1.
Canada
–
Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
2.
Hiram Walker
–
Hiram Walker was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in 1838 and he purchased land across the Detroit River, just east of what is Windsor, Ontario, and established a distillery in 1858 in what would become Walkerville, Ontario. Walker began selling his whisky as Hiram Walkers Club Whisky, in containers that were clearly marked and he used a process to make his whisky that was vastly different from all other distillers. It became very popular, angering American distillers, who forced the U. S. Government to pass a law requiring that all foreign whiskeys state their country of origin on the label, from this point forward, Hiram Walkers famous Canadian Club Whisky was Canadas top export whisky. The Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery remained in the Walker family until 1926 when they sold it to Harry C, Canadian Club whisky is still produced at the distillery site Walker founded. The company has gone through several owners and is now part of Pernod Ricard, the Canadian Club brand is owned by Beam Suntory, a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Japan. Hiram Walker was born on July 4,1816 on a farm in Douglas. He was the generation of English immigrants, his father was a reputable schoolmaster. His ancestors can be traced back to Thomas Walker of Boston and his father died when he was aged 9. Douglas, Massachusetts was a town, with a population of 1,800, and very few businesses, which include a planing mill. He received a school education in Boston, and began working as a dry goods clerk. He left for Detroit, Michigan, in 1838, at the age of 22 years, Detroit was a vast change from Boston at the time, as Detroit had a smaller population, where Hiram was able to find employment. His first employment in Detroit was as a clerk at a store owned by Augustus Gardner. His general tasks were to order, receive, check and price out all the goods in which the company dealt with, through this, he gained knowledge and experience of the business world. At this time, Boston was the metropolis of New England, the Eastern Seaboard. Walker, as well as many other youthful New Englanders, were drawn to the opportunity of the Mid-West and beyond, largely in part to the expansion, on October 5,1846, at age thirty, Hiram Walker married Mary Abigail Williams. Mary Williams and Hiram Walker had 7 children,5 boys and 2 girls, on her mothers side, Mary Abigail was the descendant of French merchants. He had two daughters, Julia Elizabeth and Jennie Melissa, and five sons, Willis Ephraim, Edward Chandler, Franklin Hiram, Alfred, Edward Chandler was his second son, whom commissioned the development of Willistead Manor
3.
Prohibition in the United States
–
Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages that remained in place from 1920 to 1933. One result was that many communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries introduced alcohol prohibition, Prohibition supporters, called drys, presented it as a victory for public morals and health. Promoted by the dry crusaders, a movement was led by rural Protestants and social Progressives in the Prohibition, Democratic and it gained a national grass roots base through the Womans Christian Temperance Union. After 1900 it was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League, Prohibition was mandated in state after state, then finally nationwide under the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. Enabling legislation, known as the Volstead Act, set down the rules for enforcing the ban, for example, religious uses of wine were allowed. Private ownership and consumption of alcohol were not made illegal under federal law, in the 1920s the laws were widely disregarded, and tax revenues were lost. Opposition mobilized nationwide, and Prohibition ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, some states continued statewide prohibition, marking one of the last stages of the Progressive Era. Anti-prohibitionists, known as wets, criticized the ban as an intrusion of mainly rural Protestant ideals on a central aspect of urban, immigrant. Some researchers contend that its failure is attributable more to a changing historical context than to characteristics of the law itself. Criticism remains that Prohibition led to unintended consequences such as the growth of urban crime organizations, as an experiment it lost supporters every year, and lost tax revenue that governments needed when the Great Depression began in 1929. The U. S. Senate proposed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18,1917, upon being approved by a 36th state on January 16,1919, the amendment was ratified as a part of the Constitution. The Wartime Prohibition Act took effect June 30,1919, with July 1,1919, on October 28,1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, the popular name for the National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilsons veto. The act established the definition of intoxicating liquors as well as penalties for producing them. Although the Volstead Act prohibited the sale of alcohol, the government lacked resources to enforce it. By the terms of the amendment, the country went dry one year later, by 1925, in New York City alone, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs. While Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, it stimulated the proliferation of rampant underground, organized, many were astonished and disenchanted with the rise of spectacular gangland crimes, when prohibition was supposed to reduce crime. Prohibition lost its advocates one by one, while the wet opposition talked of personal liberty, new tax revenues from legal beer and liquor, and the scourge of organized crime. On March 22,1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen–Harrison Act, legalizing beer with a content of 3. 2%
4.
