THE B
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H ITIS
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WHO IS BRITAIN’S GREATEST QUEEN? W
BRINGING THE PAST TO LIFE ISSUE 20 // SEPTEMBER 2015 // £4.50
THE BLITZ
PLUS WHAT MAKES BULLDOGS BRITISH? CAN ANYONE BECOME PRIME MINISTER? OWAIN GLYNDWR LINDISFARNE
How Britain kept calm and carried on
The scientists, The scientists, innovators innovators and and engineers engineers who who created created a revolution revolution
IRONCLADS Ba Battleships in the American Civil War A
MASSACRE AT THE GENGHIS KHAN MUNICH OLYMPICS History’s ultimatee 1972’s terror games
empire builder
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FROM THE EDITOR
Welcome
ON THE COVER: ALAMY X4, ART ARCHIVE X1, BRIDGEMAN IMAGES X1, GETTY X9, TOPFOTO X1 - CHRISSTOCKERDESIGN.CO.UK
History Revealed’s HQ in Bristol is surrounded by evidence of the way the world was transformed in the reign of Queen Victoria. Brunel’s triumphs are the most obvious, with the Clifton Suspension Bridge being one of the city’s proudest attractions. His railway connected Bristol to London in the east, and ships such as the SS Great Britain n – today an award-winning museum in the harbour – joined Britain to America a in the west. And the Victorians revolutionised not just our transportation, but also science, medicine, communication and how we viewed the world. The journey begins on page 26. We decided to continue the celebration of all things British h elsewhere this issue. To mark the Queen becoming our longest-reigning monarch h when she passes her great-great-grandmother Victoria’s record on 9 September, we take a look back through history and ask ‘who is our greatest-ever queen?’ (p69 ( 9. There’s a whole bunch more British history too, just look for the Union flag. We also look back on events around the globe. From Mongolia, we meet Genghis Khan, a controversial
GET INVOLVED Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/ HistoryRevealed Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ HistoryRevMag Email us: haveyoursay@ historyrevealed.com Or post: Have Your Say, History Revealed, d Immediate Media, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN
Great Victorians (L-R): Michael Faraday, Queen Victoria, Isam bard Kingdom Brunel, Florence Nigh tingale and Charles Darwin
character to say the least and one of history’s ultimate empire builders (p77 ( 7. The American Civil Warr provides a defining moment in naval combat history ((p62 2, and, more recently, we remember the tragic massacre of athletes at the 1972 Olympics y ( . (p16 Be sure to write and tell us what you think of the issue!
Paul McGuinnes ss Editor
Don’t miss our October issue, on sale 17 September
GET YOUR DIGITAL COPY Digital versions of History Revealed d are available for iOS, Kindle Fire, PC and Mac. Visit iTunes, Amazon or zinio.com to find out more.
ON THE COVER Your key to the big stories… 69
86
54
86 22
THIS MONTH WE’VE LEARNED...
437
The number of bombers that raided Coventry in one night during the Blitz. See page 54.
1,000
The number of horses that reputedly rode over the site of Genghis Khan’s tomb, in order to remove any physical evidence of its whereabouts. See page 77.
26 90
26
Albert Einstein’s age in his ‘miracle year’, which saw the birth of his famous E=mc2 formula. See page 20.
62
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77 SEPTEMBER 2015
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Go rainbow spotting at Lindisfarne Priory’s Rainbow Arch
THE VICTORIANS The age of invention and discovery that shaped the world
ALAMY X3, GETTY X5, TOPFOTO X1, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS X1
69
Who will be crowned Britain’s greatest queen?
TIME CAPSULE
THE BIG STORY
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY…
COVER STORY
Snapshots
THE VICTORIANS
The legacy of this age of progress can still be seen in all walks of life today ..p26
Take a look at the big picture .......................... p8
Need to Know
I Read the News Today
The 19th century was a period of great names and greater deeds................p28
September, through the ages ....................... p14 COVER STORY
Yesterday’s Papers
Massacre at the Munich Olympics .......... p16
Timeline Trace the major events of Victoria’s 63-year reign that changed the world.... p38
The birth of the Metropolitan Police.... p18
All the World Under One Roof
What Happened Next…
A walk through weird and wonderful items at the Great Exhibition................................p41
Graphic History
Einstein enjoys a ‘miracle year’ ..................... p20 COVER STORY
The Extraordinary Tale of…
Welsh legend, Owain Glyndwr ................... p22
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HISTORYEXTRA.COM
is – how the Great Gengh r gave rio ar w Mongol ighty empire birth to a m
Get Hooked Continue your personal age of discovery with these places, books and films.......... p46
FEATURES DIGGING INTO HISTORY Great Adventures: the Voyage of the Batavia A murderous mutiny led by a madman .. p48 COVER STORY
In Pictures: the Blitz
When the people of Britain kept calm and carried on ................................................. p54
Battlefield: Hampton Roads Clash of the Ironclads.....................p62 COVER STORY
Who is Britain’s Greatest Queen? The women COVER STORY
who have worn the crown ..................................... p69
History Makers: Genghis Khan A military genius who built an COVER STORY
empire on the bodies of millions................... p77
Move over Iron Man, the Ironclad ships of the American Civil War are here
14
Thunderbirds are go! T 50 years of International In Rescue
54
The bloodies t mutiny in history on th e edge of the known w orld
Find shelter! Follow the story of the Blitz
SEPTEMBER 2015
BRITISH SPECIAL Q&A COVER STORY
Ask the Experts
HERE & NOW On our Radar Our pick of what’s on this month .......... p88 COVER STORY
Britain’s Treasures
Your Britain-themed questions answered by our panel of experts .........p82
Lindisfarne Priory ........................................................p90
In a Nutshell
Past Lives
Who are the British?.................................................p85
Surviving the Zeppelin raids of 1915....p92
What’s the significance of the Bulldog? (p86); Have the British always been heavy drinkers? d (p87)
Bo ooks Ne ew releases plus read up on food..... p94
EVERY ISSUE E Letters ....................................................................... p6 Crossword ............................................... p96 Next Issue.............................................p97 A-Z of History ....................... p98
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HAVE YOUR SAY
READERS’ LETTERS Get in touch – share your opinions on history and our magazine
CHECK THE PHOTOGRAPH Pages 20 and 21 of the latest issue (What Happened Next? August 2015 show what is widely believed to be the first permanent photograph of a man. He appears to be having his boots polished, and was thus captured by Louis Daguerre’s long exposure on a sensitised silver plate.
people seated at a table. I like to think they may have been playing chess. I wonder if anyone else has noticed or studied this? OF THE Dave Hamer, Nebraska, USA
LETTER MONTH
Editor replies: It certainly does look like there could be a couple sat at a table,
“There appears to be two more people… I like to think they may have been playing chess.” This image is well-known in the photographic world but, looking a bit to the right, there appears to be two more
Just reading your feature on The Wars of the Roses (The Big Story, August 2015), takes me back to last year when I wrote my final year history dissertation on Richard III Elizabeth Farnell
BATTLESHIPS A good article (Top 10 Ships, July 2015, I suspect every reader has their own particular take on what makes a ship a part of history. My own thoughts are with the ‘Dreadnought’ class
you’re quite right. Whether they’re playing chess, gazing into each other’s eyes, or watching the gentleman having his shoes
battleships. While the Arizona and Bismarck k are iconic for different ff reasons, both have met tragic ends, one as a result of a surprise attack, the other from action against ships of similar class. If I had to pick a ship from that class, I would have to go for HMS Warspite, active from Jutland in 1916 to the bombardment of Walcheren in November 1944. By then, the grand old lady of the Royal
PERSONS OF INTEREST Has Dave spotted two new characters in this old image?
shined, we’ll never know – which only serves to make this an even more fascinating photograph! Dave wins a copy of Fatal Charge at Gallipoli, by John Hamilton, published by Pen and Sword, worth £25. This book tells the story of the brave-yet-futile actions of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade during World War I’s Dardanelles Campaign.
Navy was running on three shafts, her X turret was out of action, and had a huge concrete caisson in her bottom. I think I’m right in saying she saw more battles than any other battleship. I think it’s to Britain’s lasting regret that none of these magnificent ships was kept for the nation. William Haydon, Hampshire
ROCK THE BOAT I have to smile at certain egocentrisms... In a list of the ten ships that made the most waves (Top 10, July 2015, four were English. If you add those of its sister country, the US, it raises the total to six AngloAmerican ‘tubs’. I would have liked to have seen La Pinta,
TALKING POINT Our round-up of history’s greatest-ever ships sparked plenty of debate
the caravel from which the American continent was first spotted when the Spanish successfully re-established a bridge between the transatlantic continents. You are asking for “the biggest waves”? That may have been the biggest wave inside this group. Henry E Lares, via email I can’t get enough, I just love these magazines!! Best part of the month!! #happy @ClaireHac
ROOM FOR MORE? Further to your Top 10 ships that sailed into history (July 2015, there are quite a few that you could have added. Namely, the Monitor and Merrimack k [later CSS Virginia], the first two ironclads to go head-to-head in a battle; the USS Constitution; the Bounty, made famous by Captain Bligh;
the Ark Royall from World War II, which was reported as sunk by the German propaganda but kept popping up; the Golden Hind, the Graf Spee, the Prince of Wales and I am sure th here are many more. Tony Denman, via email
I really love this magazine. I am a volunteer tour guide in a group of historic buildings in Kings Norton, Birmingham, called ‘Saint Nicolas Place’. They won the ‘Restoration’ TV programme In 2004. I love to buy the magazine as I may be able to learn something that will help with my tour, I was particularly interested in the article on ‘Tudor buildings’ in the April edition. So the magazine is helpful to me as well as being really interesting to read. Pat Taylor
LOOK SHARP I am astonished - and saddened - to read an article on the abolition of the slave trade (The Reel Story, July 2015 in your most interesting magazine, only to find absolutely no mention at all of the tireless abolitionist Granville Sharp. He was acknowledged, even by Wilberforce, as the “father of the movement”. Sharp was Wilberforce’s mentor. As early as 1772, Sharp brought a test case – the “negro Somerset” – before the Courts and it was decided by Lord Mansfield in the name of the whole bench that “as soon as a slave sets foot on the soil of the British islands he becomes free”. An astounding verdict!
FO ORGOTTEN HERO AB BOVE: For one reader, William Wilberforce has, W un njustly, stolen the show LE EFT: Granville Sharp tends to o an ill-treated slave
rea al story of Amazing Grace e– wh hich revolves entirely around Wilberforce – there simply wasn’t W the room. We’ll just have to cover the anti-slavery movement in Brritain a lot more in future issues. In 1787, a committee was formed under the presidency of Granville Sharp, for the “abolition of the slave trade” and, after 20 years of labour, this object was affected. ff The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed in 1807, although slaves were not emancipated in the British colonies until 1840. Surely it is time to give the recognition and credit for the successful anti-slavery movement in Britain to this humble man, Granville Sharp, as well as to his associate, Thomas Clarkson, the real movers and shakers behind the abolition of slavery in Britain. William Wilberforce certainly played his part as a front-man, but the full credit should not be given to him and his and his family’s self-promotion. Susan Prowse Tako, via email Writer Jonny Wilkes replies: You’re absolutely right that the achievements of Granville Sharp, as well as many other men and women, have been overshadowed by the legacy of William Wilberforce. The memoir written by Wilberforce’s sons successfully bolstered his efforts, while undermining others. We would have liked to explore the vital work of others further but, as the feature focused on the
Hedy Lamarr’s inventions have had far greater long-term impact than her acting (Extraordinary Tale, August 2015). The fact that she lead such a turbulent and scandalous life makes her achievements all the more remarkable. A lady with both brains and beauty whose influence on technology, both military and domestic, should be far more widely known. Gabby Cancello
ARE YOU A WINNER? The lucky winners of the crossword from issue 18 are: Rebecca Honeywell, Gloucester Linda Randall, Buckinghamshire Craig Jenkins, Hampshire Congratulations! You have each won a copy of Fighter Pilot by Helen Doe, worth £25. To tackle this month’s crossword turn to page 96.
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ART Art Editor Sheu-Kuei Ho Picture Editor Rosie McPherson Illustrators Dawn Cooper, Rachel Dickens, Chris Stocker, TIDY Designs CONTRIBUTORS & EXPERTS Jon Bauckham, Florence Belbin, Paul Bloomfield, Emily Brand, Emily Bright, Lottie Goldfinch, Julian Humphrys, Greg Jenner, Pat Kinsella, Sandra Lawrence, Jonathan Meakin, Jim Parsons, Kirsty Ralston, Miles Russell, Richard Smyth, Nige Tassell, Sue Wingrove PRESS & PR Communications Manager Dominic Lobley 0207 150 5015 [emailprotected] CIRCULATION Circulation Manager Helen Seymour ADVERTISING & MARKETING Senior Advertisem*nt Manager Steve Grigg [emailprotected] Advertisem*nt Manager Lucy Moakes 0117 314 7426 [emailprotected] Brand Sales Executive Sam Evanson 0117 314 8841 [emailprotected] Subscriptions Director Jacky Perales-Morris Marketing Executive Natalie Medler PRODUCTION Production Director Sarah Powell Production Co-ordinator Emily Mounter Ad Co-ordinator Jade O’Halloran Ad Designer Rachel Shircore Reprographics Rob Fletcher, Tony Hunt, Chris Sutch PUBLISHING Publisher David Musgrove Publishing Director Andy Healy Managing Director Andy Marshall Chairman Stephen Alexander Deputy Chairman Peter Phippen CEO Tom Bureau Basic annual subscription rates UK £51.87 Eire/Europe £56.25 ROW £58 © Immediate Media Company Bristol 2015. All rights reserved. No part of History Revealed d may be reproduced in any form or by any means either wholly or in part, without prior written permission of the publisher. Not to be resold, lent, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade at more than the recommended retail price or in mutilated condition. Printed in the UK by William Gibbons Ltd. The publisher, editor and authors accept no responsibility in respect of any products, goods or services which may be advertised or referred to in this issue or for any errors, omissions, misstatements or mistakes in any such advertisem*nts or references.
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Editor replies: Thanks to all of you who wrote and emailed in to suggest ships after our recent top 10 article. As you can imagine, the debate in the office over which boats to include was heated, and many of those you’ve e nominated were battling for inclusion. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the feature about two of them on page 62 of this issue!
EDITORIAL Editor Paul McGuinness [emailprotected] Production Editor Mel Sherwood [emailprotected] Staff Writer Jonny Wilkes [emailprotected]
SEPTEMBER 2015
7
TIME CAPSULE THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
SNAPSHOT
1877 OBELISK AFLOAT
GETTY
A huge, peculiar, iron capsule is launched from the shore of Alexandria, Egypt, on 21 September 1877. Inside is an ancient – and very heavy – treasure: the 21-metre-long, 224-tonne obelisk known to us today as Cleopatra’s Needle. The monolith, carved with intricate hieroglyphs, had stood in what’s now Cairo since about 1450 BC. It had been presented to the British government by Egypt’s ruler, Muhammed Ali, in either 1819 or 1820 – but it was nearly 60 years before it was encased in iron and towed to London, where it now looms over the Victoria Embankment.
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HISTORYEXTRA.COM
TIME CAPSULE SEPTEMBER
SNAPSHOT
1952 WHAT A PANE
SEPTEMBER 2015
PRESS ASSOCIATION
No, these men aren’t waving for the camera, nor are they surrendering. It just takes this many workers to hold in place and install a vast plate-glass window at an office in Piccadilly, London. Needless to say, safely moving such gigantic glass panes could cause a logistical headache. When a similarly sized window was built for the Festival of Britain in 1950, it had to be transported from Sheffield to London at a speed of 8mph – the 160-mile journey took five days.
11
TIME CAPSULE SEPTEMBER
SNAPSHOT
1937 BASKET CASES
GETTY
At the annual Borough Market sports day at Herne Hill, London, competitors prepare (some more successfully than others) for the most popular race: basket carrying. For years, market sellers moved their wares in as many baskets as they could balance on their bonces, so someone used their head and made it a spectator sport. It wasn’t just a matter of pride either. Waiting for the winner of the 1937 race was the prize of a new suit, overcoat and an inscribed gold watch, to be presented by a star who used to live in the area, silent-movie legend Charlie Chaplin.
SEPTEMBER 2015
13
TIME CAPSULE SEPTEMBER FINDING A NAME Gerry Anderson got the title from his brother Lionel, who was in the RAF during World War II. In a letter, he referred to the Thunderbird Field base in Arizona near where he was stationed, and later killed in action.
“I READ THE NEWS TODAY...” Weird and wonderful, it all happened in September HUXLEY AND ORWELL’S PAST
1917 BEFORE THE DYSTOPIAN FUTURES Fifteen years before publishing his dystopian magnum opus Brave New World, former student Aldous Huxley (pictured) was hired as Eton College’s new French tutor. In a bizarre coincidence (or was it serendipity?), he spent that year teaching Eric Blair, who would achieve great fame with another bleak futuristic novel, 1984 under the name George Orwell. 1984, Orwell
5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
1965 50 YEARS OF THUNDERBIRDS With their rockets, submarines and space stations, the Tracy family has been saving the world, and thrilling generations, for 50 years, from the first time the immortal words, “Thunderbirds are go!” were broadcast on 30 September 1965. The sci-fi series, created by British TV producers Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, used an innovative puppetry technique known as ‘supermarionation’ to bring the missions of Jeff Tracy’s International Rescue to life across 32 episodes and two tw feature films.
D STORY S RY Y HALF-BAKED MARBLE MASTERPIECE
1504 THE LONG WAIT FOR ‘DAVID’
14
The unveiling of the ‘David’ statue – by the great Renaissance artist Michelangelo – on 8 September 1504, was a long time coming. A marble of the Biblical hero had been commissioned to a different sculptor 40 years earlier, but he never got beyond the early chiselling. ‘David’ went neglected for decades until a 20-something Michelangelo asked for the contract. Nearly three years later, ‘David’ was placed at the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, purposely positioned so his stern gaze was fixed towards the neighbouring state of Rome as a warning.
1683 CREATION RE EATION OF THE CROISSANT? RO OISSANT? The Holy Roman man city of Vienna was besieged for en the e invading Ottoman army was months when eptem eptember 1683. Attempts to defeated on 12 Se September tunnel into the city ty had been thwarted th by a ng and raised group of bakers, who heard digging the alarm. To celebrate ebrate the victory, those bakers akers cial treat. It was a buttery pastry cooked up a special e crescent moon of the Ottoman in the shape of the flag – the first croissant. oissant Now, Now it may sound too good a story to be true, and it almost certainly is, but that didn’t stop the croissant being banned by some Islamic groups in the following centuries.
TRAGEDY ON THE TRACKS
1830 ON THE LINE Boasting hundreds of guests and a procession of train carriages, the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was meant to be a grand event on 15 September 1830. Yet, it became a “lamentable accident” when William Huskisson, MP for Liverpool, ended up on the tracks with Stephenson’s Rocket steaming towards him. Huskisson’s legs were crushed and, despite George Stephenson himself driving the politician to a nearby town for care, he succumbed hours later.
“…OH “ OH BOY” The key September events that changed the world SEPTEMBER S E 490 BC WIINNING A MARATHON Perrsia’s invasion of Greece is undone with an Athenian victory at Marathon.
4 SEPTEMBER S AD 476 RO OME FALLS IN A DAY Rom mulus Augustulus’ overthrow marks the e end of the Western Roman Empire.
CLAMP DOWN ON FIRST DRINK DRIVER
2 SEPTEMBER S 1666 GR REAT BALLS OF FIRE
1897 TIPSY TAXI
The e devastating Great Fire of London, which lasts four days, begins in a bakery.
Just before 1am on 10 September 1897, London taxi driver George Smith was stopped by a policeman when his electric cab was seen swerving across the road at a reckless 8mph. After questioning, he was fined 20 shillings, and so became the first person to be charged with driving while drunk. “Motor-car drivers ought to be very careful”, he was warned, “the police have a very happy knack of stopping a runaway horse, but to stop a motor is a very different thing.”
14 SEPTEMBER 1752 FR ROM JULIAN TO GREGORY Acrross the British Empire, the Gregorian cale endar replaces the Julian system.
22 SEPTEMBER 1862 FR REEING THE SLAVES Pre esident Abraham Lincoln issues the initial Emancipation Proclamation.
19 SEPTEMBER 1893 TH HE START OF SUFFRAGE New w Zealand becomes the first country where all women have the right to vote.
30 SEPTEMBER 1954 NU UKES GO UNDERWATER
EDDIE’S E DDIE’S END
It is tho tha ught b stag t Edwar y some his ed, a d’s die fo nd he murder torians r a fe didn’t was wm ore y actually ears .
11327 327 P-P-P-POKER FAC E POKER FACE Po Poor P oor Edward II. Not only y did he face he face constant oppositi opposition ion in n his his 20-year rule, but he was d deposed eposed in 1326 when Eng England land was wa w as invaded – by his wife and an nd h he er lo over. Following a year’s her lover. imprisonment, im mprisonment, Edward was executed e xecuted in September 1327 1327, 7, and a nd rumours soon spread that th hat h e met his gruesome end w he with ith a red-hot pokerr up his backside. re backsid de.
ART ARCHIVE X1, BRIDGEMAN IMAGES X1, GETTY X3, ISTOCK X3
USS S Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear sub bmarine, is commissioned.
AND FINALLY... When the English ship Merchant Royal sank on 23 September 1641, off the coast of Cornwall, it took with it a vast fortune. The gold, silver and jewels in the holds are thought to be worth billions today.
SEPTEMBER 2015
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TIME CAPSULE SEPTEMBER
OLYMPIC CHAOS
JOHN FROST NEWSPAPERS X1, PRESS ASSOCIATION X2
The siege caused panic in the Olympic village. Fearing reprisals, the Egyptian team flew home and the Jewish American swimmer Mark Spitz, already laden with seven golds, was also swiftly flown out.
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HISTORYEXTRA.COM
YESTERDAY’S PAPERS On 6 September 1972, the papers report the horror of the Munich Olympics massacre
KILLED IN CROSSFIRE The hostages were taken to the airport in helicopters as the terrorists attempted to flee Germany. The police opened fire, causing a heated gun battle and a terrorist to set off a grenade. When it was over, all nine hostages were dead.
or its West German organisers, the 1972 Olympic Games represented a chance to stage an upbeat event that would shake off ff memories of 1936 and the notoriously stage-managed Berlin Games. In the event’s second week, that hope lay in tatters. In the early hours of 5 September, eight tracksuit-clad Palestinian terrorists broke into the Israeli area of the athletes’ village and took 11 athletes and coaches hostage. Two Israelis, who tried to fend off ff their attackers, were shot shortly after. The hostage-takers’ demand: the release of 234 imprisoned Palestinians. After the Israeli government outrightly refused to negotiate, and the terrorists – or ‘Black September’ group – rejected offers ff of unlimited money, a tense stalemate emerged. With the world’s media gathered for the Games, the siege was broadcast across the globe – including to the terrorists, who were able to watch every attempt by German police to enter the building on television. There were moments of hope; hostages were brought forward to speak at the window and officials even entered the apartment where they were held in an attempt to negotiate. But it was for naught. After 18 hours and several bungled efforts ff to intercept the terrorists, a shoot-out at a nearby airport left the nine hostages, one policeman and five Black Septemberists dead. “Our worst fears have been realised tonight... They’re all gone,” reported American sports reporter, Jim McKay. As for the remaining three terrorists, they had been captured, but were released just weeks later on the demands of the Palestinian hijackers of a Lufthansa airliner. d
SHOW GOES ON Despite demonstrations calling for the immediate cancellation of the Games, events were recommenced only hours after the massacre.
CRISIS POINTS ABOVE: Several hostages died when a grenade was set off by one of the terrorists in a helicopter RIGHT: During the crisis, protestors demanded the Games to stop
1972 ALSO IN THE NEWS… 1 SEPTEMBER In the most widely reported chess championships ever, American Bobby Fischer wins the title from Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in a sporting Cold War match-up.
4 SEPTEMBER A gang of art thieves makes off with 18 paintings, including a Rembrandt, from Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The multi-million dollar crime has never been solved.
17 SEPTEMBER M*A*S*H, a darkly comic series following doctors in the Korean War, premieres. Over its 11-year run, it becomes one of the most popular shows on American television.
SEPTEMBER 2015
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TIME CAPSULE SEPTEMBER
GRAPHIC HISTORY
FOUNDING FATHER
The birth of the Metropolitan Police Force
Name Sir Robert Peel Lived 1788-1850 Nickname ‘The father of modern policing’
Bio The son of a mill owner,
1829 MET POLICE ACT IS PASSED
Peel went to Oxford University before entering politics. As Home Secretary, he reformed the prison service and criminal law, reducing the number of crimes punishable by death. In 1829, he established the Metropolitan Police Force, whose ethic of ‘policing by consent’ remains the model for law enforcement around the world.
On 29 September 1829, the first Metropolitan Police Act took effect and London gained a new law enforcement institution. But how did the officers cope with the capital’s deep-rooted crime problems?
