September in British History

by Karen V. Wasylowski

GIVE US BACK OUR ELEVEN DAYS!!!
Did you know that absolutely nothing happened in Britain from 3 September to 13 September, 1752? It is a fact. Nothing.

The reason is pretty simple. The calendar used during this period was the Julian Calendar, based on a solar year, 365.25 days. Problem was, it ran a little over time and eventually the calendar fell out of line with the seasons.

The solution: Britain decided to dump the Julian Calendar and adopt the more favorable Gregorian Calendar, and September 3 instantly became September 14. Eleven days were gone, eliminated, abolished. People protested in the streets believing their lives would be shortened. They chanted: “Give us our eleven days back!”

SEPTEMBER 24
September 24 was traditionally the start of the Harvest time in Medieval England and a lovely ceremony, a race to harvest, called “Calling the Mare.” As the very last of the crops would be brought in the farmers would hurriedly fashion a straw horse then go to a neighboring farm that was still rushing to finish and throw the straw mare over his hedge. They would taunt “Mare, Mare” and that farmer would gather his final crop and do the same to any other farmer still trying to harvest. The last man to finish had to keep the straw mare all year and have it on display to show he was the slowest of them all.

SEPTEMBER 29
And when the tenauntes come
To paie their quarter's rent,
They bring some fowle at Midsummer
A dish of fish in Lent
At Christmas, a capon,
At Michaelmas, a goose,

And somewhat else at New Yere's tide
For feare the lease flie loose.
--George Gascoine, English poet, 1577

“Michaelmas” is the feast day of St. Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of the sea and boats, horses and horsemen. “Michaelmas Day” is the final day of the Harvest Season, and it was also the first day of the winter night curfew and the church bells would ring once for each night of the year until that point. The bells are still rung to this day in a city called Chertsy from Michaelmas Day, 29 September, to Lady Day, 25 March.

There are traditionally four “quarter days” in a year (Lady Day (25th March), Midsummer (24th June), Michaelmas (29th Spetember) and Christmas (25th December)). They are spaced three months apart, on religious festivals, usually close to the solstices or equinoxes. They were the four dates on which servants were hired, rents due or leases begun. It used to be said that harvest had to be completed by Michaelmas, almost like the marking of the end of the productive season and the beginning of the new cycle of farming. It was the time at which new servants were hired or land was exchanged and debts were paid. This is how it came to be for Michaelmas to be the time for electing magistrates and also the beginning of legal and university terms.

Michaelmas Superstitions
– The devil stomps or spits on bramble bushes so don’t pick Blackberries after Michaelmas.

– Victorians believed trees planted on this day would grow really well

– In Northern England and Ireland if you eat goose this day you will have good luck for the rest of the year.

– In Ireland if you found the ring hidden in the Michaelmas pie you would soon marry.

FIRST MONDAY AFTER SEPTEMBER 4
In a town called Abbotts Bromley in Staffordshire a colorful tradition takes place. Six men carrying long sticks with horns attached to the top march down the street. Two sets of three men each, their horns are painted blue on one team and white on the other and they charge each other as if to fight, then they retreat, people dance, Maid Marion is there also, along with a boy with a bow and arrow, a triangle player, a musician and a Fool.

SEPTEMBER 14
Holy Rood Day – (rood is another name for cross) Children were traditionally freed from school to gather nuts.

OTHER NOTABLE DATES IN HISTORY

September 2 – 6, 1666 – The Great Fire of London
September 7, 1533 - Queen Elizabeth I born
September 9, 1087 - William the Conqueror dies
September 28 - St. Wenceslas Day
September 29, 1758 - Nelson is born


An Editor's Choice from the Archives, originally published September 30, 2011.

British Colonies Circa 1885

British Colonies Circa 1885According to Alden's Atlas of the World

Australasia

AUSTRALASIA.Aws-tral-ā´she-a.

Under this bead are grouped all the Australian colonies belonging to Great Britain. They are seven in number, and geographically are comprised in the continent of Australia and the islands of Tasmania and New Zealand and part of New Guinea. Total area, 3,075,135 square miles. Population, 1883, 3,091,897.

Each colony has a Governor, appointed by the Crown, in whom is vested the executive power. The legislative power of each is vested in a Parliament of two houses.

