History
Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘History’
When Elizabeth Fry asked if she could lead prayers for the women inside Newgate gaol, the Governor was momentarily confused.
Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) sprang to the public’s attention in 1813, after asking the Governor of Newgate prison if she might be allowed to read prayers for the female inmates. To his amazement she wanted to do it not through the railings of the outer courtyard, but inside the gaol. And to his credit the Governor, feebly informing her that there was no precedent for such a thing, said Yes.
Toby ‘Trotty’ Veck used to love hearing the church bells ring the New Year in, but now the chimes make him feel guilty, and afraid for the world.
It is New Year’s Eve, but old Toby ‘Trotty’ Veck, a hard-up widower, is not celebrating. Alderman Cute has got him so worked up about a sustainable economy, food injustice and industrialisation that Trotty despairs for future generations if things carry on as they are. Even the church bells seem to toll the death knell of Victorian England. But that night, the spirits of the bells rise up to demand an apology.
Cricketing legend W. G. Grace tells a story illustrating how fellow-batsman K. S. Ranjitsinhji set about winning the hearts of English cricketers.
“Among cricketers” wrote that great cricketing legend Dr W. G. Grace, “‘Ranji’ is exceedingly popular, his open-hearted generosity and geniality having captured all their hearts.” But when K. S. Ranjitsinhji (1872-1933) first came up to Cambridge in 1888, he had yet to win his popularity — even as he had yet to win his crown as Prince of Nawanagar. From this story, it is easy to see how Ranji wore down the barriers.
Hassan slipped across to Ithaca because it was in British hands and the Turkish authorities on the Greek mainland must not know what he was going to do.
The British liberation of the Ionian Islands during the Napoleonic Wars presumably displeased the French, and was no doubt disquieting for the Ottoman imperial government that for over two centuries had occupied the Greek mainland. But it was good news for Hassan. He wanted to be baptised a Christian, and for reasons of his own it was imperative that the Turkish authorities know nothing about it.
After Mr Fitzwarren took away Dick’s cat, even the charms of Alice Fitzwarren were not enough to keep him in that house another day.
What follows is a paraphrase of the famous story of Dick Whittington and His Cat as told in verse by Richard Johnson in his Crowne Garland of Goulden Roses (1612), and in prose by Thomas Heywood in The Famous and Remarkable History of Sir Richard Whittington (1659). Sir Richard Whittington (?1354-1423) was a real historical person, so some notes are added to help separate fact from fiction.
Richard Grafton bids us gaze on the likeness of Sir Richard Whittington, who should be an example to civic dignitaries everywhere.
Early in the reign of Richard II, Richard Whittington (?1354-1423), third son of a Gloucestershire gentleman, came up to London make his way in the world of trade. He amassed a fortune as a textile merchant and financier, was thrice elected Lord Mayor of London, and left a legacy of civic works, churches and welfare that deeply impressed sixteenth-century historian Richard Grafton.