Detroit River
–
The Detroit River flows for 24 nautical miles from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system and forms part of the border between Canada and the United States. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, the two cities are connected by the Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel and the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel. The rivers name comes from the French Rivière Détroit, meaning River of the Strait, the Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river travels west and south from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, the river serves as an important transportation route connecting Lake Michigan, Huron, and Superior to the St. Lawrence Seaway and Erie Canal. When Detroit underwent rapid industrialization at the turn of the 20th century, in recent years, however, the ecological importance of the river has warranted a vast restoration effort, and the river today has a wide variety of economical and recreational uses. There are numerous islands in the Detroit River, and much of the portion of the river is incorporated into the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. The portion of the river in the city of Detroit has been organized into the Detroit International Riverfront, the Detroit River is designated an American Heritage River and a Canadian Heritage River — the only river to have this dual designation. The Detroit River flows for 24 nautical miles from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, however, today, the Detroit River is rarely referred to as a strait, because bodies of water referred to as straits are typically much wider. The Detroit River is only 0.5 to 2.5 miles wide, the Detroit River starts on an east to west flow but then bends and runs north to south. The deepest portion of the Detroit River is 53 feet deep in the portion of the river. At its source, the river is at an elevation of 574 feet above sea level, the river drops only three feet before entering into Lake Erie at 571 feet. As the river contains no dams and no locks, it is navigable by even the smallest of vessels. The watershed basin for the Detroit River is approximately 700 square miles, since the river is fairly short, it has few tributaries. Its largest tributary is the River Rouge in Michigan, which is four times longer than the Detroit River. The only other major American tributary to the Detroit River is the much smaller Ecorse River, tributaries on the Canadian side include Little River, Turkey Creek and the River Canard. The discharge for the Detroit River is relatively high for a river of its size, the rivers average discharge is approximately 188,000 cubic feet per second, and the rivers flow is constant. The Detroit River forms an element of the international border between the United States and Canada. The river on the American side is all under the jurisdiction of Wayne County, Michigan, the largest city along the Detroit River is Detroit, and most of the population along the river lives in Michigan
5.
Windsor, Ontario
–
Windsor is a city in Ontario and the southernmost city in Canada. It is located on the shore of the Detroit River, directly across the river from Detroit. Windsor is a contributor to Canadas automotive industry and has a storied history. Prior to European exploration and settlement, the Windsor area was inhabited by the First Nations, a French agricultural settlement was established at the site of Windsor in 1749. It is the oldest continually inhabited European-founded settlement in Canada west of Montreal, the area was first named la Petite Côte. Later it was called La Côte de Misère because of the sandy soils near LaSalle, Windsors French-Canadian heritage is reflected in French street names such as Ouellette, Pelissier, François, Pierre, Langlois, Marentette, and Lauzon. The current street system of Windsor reflects the Canadien method of land division. Today, the street name often indicates the name of the family that at one time farmed the land where the street is now located. The street system of outlying areas is consistent with the British system for granting land concessions, there is a significant French-speaking minority in Windsor and the surrounding area, particularly in the Lakeshore, Tecumseh and LaSalle areas. In 1794, after the American Revolution, the settlement of Sandwich was founded and it was later renamed Windsor, after the town in Berkshire, England. The Sandwich neighbourhood on Windsors west side is home to some of the oldest buildings in the city, including Mackenzie Hall, today, this building functions as a community centre. The oldest building in the city is the Duff-Baby House built in 1792 and it is owned by Ontario Heritage Trust and houses government offices. The François Baby House in downtown Windsor was built in 1812 and houses Windsors Community Museum, Windsor was the site of a battle during the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1838, and also served as a theatre for the Patriot War, later that year. Windsor was established as a village in 1854, then became a town in 1858, the Windsor Police Service was established on July 1,1867. A fire consumed much of Windsors downtown core on October 12,1871, Sandwich, Ford City and Walkerville were separate legal entities in their own right until 1935. They are now historic neighbourhoods of Windsor, Ford City was officially incorporated as a village in 1912, it became a town in 1915, and a city in 1929. Walkerville was incorporated as a town in 1890, Sandwich was established in 1817 as a town with no municipal status. It was incorporated as a town in 1858 and these three towns were annexed by Windsor in 1935
6.