1829tan
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1830
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SIZE OF THE FORCE
1,011
OFFICER NUMBERS 1830
TOP NICKNAMES BOBBIES AND PEELERS After Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the Force
1849
The proportion of officers sacked, many for corruption, by 1833
5,551
1852
THE OLD BILL Theories abound, with pre-Met and post-WWII stories ringing true
1855
5,652
1862
1899
16,000 - 16,000
- 15,000
- 14,000
NUMBERS OF OFFICERS
- 13,000
- 12,000
- 11,000
- 10,000
- 9,000
- 8,000
- 7,000
- 6,000
- 5,000
- 4,000
- 3,000
TIDY DESIGNS AND RACHEL DICKENS
13,319
- 2,000
HISTORYEXTRA.COM
1885
London’s first police boxes were placed in Richmond and Wood Green on a trial basis in 1929
- 1,000
18
7,112
-0
ROZZERS A term for a co*ckney copper from around the 1880s
7,000
POLICE BOX
PC PLOD Inspired by their perceived heavy gaits
COPPERS, COPS Likely from ‘to cop’ – to seize
Two bloodhounds were used on the Jack the Ripper case in 1888 – the Met’s first-known police dogs
1851
THE FUZZ Born in twenties America, its meaning remains a mystery
FLAT FOOT Because they walk so much
BITE OUT OF CRIME
5,493
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THE BOYS IN BLUE A nod to the hue of their uniform
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TIME CAPSULE SEPTEMBER MARRIAGE MANIFESTO In 1914, realising his marriage was breaking down, Einstein wrote Mileva a set of instructions so they could stay together for their children’s sake. “You will stop talking to me if I request it,” the manifesto read, as well as demanding three meals, clean clothes and a neat desk.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? How a humble clerk became one of the 20th century’s most influential scientists
1905 ALBERT EINSTEIN REVEALS HIS THEORIES TO THE SCIENCE WORLD In his ‘annus mirabilis’, an unknown physicist publishes revolutionary discoveries, allowing science to make countless great leaps forward...
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he start of 1905 saw Albert Einstein working as a clerk in the Swiss patent office in Bern. Unemployed and broke, he had been grateful to get the job in 1902, as the small-butsteady income had allowed him to marry Mileva Marić, a physics student from Serbia whom he met at college. Einstein was himself brilliant at physics, but his lax attitude to work and his tendency not to show up for classes had not endeared him to his college professors. So after his graduation, with poor references, he was turned down for every academic post he had applied for. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. His job as a clerk gave Einstein time to think physics and quietly formulate several theories. To have one published in Annalen der Physik, the world’s foremost physics journal, would have been a great achievement but in 1905, the 26-year-old Einstein had four in print. Those publications changed everything, both for him and the scientific world. PHYSICS IN PRINT His work on the photoelectric effect, ff in which he applied the quantum theory to light, was published in June, followed in July by a paper on Brownian
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motion, providing experimental proof of the existence of atoms. But it was in September that his now-famous work on special relativity was printed. And he was not even finished. He followed his fundamental findings concerning space and time with a paper enhancing the theory with the equation, E=mc². In these four papers, Einstein addressed the most important and complex questions of the era. Einstein’s year, dubbed ‘annus mirabilis’ (miracle year), has gone down in history as a feat of unprecedented scientific creativity that revised notions of space, time, mass and energy, and set the stage for modern physics. ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER His work, however, received little acclaim at first. He needed the attention of physicist Max Planck, the founder of quantum theory, before receiving due recognition. From then, his prestige and career blossomed. He held academic posts in Europe, and created his general theory of relativity. Yet, despite the years of brilliant research that followed, it seems fitting that, in 1921, Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize not for his work on relativity, but for the very first of his 1905 papers. d
COMING TO AMERICA In the early thirties, Einstein fled Germany, fearing for his life from Nazi aggression. He settled in the United States in 1933, and soon took up a post at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC C ABOVE: A family y photo from 1905 5 of Albert Einstein n and his wife e Mileva, who he e married in 1903 3 RIGHT: The e esteemed physicist gives his inaugura al lecture at Princeton n University in 1933 3
EXPLOSIVE EQUATION E=mc² was instrumental in the development of atomic weapons. Although he regretted this deeply, Einstein was persuaded to write a letter to President Roosevelt in 1939, implying that the US needs to build such bombs in case Adolf Hitler did the same.
MIRACLE MAN MAIN: Einstein was only 26 at the time of his miracle year FAR LEFT: A copy of the journal with his theory of special relativity LEFT: The world-famous equation, in Einstein’s own handwriting
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TIME CAPSULE SEPTEMBER THE TUDOR TREATMENT
THE EXTRAORDINARY TALE OF…
The reputation of Glyndwr within England improved during the Tudor dynasty. He appears in William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 as an exotic, wild character who claims to use magic.
The last native-born Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndwr
1400 WELSH NOBLE DEFIES ENGLISH AND IS PROCLAIMED PRINCE What began as a land dispute between neighbouring rivals escalated into a decade-long rebellion to end English rule in Wales
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ince Wales was violently conquered in 1283, the Welsh had waited for one of their own to rise up and throw off ff English rule. This need was never more desperate than at the end of the 14th century, when the sympathetic and admired King Richard II was deposed, being replaced by the strict, unyielding Henry IV, who wasted no time in insulting the Welsh by naming his son Hal as Prince of Wales. Many believed Owain Glyndwr, a beloved noble of excellent Welsh heritage, could be the nation’s hero, although it was more hope than expectation. He had been raised by an Englishman on the death of his father, trained in law in London and fought for the English against the Scots. Glyndwr had no call to rebel – but within just a few months in 1400, he had renounced his trust in the English, raised an army and was fighting for an independent Wales.
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THREATENING ENGLAND At the start of the year, Glyndwr, who was approaching 50, was
leading a comfortable life in north-east Wales, alongside his wife and some ten children. Yet his neighbour and rival, the vindictive Baron Grey de Ruthin, had been empowered by Henry IV’s new regime. He seized chunks of Glyndwr’s land and spread rumours that the Welshman was a dangerous traitor. Glyndwr, having studied at the Inns of Court, petitioned Parliament but was ignored. His hatred of Grey de Ruthin mixed with a rebellious mood in Wales, directing Glyndwr to his monumental decision, on 16 September, to be proclaimed Prince of Wales. This was a direct threat to England and two days later, Glyndwr proved he was serious. He destroyed Grey de Ruthin’s castle, before capturing several English-controlled towns. On hearing this while leading his army to Scotland, Henry immediately turned around, but attempts to invade Wales were scuppered by terrible weather. What’s more, Glyndwr skilfully avoided meeting superior English armies in pitched battle by
“Hardy and valiant, the best of Britons... a tall, handsome, accomplished gentleman.” A description of Owain Glyndwr from a poem by Iolo Goch, a Welsh bard at the time of the rebellion
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hiding out in the mountains and launching guerrilla raids. For the next few years, Glyndwr’s rebellion enjoyed success after success, including the capture of Grey de Ruthin and a superb military stroke at the Battle of Bryn Glas in 1402, where English noble Edmund Mortimer was taken prisoner. In a savvy political move, Glyndwr arranged the marriage of his daughter to Mortimer, who had a strong claim to the English throne. In retaliation, Henry passed a series of draconian laws against the Welsh, but these only bolstered Glyndwr’s forces. There were reports of Welshmen in England, including students from Oxford University, racing back to take up arms under Glyndwr’s red-andyellow banner. RADICAL REFORMS The year 1404 was the peak off Glyndwr’s uprising. A French h force had landed to join him, he h captured the strategic castles of o
Whe en a comet was e ob bserved in 1402 b –d depicted in this c14 485 manuscript 4 – it was seen as a go ood sign by the o Welsh forces
HEAVENLY POWERS As well as comets being portents of imminent victories, a rumour spread that Glyndwr had mystical powers over the elements. It started as multiple English invasions of Wales failed due to storms – King Henry IV was once almost washed away in his tent due to rain.
FRENCH ALLIANCE Glyndwr attached his seal to a 1406 letter for the French King, Charles VI, appealing for aid. In the ‘Pennal letter’, he offered to switch Welsh allegiance from the Pope in Rome to the Pope in Avignon, but Charles never replied.
WELSH WARRIOR ABOVE: Owain Glyndwr almost succeeded in driving the English out of Wales LEFT: A replica of Glyndwr’s partially damaged seal, depicting him as a kingly figure
Aberystwyth and Harlech, and he held his inaugural parliament (where he was officially crowned Prince). There, he announced his radical plans for an independent Wales, with a separate church, two universities and traditional Welsh laws. With most of the country in his control, these aims were more than fanciful. Many believed Glyndwr could drive the English out of Wales for good. Glyndwr hoped his one last major victory would come with the ‘Tripartite Indenture’ – a 1405 agreement with Mortimer and Henry Percy (who had changed allegiance from the King) to divide England and Wales into three. If this extraordinary arrangement had happened, Glyndwr would have been in power of huge tracts of land, much bigger than modernday Wales, but it was not to be. Some demoralising defeats at the hand of Hal (later Henry V), the withdrawal of French troops and the loss of allies and strongholds saw momentum eventually shift from Glyndwr to the English. WELSH HERO Percy died in 1408 – and his son, Henry ‘Hotspur’, had been killed in a foolhardy charge against
the King’s forces at Shrewsbury years earlier – while Mortimer perished in the eight-month siege of Harlech the following year. It was when this castle was lost that Glyndwr’s wife and two of his daughters were captured, and taken to the Tower of London to join one of his already imprisoned sons. Not one of them lived to see freedom again. With the English squeezing the Welsh with economic blockades, exacerbated by starvation across the country, the will to keep fighting disintegrated. It would take decades for Wales to recover, and much longer for Welsh reputations in England to be established once again. As for Glyndwr, he disappeared into the Welsh countryside that kept him hidden for many years, and passed into the realms of myth. To this day, legend claims that if Wales is ever in need of a hero again, he will rise up to fight for them and his country. d
WHAT DO YOU THINK? well known outside of Wales? Email: [emailprotected]
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History Revealed d is an action-packed, image-rich magazine with zero stuffiness. Each issue takes a close look at one of history’s biggest stories, such as the Tudors or Ancient Egypt, to give you a great understanding of the time. And the amazing tales just keep coming, with features on the globally famous, the adventures of explorers and the blood spilt on well-known ell-known battlefields, plu plus much more, in every edition.
THE BIG STORY THE VICTORIANS
ERA OF ICONS (L-R) Scientist, Michael Faraday; Queen Victoria; gifted engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel; medical reformer, Florence Nightingale; and evolutionary thinker, Charles Darwin
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WHAT’S THE STORY? high into the sky, and spanned huge chasms with structures that have lasted into the 21st century. And brilliant inventors designed, built and conjured up ideas for many of the devices we still enjoy today – telephones, computers, confectionary and more. It was, as Lottie Goldfinch reveals, an epic age of discovery, whose legacy lives on.
NOW READ ON… NEED TO KNOW 1 Head of the Empire 2 Rule, Britannia
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3 Game Changers p32 4 Building Blocks
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5 Creation Generation
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TIMELINE
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he Victorian period was a time of new technology, ideas and imperial expansion. As groundbreaking theories arose that would change how society viewed itself and its history, so too did the British Empire grow to become one on which, it was said, the Sun never set. It was an age of building, when great engineers tunnelled beneath water, built
The highlights of the Victorian era p38
ALL THE WORLD UNDER ONE ROOF The Great Exhibition of 1851 p41
GET HOOKED There’s more to see, read and do p46
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THE BIG STORY THE VICTORIANS
A DAY TO REMEMBER Albert and Victoria re-enact their marriage ceremony for the camera
MAN OF THE HOUSE Prince Albert takes the dominant spot in the centre of the painting, reflecting his influence over Victoria and their family.
FAMILY MATTERS German painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s famous portrait of Queen Victoria and her family
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Though popularly seen as a dour old woman, Queen Victoria in fact fostered a climate of innovation throughout her empire
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randmother of Europe and, until now, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch (see more on that story on page 67), Queen Victoria is a formidable figure in British history – despite her small stature. Her reign has been described as a golden age of empire, when British global possessions expanded to the largest they had been, and would ever be. But what was Victoria’s role in Britain’s contribution to the great breakthroughs of the age?
Victoria’s approach to politics was proudly imperialist, and she felt a strong affinity with the different ff peoples who lived within her empire. As monarch, she favoured Conservative politicians such as Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Salisbury, who shared her imperialistic feelings. Although Victoria never travelled beyond Europe, she took a keen interest in her vast
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empire, particularly India, a country she was proclaimed Empress of in 1876. Her fascination with the country even extended as farr as learning Hindustani.
his new invention, the telephone, to Her Majesty. She described the process as “most extraordinary” and was so impressed that extrao shee wished to purchase her own set off telephones. Victoria’s interest in technology ROYAL PATRON was encouraged by Albert, himself w Both Victoria and her husband The estimated number of people a keen promoter of British industry Albert shared an enthusiasm for who turned out and an inventor. Osborne, their a art, and frequently purchased for Victoria’s fa amily retreat on the Isle of Wight, paintings for each other. But they coronation feattured many technical innovations were also supporters of new artistic of the day: electric lighting was installed techniques, particularly photography, y, in 1893, and the royal apartments boasted a commissioning hundreds of photographs of plumbed-in bath, lavatory and even a shower. family and friends. The pair even learned the Victoria’s natural curiosity meant that she process of making daguerreotypes themselves took a keen interest in the new technologies and in a specially built royal dark room. developments that were flourishing under her Technology, too, was actively encouraged rule, and she was keen to experience many of by the couple. Victoria herself sent the first them personally. In 1853 she became one of the transatlantic telegraph – to US President James first expectant mothers to try chloroform as an Buchanan on 16 August 1858 – and, in January anaesthetic during the birth of her eighth child. 1878, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated
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Crowds gather for news of Prince Bertie’s illness in 1871
“TECHNOLOGY WAS ENCOURAGED BY THE COUPLE… VICTORIA SENT THE FIRST TRANSATLANTIC ELEGRAPH TELEGRAPH” 1
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OMINOUS ANNIVERSARY The Prince of Wales’s recovery coincided with the tenth anniversary of the death of his father, Albert.
TROUBLED CHILDHOOD
On 24 May 1819, Princess Alexandrina Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent (the fourth son of George III) and Princess Victoria Mary Louisa of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg. A year later, Victoria’s father died, and the one-yearold princess was raised by her mother and her confidant, Sir John Conroy. Every aspect of Victoria’s life was lived according to a strict set of rules known as the ‘Kensington System’. Isolated from other children, the young princess was never permitted to be alone, and slept in her mother’s room until she became Queen at the age of 18. Reflecting on her childhood later in life, Victoria wrote that she had “‘led a very unhappy life as a child… and did not know what a happy domestic life was!” With only her beloved collection of 132 tiny wooden dolls and ‘Dash’ the King Charles Spaniel for company, Victoria discovered a love of writing and drawing, beginning a diary at the age of 13. She continued to write a journal throughout her adult life, often penning as many as 3,000 words a day. Only on her accession to the throne in 1837, was Victoria able to extract herself from her mother’s control. Her first act was to ask for an hour alone.
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ROYAL O C CELEBRATIO TIONS O S 1: Sixty Years s a Queen Qu n was published in 11897 for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee 2: A commemorative plate created for the coronation 3: This pin marks Victoria’s 60th reigning year 4: A cameo brooch showing Victoria as a young monarch
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A NEW KIND OF MONARCH
Victoria’s rise to the throne was greeted with great enthusiasm. The contrast between the young, fresh-faced Queen and her scandalous older uncles could not be ignored, and Britain was bursting with sentimental loyalty for its new female monarch. Her choice of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg – her first cousin – as a husband, however, was not popular. He brought how very y little to the union in terms of money MOTHER AND or status, s and was German, to boot. A DAUGHTER foreeigner who was after ‘England’s fat The future Queen, Que een and England’s fatter purse’, was aged around five, ap popular description of the new prince with her mother con nsort. But, soon enough, their marriage intrroduced a new type of monarchy to Briitain, one that projected an image of bourgeois family life far removed fro om the pomp and circ*mstance of her
predecessors. It was an idyllic image of family that appealed to the British public. Victoria’s popularity rose and fell throughout her near-64-year reign, and she experienced a number of attempts on her life. But the most serious threat to her rule occurred after the death of Prince Albert in 1861. A devastated Victoria sank into a deep mourning, which saw her increasingly withdraw from public life and matters of state. Her subjects’ initial sympathy didn’t last long, and public support for the monarchy fell considerably. Only later in her life did the British population rally to the royals once more. The British love of Victoria, however, shone throughout her reign. Indeed, during both her jubilee celebrations and funeral procession, hundreds of thousands line the streets.
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EARLY YEARS
THE BIG STORY THE VICTORIANS
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Victoria’s military forces built the largest empire the world has ever seen
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Improvements in communications he phenomenal aided imperial administration, expansion of the British while the laying of submarine cables Empire during Queen (from the 1860s), allowed Britain Victoria’s reign is something to co-ordinate its commercial, that continues to divide military and political activities opinion. Sorrow has been abroad, as well as to manage expressed by prime ministers trading relationships throughout and politicians for Britain’s the Em Empire. New technologies role in slavery and the such h as the telegraph and often-negative impact th he steamship also aided that British rule had British expansion and B on the peoples it allowed it to protect its governed. But such flourishing realm. people have also The number of The decline of the called upon Britons people living in the British Empire Empire began early in the E to celebrate the in 1901 20tth century, as Britain’s legacy of an empire military and naval supremacy milita that produced some off waned. In 1901, the Daily Mail history’s greatest ideas. printed a map that predicted how the British Empire would look in The Empire expanded at a rate of 2001. It showed North and South 100,000 square miles every year America, Greenland and the from 1815-65 and, by the end of Philippines under US control; Russia Victoria’s reign, it extended over ruling Asia, Turkey and China; with about 20 per cent of the Earth’s Australia and Africa as republics. surface, encompassing almost a Clearly, fears of imperial decline quarter of the world’s population. were being felt even as Queen But how did the Empire expand so Victoria lay on her deathbed. The much, so fast? predictions may not have been Victory over Napoleon’s France wholly true, but decline did set in. in 1815 had left Britain with no real Today, virtually nothing remains of international imperial rival, leaving Britain’s 19th-century acquisitions. it unchallenged on the high seas.
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“NEW TECHNOLOGIES AIDED BRITISH EXPANSION”
CANADA On 1 July 1867, after years of rebellion and debate, the federal dominion of Canada was formed, a move that divided the existing United Province of Canada into four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. From the beginning of her reign, Queen Victoria had always favoured Confederation, as had her father, but it was under her rule that the unified Canadian state was born. Victoria Day is still celebrated across the country.
BEFORE VICTORIA B T The British Empire, p , marked in black, was m a fraction of the size when Victoria took w the throne
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Water slides transported valuable timber, much of it destined for export, to Canada’s ports
PAX BRITANNICA Between 1815-1914, when Britain reigned as the dominant global power, the world entered a period of relative (though oftenexaggerated) peace, known as Pax Britannica, ‘British Peace’.
INDIA
BOOMING TRADE
MAIN: Workers dry out tea leaves at a factory in India LEFT: Antique coins from the British Raj, 1875
In 1858, after a two-year struggle known as the Indian Mutiny, control of India passed from the East India Company, which had handled British rule in the region for a century, to the Crown. The British Raj, as it was known, never encompassed the entire land mass of the sub-continent but, nevertheless, the region became known as the jewel in the crown of Britain’s empire. Spices, jewels and textiles were all-important Indian exports, and the British developed tea and cotton agriculture as well as the coal and iron industries, bringing huge benefits to British society. In 1876, 19 years after India became part of the British Empire, Victoria was pronounced Empress of India, a gesture designed to bind India even more tightly to the Empire.
THE EMPIRE Over the cours course o of three centuries, colonies, prottecttorates and other territories came e un nder the rule of the British Crown n. Th This map shows the Empire at its h heig ght, in 1901, when Queen Victorria w was very close to the en nd o of her life
BRITISH RULE During the period of British rule in India, some 20,000 British troops and forces were tasked with ruling 300 million people, with co-operation of Indian princes and local leaders.
EGYPT SPIN OF THE WHEEL
The trade route that ran through Egypt to the Red Sea and Young then on to India, Egyptians spin was paramount to the British. This cotton in the importance rose desert considerably with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, which provided a new route from Europe to the Far East, effectively halving the journey time between Britain and India. Egypt came under British control in 1882, and its highquality cotton industry became a major British import. It wasn’t until 1956 that Britain’s forces finally left the country.
AFTER THE RUSH A prospector in the once gold-rich state of Victoria, 1881
EARLY SKIRMISH
Victory for the Boers at the Batt le of Majuba Hill, near Volksrust, Sou th Africa, in February 1881
Britain’s empire in Africa was vast, encompassing huge territories in Southern and East Africa, as well as much of West Africa. The discovery of diamonds in 1867, followed gold in 1886, saw British interest in South Africa increase, and tensions between the British and the Boers (descendants of Dutch settlers from the 1600s), finally escalated in the brutal Boer War of 1899-1902. As one of the trade routes to India, the British were keen to control South Africa, but their rule was widely disliked and several other wars were fought during the 1870s.
AUSTRALIA S STRALIA British colonisation of Australia in liia began b i 1778, 1778 when a penall colony l was established in what would later become Sydney. Other colonies sprang up around the country during the 19th century, particularly during the gold rush in 1851, but the influx of immigrants caused tensions with the country’s Aboriginal population. In the 1850s, the state of Victoria produced more than a third of the world’s gold, most of which was transported to Britain. Australia unified and gained constitutional autonomy in 1901, but it wasn’t until 1942 that the country became an independent nation, when it adopted the 1931 Statute of Westminster.
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The specimen number Darwin gave to the critter that, in 2014, was recognised as a new genus of beetle, named Darwinilus
In a period of great questions and reappraisals, the Victorian ns produced countless ideas that were destined to change the wo orld
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he 19th century was a time of great thinkers, but also of great questions. At the beginning of the century, science and religion were very much intertwined. Nature and God were seen to be two sides of the same truth – evidence of design in nature was seen as proof of the God who had designed it. But, just 60 years later, scientists like Charles Darwin began questioning the validity of the theory and
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MEDICINE Two huge discoveries in 19thcentury medicine were anaesthesia and antiseptic. Pain relief was virtually non-existent, but Edinburgh doctor James Young Simpson’s discovery of the anaesthetic properties of chloroform, in 1847, revolutionised surgery, particularly childbirth. Another Scottish doctor, Joseph Lister, also made waves in surgery with his use of carbolic acid as an antiseptic, designing a piece of machinery that could spray antiseptic ng thea in an operating theatre before surgery to create a germ-free m-free environment. en, too, were progressing And women, the medical field. Florence a the Nightingale is known as nurrsing for founder of modern nursing her work with th the wou wounded nded during the Crimean Wa War. ar.
MEDICAL MARVELS The angel of nursing, Florence Nightingale and Dr Simpson’s anaesthetiic, chlorofo anaesthetic, chloroform orm
cracks appeared in the perceived harmony of God and nature. Meanwhile, scientists were making discoveries that would shake the foundations of Victorian society – from the discovery that a species of giant lizard once walked the Earth, to the possibility that there were other, unknown, planets beyond those that could be viewed with the new technology of the day.
Traditionally held beliefs were being b challenged in the face of irrefutable le evidence evidence. Science was evolving, and research was used and re-used across different ff disciplines to create new, exciting theories. The Victorian era was one of extraordinary reappraisal, and intellectual debate on the new ideas that were emerging would have been heard at all levels of society. Moreover, the aftershocks of these great scientists and thinkerss were felt far beyond the 19th century.
TECHNOLOGY OG GY The Victorian period saw a wealth alth of technological advances across many disciplines. In the field of mathematics, atics, Charles Babbage developed a six-wheeled eeled ‘Difference Engine’, which could perform mathematical calculations. His more complex ‘Analytical Engine’ of 1837 was designed to perform orm arithmetical calculations, as well as featuring a memory unit to store numbers. Although never completed, his work is seen as a precursor to the modern e moder rn computer. In 1843, mathematician Ada Lovelace publishe published ed a translation of a French article on the Analytical Engine: ngine: her h additional otes are seen as the first description of a computer uter and d software, notes earning her the title of the first computer programmer. Other notable discoveries include chemist and physicist Michael Faraday not (pictured, to top left) who, in 1821, published his work on electromagnetic rotation (th (the principle behind the electric motor), while William Ramsay’s work in identifying the noble gases earned him a Nobel Prize in 1904. ide
NUMBER CRUNCHING A model of Babbage’s ‘Difference Engine’
GEO OLOGY AND ND BIOLOGY Perhaps on ne of the most remarkable disccoveries of the time was w made by biologist and pala aeontologist Richard Owen O (right). In 1842, he coined d the he word ‘dino osaur’, which has its roots in th he Greek forr ‘terrible lizard’. After studying many of the t fossils that were being unearthe ed around southern England, Ow wen n identified d an extinct family of animals th hat deserved d their own distinct taxonomic group: D Dinosauria. Anoth her significant discovery came in n 1859, wh hen physicist John Tyndall’s early y climate experiments proved that Earth’ss atmosp phere has a Greenhouse Effect.