Minerals abound in all the colonies. The most extensive coal mines are those of New South Wales, the product of which in 1884 was 2,521,457 tons; value, $6,009,705. Gold product of the colony, 1883, 122,256 ounces; value, $1,705,620. Coal product of New Zealand, 1883, 421,764 tons. Gold discovered 1857. Value of total exports to March, 1884, $203,535,370. In Queensland, tin, copper, lead and coal are mined. Value of tin raised, 1883, $2,940,060. Gold discovered 1858. Product, 1882, 230,090 oz.; value, $4,148,275. The chief mineral of South Australia is copper, but valuable iron ores also exist. Value of copper and copper ore, 1883, $1,876,625. Tasmania is rich in iron, tin and coal. Value of tin exported, 1883, $1,882,230. Amount of gold produced, 46,577 oz.; value, $882,210. In 1851 gold was discovered in Victoria. Total product to 1883, 52,214,150 oz.; value, $1,044,283,000. Principal minerals of Western Australia are copper, lead and coal.

Principal agricultural products of the colonies: Wheat product of New South Wales, 1884, 4,345,437 bushels; corn, 4,538,604 bushels; sugar, 35,220,640 lbs.; wine, 589,604 gallons. New Zealand—Wheat, 9,827,136 bushels; oats, 9,231,339 bushels. Leading grain crop of Queensland, corn. Yield of sugar, 1883, 73,534,000 lbs.; cotton, 70,020 lbs. South Australia—Wheat, 14,649,230 bushels; wine, 430,520 gallons. Principal products of Tasmania, grain, hops and fruit; value of green and preserved fruits exported 1883, $881,120. Wheat product of Victoria, 1884, 15,570,245 bushels; oats, 4,717,624 bushels; barley, 1,069,803 bushels; potatoes, 161,088 tons; hay, 433,143 tons.

The following table shows the number of farm animals in the colonies in 1884:

Colonies.	Sheep.	Cattle.	Horses.	Pigs.
New South Wales	34,000,000	1,646,753	326,964	189,050
New Zealand	14,056,266	698,637	161,736	200,083
Queensland	9,308,911	4,266,172	253,116	51,796
South Australia	6,677,067	319,620	184,360
Tasmania	1,831,069	130,525	26,840	55,774
Victoria	10,739,021	1,297,546	286,779	233,525
Western Australia	1,547,061	71,102	37,111

Value of total exports and imports of the colonies, 1883: New South Wales—Exports, $99,430,090; imports, $104,800,785. New Zealand—Exports, $35,479,995; imports, $39,870,190. Queensland—Exports, $26,383,040; imports, $31,166,755. South Australia—Exports, $24,417,305; imports, $31,550,275. Tasmania—Exports, $8,657,995; imports, $9,163,185. Victoria—Exports, $81,994,315; imports, $88,719,230. Western Australia—Exports, $2,235,050; imports, $2,584,230.

In 1883, New South Wales had 1,320 miles of railway, and 597 under construction; New Zealand, 1,486 miles; Queensland, 1,038 miles, and 454 under construction; South Australia, 990.75 miles, and 225 under construction; Tasmania, 167 miles, and 207 under construction; Victoria, 1,562 miles, and 130 under construction; Western Australia, 55 miles, and 68 under construction.

BRITISH HONDURAS.Hon-doo´ras.

A British Colony in Central America. Area, 7,562 square miles. Population, 27,452. Coast low and swampy; land gradually rises; on the inland boundary are hills of from 800 to 1,000 feet high; mountains 4,000 feet high. Sixteen rivers descend from elevated lands. Climate hot and damp; temperature, 1878-79, 75°; rainfall 105.49 inches, unusually heavy.

Government in the hands of Lieutenant Governor, an executive and a Legislative Council. Capital, Belize; pop., 5,767. Soil fertile. Sugar cane is grown; fruits flourish; the staple products, however, are the natural woods of the colony. Annual export of mahogany, 3,000,000 feet; logwood, 15,000 tons; estimated value of fruit exports, $100,000. Total imports, 1883, $1,344,865; exports, $1,514,345. Large trade with neighboring republics.

 JAMAICA.Ja-mā´ka.

An island of the West Indies; formally ceded to Great Britain, in 1670, by the treaty of Madrid; most valuable possession of the British Crown in the West Indies. Area, including the Turks and Caicos Islands, annexed in 1873, 4,362 square miles. Population, 585,536. Surface mountainous. There is a great variety of climate. Temperature in lowlands, 95° at night, 85° in the day; in highlands, 40° to 50°. Produces most of the tropical staples; the rosewood, mahogany and ebony of the island are well known.

