1.
Self-portrait
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A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. With better and cheaper mirrors, and the advent of the panel portrait, Portrait of a Man in a Turban by Jan van Eyck of 1433 may well be the earliest known panel self-portrait. He painted a portrait of his wife, and he belonged to the social group that had begun to commission portraits. The genre is venerable, but not until the Renaissance, with increased wealth and interest in the individual as a subject, a self-portrait may be a portrait of the artist, or a portrait included in a larger work, including a group portrait. Many painters are said to have included depictions of specific individuals, including themselves, in these works, the artist usually appears as a face in the crowd or group, often towards the edges or corner of the work and behind the main participants. Rubenss The Four Philosophers is a good example and this culminated in the 17th century with the work of Jan de Bray. Many artistic media have used, apart from paintings, drawings. In the famous Arnolfini Portrait, Jan van Eyck is probably one of two figures glimpsed in a mirror – a surprisingly modern conceit. The Van Eyck painting may have inspired Diego Velázquez to depict himself in view as the painter creating Las Meninas, as the Van Eyck hung in the palace in Madrid where he worked. This was another modern flourish, given that he appears as the painter, in what may be one of the earliest childhood self-portraits now surviving, Albrecht Dürer depicts himself as in naturalistic style as a 13-year-old boy in 1484. In later years he appears variously as a merchant in the background of Biblical scenes, leonardo da Vinci may have drawn a picture of himself at the age of 60, in around 1512. The picture is often reproduced as Da Vincis appearance, although this is not certain. In the 17th century, Rembrandt painted a range of self-portraits, family and professional group paintings, including the artists depiction, became increasingly common from the 17th century on. From the later 20th century on, video plays a part in self-portraiture. Vigée-Lebrun painted a total of 37 self-portraits, many of which were copies of earlier ones, Women artists have historically embodied a number of roles within their self-portraiture. Most common is the artist at work, showing themselves in the act of painting, or at least holding a brush and palette. Often, the viewer if the clothes worn were those they normally painted in. Images of artists at work are encountered in Ancient Egyptian painting, one of the first self-portraits was made by the Pharaoh Akhenatens chief sculptor Bak in 1365 BC
2.
Bristol
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Bristol is a city and county in South West England with a population of 449,300 in 2016. The district has the 10th largest population in England, while the Bristol metropolitan area is the 12th largest in the United Kingdom, the city borders North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively. Iron Age hill forts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon, Bristol received a royal charter in 1155 and was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until 1373, when it became a county of itself. From the 13th to the 18th century, Bristol was among the top three English cities after London in tax receipts, Bristol was surpassed by the rapid rise of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham in the Industrial Revolution. Bristol was a place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. On a ship out of Bristol in 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian, in 1499 William Weston, a Bristol merchant, was the first Englishman to lead an exploration to North America. At the height of the Bristol slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, the Port of Bristol has since moved from Bristol Harbour in the city centre to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock. Bristols modern economy is built on the media, electronics and aerospace industries. The city has the largest circulating community currency in the U. K. - the Bristol pound, which is pegged to the Pound sterling. It is connected to London and other major UK cities by road, rail, sea and air by the M5 and M4, Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway mainline rail stations, and Bristol Airport. The Sunday Times named it as the best city in Britain in which to live in 2014 and 2017, the most ancient recorded name for Bristol is the archaic Welsh Caer Odor, which is consistent with modern understanding that early Bristol developed between the River Frome and Avon Gorge. It is most commonly stated that the Saxon name Bricstow was a calque of the existing Celtic name, with Bric a literal translation of Odor. Alternative etymologies are supported with the numerous variations in Medieval documents with Samuel Seyer enumerating 47 alternative forms. The Old English form Brycgstow is commonly used to derive the meaning place at the bridge, utilizing another form, Brastuile, Rev. Dr. Shaw derived the name from the Celtic words bras, or braos and tuile. The poet Thomas Chatterton popularised a derivation from Brictricstow linking the town to Brictric and it appears that the form Bricstow prevailed until 1204, and the Bristolian L is what eventually changed the name to Bristol. Iron Age hill forts near the city are at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down, on the side of the Avon Gorge, a Roman settlement, Abona, existed at what is now Sea Mills, another was at the present-day Inns Court. Isolated Roman villas and small forts and settlements were scattered throughout the area. Bristol was founded by 1000, by about 1020, it was a centre with a mint producing silver pennies bearing its name
3.