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s a galos ry Mu 81 A Me ural Histo ded in 18 n t u o Na f n s e wa Ow which y Richard b
WORK IN PROGRESS LEFT: An engraving of HMS Beagle – the ship that Darwin sailed on – off the South American coast BELOW LEFT: Six Galápagos finches BELOW: A first edition of Darwin’s radical book, On The Origin of Species
BIRD-BRAINED The beaks of the finches on the different Galápagos Island vary in size and shape. This observation was key to the development of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
19TH-CENTURY THINKERS
BEST OF THE REST LORD KELVIN Scottish mathematician and physicist William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), created the first physics laboratory in Britain and, along with Faraday, was responsible for the introduction of the concept of an electromagnetic field. He is best known for his idea of an absolute zero of temperature, known as the Kelvin scale.
WILLIAM WHEWELL
DARWINISM DA ARWINISM M Born tto a wealthy, well-connected family il iin 1809 1809, Ch Charles l D Darwin i was tto b become one off th the mostt controversial figures of the age. Having studied medicine at Edinburgh University, Darwin went on contro to train as a clergyman at Cambridge, where he continued to pursue his life’s passion: biology. Five years serving as gentleman naturalist on HMS Beagle saw Darwin visit four continents, as well as a five-week stop at the Galápagos Islands, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. There he studied finches, tortoises and mockingbirds. His observations were building into the theories that would shake the world. When he returned home, an idea began to develop: that animals more suited to their environment survive longer and have more young – a process he called Natural Selection. The idea went against his Christian training and he feared public reaction to such a radical theory: “I was very unwilling to give up my belief... Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete”, he later wrote in his biography. Years passed until, in 1858, he received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace who had come to the same theory about Natural Selection and wished to publish. Realising that it was now or never, Darwin went public with his theory, crediting Wallace in his writing, and his ideas were presented to the Linnean Society, Britain’s leading natural history body. Despite being torn between his faith and his research, in 1859, Darwin published his new Theory of Evolution. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection received a mixed reception, but became an international bestseller. In 1871, Darwin published his theory that humans shared a common ancestor with apes in The Descent of Man. By then his ideas were more widely accepted. Darwinism had been born.
FAMILY CONCERNS Darwin feared it was the ‘inbreeding’ of his marriage to his first cousin, Emma, that lead to the deaths of three of their ten children.
“HIS OBSERVATIONS WERE BUILDING INTO THE THEORIES THAT WOULD SHAKE THE WORLD”
One of Whewell’s (17941866) many claims to fame is that, in 1833, he coined the word ‘scientist’. A true polymath, he published works on mechanics, physics, geology, astronomy and economics. He was also a poet, theologian and Anglican priest. Other words he introduce were ‘physicist’, ‘uniformitarianism’ and ‘catastrophism’.
JOHN COUCH ADAMS British mathematician and astronomer John Couch Adams (1819-92) predicted the existence and position of Neptune, using only mathematics. The planet had also been predicted, independently, by a French astronomer named Urbain Le Verrier and credit for the discovery is usually attributed to both men.
JAMES CLERK MAXWELL Maxwell (1831-79) formulated electromagnetic theory – work that is now seen as fundamental – based on research by Faraday. His ideas would play a pivotal role in the development of the theory of the structure of atoms and molecules.
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“COMMUNICATION WENT HAND-IN-HAND WITH THE ENGINEERING FEATS OF THE DAY.”
MIND THE GAP Photographed near the end of its build in 1863, Brunel’s iconic suspension bridge is still a landmark on Bristol’s skyline
PIPPED TO THE POST 21-year-old Mary Griffiths from Hanham was the first member of the public to cross the bridge on its opening day. She raced a man from Clifton (on the east side of the bridge) to Leigh Woods (on the west) to be the first across.
CITY STIN
KS Joseph Bazalgette’s sewer, below London’s Ab bey Mills pumping statio n, under construction
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in b es in a ca l r Subway The Towe don’s River Tham tunne t o n fo o a L beneath nverted to as later co car, but w
From trains to bridges, tunnels to ships, bigger was better to the engineers of Victorian Britain
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MASTER OF STEAM Civil and mechanical engineer George Stephenson with his steam locomotive, Rocket (right) 34 HIS HI H IS ISTOR RY YEX EX XTRA TR RA.CO RA ..C CO C OM
1840 0s th hat the scattered local rail links became a ne of the biggest developments natttiona tional network. By 1845, 30 million people in the Victorian era was that had d travelled on the flourishing railways. of communication – an Journeys on water, too, were adv vance that went hand-iniimproving. During 19th century, han nd with the engineering transatlantic voyage time was fea ats of the day. The length of railw way (in miles) that cut from six weeks to seven days. was open Comfort increased as well – in 1868, C Thee Liverpool and Manchester by 1845 in nventor Henry Bessemer designed Raiilway had, in 1830, become the ap paddle-steamer with a swinging worrld’s first passenger railway with sa aloon, which kept passengers upright. aloon Geo orge Stephenson’s famous steam Ass weell as transport, engineers also turned loco omotive, Rocket. But it was during the theirr atttentions to the social problems of the age. From m 18 853-54, more than 10,000 Londoners died d of ccholera, a disease caused by bacteria in diirty water. Engineer Joseph Bazalgette’s seweerag ge system saw foul water diverted along new, w, low w-level sewers and on to new treatment work ks, a move that saved thousands of lives. Lo ondo on’s Tower Subway is another impressive feat. Beg gun in 1869, it was completed within a yearr. A ssmall cable car carried 12 passengers at a ttimee through the tunnel, taking around 70 seecon nds to pass beneath the River Thames.
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BOARD Paddingto n St London term ation, the inus o Great Wes tern Railway f the , 1854
EGYPTOLOGY
all The Victorians loved and , ian ypt Eg ngs thi Brunel’s early plans for his Bristol bridge featured sphinxes
FLOAT KEEPING AF t
Brunel’s SS Grea h tide Eastern awaits hig its at Millwall before pt, final launch attem 58 18 January
SAILING ON Brunel’s SS Great Eastern ship could carry 4,000 passengers between England and Australia without needing to refuel.
STEAMING AHEAD
BRICKS AND MORTAR
A steam train emerg es from the west porta l of Brunel’s Box Tunnel, 1846
Born on 9 April 1806, Brunel’s name has become synonymous with the engineering boom of the 19th century. The son of a French engineer, the young Brunel first came to notice for his role in planning the Thames Tunnel from Rotherhithe to Wapping, which was started in 1825 and completed in 1843. On its opening, the e tunnel was described as the eighth wonder of the world, and people flocked to see the first tunnel under a river: 50,000 people paid a penny to walk through on its opening day. But Brunel’s talents were only just coming to the fore. In 1831, he won a competition to design a suspension bridge over the River Avon in Bristol. The structure carries the Latin inscription: ‘suspensa vix via fit’’ (‘a suspended way made with difficulty’), which sums up the challenge Brunel faced during the design process. The two towers on either side soar at 26 metres, while the overall span of the bridge is an impressive 214 metres. Remarkably, just two workers died during construction. Brunel’s skills as an engineer were not solely confined to bridges and tunnels. He was also
responsible for the design of se everal ships, including the SS Great Western n, whicch, on its launch in 1837, became the first steam mship purpose-built for transatlantic sservice e. His SS Great Britain, still docked in Bristo ol, was the world’s first iron-hulled, scre ew propellerdriven, steam-powered passeng ger lin ner when it launched in 1843. And his thirrd vesssel, the SS Great Eastern, was, on its launcch in 18 858, the biggest ship ever built. esigne ed many The talented engineer also de viaducts, bridges and tunnels fo or the Great Western Railway, including the viaducts at Hanwell and Chippenham, toge ether with w the Maidenhead Bridge. Many of o Brunel’s masterpieces survive today – magnifi m ficent tributes to one of the finest eng gineerrs Britain has ever seen.
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ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL
CLOSE SECOND In a 100 Greatest Britons television poll of 2002, Brunel came second, behind Winston Churchill.
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ON THE MOVE
New technology could make life easier, more comfortable, and much quicker
During the 19th century, transport developed at tremendous speed. And, as the century progressed, more and more ways of getting from A to B were being dreamt up – from England’s first urban street tramway to use electric power, introduced in Blackpool in o Britain’s Britain s premier motor bus service 1885, to in Britain, which began in Edinburgh in 1898.
T
Developments in communication and he Victorian era can be seen both transport saw the sharing of ideas in a way as an age of invention, and the that had never been seen before. Research by beginning of the rat race. other inv inventors could be developed to Suddenly, time was money and d crea ate new products for the Victorian speed was of the essence. wh ho craved an easier and more Factories needed machines ccomfortable life. And as the that could do the work of Empire expanded, access to E 20 men; goods needed new materials became far easier n to be transported in the The number of and much cheaper. a shortest time possible; and telephones in Britain by What’s more, the natural the growth of the consumer 1887 competition between market meant that ordinary coun ntries like Britain, France people had far more choice in and the US, all of whom were what they could buy and where they striving for dominance in trade and could buy it. The race was on to find industry, also did much to encourage new ways to encourage people to part the brilliant minds behind many of the with their hard-earned money, and to great inventions of the age. find new ways to speed up production.
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UP AND AWAY One of the pioneers of aeronautics, George Cayley designed countless flying machines, including a compound aeroplane (left). A replica of his 1853 design for a man carrier was flown in 1973 (above).
SUGAR RUSH In 1874, Prime Minister William Gladstone removed the tax on sugar, a move that promoted a huge increase in sugar consumption and confectionery, which could now be mass-produced for the first time. Among the tasty treats made available during the nt period were marshmallows (from about 1850, Kendal Mint Cake (from 1869 and fruit g gums (from 1893.
GADGETS
EASTER EGGS Bristol’s JS Fry & Sons made Britain’s first chocolate eggs in 1873. Made from bitter dark chocolate, they were decorated by hand with marzipan flowers.
JELLY BABIES
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Invented by Lancasterbased Austrian jelly craftsman Herr Steinbeck. The ‘baby’ design is based on Austrian gingerbread men, but the term ‘jelly baby’ wasn’t used until 1918.
Britain owes much to the pioneering minds and thirst for knowledge of Victorian inventors. Applications for patents soared during the period, as people saw gaps in the market for new gadgets – not all of them successful. But Alexander Graham Bell and his contemporaries are behind many of the devices we use today: the telephone, the car, the biccycle and the vacuum cleaner.
PENNYFARTHING Invented by James Starley in 1871, the penny-farthing was the precursor to the bikes we ride today. However, it was precarious to say the least, and its large front wheel made it easy for riders to fall over the handlebars.
WRITE ON TIME Although Britain had a form of postal service prior to the Victorian era, sending letters was both complicated and pricey. In 1837, social reformer Rowland Hill proposed a pre-payment system, recommending a cost of 1d up to one ounce in weight. On 10 January 1840, uniform penny postage was introduced.
PENNY POST The image of Victoria on the Penny Black was based on a sketch taken when she was 15. It remained her image on stamps until the end of her reign.
THE INVENTIONS THAT DIDN’T CHANGE THE WORLD The creativity of the day saw all manner of weird and wonderful inventions, with seemingly every possible need catered for. Although many of these were never made, their designs, which had to be registered at the New Designs Registry at London’s Somerset House, are testament to the remarkable brains behind them. Would-be inventions included a corset with an expandable bust, a ‘moustache protector’, a portable bath, a jack for putting on and pulling off boots, and – for those bad-hair days when a comb is just g machine. not enough – a transportable hair-brushing
RUBBER TYRES
BONAFIDE VENTILATING HAT
Patented in 1845, the rubber pneumatic tyre was invented by Scotsman Robert William Thomson.
Designed in 1849 to tackle the ‘problem’ of a build-up of steam, perspiration and hair oil.
ANTI-GAROTTING CRAVAT Several steel spikes hidden beneath the bow would protect wearers against strangulation.
RINGING THE CHANGES Edinburgh-born Alexander Graham Bell was granted a patent for the telephone on 7 March 1876. Within two years, the first telephone exchange was built in Connecticut, America, where he was then living.
METAL DETECTIVES CTIV VES Alexander Graham Bell iss credited with inventing ting tthe metal detector in 1881, 881, ogeth her when he cobbled together a metal-locating device evice to t locate a bullet lodged ged in recently-shot US Preside President ent James A Garfield. The bullet wasn’t found d in tim time me e ent’s to save the President’s e did life, but the device work correctly.
EQUESTRIAN EYEWEAR A set of bifocal spectacles for horses developed by Mr Dolland (pictured) of opticians Dolland & Aitchison.
PORTABLE SUNSHADE Designed in 1885 for British soldiers fighting in the Sudanese desert.
THE BIG STORY THE VICTORIANS
TIMELINE Key moments
Discover the highs and lows of Victoria’s epic reign – a golden g age g of empire, p , 20 JUNE 1837
ALAMY X2, ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST © HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II, 2015/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES X1, BRIDGEMAN IMAGES X1, GETTY X10, PA X1, SSPL X1, TOPFOTO X1
Queen Victoria ascends the throne at the age of 18, following the death of her uncle William IV. She would reign for more than 60 years.
1 AUGUST 1838 More than 700,000 slaves across the Empire become free after a period of forced apprenticeship, following the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.
JUNE 1840 In a bid to tackle the scourge of diseases such as smallpox, vaccination for the poor is introduced, which is funded by ratepayers. Infant vaccination was made compulsory in 1853. It would be the first free medical service in Britain.
Vaccinations are administered in London’s East End
Victoria’s coronation of 1838 took place in Westminster Abbey
28 MARCH CH 1854 185 854 4 The Crimean War begins after Britain and France declare war on Russia. Some 21,000 British, 100,000 French and over 200,000 Russians die during the conflict, most from disease and neglect. g
14 DECEMBER 1861 1868 The last shipment of convicts is sent from England to Australia. Some 164,000 convicts were transported to the Australian colonies between 1788 and 1868, on board 806 ships.
Prince Albert dies at the age of 42, probably of typhoid. Victoria begins mourning, and never truly re-emerges.
The Charge of the Heavy Brigade during the 4 Battle of Balaclava, 185
17 NOVEMBER 1869
17 APRIL 1888
The Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and Red seas, is opened by Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III. The canal becomes one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
The Football League is founded, becoming the world’s first professional sporting league. Its first season begins on 8 September, with 12 clubs from the Midlands and the north of England.
AUGUST 1880 The Elementary Education Act means children must attend school until the age of ten. However, many children continue to work outside school hours, and truancy becomes a major problem.
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A 19th-century London classroom
of the Victorian Era industry and innovation… 1841 Mr Thomas Cook (left) arranges his first rail excursion, transporting 570 temperance campaigners from Leicester to Loughborough. Cook would soon expand his trips to include destinations such as Switzerland, Egypt and the US.
1843 Charles Dickens self-publishes s A Christmas Carol. The book sells 6,000 copies in six days.
SEPTEMBER 1845 S I Ireland suffers a great famine after disease destroys 60 per cent of the d country’s potato crops. The famine c llasted five years and saw more than 1 million deaths.
Marley’s ghost haunts Scrooge in A Christmas Carol
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10 APRIL 1848
The Victoria and Albert museum opens (initially named the Museum of Manufactures) in London, funded by profits made from the Great Exhibition. Five years later, it moves to its present site.
As many as 50,000 people attend the Great Chartist Meeting on Kennington Common, London. The last of three petitions, said to have contained 5.7 million signatures calling for political reform – including extending the vote to all men – is then delivered to Parliament in a series of coaches.
1850 Salford Museum and Art Gallery becomes England’s first free public library after the Public Library Act is passed.
An early photograph of the Great Chartist Meeting on Kennington Common
31 AUGUST 1888 Jack the Ripper commits the first of at least five ghastly murders in the East End of London. Despite an extended police search, the murderer’s identity is never discovered. Theories as to the Ripper’s identity abound to this day.
22 JANUARY 1901 After a short period of illness, 81-year-old Victoria dies at her Isle of Wight home, Osborne, surrounded by members of her family. She is succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII.
OCTOBER 1897 Millicent Garrett Fawcett co-founds the National Union of Women’s Suffrage, campaigning for the women’s vote.
Victoria’s funeral procession, on 2 February 1901
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Visitors thronged to Knightsbridge in 1851, when a palace made of glass was filled with fascinating sights to behold from all over the globe
COLOUR CRAZE
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The building’s iron pillars and girders were painted blue, yellow and red, while one of the upstairs galleries was walled with stained glass through which the sun streamed.
ALL THE WORLD UNDER ONE ROOF The world fair of 1851 was the biggest event of the 19th century, bringing eclectic exhibits of industrial, artistic and exotic natures from around the globe inside one spectacular building…
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ABOVE IT ALL
SMALL BEGINNINGS Construction gets underway in 1850 for the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park
An aerial view of the Crystal Palace
SET IN STONE The foundations for the Crystal Palace are still located in Hyde Park.
PLANNING STAGE Joseph Paxton drew this sketch of his Crystal Palace at a board meeting of the Midland Railway company in c1850.
42,831
The average number --of visitors to the Exhibition each day
AT THE HE
LM Prince Albert presid es over a meeting of the first Royal Commission of the Great Exhibition
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ay 1851. London was abuzz with excitement at the opening of a new international exhibition of trade and commerce in Hyde Park. Travellers crammed onto the many horse-drawn buses that served as the city’s public transport system, and craned their necks as they swept along Knightsbridge, anxious to catch a glimpse of the Crystal Palace that had sprung up in one of London’s largest public spaces. Glittering in the sunlight, it was truly a sight to behold. The first prefabricated building of its kind, the enormous glasshouse incorporated 300,000 sheets of glass in the largest size then ever made, held in position with some 24 miles of patent guttering. In just nine months, this magnificent building had become a shining landmark on the capital’s skyline. The Exhibition was the brainchild of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, and Henry Cole, an English civil servant, inventor and member of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (now known as The Royal Society of Arts). Prince Albert, himself an enthusiastic promoter of British manufacturing and industry, as well as a determined moderniser, became patron of the society from the 1840s, and the pair developed an idea for a great international show: “for the purpose of exhibition, and of competition and encouragement”. Exhibitions of this kind were not unusual during the 19th century. Cole himself had visited the French Industrial Exposition of
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1844, in Paris, and had returned full of ideas for a British show – one that promoted British superiority and its position as a world leader in industry, but that also encouraged other nations to display their own achievements.
SIZING UP An exhibition of the magnitude and scale that Albert and Cole were planning needed an equally impressive venue, and a design competition was launched for a building to house the Great Exhibition. Some 248 plans were submitted, some- by French architects, but
and designer who had built greenhouses for the Duke of Devonshire’s home of Chatsworth, Derbyshire – had devised his own palatial idea for the Exhibition. What’s more, rather than leave things to chance, he had already shared his plans with the London Illustrated News, which had declared its own support for the design and shared the plans with the British public. By the time the idea had been brought before Henry Cole and the committee, let alone Prince Albert, Paxton’s design had already garnered widespread support. Added to the fact that the proposed building would take no more
“GLITTERING IN THE SUNLIGHT, IT WAS TRULY A SIGHT TO BEHOLD.” ultimately the exhibition’s Building Committee – among them renowned engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel (see page 35 – decided that they could design something better. Despite the unethical nature of the decision, in May 1850, the committee produced its plan. It did not receive a positive reaction. The proposed redbrick building would have taken 15 months to build and required some 15 million bricks – with the opening day of the Exhibition scheduled for 1 May 1851, it was hardly a viable option. While debates were raging as to where the Exhibition could be housed, one man had taken matters into his own hands. Joseph Paxton – a gardener, but also something of an architect
than ten months to erect, could be fabricated off-site ff and dismantled after the event, it’s small wonder that Paxton walked away with the commission. The London Illustrated News, too, did rather well out of championing Paxton’s design, selling 100,000 copies in the week the Exhibition opened, and printing a number of special supplements, with fold-out engravings of the building and its contents in the run-up to the big event. In August 1850, work began on Paxton’s magnificent Crystal Palace – a named coined by playwright Douglas Jerrold. By December that year, some 2,000 men were working on site, piecing together 8,000 panes of glass every
THE BIG STORY T THE VICTORIANS
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL OP PEN FOR BUSINESS FAR LEFT: The state opening of the Great Exhibition in 1851 LEFT: The Koh-i-Noor diamond was one of the hig ghlights of the exhibition ABOVE: Prince Albert’s season pass, numbered as ticket one
week k and d erecting the h 1,000 cast-iron columns l needed to support the structure. One can only imagine the fascination felt by Londoners as they watched huge steam engines transport exotic exhibits onto the site, and witnessed the building rise before their eyes.
ROYAL APPROVAL The completed building was a sight to behold: 562 metres long, 124 metres wide and towering 30 metres high over Hyde Park – that’s about ten storeys high. Most importantly, this colossal feat of engineering was finished on time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given her husband’s level of involvement with the project, the Great Exhibition was opened on 1 May 1851 by Queen Victoria, who waxed lyrical about the event in her journal: “This day is one of the greatest and most glorious of our lives”, she wrote. “The Sun shone and gleamed upon the gigantic edifice, upon which the flags of every nation were flying… The tremendous cheering, the joy expressed in every face, the vastness of the building, with all its decoration and exhibits, the sound of the organ... all this was indeed moving.” The opening ceremony was attended by all manner of dignitaries – from the Archbishop of Canterbury to foreign ambassadors and other officers of state. Some 20,000 season tickets (at a cost of £3 3s for men and £2 2s for ladies) had already been sold in advance, and visitors had been carefully placed around the building, so as to avoid a crush when Her Majesty finally arrived, accompanied by Prince Albert and their two eldest children, conveyed in nine carriages. Trumpet fanfares and cannons announced the royal party’s arrival, upon which a choir of 1,000 sang the National Anthem. The Archbishop of Canterbury led prayers, followed by a rousing rendition of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. As Victoria walked sedately around the Exhibition, great cheers accompanied her progress. Finally, the Queen returned to her specially-constructed dais and declared the Exhibition open. Now, her patient subjects were free to satisfy their curiosity and explore the huge wealth of exhibits. More than 100,000 objects were displayed within the Crystal Palace. As the host country, Britain occupied half of the exhibition space,
showcasing exhibits from across the Empire. The rest of the building featured objects cts from some 48 countries – from Russia a to Chile. France was the largest foreign exhibitor, flaunting its position as Britain’s main rival in the textiles market with silks from Lyon, sumptuous tapestries, as well as cutting-edge machinery that had been n used to produce such treasures. The Russian exhibits, which arrived d late as ice in the Baltic delayed their journeey, included huge, 3.5-metre-high vases made from malachite, furs and Cossack arm mour. wiss Gold watches were displayed in the Sw space, while Chile sent a 50kg lump off gold. From Denmark, came a single-cast iro on frame for a piano, the first made in Eu urope, while the US sent a giant statue of an eagle holding a Stars and Stripes flag draped around it, along with the recently-inveented Bell telegraph.
STAR OF THE SHOW Arguably the brightest attraction came from India, then under British rule. The Koh-i-Noor diamond – at the time the world’s largest such gem – was displayed in a large cage, lit up on special occasions. The 186-carat stone was of inestimable value but, despite its fame and size, many visitors were disappointed that it failed to sparkle. Nevertheless, the mere presence of the diamond, which had travelled by sea from Bombay (Mumbai), safely ensconced in a small iron safe, attracted much attention. “The Koh-i-Noor is at present decidedly the lion of the Exhibition”, reported The Times. “A mysterious interest appears to be attached to it, and now that so many precautions have been resorted to, and so much difficulty attends its inspection, the crowd is enormously enhanced, and the policemen at either end of the covered entrance have much trouble in restraining the struggling and impatient multitude.” Exhibits ranged from the enormous (a full-scale locomotive and a stuffed ff elephant complete with magnificent, richly-decorated howdah (a seat for two people, covered with a canopy) strapped to it – to the simple. Condensed milk was one of the exhibits on
Th Exhibition housed The many unique objects… m While most used the Exhibition as a chance to show off, especially Britain, some exhibitors brought along rather unusual pieces. These included a bed that turned into a stepladder; a penknife with 80 blades; a tableau of stuffed kittens taking tea; and a swarm of over 200,000 bees enclosed in a glass case.
BEST OF THE BRITS LEFT: An avant-garde rocking chair created in Birmingham RIGHT: A tiered dessert stand from Stokeon-Trent, which the Queen purchased
FAMOUS FACES The well-known visitors who graced the show Lewis Carroll Author of Alice in Wonderland “The impression when you get inside is of bewilderment. It looks like a sort of fairyland. As far as you can look in any direction, you see nothing but pillars hung about with shawls, carpets, canopies…”
Charlotte Brontë Author of Jane Eyre “It seems as if only magic could have gathered this mass of wealth from all ends of the Earth with such a blaze and contrast of colours and marvellous power of effect.”
Queen Victoria “We went up to the Gallery on the south side and stood at the end of the Transept, to watch people coming in, in streams... there must have been 120,000 – all so civil and well behaved, that it was a pleasure to see them.”