Latest reports give 121,457 acres under crops; 120,264 in guinea grass, and 318,549 in pasture. Principal exports: coffee, 9,572,714 lbs.; ginger, 908,603 lbs.; pimento, 6,195,109 lbs.; 29,000 hhds. of sugar; 18,115 puncheons of rum, and 35,157 tons of logwood. Value of fruit exported in same year, $197,255. Total value of imports, 1889, $6,609,810; exports, $7,745,290.

Governor is assisted by a Privy Council and Legislative Council. Kingston, the chief city and port, is the capital; pop., 38,566.

Miles of railway, 25; 60 miles in process of construction. Telegraph stations and post offices in every town and village.

BRITISH GUIANA.Ghe-a´na.

A territory in northeast part of South America. First settled by the Dutch, 1580. Acquired by the British in 1803; formally ceded in 1814. Estimated area, 76,000 square miles. Population, 248,110. Crossed by two great mountain systems. Contains many rivers; largest, Essequibo, 600 miles long, noted for magnificent cataracts. Thermometer rises to 90° in warm weather; falls to 75° in winter season; mean annual average at Georgetown, 81°. Rainfall per year, about 72 inches.

Vegetation is luxuriant. Large sections are covered with valuable forests, which furnish exhaustless supplies of timber, largely used for shipbuilding. Number sugar plantations, 120; coffee estates, 12. Sugar forms 92 per cent. of exports; latest reports give 111,156 hhds. Rum exported, 32,531 puncheons; rum issued for home consumption, 330,392 gals. Export of molasses, 17,084 casks; timber export, 464,436 cubic feet. Total imports, 1882, $10,498,160; exports, $16,043,155.

Government administered by a Governor appointed by British Crown, and a Court of Policy.
Georgetown the capital; pop., 36,562. Number of schools sanctioned by Board of Education, 177; Church of England, 81.

NATAL.Na-tal´.

Previous to 1856, Natal formed part of Cape Colony; in that year it was erected into a separate colony under Great Britain. The government is administered by a Governor, an Executive Council, and a Legislative Council. Estimated area, 21,150 square miles. Pop., 1881, 416,210; white, 28,463; native, 329,253; coolies, 20,196. Principal town, Durban; pop., 16,630. Capital, Pietermaritzburg; pop., 14,231.

Natal

Value of imports, 1883, $8,755,535; exports, $4,158,735. Principal exports: hides, $255,040; ostrich feathers, $72,530; unrefined sugar, $610,420; wool, $2,595,805. Principal imports are manufactured goods and flour. In 1883, 328 vessels, of 232,097 tons, entered, and 326, of 231,892 tons, cleared, the ports. There are 105 miles of railway built, and 120 under construction.

CAPE COLONY.

A colony in South Africa, originally founded by the Dutch, in 1652. Since 1806 controlled by Great Britain. Climate generally dry and salubrious. At Cape of Good Hope, mean annual temperature is placed at about 62°. Average rainfall per year, 24 inches. Total area of Cape Colony, 229,815 square miles. Estimated population, 1,027,168. Capital, Cape Town; pop., 33,239.

The government is administered by a Governor, an Executive and a Legislative Council and House of Assembly. Colonists are employed in agricultural and pastoral pursuits. Ostrich breeding is successfully carried on. Sheep farms often comprise from 8,000 to 15,000 acres and upward. Total cultivated area in 1875, 580,000 acres. Vines occupied 18,000 acres, yielding 4,484,665 gallons of wine. The colony had, in 1875, 1,111,713 head of cattle, 10,976,663 sheep, and 3,065,202 goats. The principal exports from the colony in 1883 were: wool, valued at $8,015,700; ostrich feathers, $4,656,900; grease wool, $1,948,025; hides and skins, $2,180,250; copper ore, $2,270,565; Angora hair, $1,359,020; diamonds, $13,712,350. Total exports in 1883 valued at $22,044,490; total imports, $32,351,955.

Vast majority of the population members of Dutch Reformed church, the Episcopalian ranking next in number. Cape Colony has 1 university and 5 colleges; education not compulsory; 71 per cent. of children who have attained school age are in school.

Army in 1883 consisted of 1,614 officers and men. By a law of 1878, every able-bodied colonist between 18 and 50 years is liable to military service beyond, as well as within, colonial limits. In 1884 the total length of government railway was 1,213 miles; telegraph, 4,031 miles.

INDIA.In´de-a.