Gentlemen's club
–
Today, some clubs are more accommodating about the gender and social status of their members. The original clubs were established in the West End of London, today, the area of St Jamess is still sometimes called clubland. Clubs took over parts of the role occupied by coffee houses in 18th century London. The first clubs, such as Whites, Brookss and Boodles, were aristocratic in flavour, and provided an environment for gambling, the 19th century brought an explosion in the popularity of clubs, particularly around the 1880s. At their height, London had over 400 such establishments and this expansion can be explained in part by the large extensions of the franchise in the Reform Acts of 1832,1867, and 1885. Each time, hundreds of more men were qualified to vote. Each of the three great Reform Acts corresponded with an expansion of clubs, as did a further extension of the franchise in 1918. Many of these new, more inclusive clubs proved just as reluctant as their forebears to admit new members when the franchise was further extended. Club Life in London, an 1866 book, begins, The Club in the general acceptation of the term, may be regarded as one of the earliest offshoots of mans habitual gregariousness and social inclination. An increasing number of clubs were characterised by their members interest in politics, literature, sport, art, automobiles, travel, particular countries, or some other pursuit. In other cases, the connection between the members was membership of the branch of the armed forces, or the same school or university. Thus the growth of clubs provides an indicator as to what was considered a part of the Establishment at the time. This came to include professionals who had to earn their income, most gentlemen had only one club, which closely corresponded with the trade or social / political identity he felt most defined him, but a few people belonged to several. Members of the aristocracy and politicians were likely to have several clubs, the record number of memberships is believed to have been with Earl Mountbatten, who had nineteen in the 1960s. Public entertainments, such as performances and the like, were not a feature of this sort of club. The clubs were, in effect, second homes in the centre of London where men could relax, mix with their friends, play games, get a meal. Expatriates, when staying in England, could use their clubs, as the East India Club or the Oriental Club and they allowed upper- and upper-middle-class men with modest incomes to spend their time in grand surroundings. The richer clubs were built by the architects as the finest country houses of the time
7.
Al Capone
–
Alphonse Gabriel Al Capone, sometimes known by the nickname Scarface, was an American gangster who attained fame during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit. His seven-year reign as crime boss ended when he was 33 years old, Capone was born in Brooklyn in New York City to Italian immigrants. He was considered a Five Points Gang member who became a bouncer in organized crime such as brothels. A conflict with the North Side Gang was instrumental in Capones rise, Torrio went into retirement after North Side gunmen almost killed him, handing control to Capone. Capone apparently reveled in attention, such as the cheers from spectators when he appeared at ball games and he made donations to various charities and was viewed by many to be a modern-day Robin Hood. The federal authorities became intent on jailing Capone, and they prosecuted him for tax evasion in 1931, a federal crime and a novel strategy during the era. During the highly publicized case, the judge admitted as evidence Capones admissions of his income, Capone was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. After conviction, he replaced his old team with experts in tax law, and his grounds for appeal were strengthened by a Supreme Court ruling. He was already showing signs of syphilitic dementia early in his sentence, on January 25,1947, Capone died of cardiac arrest after suffering a stroke. Al Capone was born in Brooklyn in New York City on January 17,1899 and his parents were Italian immigrants Gabriele Capone and Teresa Capone. His father was a barber and his mother was a seamstress, ralph and Frank worked with him in his criminal empire. Frank did so until his death on April 1,1924, ralph ran the bottling companies early on, and was also the front man for the Chicago Outfit for some time until he was imprisoned for tax evasion in 1932. Gabriele Capone worked at a barber shop at 29 Park Avenue. When Al was 11, the Capone family moved to 38 Garfield Place in Park Slope, Capone showed promise as a student, but had trouble with the rules at his strict parochial Catholic school. His schooling ended at the age of 14, after he was expelled for hitting a teacher in the face. He worked at odd jobs around Brooklyn, including a candy store, during this time, Capone was influenced by gangster Johnny Torrio, whom he came to regard as a mentor. Capone initially became involved with gangs that included the Junior Forty Thieves. He then joined the Brooklyn Rippers, and then the powerful Five Points Gang based in Lower Manhattan, during this time, he was employed and mentored by fellow racketeer Frankie Yale, a bartender in a Coney Island dance hall and saloon called the Harvard Inn
8.