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THE BIG STORY THE VICTORIANS
The new glass landmark towered over London’s skyline and impressed visitors from far and wide… MAIN NAVE
CRIMINAL MINDS
Larger and higher than the lateral transepts. Here, it is shown without glass, to appreciate the complexity of the structure and its interior.
The potential for crime at the Great Exhibition was of great concern to many people in the build-up to the event. Plain-clothed policemen, many brought over from France, who had experience of such events, patrolled the Exhibition, on the look-out for trouble. On one occasion, a group of men thought to be acting suspiciously and subsequently approached by Metropolitan Police officers turned out to be undercover policemen from Belgium. 1862)
11,171
The number of people who used the toilets on 8 October – a Great Exhibition record
3,800 ILLU USTRATION: S A N SOL O 90, 0 ALAMY A X1, GETTY X G Y X3
The amount, in tons, of cast iron used on the building
LASTING LEGACY The success of London’s Great Exhibition, and its underlying sense of competition, paved the way for similar events in New York (1853), Paris (1855), London (1862) (1862 and Lima (1872). Its legacy also o lived on through the museum ms that were built with the Exhibition’s profits, including Lond don’s Victoria and Albert, as well as im mproving trade links and inspiring g greater co-operation betweeen the countries involved.
A LITTLE FAMILIAR? The New York Crystal Palace at the Exhibition of the a Industry of All Nations Nations, c185 c1853
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STANDING ON CEREMONY At the inauguration, most of the 48 nations were present: US, China, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey as well as other European powers.
BURNT OUT
The charred remains of the Crystal Palace on 1 December 1936
ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM India’s stand featured a stuffed elephant wearing a magnificent, ornate howdah that had been given to Queen Victoria by an Indian prince
THE GREAT FIRE In 1852, Paxton’s building was dismantled and rebuilt on Sydenham Hill in London, where it was re-opened by Queen Victoria in June 1854. It became the world’s first theme park, attracting 2 million visitors a year and hosting festivals, music shows and more. There was even a swamp, complete with modell dinosaurs. But, on the night of 30 November 1936, the palace caught fire. By morning, little of the iconic structure remained.
ON DISPLAY Some of the stalls on show at the Great Exhibition
LIGHT FANTASTIC The Palace’s glass walls and ceiling let in vast amounts of light, providing ample illumination for most of the exhibits.
33 million
GLASS BARREL A great barrel vault covered the transept. Slanted sheets of glass formed small roofs, creating a curved effect.
The total volume of the structure in cubic feet. Roughly six times that of St Paul’s Cathedral
MAKE AN ENTRANCE Wealthy visitors could leave their carriages at a separate entrance to be valet-parked, while they entered through the impressive main approach.
1 million The number of bottles of Schweppes soda water, lemonade, and ginger beer sold
“IN JUS JUST NINE MONTHS THIS MAGNIFICENT BUILDING HAD BECOME A SHINING FIXTURE ON THE CAPITAL CAPITAL’S S SKYLINE. SKYLINE.” S T M E 2015 SEPTEMBER 1
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THE BIG STORY THE VICTORIANS the British side, a tribute to the modernity and ingenuity of British inventors: city folk no longer had to worry about the freshness of their milk and the length of time it took to reach them. It could now be kept for months. At the building’s centre stood an 8-metre fountain made of pink glass – an ideal meeting point and a novel way of cooling the air in the glasshouse. For the price of a penny, visitors could pay a visit to the Monkey Closets – the first public toilets, designed by sanitary engineer George Jennings. The lure of a private cubicle and a toilet that flushed, together with the towel, comb and shoe shine included in the price, proved irresistible and 827,280 people visited them in total. Refreshments provided by Messrs Schweppes could be bought at various locations, although no alcohol was sold. A variety of performances could also be enjoyed during a visit, including cat shows and a circus. There was even a fountain in the Austrian court, flowing with eau de cologne for visitors to sample.
ALL INCLUSIVE The Exhibition was a phenomenal success, despite the reservations of some critics itics who feared the event would attract radical liberals from overseas. But one of the best aspects of the Exhibition was that it was open
LONDON BOUND ABOVE: Crowds gather on ‘shilling day’ RIGHT: An advert for discount Exhibition train fares FAR RIGHT: Victoria’s memoria al to Albert in Kensington Gardens
to all classes. Entrance fees varied according to the day of visit so, for those on lower incomes, Monday to Thursday was the time to attend, as tickets were just 1s. Thousands took advantage. The price also fluctuated as the Exhibition progressed. By day four, the cost of a day ticket had dropped from £1, to 5s, although it rose again several days later. For many it would have been their first trip to London, perhaps even their first trip from home and, for them, the Exhibition must have been simply overwhelming. Schoolchildren, factory workers, countrymen and women, dressed in their best smocks, all gazed in awe at what mustt have appeared an alien world. And theey, too, would have caused a stir among the Exhibition’s wealthier a visitors, many of whom would never v
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have encountered such simple, rural folk. One old lady even walked to London from Penzance, although most took advantage of the rail network. Over the five months that the Exhibition ran for, more than 6 million people visited, each contributing to a final profit of £186,000, which was used to create the South Kensington museums. For Albert, the Exhibition had been everything he’d dreamed of. He had demonstrated the superiority of Britain’s trade and manufacturing industries to the world, creating an event that would be spoken about for generations. And his wife clearly agreed. Victoria’s statue memorial to her beloved husband (pictured above), erected opposite the Royal Albert Hall in 1872, shows Albert under a gilt canopy, holding a copy of the Exhibition catalogue. d
The number of sausage rolls consumed at the Exhibition
GET HOOKED Continue your Victorian expedition – there’s much more to see, read and experience
LOCATIONS
BOOKS
ON SCREEN GREAT VICTORIAN INVENTIONS (2014) by Caroline Rochford Discover hundreds of 19th-century inventions from across the globe – some stranger than others.
OSBORNE, ISLE OF WIGHT Visit the palatial holiday home, with its own private beach, of Victoria and Albert. The location remains virtually unchanged since the 19th century, and is where Victoria passed away in 1901. www.english-heritage.org.uk ALSO VISIT Kensington Palace www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace Victoria and Albert Museum www.vam.ac.uk
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VICTORIA (2015) by Jane Ridley Find out more about the woman who ruled over a time of intense industrial, cultural, political, scientific and military change. ALSO READ How to be a Victorian (2014) by Ruth Goodman Brunel: the Man Who Built the World (2006) by Steven Brindle Empire: What Ruling the World Did to the British (2012) by Jeremy Paxman
THE YOUNG VICTORIA (2009) A dramatisation n, starring Emily Blunt, of the turbulent first years of Victoria’s rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert. ALSO SEE www.victorianweb.org for a 19th-century overview The Victorianss, a four-part BBC documentary now available on DVD
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SIMON SCHAMA: A HISTORY OF THE NATION THROUGH ITS PORTRAITS, 2.30PM Discussing his two great passions: British history and art history.
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Series director Peter Kosminsky talks us through the making of the BBC’s Tudor epic Wolf Hall ANDREW MARR, 1PM Join this leading broadcaster, journalist and political commentator as he reads from his forthcoming book, We British: The Poetry of a People and gives exclusive insights on his new project with BBC Radio 4.
THE REAL THOMAS CROMWELL, 4PM Tracy Borman, Joint Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces, will discuss her book The Untold Story of Henry VIII’s Most Faithful Servant.
PHILIPPA GREGORY: THE TAMING OF THE QUEEN, 1PM Bestselling author and co-writer of hit TV series The White Queen, Philippa Gregory discusses her thought-provoking novel.
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GREAT ADVENTURES MUTINY OF THE BATAVIA
THE ILL-FATED VOYAGE OF THE BATAVIA
ALAMY X1, BRIDGEMAN IMAGES X1
Pat Kinsella a tells the terrible tale of history’s bloodiest maritime mutiny, where a psychopathic pharmacist wrought violent havoc on a marooned and helpless group of castaways, at the edge of an unmapped continent…
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“He was more evil than if he had been h d i t ti ” Commander Pelsaert on mutineer Cornelisz
ISLANDS OF HORROR The Batavia (above) lies in tatters, as its travellers make their way to some uncharted nearby islands. They could hardly have imagined the wretched fate that awaited them
GREAT ADVENTURES MUTINY OF THE BATAVIA
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them. En route, Pelsaert reprimanded Jacobsz Along Africa’s west coast, Cornelisz and several times for drinking. Jacobsz found a common dominator in their Pelsaert’s Onderkoopman n (‘Under-Merchant’) discontent and began to foment mutiny. was a destitute and disgraced apothecary named Intending to seize both ship and bounty, and Jeronimus Cornelisz, on his first trip to embrace a life of piracy, they fanned with the VOC. Cornelisz’s life was in the embers of disquiet that always tatters – his infant son had recently smoulder during long sea journeys, died of syphilis and he’d been carefully seeking support from accused of involvement with the crew members and amid the artist Johannes van der Beeck, ranks of the impetuous young The number of islands aka Torrentius, a painter whose army cadets. that make up the libertine lifestyle had seen him Leaving Cape Town (2, Jacobsz Houtman Abrolhos in tortured and jailed for heresy. steered the Batavia a off course, and the Indian Ocean they soon lost sight of the Assendelft and Buren. As his ship drifted across MUTINOUS MINDS the Indian Ocean into the unknown, It was a potent mix: a ship heavy Pelsaert was confined to his cabin for long with treasure, skippered by a drunken periods with fever, and order evaporated. and disempowered captain, bossed by a Among the passengers was a beautiful businessman, supported by a radical second-in27-year-old woman, Lucretia Jans, travelling command who had nothing left in life to lose. comm to visit her husband, who was stationed in The Batavia Th a travelled in a convoy of seven Batavia port. One night, after spurning Jacobsz’s FULL SAIL vesssels. A storm in the North Sea soon The replica of the advances, she was attacked and sexually sepa arated the fleet, however, and when it Batavia reveals assaulted by a group of men, including one sub bsided, only three ships remained in its former glory identified as Jan Evertsz, the High-Boatswain. con ntact: the Batavia, Assendelftt and Buren. If the attack was an attempt p to p provoke Pelsaert
he year was 1628, and the newly built 1,200-tonne Batavia a was the pride of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the flagship of the powerful merchant fleet. In October, she departed the Netherlands on her maiden voyage (see 1 on map, below), bound for Batavia in Java (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia). On board was a fortune in silver bullion, two paintings by the Baroque artist Rubens, and 341 passengers and crew. Among them was a garrison of soldiers, being sent to bolster the defences of the remote Dutch outpost. The ship was under the command of Francisco Pelsaert, a senior VOC merchant. Pelsaert was no professional sailor, however, and the Batavia a was skippered by Ariaen Jacobsz. The two men had travelled together before, and there was no love lost between
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ILLUSTRATION: DAWN COOPER, BATAVIAWERF X1, GRETA VAN DER ROL X1, PATRICK BAKER © WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM X1
The Bataviaa, flagship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), sails from the Netherlands on her maiden voyage, packed full of silver and bound for Java. A storm in the North Sea separates the convoy.
UNC UNCHARTED UNCHARTE CHA ART RTED D TER TERRITORY RRIT ITO TOR RY RY Australia was little known in 1629. A Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon, had landed in present-day Queensland in 1606, before his fellow countryman Dirk Hartog came ashore in Western Australia in 1616 but, although the landmass often appeared in an assumed form on maps, it remained uncharted. The concept of Terra Australis Incognita (‘unknown land of the south’), had been speculated about since preRoman times and was thought to stretch across to South America. This thinking prevailed until the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman circumnavigated Australia in 1642.
2INDIAN OCEAN
To catch the Roaring Forties – strong westerly winds in the southern hemisphere – the skipper’s instructions are to steer from Cape Town towards Eendracht’s land (then a name for west Australia) before sailing north to Java. However, Jacobsz plots a course too far south and loses the other two ships.
34 JUNE 1629
The Bataviaa strikes Morning Reef near Beacon Island in the Wallabi Group, part of the Houtman Abrolhos, 60 kilometres off the Western Australian coast. Survivors are transported by small boat to Traitor and Beacon islands.
48 JUNE 1629
Commander Pelsaert, along with Captain Jacobsz and High-Boatswain Evertsz, leave the scene of the wreck in a longboat containing 48 people in total. They briefly search the Wallibi Islands for water and food before heading to the Australian mainland.
into taking disciplinary action that would help the mutineers’ cause – as was later claimed – it failed. The Commander did nothing, preferring to postpone justice until Java. But their destination remained elusive. Instead, the Batavia a was on a collision course with the reef-fringed coast of what is today Western Australia, which was then known only as Terra Australis Incognita, ‘unknown land of the south’ – a hazy landmass that was little more than a cartographical rumour.
A SHIP TO WRECK On 3 June 1629, two hours before dawn, with the ship running under full sail, one of the seamen shouted a warning. The lookout had seen white water breaking over shallows. Jacobsz, who was on watch, dismissed this as the moon’s reflection, but shortly afterwards the Batavia a smashed into a reef near what’s now known as the Wallabi Group of islands, within the Houtman Abrolhos (3. The collision was so hard that the impact point can still be seen from the air. The ship was crippled and the crew were unable to refloat her. Wind and tide threatened
511 JULY 1629
Batavia (present-day Jakarta)
Failing to find a reliable water source on the Australian mainland, Jacobsz and Evertsz navigate the longboat all the way to Batavia, where the boatswain is hanged and the skipper imprisoned. Pelsaert is put aboard the Sardam m and ordered back to the wreck to retrieve people and treasure.
OCTOBER 1629
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Having wasted time searching the ocean too far north, the Sardam m finally arrives at the Abrolhos islands to find a scene of conflict and abject horror.
to tear the vessel apart and, between them, Pelsaert and Jacobsz decided to dismast the Batavia. This bought time, but confirmed the fate of everyone aboard – they were marooned on the serrated edge of an unknown coral atoll. Making use of the ship’s yawl, Jacobsz discovered a navigable gap in the reef and sighted a number of islands within. Quickly, around 180 people – including all the women and children – were ferried to the first two islands. Around 70 men remained on the wreck. Neither island extended any promise of fresh water beyond a few puddles. Surveying their meagre rations – a few barrels of biscuits and water – Pelsaert ordered the sides of the ship’s longboat to be built up for an ocean voyage. Four days after the wreck, he set sail towards the mainland (4, taking everyone on the smaller island with him, including Jacobsz and Evertsz. Unless they found water, he reasoned, all were doomed. Watching the longboat disappear, those left behind dubbed the now-deserted atoll y Traitor’s Island – a name it retains to this day.
THE MAIN PLAYERS FRANCISCO PELSAERT Senior Dutch East Indies Company merchant, and Commander of the Batavia. Led the small-boat journey to Java and returned with rescue party. Oversaw punishment of mutineers. Died in 1630.
JERONIMUS CORNELISZ Former apothecary and Dutch East India Company Under-Merchant who displayed psychopathic tendencies while leading the mutiny after the wreck of the Batavia. He was tortured and executed on the islands.
ARIAEN JACOBSZ The Batavia’s skipper, he conspired with Cornelisz in the initial plans for mutiny. He demonstrated superb skills during the small-boat voyage to Java with Pelsaert, before dying in the dungeons of Castle Batavia.
WIEBBE HAYES A 21-year-old Dutch soldier who became a national hero after capturing Cornelisz and leading the defeat of the murderous mutineers. He was quickly promoted by Pelsaert and made a Lieutenant when he arrived in Batavia.
East High Island (East Wallabi Island)
Batavia’s Graveyard (Beacon Island)
The soldiers discover they can wade to this island from West Wallabi, and here they finally find a freshwater spring. Also home to a population of tammar wallabies, which supply food to go with the water.
This small, barren outcrop was the centre of Cornelisz’s empire, and where most of the survivors and mutineers huddled throughout the ordeal.
West High Island (West Wallabi Island) Where Wiebbe Hayes and his soldiers are initially dropped off to search for water. Scene of two skirmishes between the mutineers and soldiers, and first port of call for the Sardam. Australia’s oldest European structures, the remains of Haye’s improvised stone defences, can still be seen here.
ct Batavia’ss impa point left a rk ma t rmanen erm pe on the reef
Seal Island (Long Island) Where a group of 45 people, including the ship’s Predicant Gijsbert Bastiaenz, are sent to die. The scene of a murderous rampage and, after the return of Pelsaert, the hanging of Cornelisz and six others.
Traitor’s Island A tiny islet where Pelsaert, Jacobsz, Evertsz and 45 others spent the first four days after the wreck, before leaving on the longboat.
BATAVIA’S GRAVEYARD
This idyllic-looking of island was the site blood-curdling acts
ALAMY X2, GETTY X1, CHRIS FLEMING © WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM X1, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MARITIME MUSEUM X1
GREAT ADVENTURES MUTINY OF THE BATAVIA stricken Batavia. Soon after the Their own rock (now known as Beacon Island) they called Batavia’s longboat disappeared, the wreck abruptly broke up, immediately Graveyard – a macabre moniker it drowning 40 men. Cornelisz was would soon live up to. among the 30 survivors who, Pelsaert and company explored clinging to bits of flotsam, the next group of islands, before were eventually washed continuing to the Australian through the reef into mainland. Still failing to locate a the shallows around water source, they proceeded to the islands. Java, crossing 3,000 kilometres of Cornelisz suddenly dangerous ocean in 33 days – one found himself in a of the most remarkable small-boat position of power, at the journeys ever made – to reach helm of a community of their original destination, the distressed, desperate and port of Batavia (5. All 48 people abandoned people. He aboard the 9-metre boat survived, acted swiftly, gathering including a newborn baby, and a gang of about 40 the achievement stands testament henchmen around him. to the navigational skill and Small misdemeanours seamanship of Jacobsz and Evertsz. were punished brutally The welcome awaiting them and a culture of fear was at Batavia, however, was grim. quickly cultivated. Governor Jan Coen was a If Pelsaert managed to formidable character, who’d reach Batavia, Cornelisz kept the port open in the face of knew his mutinous repeated indigenous attacks and English onslaughts. Presented with mutterings during the voyage would come to Pelsaert – a man who had just lost light, so he determined the pride of the fleet, a boatload of to commandeer any ship money and a garrison of soldiers that returned to rescue sent to make his job easier – the them. First, though, he Governor acted decisively. had to eliminate anyone He had the High-Boatswain who posed a threat to hanged, for his alleged part in his authority. the assault on Lucretia Jans. For The carpenters in the losing the Batavia, Coen – possibly catching a whiff ff of mutinous intent group were ordered to construct makeshift boats – threw Jacobsz in jail, where he from the wreckage and died. Pelsaert was promptly turned around 45 people – including around and dispatched on a yacht the ship’s Predicant Gijsbert called Sardam, with a skipper and Bastiaenz – were sent to nearby 40 men, tasked with finding the Seal Island (now Long Island) with wreck and rescuing whatever he no freshwater. could – especially the loot. Then, a group of around 20 The longboat had made soldiers who remained such good progress loyal to the VOC were between the Abrolhos dispatched to the and Java that the High Islands, minus Sardam’s skipper their weapons, didn’t believe The length, in days, of supposedly to find the islands could small-boat journey food and water. possibly be where from the wreck site to Batavia port Since Pelsaert had Pelsaert claimed. He previously travelled in wasted time scouring this direction and found the Indian Ocean further neither, Cornelisz was confident north, and took 63 days to locate he’d seen the last of them. the wreck. When contact was Other able-bodied men were finally made, the scenario they sent on made-up missions, and found was shocking. simply toppled into the sea by Cornelisz’s goons. On the main LORD OF THE FLIES island, he encouraged a dreadful The most senior man left murder spree to rid the population behind after the Commander of surplus mouths. The old, the and Captain’s departure was infirm and the infants went first the Under-Merchant Cornelisz, – battered, strangled and stabbed who remained marooned on the
POWER STRUGGLE BELOW LEFT: A grave of murdered mutiny victims, unearthed by archaeologists in 2001 RIGHT: A cairn on one of the Wallabi Islands marks the nearby location of the Batavia wreck BOTTOM LEFT: Governor of Batavia, Jan Coen, who was livid when Pelsaert finally arrived at his port BOTTOM RIGHT: After rescue came, the hangings of many of the guilty mutineers took place on Long Island
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RAISED FROM THE REEF Some of the Batavia’s original timbers remain in tact, and are now housed at the Maritime Museum in Fremantle, Australia
EAVY LOAD
H plica A full-size re at of the longbo , that Pelsaert Jacobsz and d to Evertsz saile ith Jakarta in, w rs 45 passenge
Island). The soldiers had found water and Cornelisz had a conundrum. Not only would this group now survive, they were also first in line if a relief ship appeared.
THE FIGHT BACK
to death. One boy was seemingly beheaded simply to test a sword blade. In July alone, over 100 people were butchered. Cornelisz typically convinced others to do the actual killing. The former apothecary did apparently attempt to poison a baby (because her cries had disturbed his sleep), but failed to administer a lethal dose and got one of his accomplices to finish her off. ff The Seal Island group survived longer than expected – figures could be seen moving on the beach – so a killing party was sent. The banished Predicant, Bastiaenz, had to watch as his wife and five of his children were slain in front of him. Perversely, they kept the Dominican friar himself alive, along with his eldest daughter, who was forced into sexual servitude by one of the mutineers. Other women were also strong-armed into carnal service, including Lucretia Jans, who Cornelisz reserved for himself. But then a smoke signal was spotted from one of the High Islands (now known as West Wallibi
The assassins sent to Seal Island had done a poor job, and one victim managed to escape and paddle across to warn the soldiers of the horror unfolding. The military men had no weapons, but they’d found a natural leader in a young private called Wiebbe Hayes. Predicting an assault, Hayes built defences and organised the construction of basic fighting tools from sticks and stones. These makeshift weapons were enough to repel the first attack, and Cornelisz decided to paddle across to try and personally lure Hayes into a trap. It was a fatal mistake. The soldiers seized the mutinous Under-Merchant and killed four of his top men. The remaining mutineers regrouped and mounted a last-ditch attack, using muskets to fire at the soldiers from afar. This tactic was proving quite effective, ff until a sail appeared on the horizon. It was Commander Pelsaert returning on the Sardam (6. Spotting the smoke, the yacht headed for the soldier’s island first and Hayes managed to warn Pelsaert of the situation. When the mutineers attempted to board the Sardam, the Commander was ready for them. They were arrested, and the most gruesome mutiny in history was over. Now the ghastly recriminations would begin. d
GET HOOKED BOOK Read The First and Last Voyage of the Bataviaa (1993) by Philippe Godard. This comprehensive account of the ill-fated ship’s only journey, covers the discovery of the wreck 340 years later and the reconstruction of a replica vessel. It also contains a translation of the originally published account of the disaster, as told by Francisco Pelsaert, Commander of the Batavia.
TRAVEL An exact replica of the Bataviaa can be seen at the Batavia Wharf in Lelystad, in the Netherlands. Or, to get closer to the site of the atrocity, head to the Maritime Museum in Fremantle, Australia. Here, numerous artefacts that were pulled up in the 1970 excavation – including the stern of the ship – are on display.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Pelsaert used divers to recover as much from the wreck as possible, and then began an investigation into the mutiny and murders. The Predicant Bastiaenz and his surviving daughter were important witnesses, but Dutch law required confessions before justice could be meted out. Torture – including
waterboarding – was used to illicit admissions from the mutineers, and seven of the ringleaders were hanged on Seal Island. Cornelisz had both his hands chopped off with hammer and chisel before being strung up. Others were dropped from the yardarm and one was brought to Batavia to be broken
on the wheel. Two men – Wouter Loos and an 18-year-old cabin boy called Jan Pelgrom – initially sentenced to hang, were instead marooned in Australia near a water source (probably the Hutt River) with provisions, thus becoming the continent’s first European settlers. Their ultimate fate is unknown.
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IN PICTURE ES THE BLITZ, 1940-41
TH
IT E BR
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I S SU E
AT A GLANCE Between 7 September 1940 and May 1941, major British cities and industrial centres came under heavy, sustained bombardment from Adolf Hitler’s air force – the Luftwaffe. As thousands of bombs fell, an estimated 43,000 people, predominantly civilian, were killed and significantly more made homeless. Yet the Blitz (short for Blitzkrieg – or ‘lightning war’) failed to break British spirits or cripple the war effort, so after eight months, Hitler had no option but to abandon his plans to invade Britain and shift his attention to the German eastern front.
CREDIT X3, ALAMY INFORMATION GETTY X2, PRESS HERE ASSOCIATION X2
WHEN BRITAIN KEPT CALM... It is 75 years since the start of the Blitz, yet the impact of the bombs that fell on major British cities continues to resonate and define a nation... 54
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S DIY SHELTER II began, Even before World War people got ready for air raids by constructiing Anderson shelters
THE BLITZ TARGETE TARGETED DOZENS OF CITIES
ASSEMBLING AN ANDERSON
Formed of 14 panels of corrugated steel, buried a metre deep and covered with earth, these prefab shelters are issued by the government – for free if the household earns less than £5 a week – as a precaution laid out by Lord Privy Seal, Sir John Anderson. Some 1.5 million are distributed before war broke out, with over 2 million to follow.