Romanticism
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Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical. It was embodied most strongly in the arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education. It elevated folk art and ancient custom to something noble, Romanticism assigned a high value to the achievements of heroic individualists and artists, whose examples, it maintained, would raise the quality of society. It also promoted the individual imagination as a critical authority allowed of freedom from classical notions of form in art, there was a strong recourse to historical and natural inevitability, a Zeitgeist, in the representation of its ideas. In the second half of the 19th century, Realism was offered as a polar opposite to Romanticism, the decline of Romanticism during this time was associated with multiple processes, including social and political changes and the spread of nationalism. Defining the nature of Romanticism may be approached from the point of the primary importance of the free expression of the feelings of the artist. The importance the Romantics placed on emotion is summed up in the remark of the German painter Caspar David Friedrich that the feeling is his law. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others believed there were laws that the imagination—at least of a good creative artist—would unconsciously follow through artistic inspiration if left alone. As well as rules, the influence of models from other works was considered to impede the creators own imagination, so that originality was essential. The concept of the genius, or artist who was able to produce his own work through this process of creation from nothingness, is key to Romanticism. This idea is called romantic originality. Not essential to Romanticism, but so widespread as to be normative, was a strong belief, however, this is particularly in the effect of nature upon the artist when he is surrounded by it, preferably alone. Romantic art addressed its audiences with what was intended to be felt as the voice of the artist. So, in literature, much of romantic poetry invited the reader to identify the protagonists with the poets themselves. In both French and German the closeness of the adjective to roman, meaning the new literary form of the novel, had some effect on the sense of the word in those languages. It is only from the 1820s that Romanticism certainly knew itself by its name, the period typically called Romantic varies greatly between different countries and different artistic media or areas of thought. Margaret Drabble described it in literature as taking place roughly between 1770 and 1848, and few dates much earlier than 1770 will be found. In English literature, M. H. Abrams placed it between 1789, or 1798, this latter a very typical view, and about 1830, however, in most fields the Romantic Period is said to be over by about 1850, or earlier
4.
Royal Academy of Arts
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The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. The Royal Academy of Arts was founded through an act of King George III on 10 December 1768 with a mission to promote the arts of design in Britain through education and exhibition. Supporters wanted to foster a national school of art and to encourage appreciation, fashionable taste in 18th-century Britain was based on continental and traditional art forms, providing contemporary British artists little opportunity to sell their works. From 1746 the Foundling Hospital, through the efforts of William Hogarth, the success of this venture led to the formation of the Society of Artists of Great Britain and the Free Society of Artists. Both these groups were primarily exhibiting societies, their success was marred by internal factions among the artists. The combined vision of education and exhibition to establish a school of art set the Royal Academy apart from the other exhibiting societies. It provided the foundation upon which the Royal Academy came to dominate the art scene of the 18th and 19th centuries, supplanting the earlier art societies. Sir William Chambers, a prominent architect, used his connections with George III to gain royal patronage and financial support of the Academy, the painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president. Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788, the instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for a total membership of 40. William Hoare and Johann Zoffany were added to this list later by the King and are known as nominated members, among the founder members were two women, a father and daughter, and two sets of brothers. The Royal Academy was initially housed in cramped quarters in Pall Mall, although in 1771 it was given temporary accommodation for its library and schools in Old Somerset House, then a royal palace. In 1780 it was installed in purpose-built apartments in the first completed wing of New Somerset House, located in the Strand and designed by Chambers, the Academy moved in 1837 to Trafalgar Square, where it occupied the east wing of the recently completed National Gallery. These premises soon proved too small to house both institutions, in 1868,100 years after the Academys foundation, it moved to Burlington House, Piccadilly, where it remains. Burlington House is owned by the British Government, and used rent-free by the Royal Academy, the first Royal Academy exhibition of contemporary art, open to all artists, opened on 25 April 1769 and ran until 27 May 1769. 136 works of art were shown and this exhibition, now known as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, has been staged annually without interruption to the present day. In 1870 the Academy expanded its programme to include a temporary annual loan exhibition of Old Masters. The range and frequency of these exhibitions have grown enormously since that time. Britains first public lectures on art were staged by the Royal Academy, led by Reynolds, the first president, a program included lectures by Dr. William Hunter, John Flaxman, James Barry, Sir John Soane, and J. M. W. Turner
5.
