth had two children by William: a son William who died in the 1640s fighting as a Royalist in the English civil war, and a daughter Katherine who survived her mother. Lord Herbert never acknowledged these children as his, and there are no records of these children in the Wroth family records. <br /><br />Lady Wroth was an accomplished writer-her poetry was noticed as early as 1613. She predated Aphra Behn (c. 1640-c. 1689), who wrote plays, poetry, and other works during the Restoration. (It has been suggested that Lady Wroth may have been Behn’s grandmother through her daughter Katherine, who married twice. I am unable to address this as so little is known of Aphra Behn’s personal history and much is contradictory.) Lady Wroth’s writings addressed themes of love, faithfulness, loyalty, and questions of power and gender. <br /><br />Around 1617-1619, Lady Wroth wrote a play, a romance titled “Love’s Victory” and gave a bound, hand-written copy to Lord Pembroke before their affair ended.* The play was not published. It was, however, performed at Penshurst in 2008, the first professional performance. <br /><br />Her most famous work is “The Countess of Montgomerie’s Urania” for which she was issued a licence to publish July 13, 1621. A lengthy novels, this was her first and only published work and was based extensively on the lives of her family and fellow courtiers, including her affair with the Earl of Pembroke. Considered a forerunner of the modern novel, it also created a huge scandal.* “Mad Madge”, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (an author herself) made fun of it. Edward Denny, the Baron of Witham accused Lady Wroth of slander-he was so angry about it, he wrote scurrilous verses about her in 1623. She ended up withdrawing it from sale by December of 1621. Because of this work, Lady Wroth is considered the first English woman novelist.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/The_Countesse_of_Mountgomeries_Urania_(1621)_title_page.jpg/372px-The_Countesse_of_Mountgomeries_Urania_(1621)_title_page.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="372" height="599" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/The_Countesse_of_Mountgomeries_Urania_(1621)_title_page.jpg/372px-The_Countesse_of_Mountgomeries_Urania_(1621)_title_page.jpg" width="372" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Countesse_of_Mountgomeries_Urania_(1621)_title_page.jpg" target="_blank">The title page of Lady Mary Wroth's The Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 1621</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /><br /> <br /><br />Lady Wroth wrote a sequel to Urania, which hinted at her affair with the Earl of Pembroke and the fact that he fathered her children, but did not publish it. (It was published in 1999, and the manuscript is held at the Newberry Library in Chicago.) <br /><br />Lady Wroth owned a translation of Xenon’s CYROPAEDIA (biography of the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great) which was published in 1632. She also wrote poetry. In “The Countess of Montgomerie’s Urania”, the heroine of her novel wrote sonnets to the hero. Lady Wroth also wrote other poetry. Considered to be one of the first women to write a sonnet sequence, over 200 of her poems are known, and there may be others not yet discovered. <br /><br />After her affair with the Earl of Pembroke ended, Lady Wroth no longer attended court, apparently going into seclusion. She was heavily in debt, and received help more than once from the king to stave off creditors. Another blow came when William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke died in 1630. She died in March of 1651 (or 1653), at age 53. After her death, some of her possessions, including some writings came into her daughter's hands and were preserved.*. Her primary home, Loughton House, which included her library, burned down in the 1800s.</div><div><br /></div><div>*See "The Secret Codes of Lady Wroth, The First Female Novelist" by V.M. Braganza. <br /><br />Sources for Lady Mary Wroth, Author include: <br /><br /><br /> Waller, Gary. THE SIDNEY FAMILY ROMANCE Mary Wroth, William Herbert, and the Early Modern Construction of Gender. 