ITZ BIRMINGHAM BLild ings
Compared to the bu church, around it, the iconic Ring, St Martin in the Bull y little escapes with relativel es acks att the g rin du ge dama y arl Ne m. ha on Birming s fall on 2,000 tons of bomb on and th the city – only Lond ed more Li Liverpool are bomb e rtim wa to – but due are ce censorship, reports m is restricted. Birmingha re a as to ed err ref si simply “ “Midland town”.
CRAMPED, TIRED AND SCARED
On hearing the terrifying sound of the siren, families like the Mackenzies drop everything and squeeze into their Anderson shelters. They are designed for six but, at 2 metres long and 1.4 metres wide, it is a tight fit. The hole is cold (and possibly flooded), and people can be trapped all night as raids are often in evenings.
SAFE AS HOUSES
That said, they prove effective at absorbing the impact of nearby explosions, as a lucky man discovers when dozens of bombs are dropped on English coastal towns in 1940. The comfort issue of the Andersons, however, eventually causes other forms of shelter to be devised.
WORK TOGETHER A real home may have been destroyed, but there is small relief for a girl in Bristol as her dolls house seems to have survived. In clearing the debris and salvaging belongings from the rubble, local communities begin to come together, bonded by their shared and painful experiences.
THE BLITZ, 1940-41
SEND THEM TO COVENTRY On the evening of 14 November 1940, 437 bombers are sent to Coventry in what will be the most devastating raid of the Blitz. The bombardment lasts ten hours and leaves the city, as one account describes it, “ringed with leaping flames”. Amidst the carnage, incendiary bombs fall on the 14th-century cathedral, totally gutting the building.
CREDIT X1, ALAMY INFORMATION ART ARCHIVE HERE X1, GETTY X4
THE COVENTRY RAID AS “THE MOST SEVERE IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF WAR” 56
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TUBE TALES
For Londoners seeking shelter, there was a ready-built solution under their feet, if they could use it...
“WE SHALL GIVE IT THEM BACK!”
CONGESTION ON THE TRACKS
At the start of the Blitz, the government refuses to use the London Underground as shelters in order to keep transport moving. The ferocity of attacks, however, quickly forces them to change their minds. Tens of thousands struggle to find a space on platforms or, like at the closed Aldwych station (seen here in 1941), even on the tracks.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill looks on at a Bristol street strewn with bricks and rubble during one of his many visits to Blitz-torn cities. While there, he is alleged to claim, in his typically rousing tone, “We shall give it them back!”
FIGHTING THE FIRES In September 1940 alone (when this photo was taken), firemen in Britain tackle 10,000 blazes. The ‘heroes with grimy faces’ work 48-hour shifts for every 24 hours off, ff and have to fight fires while raids are still taking place as flames act as useful markers for the German bombers to locate targets.
SUBTERRANEAN SOCIETY
With so many using Tube stations as shelters, improvements to conditions are made – from stoves and bathrooms to entertainment, such as a concert in Aldwych. There are inevitable arguments and tensions, but morale remains high and the plucky ‘Blitz spirit’ is born.
THE BANK IS CLOSED
The fear of death, however, is ever present and even being deep underground doesn’t guarantee safety. On 11 January 1941, a bomb lands on Bank station, causing fire to rip through the passages where people are sleeping on the platform and escalators. Soldiers are immediately called in to help find and remove the dead, and a temporary bridge is built over the crater.
IN PICTURES THE BLITZ, 1940-41
ST PAUL’S STAYS STANDING
GETTY X2, PRESS ASSOCIATION X1, TOPFOTO X1
Following the ‘Second Great Fire of London’ – a fiercely intense period of bombing on 29-30 December 1940 – it seems miraculous that St Paul’s Cathedral has survived, especially when taking into account the damage of the surrounding area. Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, which becomes a symbol of defiance for the British, is saved by the tireless efforts of the firemen and volunteer ‘firewatchers’, who walk through the building dousing incendiary bombs with sandbags. This isn’t the first time St Paul’s is seriously threatened. A couple of months earlier, on 12 September, a bomb would have completely destroyed the cathedral, if it hadn’t been defused by a courageous group of Royal Engineers.
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UE TO THE REofSC the Blitz
ff ing The pain and suffer much worse were it been have would not for an army of volunteers
STARTING ARTING 7 SEPTEMBER 1940, LONDON WAS HEAVILY BOMBED ON 57 SUCCESSIVE NIGHTS LEAN ON ME
In the aftermath of a 1940 attack on London, rescue workers and wardens work to pull an injured woman from the wreckage of her home. The 1.4 million volunteer wardens of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) patrol streets to enforce blackout and are a vital part of assessing the damage once the all-clear is given.
JOB DONE... FOR NOW
For many of the 200,000-strong force of the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS), the Blitz is their first time firefighting. The men and women of the AFS assist the paid firemen (who would be easily overwhelmed otherwise) during raids like this one on Glasgow in March 1941.
WOMEN GO TO WAR
Amongst the debris of a destroyed London street, a member of the Women’s Voluntary Services (WVS) cares for a distraught, young girl who has just been rescued. The WVS plays an important role in the evacuation of children as homeless. well as organising support for the hom
INPICTURES THE BLITZ, 1940-41 THE BALHAM BOMB On 14 October 1940, a 1,400-kg armour-piercing bomb is dropped on a road in Balham, London, creating a vast crater filled with broken girders, bits of nearby buildings and a double decker bus. The explosion is right over Balham’s Underground station, where hundreds are sheltering. The blast kills 68 people.
NAMES OF THE DEAD
ALAMY X2, CORBIS X1, GETTY X2, PA X1, SSPL X1
It is an agonising search for these women in Plymouth as they read the names of those s killed in a recent attack. Port like Plymouth, Liverpool, Hull and Portsmouth are prime targets for the Luftwaffe so endure huge numbers of bombs – over 1,200 tons fall on Plymouth alone.
IRIT THE BLITZ toSP demoralise
CAN’T COOK THE BO
When dozens of bombs land on Holland House, London, on 27 September 1940, the buildings are nearly all destroyed. Except for the library that is, which stays mostly in tact, meaning visitors can still browse through the impressive collection.
Hitler wanted the Blitz the British – yet they kept calm and carried on
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Although his house is nothing more than a pile of smouldering rubble behind him, a hardy Londoner is keeping a smile on his face while he recovers some of his belongings. With over a million houses destroyed or damaged in the capital, his plight is unfortunately common.
IT WAS BOTH BRITAIN’S BRITAIN S “DARKEST RKEST HOUR” HOUR AND A TIME OF COURAGE AND HOPE
BUSINESS AS USUAL B
A key aim of the Blitz is to cripple the British economy and industry as well as morale. This e ails, however, due to the poor strategy of the fa aids, giving the British a chance to show their ra efusal to give in. Even on a small scale, this re Manchester greengrocers with smashed windows M can get one over on the Nazis by staying open. c
SPECIAL DAY S
n a true act of ‘Blitz spirit’, this couple aren’t In going to let a bombed-out church stop them fr from tying the knot. In recent years, some have argued that ‘Blitz spirit’ has been exaggerated to soften the awful hardships, but the bombings certainly failed in a chief objective – to eliminate the British will to keep living, and fighting.
DRINK UNDER THE TABLE So life in Britain carries on as normal, as best as it can. As beer is never rationed, people can rely on a drink for a source of good cheer, which may explain why a Birmingham pub insists on serving while a snooker table hangs precariously over the bar. The Blitz ends in May 1941, but bombings continue periodically for the rest of the war.
BATTLEFIELD HAMPTON ROADS, 1862
TIN POT
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS X1, TOPFOTO X1
CSS Virginia was converted from a wooden ship captured from the Union. A central casemate or citadel was built, with sloping walls coated in iron. Projectiles fired at the craft simply bounced off.
Clash of the Ironclads On 9 March 1862, two strange armoured ships battled it out in an American harbour. It was an encounter that would forever change the face of naval warfare. Julian Humphrys explains… 62
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hortly after noon on 9 March 1862, the crews of the Union blockading squadron in Hampton Roads, Virginia, saw a strange vessel making its way towards them. Unlike other ships of the day, it had no masts, no sails - just a large funnel - while its sloping iron walls led one Union sailor to say it looked “like the roof of a very big barn.” The American Civil War had been going for almost a year, and
DEAD HEAT The first-ever ironclad-ship battle – which took place in Virginia in 1862 – was an epic struggle, with a seemingly endless volley of gunfire
RADICAL DESIGN USS Monitor was not a traditional warship covered in steel. Not designed to go to sea, its raft-like shape was the perfect platform for its revolving gun turret, which gave it a huge advantage.
BATTLE CONTEXT Who the CSS (Confederate States Ship) Virginia a had come out to fight. The Virginia’s crew hadn’t been expecting to do battle that day. The ship hadn’t been tested and workmen hadn’t finished fitting shutters on its gun ports, but Franklin Buchanan, its veteran captain, was eager for action, even though his brother Thomas was on one of the two ships he was about to attack. After passing Sewell’s Point on the south side of Hampton Roads, the iron leviathan turned and headed westwards towards its
first target, the USS (United States Ship) Cumberland.
FULL METAL JACKET It passed in front of another Union ship, the USS Congress. Lieutenant Joseph Smith, the Congress’s young commander, was not a man to miss such an opportunity and ordered his gunners to fire at this strange ship as it steamed past. Twenty guns delivered a broadside that would have devastated most other ships afloat, but the crew of the Congress were horrified to see
their shot bounce off ff the Virginia’s iron sides like tennis balls. They were even more horrified when their Confederate enemy fired back with four of its large guns, on the process tearing great holes in the side of their wooden ship. The Virginia a ploughed on towards its main target, the Cumberland, firing all the while. The Cumberland d was equipped with some of the latest guns available, but even these were no match for the Virginia’s armour; the shells bounced off ff the ironclad,
US Union 4 warships, Confederates 1 warship
When 8-9 March 1862
Where Hampton Roads, Virginia
Why Confederate attempt to break Union naval blockade
Outcome Strategic Union victory
Losses 393 Union men and two ships lost; 24 Confederate casualties
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BATTLEFIELD HAMPTON ROADS, 1862
A TALE OF TWO SHIPS The ironclad Confederate Virginia seemed invincible. She destroyed two wooden Union ships but, advancing upon a third, she came face-to-face with the Union’s own ironship, Monitor
Point Comfort
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USS MONITOR NITOR ORR CSS VIRGINIA
CSS VIRGINIA
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Hampton Roads 3 Cran Craney Island
River Elizabeth
ILLUSTRATION: JAMES GURNEY/2010, ALAMY X1, GETTY X1, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS X1
Fort Monroe
USS LAWRENCE USS ROANOKE USS MINNESOTA
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“Finally CSS Virginia closed with the wooden ship and rammed her”
To Washington
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es Jamver Ri
The battered Congress struck its colours and surrendered. Buchanan sent boats over to the stricken ship to accept the surrender but, despite their flag of truce, they came under heavy fire from Union shore batteries. An enraged Buchanan ordered the Congress to be set on fire by shooting heated cannonballs at it. He climbed on deck and began firing back at the shore batteries with a rifle. Soon the Congress was ablaze (it would explode during the night) – and Buchanan was lying wounded on his ship, shot in the leg by a Union soldier on shore. Catesby ap Roger Jones, who took over command of CSS Viirginia, originally inteended to attack a th hird Union ship, the USS Minnesota, which U IRON ATTACK had run aground, Those cheers died out The tons of iron needed to make the but darkness and b when it was realised iron plating for a receding tide that the Virginia CSS Virginia in ntervened. The ironclad was merely turning retu urned to its moorings, round ready to attack planning to finish the job the planni them next. To avoid being ng following day. It had been a heavy rammed, Lieutenant Smith ordered defeat, and would remain the US a tug to ground his ship in shallow Navy’s worst loss until the 1941 water beneath the Union shore attack on Pearl Harbor. batteries at Newport News Point. Edwin Stanton, the Union’s But there was to be no escape. The Secretary of War, feared that Virginia a might not be able to ram there was nothing to stop the the Congresss but it could still fire at Confederate ironclad from it with deadly guns. Soon a quarter of the Congress’ss crew were dead or steaming up the Potomac River and bombarding Washington itself, the wounded, including Commander capital of the United States. Indeed Smith, who had been decapitated at the time there were probably by a fragment of exploding shell. exploding harmlessly in the air. a closed with Finally, the Virginia the wooden ship and rammed it, tearing a huge hole below its waterline. As water flooded in and the Cumberland d began to sink, it nearly took Virginia a down, for the ironclad’s heavy ram had become stuck inside the doomed vessel. Eventually the ram broke off, ff the Virginia a slipped free and the Cumberland, its gunners firing bravely to the last, sank to the bottom of the Hampton Roads. Over half its crew were killed in action, wounded or drowned. As the Virginia a steamed away up the James River, the men on the damaged Congress cheered with relief, thinking they’d been een spared a similar fate.
Norrfoolkk Naava val Shippyard ya
Confederacy 8 March movements 9 March movements Union 8 March movements 9 March movements
PORTSMOUTH
1. On 8 March, the Confederacy’s new ironclad CSS Virginia V makes short work of USS Cumberland d and USS Cong g gress. 2. The next day Virginia targets Minnesota, a grounded d d Union ship and sitting duck, but the Union’s ironclad lad Monitorr intercepts her first. The two slug it out for four hours, inflicting minimal damage on one another. 3. Virginia, short of fuel, eventually withdraws. Both sides claim victory, but the Union blockade remains intact.
KEY PLAYERS The men in command of the two ships that fought the world’s historic first battle between two ironclad vessels
IRONCLAD VICTORY
The wooden Cumberland founders after losing the battle with Virginia
CAPTAIN FRANKLIN BUCHANAN (1800–74)
LIEUTENANT JOHN L WORDEN (1818–97)
Maryland-born Buchanan was an experienced seaman who, in 1861, resigned his US naval commission, believing his state would secede. It did not, and he joined the Confederates, later given command of CSS Virginia. He was promoted to Admiral after Hampton Roads.
Worden joined the US Navy at 16. In 1861, as America drifted towards war, he was sent to Florida with secret instructions for Pensacola’s naval commander. Arrested by Southern authorities, he spent several months in prison. After his release he was given command of Monitor.
CSS VIRGINIA
STATISTICS
near Hampton Roads, was in an area that supported the Confederacy so the Union had to abandon it. USS Merrimack, laid up there, was scuttled to prevent it falling into the hands of the enemy. The Confederates raised the ship, finding that the hull was sound and its engines could be made to work. To give them a chance against the Union fleet, which greatly outnumbered them, they turned it into an armoured monster, cutting down its decks and building a heavily-protected citadel, or casemate, amidships The sloping walls of this casemate were made of pine and amidships. oak 60 cm thick, covered with 10 cm iron sheeting and fitted with gun ports for a variety of cannon. It was renamed CSS Virginia.
Complement: Length: Draft: Displacement: Speed: Armament: Armour: Strengths: Weakness:
320 82 metres 6.7 metres 4,100 tons 5-6 knots (6-7mph) 12 guns of various calibres Up to 10cm Powerful armament Hard to manouevre. Liable to run aground in shallow water
AMOURED STERN The wooden areas at the back of the ship would actually be submerged below the waterline.
CITADEL Sloping walls of pine and oak were covered with four-inch iron sheeting and fitted with gun ports.
PIVOT GUN One of two pivot-mounted 7-inch Brooke rifle guns – the second defended the stern.
REVOLVING GUN TURRET This design meant the guns could fire in any direction without turning the ship.
POWER The ship’s energy came from two horizontal backacting steam engines plus four boilers.
RAM At the front of the vessel sat a 680kg iron ram, designed to punch holes in the wooden hulls of enemy ships.
PILOTHOUSE A small armoured area, which contained the ship’s wheel.
USS MONITOR RAFT LIKE DESIGN With a flat shape and shallow draft, Monitor was ideal for use on rivers.
STATISTICS
POWER Providing the power was a vibrating lever steam engine, plus two boilers.
Complement: 49 Length: met 54.4 metres Draft: 3.2 metres metre Displacement: 987 tons Speed: 6 knots (7mph) Armament: Two 11-in smoothbore cannon Armour: Turret 20cm; sides 7-12cm Strengths: Manoeuverable, hard target to hit Unseaworthy, no space for spare crew Weakness:
BACKGROUND: THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR The American Civil War was fought between the United States (also called the Union or the North) and the Confederate States of America (also, the South), 11 southern states that had left the United States in 1860-61 and formed an independent country, partly in order to protect the institution of slavery. Jefferson
Davis, a former US Secretary of War, was appointed its President. The US argued that the southern states did not have the right to leave the Union. This led to a war that lasted four years and cost at least 625,000 lives, before the Confederacy was finally defeated and slavery in the US was completely abolished.
News of the Confederate’s shipbuilding activity soon reached Washington, where the worried Federal authorities ordered the construction of an ironclad of their own. A number of proposals were considered but, in the end, it was the design of Swedish Swedish-born born engineer and inventor John Ericsson that was accepted. What Ericsson proposed was not a traditional wooden warship covered in steel. His ironclad, the USS Monitorr, was a small flat, raft-like vessel with a revolving turret fitted with two 11-inch guns. Its small size and shallow draft made it ideal for movement along rivers, while its revolving turret allowed it to fire in any direction. This was a huge departure d t ffrom ttraditional diti l warship hi design d i and d it was agreed d that th t Ericsson would receive his fee if his ship proved itself in battle.
BATTLE ON THE WATER When the war broke out in 1861, the Union navy blockaded Confederacy ports to prevent breakaway states receiving supplies or earning money from exports. Hampton Roads was a key stretch of water – a large sheltered channel through which three of Virginia’s rivers empty into Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. In early 1862, when the battle took place,
Union forces held its northern shores while the Confederates held the southern banks and the Norfolk Naval shipyard. The channel was controlled by a Union fleet, which blockaded the water route to and from the Confederate capital, Richmond. In March 1862, the Confederacy launched a daring bid to break that blockade with its revolutionary new vessel…
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BATTLEFIELD HAMPTON MPTON ROADS, ROA ADS, 1862 2 FIXED GUNS
ria, shown only three ships The guns on Victo Monitor, th wi e in the world that during battl ional design dit tra of re we could have given the Virginia a a fight. Two, France’s La Gloriee and Britain’s HMS Warrior, both h ironclads, were across the Atlantic. Fortunately for the Union, and for the Minnesota, the thirrd had just arrived in the Hampton Roadss. The next morning g, as the Virginia moved to confront were hit twice from the the stranded Minnesota… but Mi b iit don’t d ’ make k Minnesota, the Confederate f d much difference ff who fires at us.” crew spotted what one called “a Not everything on the Monitor shingle floating in the water, with worked smoothly. The speaking a gigantic cheesebox rising from tube between bet the pilothouse its centre”. It was the USS SS and the main turret broke Monitor, hurriedly towed ea arly in the battle, while down from Brooklyn. tthe turret developed With John Worden, its a mechanical fault, Commander, stationed The number of hits which made it w in the armoured sustained by the difficult to stop it from d pilothouse at the USS Monitor revolving. In the end, bow of the ship, the during the battle thee Monitor’s gunners USS Monitorr steamed allow wed the turret to turn, towards the CSS Virginia a, firing ‘on the move’ when the putting itself between the enemy target came in sight. To enemy ship and its intended target. no avail. The Virginia’s armour For the next four hours the remained impervious to anything two ironclads slugged it out, the Monitorr could fire at it. sometimes from virtual touching Meanwhile the Virginia’s distance, without inflicting any gunners were having the same significant damage on each other. problem and eventually many of Meanwhile the Minnesota a fired them stopped shooting altogether. broadsides of its own, sometimes hitting the Monitorr by mistake. Not When he was asked by Lieutenant Jones why that it mattered – the Monitor’s his crew was not firing armour was just too thick. Albert one officer replied: Campbell, one of the ship’s “Why, our powder is engineers, later told his wife: “We
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LINE OF FIRE
Moniitor ’s radical revolving gun turre et meant it could d fire in any d direction
“Th iironclads “The l d slugged l d it out… without inflicting any significant damage” very precious… and after two hours incessant firing I find that I can do her just about as much damage, by snapping my thumb at her every two minutes and a half.”
NO CLEAR WINNER An attempt to ram the Monitor ff came to nothing, as did efforts to shoot into its gunports but, eventually, one of the Virginia’s shells exploded by the pilothouse. Lieutenant Worden was temporarily blinded and the Monitorr was
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WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
Find out more about the battle and those involved
WEBSITE
Ironclads made wooden warships obsolete The two ships never fought again. When the Confederates were forced out of Norfolk in May, they had to scuttle the CSS Virginia. The ship was too large to steam along the James River to Richmond, but was not seaworthy enough for the open ocean. In the same month, the USS Monitor took part in an
attack up the James River but, at the end of the year, she sank in a storm with the loss of 16 lives. Despite their short spans of action, the two ships had changed the face of naval warfare, making most other warships obsolete. As Britain’s Royal Navy halted the construction of wooden
forced to draw off ff for a while. But the Virginia a was in no position to take advantage of this success. It was short on powder, was starting to leak and had burned so much coal that it had become lighter and risen in the water, exposing its unarmoured hull. Jones reluctantly ordered the Virginia a to return to its Norfolk base while the Monitorr once again took up a position beside an extremely relieved Minnesota. Both sides claimed a victory but, although the Virginia a had destroyed two Union ships and still remained a threat, the Union blockade remained firmly in place. The Monitorr had done its job. d
END OF A MONSTER
USS Monitor sank in a gale off North Carolina later in 1862
vessels, The Times newspaper commented: “Whereas we had available for immediate purposes 149 first-class war-ships, we now have two.”
For maps, facts, anecdotes and analysis of this and other American Civil War battles check out the Civil War Trust’s website at www.civilwar.org/ battlefields
WHAT DO YOU THINK? If USS Monitorr had been sunk, would it have changed the course of the war? Email: [emailprotected]
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W WHO IS BRITAIN’S GREATEST GR REATEST QUEEN?
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QUEEN? As Eli A Elizabeth b th II iis sett tto b become B Britain’s itt i ’ llongest-reigning t i i monarch, h Lottie Goldfinch looks at the ladies who have worn the nation’s crown and considers their trials, tribulations and triumphs… SEPTEMBER 2015
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ALAMY X3, ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST © HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II, 2015 / BRIDGEMAN IMAGES X1, GETTY X8, PA X1, TOPFOTO X1
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oday is the day I have reigned longer, by a day, than any English sovereign”, wrote Queen Victoria in her journal on 23 September 1896. At the age of 77, the diminutive Queen had overtaken her grandfather George III’s record of 21,644 days on the throne (that’s 59 years, 96 days plus 13 extra leap-year days). Despite Victoria’s insistence that the occasion should not be celebrated publicly, her delighted subjects could not be silenced. “People of all kinds and ranks, from every part of the kingdom, sent congratulatory telegrams”, she recorded in her diary. These, she continued “were all most loyally expressed and some very prettily...” Victoria would go on to rule for nearly five more years until her death, on 22 January 1901. Since then, her near 64-year rule has been Britain’s longest. Until this year. For on 9 September, Victoria’s great-great-grandaughter HM Queen Elizabeth II is set to claim that record for herself. Just like that day in 1896, there are to be no official commemorations, but on such a landmark event it is natural to draw comparisons between the reigns of the Queen and her female predecessors. Though the qualities that make for a strong monarch have changed with every era, each Queen has had her own difficulties and victories. Indeed, their extraordinary stories reveal several contenders for the crown of Britain’s greatest female monarch…
BECOMING QUEEN Born on 21 April 1926, the eldest daughter and first child of the Duke and duch*ess of York, the then Princess Elizabeth spent her childhood never expecting to be crowned. Third in line to the throne, it was only on her uncle Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936 and the accession of her father, George VI,
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that the she moved up the line of succession. On hearing the news, her younger sister Margaret said to the ten-year-old Elizabeth: “Does that mean you’re going to be Queen? Poor you.” The current Queen, however, is not alone in her surprising rise to the throne. At her birth in 1819, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after her father, Edward, and his three older brothers. Her father died shortly after she was born, and her uncles failed to provide living (legitimate) heirs, before two of them passed away, leaving Victoria to become heiress presumptive to her surviving uncle, William IV, in 1830, at the age of 11. But it is Mary I and her half-sister Elizabeth I who are, perhaps, the most unexpected of Britain’s female monarchs. Both women were stripped of their royal titles, removed from line of succession and declared illegitimate after their father, Henry VIII, ended his marriages to their respective mothers –
“Does that mean you’re going to be Queen? Poor you.” LONG LIVE THE QUEEN
A NEW ERA On 31 January 1952, Princess Elizabeth waved to the crowd that had gathered at London Airport (now Heathrow). There, she boarded a plane that would fly her to Kenya, for the first leg of a royal tour of the Commonwealth. Among those waiting in the bitter cold was her father, George VI, seriously ill with lung cancer and unable to make the journey himself. The crowds below cheered their support as the ailing King stood on the roof of the building to wave his daughter goodbye. But as the 25-year-old Princess took her seat beside her new husband, Prince Philip, she was not to know that she had just seen her father for the last time.