An empire of Asia, divided into British territory and feudatory states, acknowledging sovereignty of Great Britain. Richest and most populous dependency of the English Crown. Area, 1,383,504 square miles. Population, 253,906,449.

Government is entrusted to Secretary of State for India; he is aided by a Council of 15 members. Executive authority vested in Governor General, appointed by the British Crown, and a Council of 7 members. Salary of Governor General, $125,000 per year.

Population dense. The density varies from 441 per square mile to 43; the average for all India being 184. Agriculture backward. Means of transportation poor but improving. Eight famines have visited India, and decimated the population of various Provinces. Soil is productive; rice, corn, millet, barley and wheat are grown; cotton, indigo, opium and sugar cane are largely exported.

Large quantities of bullion are imported for the manufacture of ornaments. In 1884, imports of gold, $27,347,280; silver, $37,042,530. Leading imports, 1883-84: cotton manufactures, $125,584,245; metals, $25,909,250; machinery, $8,955,740. Chief exports: raw cotton, $71,806,605; opium, $56,472,300; seeds, $50,450,990; wheat, $44,399,155; rice, $41,816,400. Total imports, 1884, $318,007,480; exports, $445,006,975.

Capital, Calcutta; population, 871,504; 60 towns of over 50,000 inhabitants. Over 19 dialects and languages spoken in the empire.

Number vessels entered Indian ports, 1884, 5,812; cleared, 5,850; number steamships entered by Suez Canal, 1,091; number vessels engaged in interportal trade, 103,503. Miles of railway, 1854, 21; in 1885 there were 10,832; unfinished, 1,823. Miles of telegraph, 21,740; messages, 1,799,179.
Education progressing. Schools, 109,212; scholars, 2,790,783; universities, 3; governmental schools, 15,845; commission of investigation appointed in 1883.

European and native army, 190,476 men. Native states have an army of 349,835 men; 4,237 guns.
 

HONG KONG.

A colony of Great Britain, formerly a part of China. It consists of the Island of Hong Kong, ceded to Great Britain in 1841, and the opposite peninsula of Kow-loon, ceded to Great Britain, 1861. The government is administered by a Governor, aided by an Executive Council. There is also a Legislative Council. The chief city is Victoria. In 1883 the government sustained 87 schools, with 5,597 pupils. The total population of Hong Kong is 160,420, of whom but 7,990 are white persons.

Hong Kong forms the centre of trade for many different kinds of goods. Its commerce is virtually a part of that of China, and is chiefly carried on with Great Britain, the United States and Germany. Of the exports and imports only mercantile estimates are known; these place the former at about $10,000,000, and the latter at $20,000,000. The tea and silk trade of China is largely in the hands of Hong Kong firms. In 1882, 28,668 vessels, of 4,976,233 tons, entered the ports of Hong Kong.

BURMA.Bur´mah.

As a result of the late war with Great Britain, Burma was on Jan. 1, 1886, declared a part of the British Empire. The government is now administered by the Governor General of India, though the country is not yet incorporated with the Indian Empire. The late government was a despotism, dependent on the will of the King. The area is 190,500 square miles. Population estimated to be about 3,000,000. Capital, Mandalay; population, 70,000. Bhamo, on the Chinese frontier, is an important town. Education is in the hands of the priests, but is very general. Buddhism is the prevailing religion.

The country is not so fertile as British Burma; but wheat, corn, rice, pulse, indigo, cotton, tobacco, and a large variety of fruits are grown. The forests produce valuable timber trees in great variety. Minerals abound, but are not generally worked. Petroleum, however, is quite largely produced. Burma possessing no seacoast, the foreign trade is inconsiderable.

 Compiled From Sources In The Public Domain.

Great Britain Circa 1885

British Isles

Great Britain According to Alden's 1885 Atlas of the World

The largest island of Europe, and forming, with Ireland and the adjacent islands, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The union of England and Ireland was effected January 1, 1800.

Area of the kingdom, 120,832 square miles. Pop., 35,241,482. The divisions are: England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Capital, London; pop., 4,766,661. Thirty-five cities have over 75,000 population. Climate is variable but healthful. Average temperature, 50°. Rainfall, London, 25 inches; Glasgow, 21; and Dublin, 29.

Middle-class education is entirely unorganized; no complete, trustworthy statistics are to be had. There were, in 1884, 69 universities and colleges, with 23,823 students. In 1881, there were 1,855 schools of science, with 66,000 students. Number of public libraries, 202. The library of the British Museum has 32 miles of shelves, filled with books. Number of daily papers, 169.

