1.
Newport, Isle of Wight
–
Newport is a civil parish and the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England, in the United Kingdom. Newport had a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census, mousterian remains, featuring tools made by Neanderthals at least 40,000 years ago, were found at Great Pan Farm in the 1970s. There are signs of Roman settlement in the area, which was known as Medina. Information about the area resumes after the Norman Conquest, the first charter was granted in the late 12th century. In 1377 an invading French force burnt down much of the town attempting to take Carisbrooke Castle. A group of Frenchmen were captured and killed, then buried in a tumulus later nicknamed Noddies Hill and this was later corrupted to Nodehill, the present-day name for a part of central Newport – a name confusing to many as the area is flat. The Treaty was repudiated by Oliver Cromwell upon returning from defeating the Scots at the Battle of Preston, the town had been incorporated as a borough in 1608. The towns position as an area of trade accessible to the sea meant it took over from nearby Carisbrooke as the main central settlement. Newport since the 1960s has acquired new shopping facilities, a central square. Newport Quay has been redeveloped with art galleries such as the Quay Arts Centre, the Queen Victoria Memorial was designed by local architect Percy Stone. Geographically located in the centre of the Island at 50. 701°N,1. 2883°W, transport connections link all major towns to Newport, it is the main shopping centre and location for public services on the Island. The main A3020 and A3054 roads converge as Medina Way between the busy roundabouts at Coppins Bridge and St Marys Hospital. Newport railway station was the hub of the Islands rail network until the mid-20th century, but it closed in 1966, the nearest city to the town is Portsmouth, about 13 miles north-east on Portsea Island, adjoining the mainland. More locally, Ryde, the Islands largest town, is to the north-east, Sandown and Shanklin are to the east, the River Medina runs through Newport, north of its confluence with the Lukely Brook at the towns quay it becomes a navigable tidal estuary. Distance from surrounding settlements Cowes –4, parkhurst and Albany were once among the few top-security prisons in the United Kingdom. Camp Hill was another prison in the area but closed in 2013, seaclose Park in Newport, on the east bank of the River Medina, has since 2002 been the location for the revived Isle of Wight Music Festival, held annually. Newport is home to the Postal Museum, possibly the largest private collection of postal equipment. Newport bus station is the central bus terminus, with all routes in the town serving it
2.
Bonchurch
–
Bonchurch is a small village to the east of Ventnor, now largely connected to the latter by suburban development, on the southern part of the Isle of Wight, England. One of the oldest settlements on the Isle of Wight, it is situated on The Undercliff adjacent to the Bonchurch Landslips Site of Special Scientific Interest. The main village is backed by a cliff to the north, with the Upper Bonchurch section on the clifftop halfway up St Boniface Down on the main A3055 road. Bonchurch is situated on a section of former landslip, its main street running east-west in a valley sheltered to the north by cliffs, and to the south by The Mount. Bonchurch High Street has an adjacent landscaped pond, fed by a spring, the Shanklin-Ventnor route originally passed through Bonchurch, descending the ciff by the steep Bonchurch Shute, now it is bypassed by the clifftop A3055 Leeson Road. The presence of a spring is believed to be the reason why humans first settled in the area where present-day Bonchurch is located. A prehistoric race lived in the area around the Undercliff, land which was wild forest, evidence has also been found showing that men that lived during the Stone Age had lived near to the water spring. Five burial mounds have been discovered at St. Boniface Down, evidence has also been discovered showing that the Romans established a settlement in the area. The Saxon patron saint, St. Boniface, is believed to have visited the Isle of Wight, legend states that monks from Lyra in Normandy landed at Monks Bay, near to modern-day Bonchurch, and erected a building in dedication to St. Boniface. This building could be the building which is believed to have existed in the 9th century where the Old Church now stands. The first documented proof of the existence of Bonchurch is found in the Domesday Book, in the Domesday Book, the settlement was called Bonecerce. Cerce is Anglo-Saxon for church, whilst Bone is presumed to have derived from St. Boniface. The oldest one is called the Old Church, the Domesday Book recorded its existence. See Old St. Boniface Church, Bonchurch and St. Boniface Church, Bonchurch, in July 1545, the Battle of Bonchurch was fought. 500 French soldiers had landed at the coast near Bonchurch, one of three landings that took place on the coastline of the Isle of Wight by French soldiers,300 Isle of Wight militiamen engaged the French forces, and the militiamen won the engagement. Some accounts state that women participated in the battle by shooting arrows at the French soldiers. The victory is considered to have stopped the French invasion of the Isle of Wight. Soon after the battle, a number of men from the French fleet which had retreated from the Solent after the Battle of the Solent landed on the coast near Bonchurch
3.