Queen Victoria receives news of her uncle’s death, and of her accession
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Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. When their The number of bridesmaids at Queen half-brother, Edward, Elizabeth and Prince was born in 1537, the Philip’s wedding throne must have looked in 1947 even farther from sight. Even when the Third Act of Succession (1543 put Mary and Elizabeth back in the running, behind their younger brother, the idea of a TOP LEFT: woman ruling England was not popular. Mary (left) and The 20th century’s Princess Elizabeth Elizabeth (right) may not have had such a troubled route are seen on the to the throne, but, like her predecessors, edges of this she was thrust into the public eye at Tudor family an early age. In October 1940, at the portrait. At the age of 14, she made her first public time, neither were expected to take wear the crown MAIN: 14-year-old Elizabeth (right) sits with her sister ahead of her 1940 radio address
The royal couple’s first port of call, Kenya, had been a British colony since 1895, but, at the time, it was not the safest of destinations for the Princess. Violence had recently broken out between the anti-Colonial Mau Mau and the British Army. Nevertheless, three days after landing in Nairobi, Elizabeth and Philip found themselves at Treetops Hotel, Kenya’s oldest safari lodge, built into the branches of a 300-year-old fig tree in Aberdare National Park. From the viewing platform of the multi-room treehouse, overlooking a waterhole, the pair watched baboons, rhinos, bushbuck, warthogs and elephants, all filmed by the Princess with her cine-camera. Later that night, while leopards prowled around the lodge
after dark, the royal couple headed to bed, excited by what the following day would bring. But the news that followed Elizabeth as she left Treetops the next morning, bound for the fishing lodge of Sagana, some 20 miles away, would change her life forever. While the pair had been watching African wildlife from their treetop paradise, George VI had died in his sleep, aged 56. Elizabeth was now Queen. A coded telegram was dispatched to Government House in Nairobi, but it was a further four hours before the news reached Elizabeth, by which time the press had already been informed. At 2.45pm on 6 February, Prince Philip took his wife into the garden where he broke the news to her.
GIRL POWER
THE QUEENS EMPRESS MATILDA (reigned 7 April – 1 November 1141) Heir of Henry I, Matilda came within days of coronation during a civil war against her cousin, Stephen, who had usurped her. Her rule was short and, after years of conflict, she was forced to flee to Normandy and relinquish her claim.
MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS (r1542-67) Queen of Scotland at just six days old, Mary refused to relinquish her claim to the English throne, to the irritation of her cousin, Elizabeth I. Mary’s involvement in a plot to seize the crown led to her execution on the orders of the English Queen.
LADY JANE GREY (r10-19 July 1553) A descendant of Henry VII, Protestant Lady Jane was de facto Queen for nine days, in a bid to prevent Catholic Mary (below) from acceding. She was beheaded for treason in February 1554.
MARY I (r1553-58) The only suriving child of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, Mary was the first Queen to rule England in her own right. She is remembered by many for her bloody persecution of English Protestants.
ELIZABETH I (r1558-1603)
British hunter Jim Corbett, who was staying with the royal party at the Treetops resort, wrote in the hotel’s logbook: “For the first time in the history of the world, a young girl climbed into a tree one day a Princess and… climbed down from the tree next day a Queen – God bless her.”
The fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty, Elizabeth’s reign is often referred to as a Golden Age. Her rule saw England defeat the Spanish Armada and heralded an age of exploration.
MARY II (r1689-94) The Windsors walk through Sandringham Estate, Norfolk , in 1943 – much of the land is used for crops to aid the war effort
Joint sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her Dutch husband, William III, Mary became monarch following the ‘Glorious Revolution’ an invasion that saw Mary and William depose her father, James II.
ANNE (r1702-14)
LS FOND FAREWEL rs on
the Elizabeth’s family ga ve her the airport roof to wa r. PM tou al roy 2 off on the 195 its inside Winston Churchill wa
Last of the Stuart monarchs, and the first sovereign of Great Britain, Anne’s reign saw the development of the two-party political system: Whigs and Tories.
VICTORIA (r1837-1901) Formerly Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Victoria lead a vast empire. Her reign saw huge changes to British society (see page 28). ELIZABETH II (r1952 – present) Queen at the age of 25, Elizabeth II is Britain’s current Queen and the 40th monarch since William the Conqueror invaded in 1066.
WHO IS BRITAIN’S GREATEST QUEEN? SMILE AND WAVE After Elizabeth’s coronation, the Royal Family greets the crowd from the balcony at Buckingham Palace
FLYING THE FLAGS
, pulls Gladstone Terrace, Northampton party on out the stops for its coronation their own 2 June 1953. The residents win street ed orat dec best n’s crown: the tow
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The number of British PMs who have taken office since the Queen’s coronation. Tony Blair was the first born during her reign
speech during a live broadcast of the BBC’s Children’s Hour. Britain was at war with Germany, and it was the young heiress’s job to send a verbal message of reassurance to the children of Britain and the Commonwealth, particularly those who were being evacuated. Three years later, she carried out her first solo public engagement and, from March 1944, began accompanying the King and Queen on many of their British tours. But the Princess was able to live within the family unit throughout her childhood, unlike many other British queens. Previous royal tradition dictated that growing heirs be brought up away from their fathers – and sometimes their mothers – in their own household. The future Queen Anne, who acceded the throne in 1702, was sent to France as a
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young child, as was Mary, Queen of Scots – who became monarch at just six days old. Mary was sent to France at the age of five, following her betrothal to Francis, the boy heir to the French crown. She would not return to her homeland until she was widowed, aged 18.
ESTABLISHING RULE News of George VI’s passing, on 6 February 1952, reached Princess Elizabeth while she and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, were in Kenya, on the first leg of a Commonwealth tour. The new, grieving Queen flew home immediately, and was greeted at the airport by Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Preparations began for her coronation, which took place on 2 June 1953, in Westminster Abbey.
For the first time in history the magnificence, splendour and mysteries that have traditionally accompanied the anointing of a new monarch were revealed to an awestruck public via the medium of television. More than 20 million people around the world crowded around television screens and radios to see and hear history in the making. True, the notion of Divine Right – that a monarch’s right to rule is derived directly from the will of God – is no longer relevant, but the 1,000-year-old ceremony was followed according to the traditions of her forbears, right down to the measure of anointing oil used. The anointment itself was deemed to be absolutely sacrosanct and off ff limits to television cameras – a part of the ceremony that surely differed ff little from those that had gone before. Similar, too, must have been the cries of “God save the Queen” that rang out at street parties and celebratory toasts across Britain and the Commonwealth, an echo of coronations past.
THE FIRST QUEEN OF BRITAIN Queen Anne and her son William, as painted some years before her accession
THE VIRGIN QUEEN
BECOMING GLORIANA
ENFANT HONOURABLE9
Largely raised in France, in c154 n Mary, Queen of Scots, was draw et by French artist François Clou
“While Queen and country celebrated the coronation, the four-year-old Commonwealth, still in its infancy, looked under threat.” On her accession, Elizabeth II inherited a kingdom now at peace in the wake of World War II, but still in the grips of postwar rationing. Nevertheless, the mood in Britain was cautiously optimistic, hopeful that the new, youthful Queen would usher in a period of progress and calm after the upheaval of two devastating global conflicts.
FINDING ONE’S FEET But elsewhere in the Commonwealth things were not looking so rosy. Back in Kenya, the militant African nationalist movement known as the Mau Mau had stepped up its violent activities to remove British rule and white European settlers from the country. Even while Queen and country were celebrating the coronation, British troops were trying to put an end to the atrocities being carried out against white settlers and Kikuyu tribes. Elsewhere in Africa, naval and military forces were heading to British Guiana to respond to revolutionary threats following the country’s recent general elections. The four-year-old Commonwealth, still in its infancy, looked under threat.
When Princess Elizabeth was born to Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn, on 7 September 1533 at Greenwich Palace, few – particularly her father – could have predicted her glittering future as Queen of England and Ireland and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Her birth was, in fact, quite the disappointment. Having overturned the religion of England in order to annul his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marry the woman he adored, Henry had been utterly convinced that God would grant him a son. But, as befitted a royal princess, Elizabeth received an excellent humanist education from some of the leading scholars of the day, which included languages, history, philosophy and mathematics. The disgrace and subsequent execution of her mother in 1536, however, meant that Elizabeth became a royal bastard – stripped of her title and removed from the line of succession. When Elizabeth was just 13, her father died and, although she had been restored to the line of succession, the presence of a younger halfbrother and an older half-sister meant Elizabeth was still a long way from the throne. Aside from a barely-avoided romantic scandal with the new husband of her last step-mother, Catherine Parr, Elizabeth maintained the image of a sober, virginal Protestant lady throughout her teenage years. Impressed with her attitude, the equally devout Edward VI eventually permitted her to return to court, though she was removed from the line of succession once more. After Edward’s death, the Catholic Mary fought off the would-be usurper Lady Jane Grey to take the throne, and Elizabeth was again back in favour. But irreconcilable differences between the two sisters – mainly regarding faith – saw Elizabeth held prisoner in the Tower of London, after accusations that she was involved in a plot to seize the throne. It was only Mary’s failure to conceive and the intercession of the Queen’s husband, Philip II, that saw Elizabeth finally named Mary’s heir. The crown would be hers.
Just over 70 years earlier, Queen Victoria, too, had faced military problems in Africa. In an age when colonial campaigns were seen as a natural part of British imperial expansion, the Boer Wars, the first of which began in 1880, saw the Boers of the Transvaal (descendants of Dutch settlers in what The year the Queen joined Facebook. Her is now South Africa) page is called the British revolt against the British Monarchy, but you can’t annexation of 1877. ‘poke’ the Royal Family The conflict dragged on on the social media site intermittently until 1902. Another Queen who found herself struggling to hold an empire together was Anne, who, five years after her accession, became the first sovereign of Great Britain, after England and Scotland were unified into a single kingdom. The prospect of unification, however, was not wholly popular with English people, many of whom felt Scotland had little to bring to the partnership. Keeping subjects on side has clearly been key to a monarch’s success throughout history, but Elizabeth II
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GOLDEN GIRL In Elizabeth I’s coronation portrait, she is lavishly adorned with jewels and rich clothing, including a golden cloak
FAMILY REUNION
GRIEF STRICKEN
Victoria’s relatives from across Europe gather for a family portrait
Queen Victoria in 1867, six year s into her period of mourning forr the loss of her husband d
GRANDMOTHER OF EUROPE
VICTORIA’S LEGACY When Queen Victoria died at the age of 81, after a 63-year reign, she left an astonishing legacy that continues to be felt across the world. Keen to extend British influence and ensure the continuation of European stability, Victoria and Albert’s nine children married into several continental monarchies: eight of their offspring would eventually rule Britain, Greece, Norway, Prussia, Romania, Russia, Spain and Sweden. Many of Victoria’s 42 grandchildren, too, made strategic royal The number of people marriages that are still significant who attend the banquets, today: both Elizabeth II and Prince lunches, receptions, dinners Philip are great-great-grandchildren of and garden parties held at the long-serving monarch. It is perhaps Buckingham Palace each year. That’s a lot of no wonder Victoria gained the vol-au-vents! sobriquet ‘Grandmother of Europe’. In 1821, the Caledonian Mercury wrote of the Empire, “On her dominions the sun never sets; before his evening rays leave the spires of Quebec [Canada], his morning beams have shone three hours on Port Jackson [Australia], and while sinking from the waters of Lake Superior [North America], his eye opens upon the Mouth of the Ganges [Bengal].” Indeed, the British Empire went through its largest expansion during Victoria’s reign, ruling almost a quarter of the world’s population. As its figurehead, Victoria oversaw the annexation of Hong Kong (1842), New Zealand (1840s) and the Fiji Islands (1874), as well as the creation of the Indian Empire in 1858. Today, the rapid expansion of the Victorian Empire, with its connection to the slave trade and and her female predecessors have all seen Opium Wars, is still debated. Many historians have their popularity wane over the duration condemned British colonisation as a lust and greed of their reigns. for power. But, although British imperial power had In 1861, following the death of her all but collapsed by the mid-sixties – mainly as a beloved Prince Albert, Queen Victoria result of World War II – Victoria’s legacy lives began a prolonged period of mourning, on through the Commonwealth, a voluntary and refused to appear in public for many association of 53 independent countries, almost all of which were formerly under British rule. In years. Her subjects’ sympathy for her 1980, Rhodesia, Britain’s last African colony, loss soon began to fall away when became the independent nation of Zimbabwe Victoria showed no sign of returning while, for many, the handover of Hong Kong to the to her role. Even the emergence of a People’s Republic of China, in 1997, symbolised the republican movement failed to move her end of the Empire. into action. It was only when Victoria’s As well as expansion, the Victorian era is son, Bertie, became seriously ill and also remembered as an age of vast industrial and almost died that popularity for the technological advancement. Steam power became monarchy increased again. a reality, and electric street-lighting the norm. To And Elizabeth II herself has been no find out more about the extraordinary changes that occurred during Victoria’s reign, see page 28. stranger to anti-royalist feeling either, particularly following the death of her
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“Elizabeth I bucked the traditions of the Tudor period and refused to marry.”
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former daughter-in-law, Princess Diana, and with regards to royal finances. Yet, like the women who ruled before her, she has weathered the storms and largely avoided public alienation.
FAMILY MATTERS Yet, while Elizabeth II – like many of her predecessors – faced many challenging situations, she has long been safe in the knowledge that she had fulfilled one royal duty of paramount importance throughout history: to provide an heir to the throne. The royal couple’s first child, Prince Charles, was born in 1948, followed by his sister, Princess Anne, two years later. Charles himself made history at a young age, when he became the first child to witness his mother’s coronation as
WHO IS BRITAIN’S GREATEST QUEEN?
QUEENS WITHOUT THE CROWN
CONSORTS AND THEIR KINGS BOUDICCA (died c60-61 AD)
ON PARADE
Elizabeth II delights the crowd in Leeds on her 2012 Diamond Jubilee tour
QUEEN OF CONTROL
Elizabeth I’s portraits – including this one from c1583 – were designed to reinforce her virginal image and authority
so overeign. Two more children – Andrew an nd Edward – followed in 1960 and 1964 reespectively. With three sons, the line of su uccession was secure. Such a situation Henry VIII – whose desperate quest for a H so on involved tearing down and rebuilding England’s religious structure – longed E fo or his entire reign. Ultimately, though, itt would be his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, who would become England’s E first reigning Queens, but neither would fi have children of their own. Mary I married Prince Philip of Spain (later Philip II) in July 1554 when she was 37. Time was running out for her to provide the country with an heir. In September that year, it was reported that Mary was expecting a baby, but by July the following year, her abdomen had receded and it was clear that the pregnancy was, in fact, false. Blaming his wife for their lack of child, Philip left for Spain soon after and the question of the succession was thrown wide open once more. Other queens, too, have struggled – or refused – to perform their ‘royal duty’. Queen Anne had 18 pregnancies, of which seven resulted in miscarriage and five were still-births. A further five children did not survive past infancy, and Anne’s one surviving son, William, died at the age of 11. Similarly, Mary II, who co-ruled with her husband, William III, suffered ff at least one miscarriage and the pair remained childless. But Britain’s most famous childless monarch was Elizabeth I, the ‘Virgin Queen’, who completely refused to marry. Despite parliamentary pleas and immense pressure to take a husband,
Although neither a queen nor queen consort in the modern sense, Boudicca was married to the leader of the Iceni people of Eastern England. After her husband’s death, she led a major uprising against occupying Roman forces, destroying London, Colchester and St Albans, but is thought to have poisoned herself to avoid capture.
Eli b th b Elizabeth bucked k d th the ttraditions diti off th the Tudor period and remained unmarried, creating instead an image of herself as the Virgin Queen who had devoted her life to her country. “I have already joined myself in marriage to a husband, namely the kingdom of England”, she famously declared to Parliament in response to their concerns.
ANNE BOLEYN (c1501-36) Anne Boleyn’s marriage to Henry VIII was the result of years of religious and political upheaval. So great was Henry’s desire to marry Anne, he severed England from the Church of Rome – which had refused to annul his first marriage – and instead created a new Church of England, with himself at the head. The marriage lost Anne her head, but created one of England’s most famous ruling queens – Elizabeth I.
ROYAL LEGACY
When the Queen reaches the royal milestone in September, it will be for far more than her role as wife and mother that she will be remembered. CHARLOTTE SOPHIA (1714 (1714-1818) 1818) Her reign has seen some remarkable Consort to George III, Charlotte may possibly have changes to British society, some of which been Britain’s first black queen. Historian Mario de are reflected within her own family. Valdes y Cocom claims that as well as being of Divorce, virtually unheard of during German descent, Charlotte also had African the Victorian era, is now commonplace ancestry, something he feels is evident from – indeed, three of the Queen’s own portraits of the 18th-century Queen. Educated children (Charles, Anne and Andrew) and a great patron of the arts, Charlotte was have separated from their spouses. anti-slavery in an era when it was rife. hom*osexuality – once a criminal, even capital, offence ff – was decriminalised in ALEXANDRA OF DENMARK (1844-1925) 1967, with same-sex marriage legalised Wife of Edward VII, Alexandra was a noted in 2014. In 1979, the Queen received fashionista of her day and is credited with Britain’s first female Prime Minister – introducing the choker necklace and high Margaret Thatcher – to Buckingham necklines to British fashion. She is also believed Palace while, in 1969, the death penalty to have suffered from a curvature of the spine, was abolished in Britain. a disability she cleverly concealed through One of the most radical changes of the clothing adaptations. Queen’s reign, in terms of impact to the monarchy, came into effect ff in 2013. The over three-quarters of the population Succession to the Crown Act now means want Britain to remain a monarchy. For that the eldest royal child, regardless now at least, most Brits will be happy of their gender, will accede the to raise a toast on 9 September to HM throne. The previous laws, Queen Elizabeth II – a monarch it seems introduced in the 17th is destined “long, to reign over us”. d century, dictated that a female could succeed only The number of in the absence of living extra-marital affairs that GET HOOKED Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s brothers or descendants second queen, was of deceased brothers. BOOK accused of having Throughout her reign The Real Elizabeth: an Intimate Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II,I by Andrew Marr (Griffin, 2012) and the many changes it has seen, both the Queen and ONLINE the monarchy have been a constant Explore the history of the British monarchy for yourself at www.royal.gov.uk source of stability for the nation. And the popularity of this age-old institution shows little sign of abating. Republican mutterings may emerge every now and WHAT DO YOU THINK? then but, according to a 2013 poll by Who do you think was Britain’s best Queen? market-research company Ipsos Mori, Email: [emailprotected]
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THE HISTORY MAKERS GENGHIS KHAN
KILLER KHAN Genghis Khan built a mighty empire at the cost of millions of lives
CONQUEROR OF THE WORLD A ruthless warrior and military genius, Genghis Khan laid the foundations of the world’s largest contiguous empire – a destiny that had defined him from the day of his birth, writes Jonny Wilkes SEPTEMBER 2015
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THE HISTORY MAKERS GENGHIS KHAN
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he year was 1162 and, somewhere in the unforgiving terrain of the Eurasian Steppe, a woman was in the throes of childbirth. She knew life would be challenging for her child. Growing food was tricky in the harsh grassland of the Steppe – which runs from the Pacific Ocean to Europe – and wars between the nomadic tribes who survived there, such as her people, the Mongols, were common. Then, if not fighting each other, the tribes still had to be wary of two powerful empires on either side of them – to the west was the heart of 12th-century European civilisation, Persia, while the Jin Dynasty (in modern-day China) lay to the east. Yet, the Mongols were hardy and the woman knew her husband, a tribal chief, would teach their child the vital skills for a life of herding and horseriding. It seemed, however, that the heavens expected more from the infant boy. As soon as he was born, everyone in the tent noticed that he was grasping a blood clot in his tiny hand, which was seen as a divine sign that he was destined to become a powerful leader. He was named Temujin, but we know him today as Genghis (or Chinggis) Khan, arguably the most powerful leader and conqueror of them all. Even those who view him as the incarnation of evil – who butchered millions, built pyramids out of the skulls of his defeated enemies and razed cities to the ground – cannot deny that Khan lived up to the promise of that heavenly, y, and appropriately pp p y bloody, y, sign. g He united the many disparate tribes
of Mongolia, built a highly disciplined, modern army and fathered the mighty Mongol Empire.
SECRET HISTORY Before the empire came the challenging childhood his mother Hoelun had predicted, but it was worse than she imagined. According to the sole account of Khan’s early years, The Secret History of the Mongols (written in the wake of his death) Temujin was not yet ten when his father died, poisoned by a group of the rival Tatar tribe. He, his mother and six siblings were without the security of a chief’s protection and abandoned by their clan to fend for themselves. Dishonoured and desperate, they lived in poverty, eating roots, fruit and whatever they could catch. The teenage Temujin was hardened by these experiences and willingly turned to violence, including
Genghis Khan sits on his throne, alongsid e his wife and follow ers
“I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.” GENGHIS KHAN
HIDDEN BEAUTY A modern Mongolian drawing of Khan in full armour and ready for war
As no contemporary portraits of Khan survive, there is no knowing what he looked like. Accounts are unreliable, with one claiming he had red hair and green eyes.
in a supposed incident when he shot his half-brother h lf b th with ith a b bow after ft llearning i he hoarded meat from a hunt. Throughout the 1170s, Temujin learned which tribes he could trust and the importance of alliances. In one instance, he was captured and humiliated by former allies – escaping with the help of a sympathetic member of the tribe – but on another, he formed an alliance by marrying a girl named Börte. Their marriage had been arranged by his father and, according to the Secret History, Temujin was madly in love with her. When Börte was kidnapped by the Merkits, he sought the help of his boyhood ‘blood brother’ Jamuka, and a Mongol prince, who supplied him with an army of 20,000. With his own band of warriors, Temujin was finally in a position to have vengeance on those who wronged him, beginning with a bloody rout of the Merkits as he rescued Börte. As further tribes fell, Temujin’s power rose as he cleverly adopted a ccarrot-and-stick approach. The carrot ssaw conquered people assimilated – to tthe extent that orphans were adopted iinto his own family – so they were ssafe under his newly created laws, the Yassa. As a highly charismatic leader, he inspired loyalty among the defeated. h Most significantly, he encouraged a M meritocratic society by elevating people m based on ability, meaning shepherds b ccould become generals. One such eexample was Zurgadai, who, in battle iin 1201, wounded Temujin in the neck with an arrow. When the battle was won, w Temujin demanded to know who fired at T him and Zurgadai confessed. Impressed h by his honesty, Temujin pardoned him, b gave him the name ‘Jebe’ (or ‘arrow’) and g a position in his army. That does not mean Temujin was averse to the frequent use of the stick. He was a brutal warlord who put many to w tthe sword. After annihilating the Tatars, who were responsible for his father’s w death, Temujin ordered the slaughter of d
TAKING LIVES AND WIVES As well as his beloved Börte, Khan had many other wives. When he defeated an enemy chief, he would claim their wife as his own, and he would also marry the daughters of powerful men who submitted to him.
everyone taller than a cart axle, which was everyone save the children.
BECOMING GENGHIS The biggest threat to Temujin, now Khan (or sovereign ruler) of the Mongols, actually came from Jamuka, who grew resentful of his old friend’s adoption of meritocracy. In 1187, Jamuka had trounced Temujin’s forces, before boiling dozens of defeated generals alive. Later in his life, Temujin described his reaction to this horrific act: “By the power of Heaven, I swore to gain my vengeance. Never again would I be defeated, nor my loyal warriors so dishonoured.” Their split was felt by the entire Mongol world, as chiefs rallied to support one or the other, in a conflict that dragged on for years. In the summer of 1204, Temujin won the decisive military victory, forcing Jamuka into hiding. His men eventually betrayed and brought him to Temujin (who had them executed for disloyalty). Although Temujin offered ff a reconciliation, Jamuka instead asked for an honourable death. With Jamuka’s execution, all opposition to Temujin’s supreme power was vanquished. That same year, 1206, a council of chiefs met by the River Onon and proclaimed Temujin as ruler of all the united tribes, collectively called the
Mongols. As nothing like this had ever been done before, a new title had to be awarded to him: Genghis Khan (thought to mean ‘universal ruler’). While Khan is best-known for the rivers of blood and mountains of skulls of his conquests, Mongolia itself changed dramatically during his rule, thanks to some rather progressive-sounding laws, such as the banning of Mongol slavery and the selling of women, and the promotion of religious freedom. Although illiterate, Khan also recognised the importance of the written word, and so ordered the adoption of a script to ensure records could be kept. To assist communication across his lands, he expanded the ‘Yam’, a messenger system that stretched across his empire. Operating as a chain of relay stations (where tired horses could be replaced for fresh ones), messages could travel hundreds of miles a day. This clearly had a huge benefit to the army, which was always Khan’s priority. The Mongol army was nearly entirely cavalry, as the peoples of the Steppe were natural riders, but they were disorganised, so Khan created an officertraining programme and transformed his warriors into a disciplined and well-equipped unit. He was a master tactician (using feigned retreats to great
BRUTAL RULE ABOVE: Khan rides into battle with his loyal general, Jebe, in front RIGHT: Enemies and lawbreakers could expect harsh punishment, such as this man being flogged while Genghis Khan watches
effect) ff and utilised psychological warfare by ordering each of his men to light five fires to make his force look bigger to enemy scouts. By far the most important weapon in the Mongol arsenal was the bow. Extremely powerful and deadly accurate, an arrow from a Mongol bow could pierce armour and be fired while riding a galloping horse. Rigid training meant that soldiers could fire at the precise moment when all four of their horse’s hooves were off ff the ground to ensure the most accurate shot possible.