Fellow of the Royal Society
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As of 2016, there are around 1600 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members. Fellowship of the Royal Society has been described by The Guardian newspaper as “the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar” with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year. Up to 60 new Fellows, honorary and foreign members are elected annually usually in May, each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRS, see Category, Fellows of the Royal Society and Category, Female Fellows of the Royal Society. Every year, Fellows elect up to ten new Foreign Members, like Fellows, Foreign Members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016 there are around 165 Foreign Members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS, see Category, Foreign Members of the Royal Society. Honorary Fellows include Bill Bryson, Melvyn Bragg, Robin Saxby, David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, Honorary Fellows are entitled to use the post nominal letters HonFRS. Others including John Maddox, Patrick Moore and Lisa Jardine were elected as honorary fellows, statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997. Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough and John Palmer, prime Ministers of the United Kingdom such as Margaret Thatcher, Neville Chamberlain, H. H. Asquith were elected under statute 12, see Category, Fellows of the Royal Society. The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British Royal Family for election as Royal Fellows of the Royal Society. As of 2016 there are five royal fellows, Charles, Prince of Wales, Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II is not a Royal Fellow, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow. The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination, each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society, who sign a certificate of proposal. Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer, the certificate of election includes a statement of the principal grounds on which the proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates is confirmed by the Council in April, a candidate is elected if he or she secures two-thirds of votes of those Fellows present and voting. A further maximum of six can be ‘Honorary’, ‘General’ or ‘Royal’ Fellows, nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by sectional committees, each with fifteen members and a chair
6.
Devizes
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Devizes /dᵻˈvaɪzᵻz/ is a market town and civil parish in the heart of Wiltshire, England. Standing on a hill at the east edge of the Vale of Pewsey, Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops and has an open market place where a market is held once a week. It has nearly five hundred listed buildings, some churches, a Town Hall. Its development has grown around the 11th century Norman castle, Devizes Castle was built by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury in 1080, but the town is not mentioned in the Domesday Book. Because the castle was on the boundaries of the manors of Rowde, Bishops Cannings and Potterne it became known as the castrum ad divisas, on John Speeds map of Wiltshire, the towns name is recorded as The Devyses. The first castle on the site was of the motte and bailey form and was made of wood and earth. A new castle was built in stone by Roger of Salisbury, Devizes received its first charter in 1141 permitting regular markets. The castle changed several times during the civil war between Stephen of Blois and Matilda in the 12th century. The castle held important prisoners, including Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, the town has had churches since the 12th century and today has four Church of England parish churches. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the town of Devizes developed outside the castle with craftsmen, the first known market in Devizes was in 1228. The original market was in the space outside St Mary’s Church, rather than in the current Market Place. The chief products in the 16th and early 17th centuries were wheat, wool and yarn, with cheese, bacon, in 1643, during the English Civil War, Parliamentary forces under Sir William Waller besieged Royalist forces under Sir Ralph Hopton in Devizes. However the siege was lifted by a force from Oxford under Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester. Devizes remained under Royalist control until 1645, when Oliver Cromwell attacked and forced the Royalists to surrender, the castle was destroyed in 1648 on the orders of Parliament, a process known as slighting, and today little remains of it. From the 16th century Devizes became known for its textiles, initially white woollen broadcloth but later the manufacture of serge, drugget, felt and cassimere or Zephyr cloth. In the early 18th century Devizes held the largest corn market in the West Country of England and also traded hops, cattle, horses and various types of cloth. Before the Corn Exchange was built in 1857, the trade in wheat and barley was conducted in the open, with sacks piled around the market cross. Todays cross displays the salutary tale of Ruth Pierce, accused of cheating some buyers at the market, The coroner, John Clare, wool merchants were able to build prosperous town houses in St. Johns and Long Street and around the market place
7.