Royal Warrant of Appointment (United Kingdom)
–
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to those who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family, in the United Kingdom, grants are currently made by the three most senior members of the British Royal Family to companies or tradesmen who supply goods and services to individuals in the family. Suppliers continue to charge for their goods and services – a warrant does not imply that they provide goods, the warrant is typically advertised on company hoardings, letter-heads and products by displaying the coat of arms or the heraldic badge of the royal personage as appropriate. Underneath the coat of arms usually appear the phrase By Appointment to. Followed by the title and name of the customer. No other details of what is supplied may be given, the earliest recorded British royal charter was granted to the Weavers’ Company in 1155 by Henry II of England. Food and drinks suppliers have always been some of the most important warrant holders to the palace, one of the first monarchs to grant a warrant was King George IV, who turned Buckingham Palace into his residence. Warrants are currently granted for the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Warrants issued by the Queen Mother automatically expired in 2007, five years after her death. Royal Warrants are only awarded to tradesmen, such as carpenters, engravers, cabinet makers, dry-cleaners, some are well-known companies, many are not. The professions, employment agencies, party planners, the media, government departments, some 850 individuals and companies, including a few non-UK companies, hold more than 1,100 warrants to the British Royal Family. The Royal Warrant signifies there is a satisfactory trade relation in place between the grantor and the company, within the company, there is a nominated person called the grantee. That person is in all respects responsible for all aspects of the Royal Warrant and it takes at least five years of supplying goods or services to the member of the Royal Family before a company is eligible to have its application considered for recommendation. That application is presented to the Royal Household and goes to the buyer who makes its recommendation for inclusion. It then goes in front of the Royal Household Warrants Committee, which is chaired by the Lord Chamberlain and it then goes to the grantor, who personally signs it. The grantor is empowered to reverse the Committees decision, and therefore the decision to accept or withhold a grant is a very personal one. Some Royal Warrants have been held for more than a hundred years, goods need not be for the use of the grantor. For example, cigarettes were only bought for the use of guests of the Royal Family, most Warrant holders are members of the Royal Warrant Holders Association, which liaises closely with the palace. Its secretary, Richard Peck, is a submarine commander
9.
Queen Victoria
–
Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
10.
Edward VII
–
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, before his accession to the throne, he served as heir apparent and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, he was excluded from political power. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, as king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War. He reinstituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised and he died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was born at 10,48 in the morning on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace and he was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle and he was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the family throughout his life. As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall, as a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841, Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850, a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867. In 1863, he renounced his rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on an educational programme devised by Prince Albert. Unlike his elder sister Victoria, Edward did not excel in his studies and he tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent, after the completion of his secondary-level studies, his tutor was replaced by a personal governor, Robert Bruce. After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, he spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, among others, in October, he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Now released from the strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time
11.
George V
–
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From then on, his rank was largely honorary
12.
George VI
–
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth, known as Albert until his accession, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his life in the shadow of his elder brother. He attended naval college as a teenager, and served in the Royal Navy, in 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, in the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never fully overcame. Georges elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936, however, later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman, Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor. During Georges reign, the break-up of the British Empire and its transition into the Commonwealth of Nations accelerated, the parliament of the Irish Free State removed direct mention of the monarch from the countrys constitution on the day of his accession. The following year, a new Irish constitution changed the name of the state to Ireland, from 1939, the Empire and Commonwealth – except Ireland – was at war with Nazi Germany. War with Italy and Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively, though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre-eminent world powers and the British Empire declined. After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, George remained king of countries, but relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948. Ireland formally declared itself a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949, George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by problems in the later years of his reign. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Elizabeth II, George was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His father was Prince George, Duke of York, the second and eldest-surviving son of the Prince and his mother was the Duchess of York, the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. His birthday was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather, Albert, uncertain of how the Prince Consorts widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been rather distressed. Two days later, he again, I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her. Consequently, he was baptised Albert Frederick Arthur George at St. Mary Magdalenes Church near Sandringham three months later, within the family, he was known informally as Bertie