Henry Sewell
–
Henry Sewell was a prominent 19th-century New Zealand politician. He was a campaigner for New Zealand self-government, and is generally regarded as having been the countrys first Premier. Sewell was born on 7 September 1807 in the town of Newport and his family was relatively wealthy, and Sewell received a good education. He eventually qualified as a lawyer, in 1840, however, Sewells father lost a staggering sum of money when a bank failed, and died shortly afterwards, leaving the family with a great deal of debt. This put considerable strain on Sewell, in 1844, Sewell also suffered from the untimely death of his wife Lucinda. He put his sister in charge of his children and his mother, Sewell remarried, probably on 23 January 1850, and made plans to emigrate with his new wife Elizabeth Kittoe to New Zealand, hoping for improved financial prospects in the colony. Sewells connection to New Zealand arose through the Canterbury Association, a British organisation dedicated to the colonisation of the New Zealand region known as Canterbury and it is probable that John Simeon introduced Sewell to the Association, and he interacted greatly with Johns brother Charles. Until Sewells departure for New Zealand, he was the Associations deputy director, the Associations plan for colonisation encountered a number of serious problems, however, and considerable debts were incurred. Sewell was instrumental in solving these problems, Sewell personally arrived in Lyttelton, the port of Christchurch on 2 February 1853, hoping to sort out what remained of the colonys problems. Gradually, and despite conflict with provincial superintendent James FitzGerald, Sewell managed to get the back onto a reasonable course. Charles Simeon and family lived in Canterbury from October 1851 to December 1855, Sewells diary, published in 1980 as the Sewell Journal in two volumes, gives a unique insight into his life in the colony. The journals editor, historian W. David McIntyre, calls it the most absorbing, there was one position to be filled in the town electorate, and two in the rural electorate. Sewell sought counsel from some friends, who recommended for him to stand in the electorate, but he did not want to oppose Guise Brittan. Whilst Brittan was unpopular with the constituency, Sewell thought that it would be useful to have him in Parliament. Sewell talked to Brittan, who supported him standing in the town electorate. Sewell first advertised his candidacy in the Lyttelton Times on 30 July, in the same edition of the newspaper, James Stuart-Wortley and Guise Brittan advertised their candidacy for the Christchurch Country electorate. Jerningham Wakefield reiterated his candidacy for the Christchurch Country electorate in early August upon his return from Wellington, at the same time, Fooks announced his candidacy for the Town of Christchurch electorate. On 4 August, he held a meeting at the Golden Fleece, a hotel on the corner of Colombo and Armagh Streets, and addressed between 30 and 40 electors
4.
James Edwards Sewell
–
James Edwards Sewell was an English academic, Warden of New College, Oxford from 1860. Sewell was educated at Winchester College and New College, in 1830, he became a Fellow of New College, and practically passed the rest of his life there, being elected to the headship in 1860. Sewell was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1874–78 and he died in his ninety-third year, having been Warden of New College for 43 years, and was interred in the College cloisters. His brother, Henry Sewell became the first premier of New Zealand, another brother, William Sewell, was a writer, as was sister Elizabeth Missing Sewell. His brother Richard Clarke Sewell was a barrister and later reader in law to the University of Melbourne and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
5.
New Zealand
–
New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
6.
New College, Oxford
–
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham, the name of the college is The Warden. The name New College, however, soon came to be used following its completion in 1386 to distinguish it from the existing college of St. Mary. In 2013, the college ranked second in the Norrington Table, having been ranked third in the 2011-12 tables, maintaining its place from 2010 to 2011, New College jumped to 1st after the 2012-13 academic year. The college is between Holywell Street and New College Lane, next to All Souls College, Harris Manchester College, Hertford College, The Queens College, the colleges sister college is Kings College, Cambridge. The college is one of the main foundations of the University of Oxford. The college choir is regarded as one of the choirs of the world. New College is one of the wealthiest colleges in Oxford University, as of June 2015, it had a financial endowment in excess of £190 million, and net assets of over £220 million. In 1379 William of Wykeham had purchased land in Oxford and was able to apply to King Richard II for a charter to allow the foundation of a de novo. In his own charter of foundation, Wykeham declared the college to consist of a warden, the site on which the college would be built was acquired from several sources, including the City of Oxford, Merton College and Queens College. This land had been the City Ditch, a haunt of thieves, on 5 March 1380, the first stone of New College was laid. By 14 April 1386, the college entered formal possession of the buildings, Wykeham set to drawing up the statutes of the college, with a first draft presented in 1390. The statutes were not completed until the year before Wykeham died, the coat of arms of the college is one adopted by William Wykeham. It features two black chevrons, one said to have been added when he became a bishop and the other representing his skill with architecture, Winchester College uses the same arms. The grand collection of buildings is a testament to Williams experience in administering both ecclesiastical and civil institutions as the Bishop of Winchester and High Chancellor of England. Both Winchester College and New College were originally established for the education of priests, William of Wykeham ordained that there were to be ten chaplains, three clerks and 16 choristers on the foundation of the college. The original choristers were accommodated within the walls of the college under one schoolmaster, since then the school has expanded and in 1903 moved to New College School in Savile Road. In August 1651, New College was fortified by the Parliamentarian forces, in 1685, Monmouths rebellion involved Robert Sewster, a fellow of the college, who commanded a company of university volunteers
7.