SHOCK AND AWE Khan marched this modern army across the Gobi Desert – no small feat in itself – to conquer the north-western Chinese kingdom of Xixia. He knew SEPTEMBER 2015
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THE HISTORY MAKERS GENGHIS KHAN
THE TOMB OF KHAN Considering that he ruled over one of history’s largest empires, there is so much we don’t know about Genghis Khan – we don’t even know what he looked like, as no contemporary portrait of him exists. Possibly the most alluring mystery is where his body was laid to rest. The Secret History makes no mention of the site. Before he died, he had taken steps to ensure that he would be buried in a spot without markings, as this was traditional amongst the Mongol people. According to legend, his funeral procession slaughtered everyone it passed, as well as the slaves who built the tomb, to keep it concealed. The soldiers of the procession, if the story is to be believed, then killed themselves as one final act of loyalty. That’s not the end of the fantastical tale – some claim a river was diverted to sink the tomb, while others say 1,000 horses rode over the site to remove all physical evidence. The search for Khan’s tomb continues, with the most recent attempt employing satellite-imaging to search the Mongolian countryside. The body of Khan is carried to its burial site while his soldiers kill everyone on the road
PERSIAN PERSPECTIVE While the Secret History shows Genghis Khan to be noble and heroic, writings and drawings from his conquered lands, such as Persia, paint him as nothing more than a murderous barbarian. This painting of his burial procession focuses on the slaughter of the onlookers.
“Conquering the world on horseback is easy. It is dismounting and governing that is hard.”
BRIDGEMAN IMAGES X2, GETTY X1, TOPFOTO X1
GENGHIS KHAN the Chinese states had been happy to ignore the tribes of the Steppe while they fought each other, but they would not tolerate such a powerful force on their border. So he took the fight to them. As his warriors moved without a cumbersome supply train, they swept across the land at a blistering pace, raiding and plundering as they went. It was a effective ff form of shock-and-awe that saw the ruler of Xixia surrender quickly, despite the Mongols being outnumbered in every engagement. Next, Khan turned on the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty after he had provoked the Mongols with a message, reading: “Our Empire is as vast as the sea. Yours is but a handful of sand. How could
we fear you?” Starting in 1211, the country was ravaged without mercy and hundreds of thousands of Jin soldiers died. The Great Wall of China proved no defence as Khan simply marched his army around it. Where Khan was truly a military genius was in his ability to adapt to new strategies, such as siege warfare. Using the expertise of Chinese engineers, catapults and battering rams were built for the siege of the Jin capital of Zhongdu (Beijing) in 1214. As the Mongols attacked, using enemy prisoners as human shields, thousands were dying in the city from starvation, disease or by committing suicide. It is easy to understand the fear of facing a Mongol horde – the sacking of
KHAN’S SUCCESSOR Ögodei was Genghis Khan’s third-eldest son, but he was carefully chosen as heir as Genghis believed he had the power to inspire obedience within his family and continue his conquests.
HEAVENLY H EAVENLY SAVAGE LEFT: The army of Genghis Khan sieges L a town in this Persian illustration from tthe 16th century A ABOVE: A massive 40-metre-high statue of Khan on horseback stands in the o Tov Province of Mongolia T
Z Zhongdu was so intense, it was said tthat the ground became slick with human fat and a mountain of bones h sstood outside the walls. Similar scenes, on an even bigger sscale, occurred thousands of miles tto the west a few years later, when tthe Mongols invaded the Khwarezm Empire (modern-day Turkmenistan, E Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran). U Khan had initially wanted to set up K ttrade with the region, but he went on tthe warpath when one of his caravans was attacked, and his ambassador w beheaded. Beginning in 1219, it was a war of utter barbarism and savagery, even by Mongol standards. Again, they were outnumbered, but nothing could stop them from completely destroying city after city, wiping out millions of lives (there were so many pyramids of skulls, it is impossible to know how many died) on the way. By 1221, the Khwarezm dynasty had been eliminated.
A 14th-century depiction of the coronation of Genghis’s son, Ögodei
THE MONGOL EMPIRE AFTER GENGHIS At the time of Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, the Mongol Empire was twice the size of Ancient Rome and four times larger than Alexander the Great’s conquests. That, however, wasn’t enough for Khan, who passed on to his successor, his third son Ögodei, the responsibility to complete his work and conquer the entire world. Ögodei wasted no time. In the east, he looked to extend Mongol power over the whole of China, beginning with defeating the Jin Dynasty once and for all, while at the same time – as he allowed his generals to launch attacks independently – gains were being made in the west. In 1240, Kiev was sacked, and Russia fell under Mongol control, and would remain so over the next 200 years thanks to the Golden Horde, the army of the west of the empire. An envoy described the scene in Kiev after the siege: “We came across countless skulls and bones of dead men lying about on the ground. Kiev had been a very large and thickly populated town, but now it has been reduced almost to nothing.” Europe looked set to topple, with people living in fear of the savage barbarian horde. Priests claimed that the Mongols were agents of Satan and their arrival would signal the end of days. Mongols had gone as far west as they had ever been, marching through Hungary and Poland, but the invasions were called off with the death of Ögodei in 1241. A power struggle ensued that threatened the Empire, until Kublai became the ‘Great Khan’ in 1260. The grandson of Genghis smashed the Southern Song Dynasty, conquered China and made himself the first Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty – marking the peak of Mongol power. The Empire had doubled in size since the time of its creator, Genghis.
UNFULFILLED DESTINY The Mongol Empire stretched from the Sea of Japan to the Caspian Sea, but when Khan returned to Mongolia in 1225, he was unsatisfied. He believed that he been born to conquer the entire world, and that the blood clot he held as a newborn was a signal that he was favoured by the heavens. Yet, after some two decades of nearconstant military campaigning, Khan was in his 60s and growing weaker. He feared he would die without fulfilling that destiny. So, the conquests continued right up until his death. He sent generals further into Europe and Russia, and waged
war in Xixia once again to punish those who had refused to provide soldiers for the Khwarezm conquest. It was shortly after his victory there that, on 18 August 1227, Khan died. The circ*mstances are uncertain, although one legend claims that his health deteriorated after falling from his horse – an ironic ending for the leader who forged a nation and the world’s largest contiguous empire at the head of a cavalry charge. Despised as one of the worst genocidal tyrants to have ever lived; admired for building an empire that connected east and west; and worshipped by some in
Mongolia as a god, Genghis Khan has left his mark in nearly every civilisation. As well as the scars of his wars that still exist from Europe to China, it is said that one in 200 men alive today can trace their lineage back to him. His Empire may be long gone, but, in some way, he has achieved what he feared he never would – he has conquered the world. d
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Has there ever been a greater conqueror than Genghis Khan? Email: [emailprotected] SEPTEMBER 2015
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IS BR I T
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Q&A
YOU ASK, WE ANSWER IN A NUTSHELL 85 • WHY DO WE SAY... 86 • WHAT IS IT? 87 OUR EXPERTS EMILY BRAND Social historian, genealogist and author of Mr Darcy’s Guide to Courtship (2013)
WHAT WILL YOU HAVE? Full English fry ups have grown to include baked beans, mushrooms and anything else you desire
GREG JENNER Consultant for BBC’s Horrible Histories series and author of A Million Years in a Day (2015)
SANDRA LAWRENCE Writer and columnist, with a specialist interest in British heritage subjects
MILES RUSSELL Author and senior lecturer in prehistoric and Roman archaeology at Bournemouth University
NOW SEND US YOUR QUESTIONS Don’t know a Tudor rose from the Sphinx’s nose? Whatever your historical question, our expert panel has the answer.
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WHY IS A FRY UP BREAKFAST CALLED A ‘FULL ENGLISH’? It is a traditional favourite, truckers’ saviour and miracle hangover cure. The ‘full English’ breakfast – made up of sausages, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, toast and some black pudding if you’re so inclined – is a firmly established national dish. Yet,
while fried food has been eaten for centuries, the meal wasn’t adopted as ‘English’ until the 20th century. Its name grew as the meal was increasingly seen as an alternative to decidedly healthier ‘Continental’ breakfasts of pastries and fruit juices offered to tourists in Britain.
But the English aren’t the only ones claiming the fry up. The ‘full Scottish’ includes potato scones, while the ‘full Welsh’ comes with laverbread cake and the ‘Ulster fry’ with soda bread, or there’s the Canadian ‘Lumberjack Breakfast’, complete with pancakes. EB
Is Wales a country? The long and turbulent relationship between England and Wales has left many unsure whether the latter is a principality or a country – to such an extent that even our own politicians and media contradict themselves. England’s enforced control over the scattered Welsh kingdoms began following the Norman invasion, and was consolidated both by Edward I in the 13th century and by the failure of Owain Glyndwr’s Welsh rebellion (see page 22. Although Wales was proclaimed a geographical country in the Act of Union in 1536, its status as merely a component of England was confirmed in law in 1746. In the 20th century, the Welsh nationalist spirit that had been stirring within preceding generations translated into dramatic political change. With the repeal of the 1746 act in the 1960s, the re-definition of Welsh administrative borders in 1972, and the devolution of political power since the 1990s, there is no question that Wales is a country in its own right. EB
“GOD SAVE THE QUEEN” Even though Commonwealth countries have their own anthems, God Save the Queen is still an official song
How old is the national anthem?
Strangely enough, the origins of the British national anthem are shrouded in doubt. Though the phrase ‘God save the King, Long live the King’ goes back to Saxon times, the song’s verses arrived much later. It was the melody that came SEE first, possibly as a The cla ING RED ,O ssic re Tudor plainsong, d telep R NOT design h Gilber ed by archit one box wa or chant. The t s e comp Scott in 192 ct Sir Giles earliest musical etition 4 as p .N ar looks manuscript differe ow a Britis t of a h nt to S plans, evidence was After adjusting for inflation cott’s icon, it as he o riginal s u ggest painte written around to allow a level playing ed it b d e “green silver with 1619 by Dr John field, Britain has never known y-blue a ” inter Bull, who was a individual wealth like that seized by ior. famed English organist William the Conqueror after 1066. As King, living in Belgian exile he nominally owned everything, making him a following a sex scandal. Later, the multi-billionaire. He was so rich, he was able to dish English composer Henry Purcell used out staggering rewards to his family and the nobles bits of the classic refrain in pieces who supported his claim to the crown. Alan Rufus, that featured the words “God save William’s nephew, had helped suppress Saxon the King”, while the German George rebellion in the north, and was presented with Frideric Handel also borrowed the 250,000 acres of land for his pains. On tune. All of them have been variously his death, Rufus was worth £11,000 described as the anthem’s composer. – or £81 billion in today’s money. SL We know that the words and music were sung in combination KING OF BLING at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1745, The wealth of William I is thought to be well over £100 billion having recently been published in
WHO WAS THE WEALTHIEST BRITON EVER?
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million – the number of objects housed in the British Museum, though only 80,000 are displayed at any given time.
The Gentleman’s Magazine. This performance was a patriotic response to the Scottish Jacobite victory over George II’s soldiers at the Battle of Prestopans, with the crowd getting behind the incumbent Hanoverian king against his Catholic Stuart rival for the throne. An extra verse was temporarily added to ram the point home: “May he sedition hush, and like a torrent rush, Rebellious Scots to crush, God save the King!” Bizarrely, however, there is reason to believe that at the same time, God Save The King was also a Jacobite drinking anthem, meaning mortal enemies sang the same words to the same tune. Today, the anthem can still cause confusion as the melody is used in the patriotic songs of other nations, most notably America’s My Country, ‘Tis of Thee and Liechtenstein’s national anthem. To add further complexity, it’s not even the official anthem of Britain – no law or royal act ever gave it such legitimacy – so it’s merely sung out of customary tradition. As Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have their own national anthems, the English sometimes prefer to belt out a chorus of Jerusalem or Land of Hope and Glory instead. GJ
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With its own language and culture, the y Welsh identit is proudly un-English
Q&A BRITISH SPECIAL
Has our weather always been bad? The British climate may be notoriously awful but, in truth, it is by no means catastrophically so. There have, however, been times when the weather has fluctuated to extremes. During the third millennium BC, a period of increased warmth, reduced cloud cover and relatively few storms seems to have produced bumper harvests, while a similar stint in the first century AD attracted the attentions of the Roman Empire. The worst periods of hostile weather often follow a major volcanic event. Of particular note was 1816, the ‘year without summer’ when, after Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia, volcanic dust blocked the Sun, generating near-incessant rainfall that caused harvests to fail and livestock to die. On the brighter side, the yellowy-tinge to the evening skies may have inspired some of JMW Turner’s most-celebrated paintings. MR
ES WEATHER WO out British grumble ab What would the cloudy weather? if not the grey or
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thousand, the number of places in England and parts of Wales, as listed in the Domesday Book, completed in 1086.
The Black Death wa s seen as the punishm ent of God for people’s sins
WHEN WAS THE WORST TIME TO LIVE IN BRITAIN?
The British nation has had its fair share of sorrow, suffering, brutal invasions, civil war, famine, disease and political chaos. But the worst time to live in what we now call Britain must be the mid14th century – when the Black Death ravaged the land. Known then as the Great Pestilence, the bubonic plague that was crippling Europe arrived in southB In 1712 RITISH B western England in U , the p LL ‘John June 1348. Spreading Bull’ w olitical caric plainspoke as created. ature rapidly thanks to na Sto Flag w aistco nd clad in a cky, infected ships, archet at, Bu Union ll b yp unsanitary living was a e of English ecame the ctually ness, b conditions, fleeing ut he – mat created by hemat a victims, and Scotland’s S c ot satiric ician and a l w rite John A rbuthn r ot.
misguided decision to invade while England was vulnerable, the disease had extended its grip to the Irish and the Scots by autumn 1349. Agonising and incurable, the tell-tale symptoms were erupting boils around the armpits and groin and vomiting blood. Few lived beyond three days. Terrified parents abandoned their dying children, and one contemporary report described towns covered in corpses, with the living “scarce able to bury the dead”. By the time the plague faltered in the autumn of 1350, it had wiped out as much as half of the population. In the words of an inscription made at a Hertfordshire church in 1349, only ‘the remnants of the people’ remained. EB
WHY IS BRITAIN CALLED ‘GREAT’?
WHEN I WAS A GIRL, THE IDEA THAT THE BRITISH EMPIRE COULD EVER END WAS ABSOLUTELY INCONCEIVABLE. AND IT JUST DISAPPEARED, LIKE ALL THE OTHER EMPIRES. DORIS LESSING Growing up in the aftermath of World War I, outspoken British novelist Doris Lessing saw the British Empire at its largest – covering a quarter of the world’s land mass – and during its downfall. As a Communist who had lived in the British colony of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), however, she had no love for the empire and wrote damningly about it. In 1992, she declined a damehood saying she couldn’t accept an honour given in the name of a “non-existent Empire”.
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During the fifth and sixth centuries, there was a mass migration of Celts as they fled the political and military turmoil raging in southern Britain, what the Romans called ‘Britannia’. They settled in northwestern Gaul (France) in an area soon known as ‘Britannia minor’, or ‘Lesser Britain’, after its new inhabitants. It would later become the independent kingdom, and then Duchy, of Brittany. With the union of Scotland and England in 1707, the title ‘Kingdom of Great Britain’ was officially adopted to describe the new super-state. MR
SEEING THE WORLD
With many choosing to emigrate, including those on this ship bound for Australia, the British can be found across the world
IN A NUTSHELL
THE BRITISH From ice ages to invasions, the story of the British is as rich and diverse as the people themselves...
Where did these first Britons come from? Until about 6,000 BC, there was still a land bridge from Britain to Europe. Even so, it seems that many migrants arrived by sea. The evidence is not conclusive, but it is thought that, after 10,000 BC, a
large proportion of the Britons who arrived came from Spain, Portugal and southern France. Genetic research suggests that the majority of modern Britons can trace their ancestry right back to these very early migrants, meaning the population might have been affected less by later invasions than we used to think. What impact did these invasions have then? From the first century AD, parts of Britain were colonised by the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans in turn. There’s no doubt that they all made their presence felt in terms of culture, society and language, but it is less clear to what extent they replaced the existing population. The tens of thousands of Romans who arrived following the conquest in AD 43, for example, were dwarfed by the millions of native Britons. Meanwhile, the Norman
GREAT DANES In AD 877, Exeter was captured by a force of Danes as part of the Viking invasions
The Empire gave people the chance to move to and from Britain more easily
Conquest of 1066 probably took place on an even smaller scale and largely impacted on the elites rather than the wider population. The Anglo-Saxons who arrived from Germanic lands from the fourth century and the Scandinavian Vikings who began raiding Britain some time in the eighth century seem to have left a greater legacy on the population, as many did come to settle. Even so, it remains unclear to what extent they replaced or merged with the people already there. Another disputed subject is the Celts, an ancient European people who some believe settled in Britain prior to the Roman invasion, and who many modern Britons identify with today. There undoubtedly were some cultural similarities between ancient Britons and the Celts – notably in language - but there is little evidence for a Celtic invasion, and indeed the whole concept of Celtic Britain may confuse our understanding of this period. When did the British start to become ‘British’? Although ‘Britain’ was used by the Romans, most of the inhabitants of the country would not have thought of themselves as British, but would have identified with their individual tribes or kingdoms. Over the centuries,
these tribes amalgamated into the nations of the United Kingdom, and they each had distinct identities and languages, which partly reflected their differing experiences of the invasions. Scotland, for example, had largely escaped the Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Norman conquests, whereas England had been at the heart of all three. The nations of the British Isles gradually came together, beginning in the 12th century when England achieved dominance over Ireland. A hundred years later, Edward I conquered Wales and then in 1707, the kingdoms of England (including Wales) and Scotland agreed to unite as Great Britain, having already shared a monarch since 1603 when Scottish king James VI replaced Elizabeth I on the English throne. Ireland was officially made part of the United Kingdom in 1801, but much of the country – aside from what is now Northern Ireland – became independent from 1922. Who are the British today? Britain’s people are constantly evolving. Some of the most significant population changes have occurred since the mid-20th century, especially with the influx of migrants from the former British empire. At the same time, Britons have made new homes abroad for centuries, meaning British people can now be found all over the world.
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When did people first arrive in Britain? For some 900,000 years, humans may have been living in Britain, although these were not hom*o sapiens. It wasn’t until 40,000 years ago that the first modern humans made Britain their home. When a major ice age made Britain uninhabitable around 25,000 to 15,000 years ago, many inhabitants were forced to leave. They returned after temperatures improved, only for another ice age to hit at some point around 11,000 BC. This lasted for one-and-a-half millennia and it is possible a few people managed to cling on during this time, adapting to the cold conditions. Once the climate became more hospitable, migrants began to arrive once again and have done so ever since.
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Q&A BRITISH SPECIAL
What i signific of the Bulldog
WHY DO WE SAY...?
POSH
There are severa al breeds of bulldog today, including i the small French, th he powerful American and the wrin nkled British, but the original breed th hat earned notoriety is now extinctt. The Old Englissh Bulldog possessed a mu uscular, stocky body and a vice-like jaw w that clamped Where else than Britain are the elegant and shut with tremendous force, f making it well-to-do described as ‘posh’? The origins of weell-suited to the violent sportt the word definitely lurk inside the off bullbaiting g. Its strength, last couple of centuries of Britain’s history, teenacity and willingness w to but where exactly is uncertain. fig ght larger an nimals appealed e Yet the most popular story comes from the to o 18th-centurry political days of the Raj in India, when wealthy Brits ca artoonists, who w began sailed to India to enjoy a holiday in an exoticc deepicting the ffemale figure of part of the empire. On the boat journey The number of Brritannia bein ng accompanied out, the most comfortable berths were on times Britain by y both a lion and Bulldog. the left-hand side, or port, as it would be has been in the shade and a little cooler. Therefore, As the phrase ‘British Bulldog A invaded since spiirit’, meaning unrelenting the right, or starboard, rooms were best 1797 – when for the return journey. So if holidaymakers cou urage, had evolved during the French troops were discussing an upcoming trip, all they 19th century, plucky Bulldogs landed at would have to remember for the voyage soo on became a regular fixture in Fishguard was ‘Port out, starboard home’, or posh. Wo rld War I propaganda posters. in Wales.
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HOW OLD IS THE ‘BRITISH EMPIRE’? According to medieval legend, Britain was named after its founding ruler and first king, the Trojan exile Brutus. Following him, others were said to have ruled all of Britain, from Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, to the mythical King Arthur (whose dominions supposedly included England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark and France). In the 1500s, when King Henry VIII became fascinated by his Arthurian
REGAL ROOTS ng Arthur The legend of Ki of the lies at the heart pire Em h itis Br historic
heritage, such ancient ideas began to spring up again. As Wales and Ireland were under English rule, only Scotland stood in the way of a new Britannia. In the 1540s, the pro-alliance James Henrisoun called on fellow Scots to “laie doune their weapons” as “Englande was the onely supreme seat of the empire of greate Briteigne.” It was 50 years on that John Dee – chief astrologer and cartographer to Elizabeth I – also spo oke of the “Brytish Empire”, but his definition inccluded the newly acquired colonies in North Am merica. As a Welshman aiding a Tudor Queen of W Welsh ancestry, Dee appealed to the Arthurian nottion of an overseas empire. This expansionist un nderstanding of the phrase remained in use thrroughout the 1600s, though often specified as thee ‘English Empire’, but in 1707, the Act of Union bettween England and Scotland officially created the sov vereign power of Great Britain. By the mid-1700s, usee of ‘British Empire’ was widespread. GJ
The figure of Britannia has been depicted with a Bulldog – though not necessarily with a Union Flag cap
But perhaps the most symbolism came when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister. His jowly face, broad body, and steadfast determination to overcome powerful Nazi forces in World War II made him an almost living embodiment of the heroic pooch. GJ
WHO CAN BE PRIME MINISTER? If you’re over 18 and a British, Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland citizen, you can have a go running for Parliament – and then on to be Prime Minister. Past restrictions made it more difficult for politicians. The Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 forbade Catholics from advising the monarch or holding the office of Guardians of the United Kingdom. The law has been superseded, but that didn’t stop Tony Blair from not declaring his conversion to Catholicism until he left office. In Victorian times, Jewish-born Benjamin Disraeli got away with holding office twice as he had been baptised aged 12. SL
WHY DOES BRITAIN HAVE SO MANY ACCENTS?
MS UP! OTTOM BO BOTTO the Romans W While sipping wine, the ere sippi were we enjoyed the ritons en Br Britons e grain” ermentted “fe “fermen
ave the British always en heavy drinkers? The creation and consumption of alcohol existed in most early agricultural societies, with Britain being no exception. Cereal-based residues, attributed to the brewing of beer, have been found on pottery dating to the
third millennium BC. By the first century AD, many Mediterranean writers were commenting on the love that the people of northern Europe had for “fermented grain”, which was (allegedly) drunk to excess. Whereas Greek and Roman societies drank wine
WHAT IS IT? Wrapped with a black ribbon is a unique souvenir from the Battle off Trafalgar in 1805: the ponytail of the British naval hero Horatio Nelson. ritissh On 21 October, he had led the British navy to that great victory over the e Spanish, but at the cost of his life. While Wh standing on the deck of HMS Victory, ory y, e sship he was shot by a sharpshooter. The ote te that surgeon, William Beatty, later wrote Nelson asked shortly before dying g that t he wanted his hair to be given to Lady Hamilton – with whom he was having a very public and scandalous affair – so the pigtail was cut off and delivered back to o England. The Hero of Trafalgar’ss ATTRACTIO ON locks are now held by the National ona al MANE ATTRACTION Nelson’s sandy-coloured Maritime Museum, London. pigtail was removed www.rmg.co.uk after his death
As an island, Britain has juggled two conflicting influences on its languages. A constant inflow of global cultures has brought new words and phrases while, until the late 20th century, the lack of mass travel saw individual regions remaining close-knit. So early settlers – from the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Norsem*n to people from the Germanic countries and further – brou brought their languages with them, w while the Celtic tongues of Wal Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Corn Cornwall stayed discrete. S Scholars also studied PREHISTO An Ancient Greek; the RIC PLATT Remember ER c court and legal system the horse-m eat food scandal a fe c conversed, from 1066, w ye ar s ago? Well, evidence fr om an arch i in French; while the aeological d in Boxgrove ig , West Susse l language of the church x, suggests that horse w as being ea w was Latin. The language of te n by our human ance stors at leas or ordinary people became, t half a million year s ago, long the therefore, an ever-evolving before cow, pig or sheep becam dog’ dog’s dinner of everything. e part of the diet. Region Regions developed their own blends blends, creating words for import important things in people’s everyday lives. London’s with food – a practice we still see dialects changed pretty much in countries like France and Italy with every ship that docked. – northern European culture was What’s more, people stayed built more firmly around the where they were before communal feast where the grain, modern transport. So dialects not the grape, featured. Barleyand accents in each area based ‘Celtic beer’ was renowned were steeped in their own throughout the Roman Empire, rich variations – the same, yet and first-century British kings different from the rest of the proudly displayed ears of barley British Isles. SL on their coinage as signifiers of wealth. wealth The impo im ortance of alcohol had quite an effect ffect on ff the Romans in Brita annia. A letter NOW SEND US surviving from Vind doland da, on YOUR QUESTIONS the northern fron ntier, rreads, “My fellow soldiiers h have no Wondering about a beer. Please ord der so ome to be particular historical sent”. With thee com ming of the warrior-ba ased d Germanic happening? Get in societies that d dom minated touch – our expert Britain in the post p st-Roman panel has the answer! period, the her h roic levels of alcoholl u use already @Historyrevmag in existteence in the islandss were w added #askhistrevmag to, incrreeasing the www.facebook.com/ belief that t the HistoryRevealed phen n nomenon of dru un nkenness editor@history wass a curiously wa revealed.com Briitish trait. MR B
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Want to enjoy more history? Our monthly guide to activities and resources is a great place to start
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ON OUR RADAR What’s caught our attention this month… EVENT
Stay out of the way when Roman soldiers go into battle at Hadrian’s Wall
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5-6 September, Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland Find out more at www.english-heritage.org.uk For the first time, English Heritage presents Hadrian’s Wall Live – a weekend of Romanthemed events, held simultaneously at key forts, towns and museums near the remains of Hadrian’s Wall. With theatre, living history and re-enactments, it promises to be a truly interactive experience. You can meet Legio I Italia – the 80 soldiers of the Imperial Roman Army – at Birdoswald Roman Fort and watch them do battle with a horde of barbarians. Or go on patrol with the legionary guard at Housesteads at dusk, submerging yourself in the sights and sounds of a Roman Fort by torchlight. There’s also cookery, stage performances and gladiatorial combat exhibitions.