Pastel
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A pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints. The color effect of pastels is closer to the natural dry pigments than that of any other process, Pastels have been used by artists since the Renaissance, and gained considerable popularity in the 18th century, when a number of notable artists made pastel their primary medium. An artwork made using pastels is called a pastel, Pastel used as a verb means to produce an artwork with pastels, as an adjective it means pale in color. Pastel sticks or crayons consist of powdered pigment combined with a binder. The exact composition and characteristics of an individual pastel stick depends on the type of pastel and it also varies by individual manufacturer. Dry pastels have historically used binders such as gum arabic and gum tragacanth, methyl cellulose was introduced as a binder in the twentieth century. Often a chalk or gypsum component is present and they are available in varying degrees of hardness, the softer varieties being wrapped in paper. Some pastel brands use pumice in the binder to abrade the paper, dry pastel media can be subdivided as follows, Soft pastels, This is the most widely used form of pastel. The sticks have a portion of pigment and less binder. The drawing can be readily smudged and blended, but it results in a proportion of dust. White chalk may be used as a filler in producing pale, Pan Pastels, These are formulated with a minimum of binder in flat compacts and applied with special Soft micropore sponge tools. A 21st-century invention, Pan Pastels can be used for the painting or in combination with soft. Hard pastels, These have a portion of binder and less pigment. These can be used with other pastels for drawing outlines and adding accents, hard pastels are traditionally used to create the preliminary sketching out of a composition. However, the colors are brilliant and are available in a restricted range in contrast to soft pastels. Pastel pencils, These are pencils with a pastel lead and they are useful for adding fine details. In addition, pastels using a different approach to manufacture have been developed, Oil pastels, These have a soft, buttery consistency and they are dense and fill the grain of paper and are slightly more difficult to blend than soft pastels, but do not require a fixative
8.
Oil paint
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Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, Oil paints have been used in Europe since the 12th century for simple decoration, but were not widely adopted as an artistic medium until the early 15th century. Common modern applications of oil paint are in finishing and protection of wood in buildings and exposed metal structures such as ships and its hard-wearing properties and luminous colors make it desirable for both interior and exterior use on wood and metal. Due to its properties, it has recently been used in paint-on-glass animation. Thickness of coat has considerable bearing on time required for drying, the literature abounds with incorrect theories and information, in general, anything published before 1952 is suspect. Until 1991 nothing was known about the aspect of cave paintings from the Paleolithic era. Many assumptions were made about the chemistry of the binders, the oldest known oil paintings date from 650 AD, found in 2008 in caves in Afghanistans Bamiyan Valley, using walnut and poppy seed oils. Though the ancient Mediterranean civilizations of Greece, Rome, and Egypt used vegetable oils, indeed, linseed oil was not used as a medium because of its tendency to dry very slowly, darken, and crack, unlike mastic and wax. Greek writers such as Aetius Amidenus recorded recipes involving the use of oils for drying, such as walnut, poppy, hempseed, pine nut, castor, when thickened, the oils became resinous and could be used as varnish to seal and protect paintings from water. Additionally, when yellow pigment was added to oil, it could be spread over tin foil as an expensive alternative to gold leaf. Early Christian monks maintained these records and used the techniques in their own artworks, theophilus Presbyter, a 12th-century German monk, recommended linseed oil but advocated against the use of olive oil due to its long drying time. Oil paint was used as it is today in house decoration, as a tough waterproof cover for exposed woodwork. In the 13th century, oil was used to detail tempera paintings, in the 14th century, Cennino Cennini described a painting technique utilizing tempera painting covered by light layers of oil. The slow-drying properties of organic oils were commonly known to early painters, however, the difficulty in acquiring and working the materials meant that they were rarely used. As public preference for naturalism increased, the quick-drying tempera paints became insufficient to achieve the very detailed and precise effects that oil could achieve. Van Eyck’s mixture may have consisted of piled glass, calcined bones, the new mixture had a honey-like consistency and better drying properties. This mixture was known as oglio cotto—cooked oil, leonardo da Vinci later improved these techniques by cooking the mixture at a very low temperature and adding 5 to 10% beeswax, which prevented darkening of the paint. Giorgione, Titian, and Tintoretto each may have altered this recipe for their own purposes, the use of any cooked oils or Litharge darkens an oil painting rapidly
9.