University of Melbourne
–
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australias second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria, Times Higher Education ranks Melbourne as 33rd in the world, while the Academic Ranking of World Universities places Melbourne 40th in the world. Melbournes main campus is located in Parkville, a suburb north of the Melbourne central business district. Melbourne is a university and a member of the Group of Eight, Universitas 21. Since 1872 various residential colleges have become affiliated with the university, there are 12 colleges located on the main campus and in nearby suburbs offering academic, sporting and cultural programs alongside accommodation for Melbourne students and faculty. Amongst Melbournes 15 graduate schools the Melbourne Business School, the Melbourne Law School, four Australian prime ministers and five governors-general have graduated from Melbourne. Nine Nobel laureates have been students or faculty, the most of any Australian university, the university was established by Act of Incorporation on 22 January 1853, with power to confer degrees in arts, medicine, laws and music. The act provided for an endowment of £9,000. The original buildings were opened by the Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham. The first chancellor, Redmond Barry, held the position until his death in 1880, the inauguration of the university was made possible by the wealth resulting from Victorias gold rush. The institution was designed to be an influence at a time of rapid settlement. In 1881, the admission of women was a seen as victory over the conservative ruling council. The universitys 150th anniversary was celebrated in 2003, as of May 2009 the university suspended the Bachelor of Music Theatre and Puppetry courses at the college and there were fears they may not return under the new curriculum. New dean Sharman Pretty outlined drastic changes under the plan for the college in early April 2009. As a result, it is now being called into question whether the university have upheld that agreement, staff at the college responded to the changes, claiming the university did not value vocational arts training, and voicing fears over the future of quality training at the VCA. Melbourne University has 12 residential colleges in total, seven of which are located in an arc around the oval at the northern edge of the campus. The other five are located outside of university grounds, the residential colleges aim to provide accommodation and holistic education experience to university students. Several of the earliest campus buildings, such as the Old Quadrangle and Baldwin Spencer buildings, the new Wilson Hall replaced the original building which was destroyed by fire
8.
Bath, Somerset
–
Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, known for its Roman-built baths. In 2011, the population was 88,859, Bath is in the valley of the River Avon,97 miles west of London and 11 miles south-east of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, the city became a spa with the Latin name Aquæ Sulis c. AD60 when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and became a religious centre, the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century, claims were made for the properties of water from the springs. Many of the streets and squares were laid out by John Wood, the Elder, and in the 18th century the city became fashionable, Jane Austen lived in Bath in the early 19th century. Further building was undertaken in the 19th century and following the Bath Blitz in World War II, the city has software, publishing and service-oriented industries. Theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues have helped make it a centre for tourism with more than one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year. There are several museums including the Museum of Bath Architecture, Victoria Art Gallery, Museum of East Asian Art, the city has two universities, the University of Bath and Bath Spa University, with Bath College providing further education. Sporting clubs include Bath Rugby and Bath City F. C. while TeamBath is the name for all of the University of Bath sports teams. Bath became part of the county of Avon in 1974, and, the hills in the locality such as Bathampton Down saw human activity from the Mesolithic period. Several Bronze Age round barrows were opened by John Skinner in the 18th century, solsbury Hill overlooking the current city was an Iron Age hill fort, and the adjacent Bathampton Camp may also have been one. A long barrow site believed to be from the Beaker people was flattened to make way for RAF Charmy Down, messages to her scratched onto metal, known as curse tablets, have been recovered from the sacred spring by archaeologists. The tablets were written in Latin, and cursed people whom the writers felt had wronged them, for example, if a citizen had his clothes stolen at the baths, he might write a curse, naming the suspects, on a tablet to be read by the goddess. A temple was constructed in AD 60–70, and a complex was built up over the next 300 years. Engineers drove oak piles into the mud to provide a stable foundation, in the 2nd century, the spring was enclosed within a wooden barrel-vaulted structure that housed the caldarium, tepidarium, and frigidarium. The town was given defensive walls, probably in the 3rd century. After the failure of Roman authority in the first decade of the 5th century, in March 2012 a hoard of 30,000 silver Roman coins, one of the largest discovered in Britain, was unearthed in an archaeological dig
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Elizabeth (1912). "Sewell, Elizabeth Missing". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 293–295.