England

Productive area in England is 80 per cent.; in Ireland, 74 per cent.; Scotland, 28.8 per cent.; Wales, 60 per cent. Leading crops in Great Britain, wheat, barley and oats. Acreage, 1884: wheat, 2,676,477; barley, 2,159,485; oats, 2,892,576. In Ireland, oats and potatoes are most important; acreage of former, 1,347,395; of latter, 798,942. Number of acres of flax, 89,197. Orchards of Great Britain cover 180,000 acres, and produce 85,000 tons of apples.

The most important minerals are coal and iron. In 1883, coal product was 163,737,327 tons; value, $230,270,715. Iron ore, 17,383,046 tons; value, $25,611,905. In 1883, 1,724,251 tons of pig iron were used in the manufacture of Bessemer steel, 1,097,174 tons of it being made into steel rails. Over 800 tons of steel are annually consumed in the manufacture of pens, Birmingham alone using 500 tons; the average yearly production is 800,000,000.

Scotland

The annual value of the fisheries is $50,000,000. Herring fishery alone $10,000,000; salmon, $4,000,000; oysters and shell-fish, $10,000,000. Value of the Scotch fisheries alone in 1884 was $16,431,210, the herring fishery alone being $10,267,755. Total value of imports, 1884, $1,948,872,745; exports of home produce, $1,164,537,875; foreign and colonial produce, $312,218,575. Value of corn and flour imported 1882, $338,111,835. Value of cotton manufactures exported was $382,228,785.

There are 2,674 cotton factories, employing 482,903 persons. Total number of all factories, 7,105; number of persons employed, 975,546, of whom 110,585 are children under 13 years of age. Men employed, 38 per cent.; women, 62 per cent. Amount of cotton imported, 1883, 1,734,333,552 lbs.; wool, 495,946,779 lbs.

Standing army in time of peace unlawful without the consent of Parliament; annual appropriation of Commons for support of troops, based on "estimates" made by the Cabinet. For 1884 and 1885, home and colonial effectives and reserves, 644,753.

Ireland

Previous to 1815 there was but little emigration from the United Kingdom; in that year the number was 2,081; in 1830-34, 381,956; 1875, 173,809; 1882, 413,288; and in 1884, 304,074, of whom 203,539 came to the United States.

First railway opened in 1825. In 1883, there were 18,681 miles of railway; 13,215 belonging to England and Wales, 2,964 to Scotland, and 2,502 to Ireland. Number of postoffices, 1884, 15,951; and, in addition, 15,749 road and pillar boxes. There are 27,604 miles of telegraph lines, and 140,498 miles of wire.

The colonies and dependencies of Great Britain have an estimated area of 8,000,000 square miles. Of this vast extent of territory, over 3,500,000 square miles are in America, over 250,000 in Africa, over 1,000,000 in Asia, and 3,000,000 in Australasia.

Compiled From Sources In The Public Domain.

Patriarchy’s Winners and Losers

by Samuel Thomas

When we think about the relationship between men and women in the pre-modern world, the word “patriarchy” often springs to mind. Whether it is a daughter forced into a loveless marriage by her father, a wife beaten by her husband, or a maidservant seduced (or, more accurately, raped) by her master, it seems clear that early modern society favored men over women. The idea that Patriarchy = Men’s domination of women is appealing for a number of reasons – it is clear, uncomplicated, and easily demonstrated from the historical record. (For a historical work that describes in detail the various abuses suffered by women over the course of their lives, see Mendelson and Crawford, Women in Early Modern England.)

While this picture of gender relations is reassuring in its simplicity (we know who the bad guys are), and comforting to view from the present (we know we live in a better time), in recent years historians have offered a much more complicated picture of early modern life. What I’d like to do in this post is lay out some of these findings and ask whether and how they should change the way in which we read and write about the past.

One historian who has blurred the lines of patriarchy is Alexandra Shepard, author of Meanings of Manhood in Early Modern England. Here, Shepard makes the crucial point that the benefits of patriarchy were not enjoyed by all – or even most! – men. Whether they were apprentices, journeymen, servants, or students, the vast majority of men lived and worked under the authority of a patriarchal figure. Servants and apprentices had virtually no autonomy, few legal rights, and were frequently beaten by their masters. Students fared no better – at Cambridge University, students under the age of eighteen who violated college rules were thrashed on a weekly basis in front of the entire student body. The profits of patriarchy would certainly have seemed elusive in the midst of such humiliating treatment.