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
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Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the wife of King George III. She was also the Electress of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire until the promotion of her husband to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814, Queen Charlotte was a patroness of the arts and an amateur botanist, who helped expand Kew Gardens. George III and Charlotte had 15 children,13 of whom survived to adulthood and she was distressed by her husbands bouts of physical illness and insanity, which became permanent in later life and resulted in their eldest son being appointed Prince Regent in 1811. Sophia Charlotte was born on 19 May 1744 and she was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Prince of Mirow and his wife Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a small north German duchy in the Holy Roman Empire, the children of Duke Charles were all born at the Untere Schloss in Mirow. According to diplomatic reports at the time of her engagement to George III, when King George III succeeded to the throne of Great Britain upon the death of his grandfather, George II, he was unmarried. His mother and advisors were anxious to have him settled in marriage and he instructed her on her arrival in London not to meddle, a precept she was glad to follow. Charlotte spoke no English but was quick to learn the language and it was noted by many observers that she was ugly, had a dark complexion and flared nostrils. She is timid at first but talks a lot, when she is among people she knows, said one observer. Three days of public celebrations followed, and on 17 Aug 1761, the Princess set out for Britain, accompanied by her brother, Duke Adolphus Frederick, on 22 Aug, they reached Cuxhaven, where a small fleet awaited to convey them to England. The voyage was difficult, the party encountered three storms at sea, and landed at Harwich only on 7 September. They set out at once for London, spent that night in Witham, at the residence of Lord Abercorn and they were received by the King and his family, which marked the first meeting of the bride and groom. At 9,00 pm that evening, within six hours of her arrival, Charlotte married George III at the Chapel Royal, St. Jamess Palace, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Secker, officiating. The Queen favored this residence, and spent much of her time there, as many as 14 of her 15 children were born in Buckingham House. Less than a year after the marriage, on 12 August 1762, the Queen gave birth to her first child, the Prince of Wales, in the course of their marriage, they had 15 children, all but two of whom survived into adulthood. Around 1762 the King and Queen moved to Buckingham House, at the end of St. Jamess Park. The house which forms the core of the present palace was built for the first Duke of Buckingham. Buckinghams descendant, Sir Charles Sheffield, sold Buckingham House to George III in 1761 for £21,000, the house was originally intended as a private retreat, in particular for Charlotte, and was known as The Queens House
10.
George IV of the United Kingdom
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George IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover following the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten years later. From 1811 until his accession, he served as Prince Regent during his fathers mental illness. George IV led an extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the Regency era and he was a patron of new forms of leisure, style and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace and he even forbade Caroline to attend his coronation and asked the government to introduce the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill in a desperate, unsuccessful attempt to divorce her. For most of Georges regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister and his ministers found his behaviour selfish, unreliable and irresponsible. At all times he was much under the influence of favourites, taxpayers were angry at his wasteful spending at a time when Britons were fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. He did not provide leadership in time of crisis, nor act as a role model for his people. Liverpools government presided over Britains ultimate victory, negotiated the peace settlement, after Liverpools retirement, George was forced to accept Catholic emancipation despite opposing it. His only child, Princess Charlotte, died before him in 1817 and so he was succeeded by his younger brother, George was born at St Jamess Palace, London, on 12 August 1762, the first child of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. As the eldest son of a British sovereign, he automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth, he was created Prince of Wales, on 18 September of the same year, he was baptised by Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury. His godparents were the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the Duke of Cumberland, George was a talented student, and quickly learned to speak French, German and Italian, in addition to his native English. He was a witty conversationalist, drunk or sober, and showed good, the Prince of Wales turned 21 in 1783, and obtained a grant of £60,000 from Parliament and an annual income of £50,000 from his father. It was far too little for his needs – the stables alone cost £31,000 a year and he then established his residence in Carlton House, where he lived a profligate life. Animosity developed between the prince and his father, who desired more frugal behaviour on the part of the heir apparent, the King, a political conservative, was also alienated by the princes adherence to Charles James Fox and other radically inclined politicians. Soon after he reached the age of 21, the prince became infatuated with Maria Fitzherbert and she was a commoner, six years his elder, twice widowed, and a Roman Catholic. Despite her complete unsuitability, the prince was determined to marry her, nevertheless, the couple went through a marriage ceremony on 15 December 1785 at her house in Park Street, Mayfair. Legally the union was void, as the Kings consent was not granted, however, Fitzherbert believed that she was the princes canonical and true wife, holding the law of the Church to be superior to the law of the State. For political reasons, the union remained secret and Fitzherbert promised not to reveal it, the prince was plunged into debt by his exorbitant lifestyle
11.