1993: Wayne State University Press, Detroit. <br /><br />Early Modern Women Research Network. “Mary Wroth, Biography.” <a href="http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=wrotma" target="_blank">here</a><br /><br />Goucher College online. “Lady Mary Wroth, The Countess of Montgomerie’s Urania (including “Pamphilia to Amphialanthus”) (1621).” (No author or post date.) <a href="http://faculty.goucher.edu/eng211/lady_mary_wroth.htm" target="_blank">here</a><br /><br />Luminarium.org “Lady Mary Wroth (1587? -1651?)” by John Butler and Anniina Jokinen. (No post date.) <a href="http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/wroth/wrothbio.htm" target="_blank">here</a><br /><br />Orlando Project, Cambridge University. “Lady Mary Wroth Entry.” Overview. <a href="http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=wrotma" target="_blank">here</a><br /><br />Smithsonian Magazine. “The Secret Codes of Lady Wroth, the First Female English Novelist,” by V. M. Braganza, September 2021. [Print version title: “Decoding Lady Wroth”], <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/secret-codes-lady-wroth-first-female-english-novelist-180978365/" target="_blank">here</a><br /><br />The Monstrous Regiment of Women blog. “Mary Sidney Wroth, Pamphielia, Poetry, and Prose,” posted on October 18, 2015 by Sharon L. Jansen. <a href="https://www.monstrousregimentofwomen.com/2015/10/mary-sidney-wroth-pamphilia-poetry-and.html" target="_blank">here</a><br /><br />The Sidney Homepage online. Biography. “Lady Mary Wroth,” by Nandini Das. (No post date.) <a href="https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/wroth/biography.htm" target="_blank">here</a><div><br />University of Saskatchewan, Digital Research Center. “Lady Mary Wroth, Biographical Introduction.” (No author shown.) Revised June 8, 1998, contact person Ron Cooley, Dept. of English. <a href="http://drc.usask.ca/projects/emet/phoenix/wrothbio.htm" target="_blank">here</a><div><br />Wikisource.org DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY, 1885-1900. “Wroth, Mary” by Sidney Lee. <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Wroth,_Mary" target="_blank">here</a><div><br /></div><div> Images</div><div>Lady Mary Wroth (Public domain) <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lady_Mary_Wroth.jpg" target="_blank">here</a></div><div>The Countess of Montgomerie's Urania Title Page (1621) (Creative Commons) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Countesse_of_Mountgomeries_Urania_(1621)_title_page.jpg" target="_blank">here</a><br /><br />An avid reader, Lauren Gilbert was introduced to English authors early in life. Lauren has a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts English with a minor in Art History. She has presented several programs for the Palm Beaches Region of the Jane Austen Society of North America, and recently for the Jane Austen Fest in Mt. Dora, FL. She lives in Florida with her husband. Her most recent novel, A RATIONAL ATTACHMENT, is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and more. She is currently working on a non-fiction book. For more information, visit her website at <a href="http://www.lauren-gilbert.com" target="_blank">here</a> , her Facebook page <a href=" https://tinyurl.com/FBLaurenGilbertAuthor" target="_blank">here</a> and her Amazon page at <a href="https://tinyurl.com/AmazonLaurenGilbertAuthor " target="_blank">here</a>.</div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYHDesRLnYy1wyUchCTg08uGxz8zJDnLi1LsS14TRqXv0Wgma8aRhyVohwYWHovz4BG4ro2q0RoTtXbTkpM5fZaMEkH4GL54rLIm9_Tf1QqsTM1QOPrvxjpG5Sxd9y0BwD-369m7qpI-RZMNAgllj0gIdParolOWG0ZfBqDug0aeSBGPHxnJHUeQ5T=s240" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYHDesRLnYy1wyUchCTg08uGxz8zJDnLi1LsS14TRqXv0Wgma8aRhyVohwYWHovz4BG4ro2q0RoTtXbTkpM5fZaMEkH4GL54rLIm9_Tf1QqsTM1QOPrvxjpG5Sxd9y0BwD-369m7qpI-RZMNAgllj0gIdParolOWG0ZfBqDug0aeSBGPHxnJHUeQ5T" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Lauren Gilberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02938146663557663891noreply@blogger.com0