EXHIBITION
Great War Posters Ends 27 September, Swansea Museum; free admission, opening hours can be found at www.swanseamuseum.co.uk From recruiting soldiers to promoting production, propaganda played a central role to the British war effort at home from 1914-18. Posters gave the British both a despised enemy and an emotive reminder of what they were fighting for. Today, they are some of the most iconic images from World War I – from Kitchener’s ‘Your country needs you’ to ‘Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?’ (far left) – many of which are on display at Swansea Museum.
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There will be no horsing around as the steeds are put to the test
EVENT Cavalier horsemanship 12-13 September, Bolsover Castle; search for Bolsover Castle events Dressed in cavalier attire, expert riders show off what horses in the British Civil Wars were trained to do, including ‘dancing’ to music.
Tom Hardy stars alongside Tom Hardy in this gritty drama
The famine caused many Irish people to seek a new life in America
EXHIBITION The Famine Decade 7-30 September, Linen Hall Library, Belfast; go to www.linenhall.com for more info In the mid-19th century, Ireland was ripped apart by the Great Famine, which killed a million and drove countless others overseas. As part of the National Famine Commemoration, this exhibition provides a valuable insight into what happened, through agricultural advice, newspaper reports and haunting drawings.
FILM
Legend In cinemas 11 September Based on the true and violent story of the infamous gangster twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray, Legend d is a slick crime thriller that refuses to pull its punches. With Oscarwinning director Brian Hegeland at the helm, Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, Bronson) stars with Tom Hardy – as he takes on the challenge of playing both Kray brothers as they wreak havoc in 1960s London. From
amateur boxers owning a West End nightclub and mixing with the likes of Frank Sinatra, to living a life of crime, the biography of these notorious hoodlums continues to intrigue. They courted celebrity with interviews and photo-shoots, and their place in the history books was secured when they were both sentenced to life imprisonment. The ambitious Legend d tells their unflinching story.
TOUR
Open House 19-20 September, Benjamin Franklin House, London, and other locations; find out where to visit at www.openhouselondon.org.uk Explore the secrets of one of Shakespeare’s famous characters
TALK
William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
As part of London’s annual ‘Open House’ weekend – providing free public entry to some of the capital’s historic locations – this is a fantastic opportunity to see inside the English home of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. With tours throughout the day, explore the life and legacy of the man who drafted the Declaration of Independence.
Benjamin Franklin n lived a stone’s throw w from Trafalgar Square re from 1757 to 1775 75
29 September, 7.30pm at Cottonwood Hotel, Bournemouth, tickets cost £4 Professor at the University of Southampton and Shakespeare expert Ros King gives a fresh and fascinating insight into the Bard’s depiction of the titan of the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar, in this one-off lecture.
ALSO LOOK OUT FOR s 27 September Exploring the conflict’s aftermath, Waterloo: After the Battle, closes at National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh. More at www.nms.ac.uk On 5-6 September, the American Civil War Society will perform drills and skirmishes, as well as artillery displays, at Tatton Park, Cheshire
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HERE & NOW BRITAIN’S TREASURES
THE FACTS
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GETTING THERE: Turn off the A1 at Beal and take the causeway (postcode TD15 2RX). It is vital to check tide tables before crossing, available at each end, from tourist information offices or online. Buses run from Berwick-upon-Tweed. TIMES AND PRICES: Summer hours 10am-6pm (times vary in winter so check beforehand). Tickets £5-£6.20 or £14.50-£16.10 for families. FIND OUT MORE: For general enquiries call 0370 333 1181 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/ visit/places/lindisfarne-priory
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BRITAIN’S TREASURES…
LINDISFARNE PRIORY
Northumberland
Off England’s north-east coast is the small island of Lindisfarne, home to the picturesque ruins of a seat of early Christianity
T
he prosperous and powerful Lindisfarne Priory was too tempting to the Vikings of the late eighth century. On a small speck of rock off the Northumbrian coast, which gets cut off from the mainland by the tide, and with no one but the monks to protect its wealth, the priory made for an easy target.
When the typically violent attack came in AD 793, it signalled the start of the Viking Age and the downfall of Lindisfarne’s first priory. “Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race,” wrote local scholar Alcuin. “The heathens poured out the blood of saints around the altar,
and trampled on the bodies of saints in the temple of God like dung in the streets,” he later added. Fearing further raids, the monks abandoned the priory during the ninth century, making sure they took the bones of their revered bishop, Saint Cuthbert, with them. It was nearly 400 years before a religious house was re-established
OVER THE RAINBOW The Rainbow Arch has stood for centuries, even after a tower collapsed around it in the late 1700s
WHAT TO LOOK FOR... 1
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PRIORY MUSEUM
CASTLE
LINDISFARNE CENTRE
Trace the 1,400-year history of the priory and the creation of the Lindisfarne Gospels with artefacts.
Built from stones taken from the dissolved priory, the castle sits on a volcanic mound looking to sea.
The Gospels may be in London, but an interactive copy is held in the centre, as well as other exhibits.
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ST MARY’S CHURCH
NATURE WALKS
ST AIDAN’S WINERY
On the site of the first monastery, you can see surviving parts of the 7th-century architecture.
No visit would be complete without a nature trail or exploring Window on Wild Lindisfarne.
After seeing the brewing house at the priory, a bottle of Lindisfarne mead will make for a tasty souvenir.
“The original priory left quite a legacy” under the Normans, the ruins of which survive today.
HOLY HISTORY Although only traces remain, the original priory left quite a legacy. The community was founded around AD 635 by Saint Aidan, who had been invited from Iona by King Oswald to convert Northumberland to Christianity. Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, grew into a seat of power in AngloSaxon England. It was during this era that the famous Lindisfarne Gospels – a beautifully decorated Latin manuscript – were created. After the Viking raid, however, the priory fell into decay until the 11th century when a Benedictine monastery was founded. Building continued but in unusual forms for a religious house. As Lindisfarne is near the English-
Scottish border, the island became embroiled in the wars of the 14th century so fortifications, similar to those seen on castles, were attached. More uncommon additions included a defended gateway, arrow holes and turrets. What was not so uncommon was how Lindisfarne Priory met its end. As was the way of many monasteries and abbeys across England in the 1530s, it was dissolved by King Henry VIII.
LIVING MONUMENT There, looking out at beautiful coastal views, the stone walls remain as a monument to the priory’s 1,400-year history. For a small entrance fee (or free for members of English Heritage), it is possible to wander through the ruins. Be sure to take an extra moment to enjoy Lindisfarne
Priory’s iconic ‘Rainbow Arch’, which somehow stayed standing when the central tower collapsed some 200 years ago. Inside the nearby museum, you can get a sense of the life of the monks, as well as Cuthbert, the Viking raid and the story of the Gospels – although it is not possible to see them as they are held in the British Library in London. There is plenty to see on Holy Island, with visits to the castle and the Lindisfarne Centre a must. But as the island is only accessible when the tide is out, it is vital to check safe crossing times. Timetables are displayed at the causeway and on the Northumberland County Council website. Restricted travel times may limit how much you can see, but a trip to the picturesque Holy Island is always worth the effort. d
WHY NOT VISIT... Discover more of the Northumbrian coast with these historic sites...
BAMBURGH CASTLE Perched on the coast, Bamburgh is one of Britain’s most dramatic and well-preserved castles. www.bamburghcastle.com
PAXTON HOUSE Take a tour of the 18th-century country house and its impressive picture gallery. paxtonhouse.co.uk
BERWICK TOWN WALLS The best way to see the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed is by strolling the Elizabethan walls. www.visitberwick.com
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HERE & NOW PAST LIVES
Willy Stöwer’s painti ng captures the terror and confus ion caused by the Zeppelin raids
PAST LIVES HISTORY THROUGH THE EYES OF OUR ANCESTORS
‘BABY KILLERS’ APPEAR IN THE LONDON SKY Jon Bauckham reveals how German airships brought terror to the streets of the capital... READER’S STORY Charles Fair, London During World War I, my grandmother, Marjorie Secretan, worked as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse. Throughout the conflict, she wrote dozens of letters to her fiancé, who was serving on the Western Front. In one of those letters, dated 9 September 1915, she described how she was travelling back to her hospital in Ware, Hertfordshire, after a day out in London. As her train ran alongside the River Lea, a German airship on its way to the capital dropped several bombs nearby: “Crash! Crash! We caught a glimpse of falling bombs, our heads thrust out of the window. Then, splash! One fell into the river quite close at hand. The water does not improve coats and skirts and Olive says we shall send in the bill to the Kaiser!”
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This would have been the raid of 7 September, in which 18 people were killed. The next day, she wrote another letter, referring to the distressing 8 September at attacks, which s sh she must h have a read a about b in the n e newspapers: “W “WHY GO T O WAR? TO N Numberless u c casualties as and a all ll without c crossing ro the Channel!”
Charles’s grandmother, Marjorie, during WWI
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AIR DEFENCES
T
ake cover! Take cover!” were the words that six-year-old Lily Baker heard from outside the London flat she shared with her family. Looking out of the window, a policeman was racing down the street on a bicycle, blowing a whistle and shouting to the neighbours. It was only when being ushered into the basem*nt by her mother that she spotted a “huge, great big black sausage” high up in the night sky. Lily had just seen a German airship, embarking on the first aerial bombing of the capital during World War I. While Lily survived and was able to recall the events 90 years later, others in the city on 31 May 1915 were not so lucky. Seven Londoners lost their lives, joining a mounting civilian death toll that had begun when the airships – colossal flying machines filled with hydrogen gas – bombed East Anglia earlier that year. But one of the most terrifying raids on London was still to come. Late on 8 September 1915, a Zeppelin airship piloted by flying ace Heinrich Mathy began releasing its deadly cargo. Starting at Golders Green, the vessel drifted south towards the heart of the capital, demolishing buildings and igniting fires. A Holborn pub, The Holb Dollphin, was blow wn to pieces, killling the lan ndlord, while a 300 0kg bomb felll near Sm mithfield Ma arket, cla aiming the
“
Th he fear of bombing raids was used to w re ecruit men in nto the army, as seen in this 1915 poster
Before September 1915, no one had taken the idea of air raids seriously. There were only 16 guns defending London, and many of these were deemed to be “useless and dangerous”.
lives of drinkers as they left the Admiral Carter pub. However, Captain Mathy’s parting gift was particularly devastating. After passing Liverpool Street Station, two buses took direct hits, resulting in a further 12 fatalities.
THE MORNING AFTER In terms of material cost, the raid was the most destructive of the war. Damage totalling over £500,000 had been inflicted, and the loss of human life was shocking. When Londoners woke up to the rubble the following morning, 22 people were dead – among them were six children. As the raids continued, public anger increased and before long, the airships were being dubbed ‘baby killers’ by the press. Although journalist Michael MacDonagh confessed to finding the sight of a Zeppelin an “amazing spectacle” when he first caught glimpse of Mathy’s ship, a month later he wrote in his diary: “The thing of beauty had transformed herself into a hellish monster”. War was no longer confined to the battlefield – radical new technology meant that for the first time in history, no one was truly safe. d
GET HOOKED Ian Castle’s London 1914-17: the Zeppelin Menace (2008) and Jerry White’s Zeppelin Nights (2014) provide fascinating accounts An IWM podcast, with eyewitness interviews, can be downloaded at bit.ly/1IeDZ9q
DO YOU HAVE AN ANCESTOR WITH A STORY TO TELL? GET IN TOUCH... @Historyrevmag #pastlives www.facebook.com/HistoryRevealed [emailprotected]
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HERE & NOW BOOKS
Wimbledon would look very different today if they played in the style of the 19th-century craze of ice tennis
BOOKS BOOK OF THE MONTH Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports By Edward Brooke-Hitching Simon and Schuster, £12.99 272 pages, hardback
With another summer of sport drawing to a close, and with the next Olympics somehow just a year away, now is a great time to consider the sports and pastimes that our ancestors enjoyed. Going by the evidence in this book, there was nothing they loved better than the cruel and unusual: balloon jumping, birdbatting and ‘baseball with cannon’ all feature
MEET THE AUTHOR Edward Brooke-Hitching investigates the weird and wonderful world of extinct sports, and the brave (and often mad) people who played them The title of your book mentions ‘fox-tossing’. What was this? Fox-tossing, or Fuchsprellen, was a sport popular with German aristocrats in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Players split into pairs, holding a slack 4.5-metre cloth between them. Foxes and other animals were then released into the arena and, when a creature stepped onto the cloth, the tossers yanked it taut and the poor animal was catapulted into the sky. It was considered to be the height of sophistication.
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How did you go about finding out about the activities in the book? After discovering fox-tossing, I wondered how many other extinct sports were out there. After a year of digging through
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the British Library and other archives, I had found around a hundred lost sports. I had to fill the book with photographs and illustrations – I didn’t think it would be believable otherwise. Are there any sports in your book that you’d particularly like to try your hand at? Many are just too dangerous to be played today, but that only makes you keener to try them. Balloon jumping, for example, would be thrilling. In the twenties, people (briefly) thought it would be a great idea
in ‘B’ alone. A chapter on lion-baiting is swiftly followed by one on ‘man-baiting’. The details may often be grotesque, but they do offer ff insights into how people filled their time before television.
to strap hot air balloons to their backs and leap into a strong wind. Firework boxing would be fun to try too, but I haven’t quite plucked up the courage to give it a go. Do any characters from these stories stand out as particular heroes for you? I was definitely inspired to write the story of aircraftman ‘Brainy’ Dobs, a forgotten balloonjumping hero who came to a grisly end championing the sport he loved. As well as him, the statistics cs of Emperor Augustus the Strrong’s foxchess are staggering i tossing matches and the explloitss of ‘Shipwreck’ Kelly, a legen ndarry flagpole-sitter – who estim mated d he spent some 1,177 hours perc p ched high in the air – is a grea at tale. t
“Firework boxing g would be fun, but I haven’t h o ourage” plucked up the co
What do you think these sports tell us about history, and human nature? The savagery of the earlier sports, such as the animal baitings, give you a graphic idea of just how brutal daily life once was, and how far we’ve come. But also, by learning about how historical figures entertained themselves, you get a real sense of their personalities, which helps bring them to life. It’s fascinating to study the wit and imagination of our ancestors, to see just how brave, inventive, and sometimes sometim completely mad, they were.
THE BEST OF THE REST
READ UP ON...
FOOD Nutrition to pleasure; feasting to fasting – here’s an appetising menu of books to help you get a taste of our historical relationship with food
The Raj at War: a People’s History of India’s Second World War
Georgian Menagerie: Exotic Animals in EighteenthCentury London
Everyday Life in Medieval London: From the AngloSaxons to the Tudors
By Yasmin Khan Bodley Head, £25 432 pages, hardback
By Christopher Plumb IB Tauris, £20 304 pages, hardback
By Toni Mount Amberley, £9.99, 336 pages, paperback
At almost 2 million strong, the Indian volunteer army in World War II was the largest there has ever been. As this first comprehensive account of the Indian home front shows, the mobilisation of those people – and the wider political and cultural effects ff it caused – had a transformative effect ff on an entire nation.
Birds, zebras, elephants and camels are on display in this lively and entertaining exploration of the Georgians’ fascination with the exotic. As both rich and poor flocked to see strange creatures from across the globe in London menageries, Plumb reveals much about British society and the growth of the Empire.
If you took a modern-day Londoner and threw them 1,000 years into the past, what would their life have been like? You’ll get an idea in Mount’s book, which doesn’t just want to tell the grand stories of the capital but uncover the daily grind and worries of ordinary people over the centuries.
VISUAL BOOK OF THE MONT MONTH
Medieval banquets gave new meaning to binge eating and drinking
BEST FOR... BYGONE RECIPES
A History of Food in 100 Recipes By William Sitwell (2012)
Refreshingly different in its approach, each chapter focuses on a particular dish-of-old, exploring the social and culinary li story t behind it. From roast goat (30 BC) to tiger nut sweets (1400 BC), there’s plenty to tempt, as well as put off.
Calories and Corsets: a History of Dieting over 2,000 Years By Louise Foxcroft (2012)
There have been some BEST FOR... DIET AND strange ‘remedies’, HEALTH revealed in this warmly written book, as people have h worried about their health and figures throughout history. It’s reassuring to remember that our modern preoccupations are nothing new. From farming to blackouts blackouts, this engaging guide tells the stories of the home front
Famine: a Short History By Cormac Ó Gráda (2009)
The Second World War on the Home Front: Life in Britain During the War By Juliet Gardiner Andre Deutsch, £30, 64 pages, hardback
World War II slogans such as ‘Dig for Victory’ and ‘Make Do and Mend’ have always evoked vivid images of the home front. Explore more about how people lived and worked during the war with this visual treasure trove.
As much as we worry about our diet, food remains a scarce resource for many. This history looks at the causes and consequences of mass starvation across centuries, and it’s sobering, sometimes maddening, stuff.
BEST FOR... ANCIENT DISASTER RELIEF
SEPTEMBER 2015
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CROSSWORD
CROSSWORD No 20
CHANCE TO WIN...
You could be one of three prize winners if you complete this month’s historical crossword
Rome’s Lost Son
Set by Richard Smyth
by Robert Fabbri 25 ___ Carrie, 1900 novel by Theodore Dreiser (6) 26 Infantryman’s muzzleloaded firearm, superseded by the rifle in the 19th century (6)
DOWN
ACROSS 1 Site of a British Civil Wars battle of June, 1645 (6) 4 Name given to the last surviving passenger pigeon, who died in 1914 (6) 8 EH ___ (1879–1976), English illustrator of Winnie-the-Pooh and other works (7) 9 Henri ___ (1869–1954), influential French painter (7) 11 Caribbean island ceded to the United States by Spain at the end of the SpanishAmerican War of 1898 (6,4) 12 Niels ___ (1885–1962), Danish physicist and quantum theorist who won the Nobel Prize in 1922 (4) 13/17 The forced relocation of Native Americans, following
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the passing of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 (5,2,5) 14 The unlikely ‘weapon’ used to murder the Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov in 1978 (8) 16 Wife of King George II of England (or George IV) (8) 18 Charles ___ (1877–1910), motoring pioneer, best known for his partnership with Henry Royce (5) 20 Kingdom of south-east England ruled by Æthelberht in the sixth century (4) 21 Die ___, 1974 operetta by Johann Strauss II (10) 23 Pablo ___ (1881–1973), Spanish abstract painter (7) 24 Ray ___ (b.1932), Welshborn snooker champion (7)
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1 Jawaharlal ___ (1889–1964), the first Prime Minister of an independent India (5) 2 Air disaster of 1949 in which 18 members of the Torino football team were killed (7) 3 Name of a prominent family of Swiss mathematicians of the 17th and 18th centuries (9) 5 A mission in San Antonio, Texas, and the site of a memorable battle in 1836 (5) 6 David ___ (b.1944), the First Minister of Northern Ireland (7) 7 Ancient Greek playwright, author of The Persians and Seven Against Thebes (9) 10 Rapid-response militia companies in the American Revolutionary War (9) 13 A genre of play, the works of 7 Down for example (9) 15 Renée ___ (1770–1824), French woman who, disguised, fought during the Revolution – nicknamed ‘The Angevin’ (9) 17 See 13 Across 19 Jean-Baptiste ___ (1744– 1829), French naturalist and early evolutionist (7) 21 Bob ___ (1927–87), American dancer, stage choreographer and director (5) 22 German military submarine, most commonly linked to World War II (1-4)
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Here’s a chance to win a signed copy of Fabbri’s latest historical fiction, set in the dangerous political world of Ancient Rome. It is the sixth instalment SIGNED K! in the bestselling HARDBAC E E Vespasian Series. R H T R O F S Published by R E N IN W Atlantic Books, £14.99. HOW TO ENTER Post entries to History Revealed, September 2015 Crossword, PO Box 501, Leicester LE94 0AA or email them to september2015 @historyrevealedcomps.co.uk by noon on 16 September 2015. By entering, participants agree to be bound by the terms and conditions shown in the box below. Immediate Media Co Ltd, publishers of History Revealed, would love to keep you informed by post or telephone of special offers and promotions from the Immediate Media Co Group. Please write ‘Do Not Contact IMC’ if you prefer not to receive such information by post or phone. If you would like to receive this information by email, please write your email address on the entry. You may unsubscribe from receiving these messages at any time. For more about the Immediate Privacy Policy, see the box below.
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A-Z of History The intrepid inspector Nige Tassell invites you to peek inside this issue’s intriguing compendium of information informatio
Looking behind at 0 the Indy 50anap napolis 500,
The iconic motor race, the Indi but the debut was run for the first time in 1911, t was the firstIt on. reas ther ano for ble was nota was attached or mirr w ever occasion a rear-vie e its inventor, ve gav ice dev The cle. to a motor vehi he – unlike as Ray Harroun, a clear advantage need a ’t dn’t didn – tors peti all the other com when him n war to car his in er eng pass . hing oac roac app another vehicle was . race l gura inau the He won
IDI IN THE RING
Before he staged a coup in 1971 and embarked on a gruesome, eight-yearr campaign of mass genocide that resulted d in the deaths of an estimated 300,000 people, ple, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin spent nine years as the country’s lightheavyweight boxing champion.
The youn yo g Isaac Newton wasn’t taught mathematics at all during his schooling at the Free Gramm mar School in Grantham, Lincolnsh oln ire. Having been taken out of o school at the age of 17 in order to help run the family farm, it was only his agricultural incom mpetence that saw him return tto education. It was after he w was accepted by Trinity College, Cambridge, that Newton was p provided with his first enc encounter with maths.
Invading Ibiza
ILLUSTRATION: DAWN COOPER
ICE CREAM AWEIGH!
By 1945, the fleet of the US Navy boasted its own ice-cream barge. Constructed at a cost of $1 million, this floating icecream parlour had one mission: to keep US sailors in the Pacific cool. To keep up with the huge demand, the barge was capable of churning out some 1,500 gallons of the cold stuff every hour.
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ISAAC’S INTRO TO NUMBERS
Throughout the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the pressure on the workforce was vast and accelerating. Accordingly, it was estimated that, by the 1860s, 20 per cent of those working in the textiles industry were under the age of 15. Some were as young as five years old.
ENCinE1947, END DEP N IN INDia IA onial rule col ish Brit became independent of
When Ind s along broadly religious line the country was carved up g the idin dec of the ‘partition’. The job – what became known as fell n ista Pak d ate cre ly India and new crucial borders between e had to cliff Rad Yet e. cliff Rad il Cyr to a British lawyer named hout in just five weeks and wit complete the goliath task d. han ore bef ent ntin ever visiting the sub-co
As unlikely as it sounds, the sun-drenched party island of Ibiza was once invaded by snow-kissed Norway. In 1109, while on a crusade towards the Holy Land, the Norwegian King Sigurd I successfully attacked Ibiza and several neighbouring islands as part of an ongoing campaign to weaken the Muslim faith across the Mediterranean.
CHECK MATE, IVAN For a ruler reno
wned for his brutality when conquering territories and expanding Russia into a vast super-state, Ivan the Terrible died in a rather more peaceful environment. In 1584, he suffered a stroke while playing chess.