Windsor Castle
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Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is notable for its association with the English and later British royal family. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror, since the time of Henry I, it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St Georges Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be one of the achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic design. Gradually replaced with stone fortifications, the castle withstood a siege during the First Barons War at the start of the 13th century. Edwards core design lasted through the Tudor period, during which Henry VIII and Elizabeth I made increasing use of the castle as a royal court and centre for diplomatic entertainment. Windsor Castle survived the period of the English Civil War, when it was used as a military headquarters for Parliamentary forces. At the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II rebuilt much of Windsor Castle with the help of the architect Hugh May, Queen Victoria made a few minor changes to the castle, which became the centre for royal entertainment for much of her reign. Windsor Castle was used as a refuge for the family during the Luftwaffe bombing campaigns of the Second World War. It is a popular tourist attraction, a venue for hosting state visits, today, more than 500 people live and work in Windsor Castle, making it the largest inhabited castle in the world. Windsor Castle occupies 13 acres, and combines the features of a fortification, a palace, the present-day castle was created during a sequence of phased building projects, culminating in the reconstruction work after a fire in 1992. It is in essence a Georgian and Victorian design based on a medieval structure, since the 14th century, architecture at the castle has attempted to produce a contemporary reinterpretation of older fashions and traditions, repeatedly imitating outmoded or even antiquated styles. Although there has some criticism, the castles architecture and history lends it a place amongst the greatest European palaces. At the heart of Windsor Castle is the Middle Ward, a formed around the motte or artificial hill in the centre of the ward. The motte is 50 feet high and is made from chalk originally excavated from the surrounding ditch, the Round Tower is in reality far from cylindrical, due to the shape and structure of the motte beneath it. The western entrance to the Middle Ward is now open, the eastern exit from the ward is guarded by the Norman Gatehouse. Wyatville redesigned the exterior of the gatehouse, and the interior was later converted in the 19th century for residential use. The Upper Ward of Windsor Castle comprises a number of major buildings enclosed by the bailey wall
12.
Regency era
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The Regency in Great Britain was a period when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son ruled as his proxy as Prince Regent. On the death of George III in 1820, the Prince Regent became George IV, the term Regency can refer to various stretches of time, some are longer period than the decade of the formal Regency which lasted from 1811–1820. The Regency era ended in 1837 when Queen Victoria succeeded William IV, the Regency is noted for its elegance and achievements in the fine arts and architecture. This era encompassed a time of social, political. War was waged with Napoleon and on other fronts, affecting commerce both at home and internationally as well as politics, despite the bloodshed and warfare the Regency was also a period of great refinement and cultural achievement, shaping and altering the societal structure of Britain as a whole. One of the greatest patrons of the arts and architecture was the Prince Regent himself, upper class society flourished in a sort of mini-Renaissance of culture and refinement. Naturally, this required dipping into the treasury and the Regent, in many ways there was a dark side to the beauty and fashion in England at this time. In the dingier, less affluent areas of London, thievery, womanising, gambling, the existence of rookeries, the population boom—the population increased from just under a million in 1801 to one and a quarter million by 1820—created a wild, roiling, volatile, and vibrant scene. The formation of the Regency after the retirement of George III saw the end of a pious and reserved society. This change was influenced by the Regent himself, who was entirely removed from the machinations of politics. Driving these changes was not only money and rebellious pampered youth, in 1814 The Times adopted steam printing. By this method it could now print 1,100 sheets every hour, not 200 as before—a fivefold increase in production capability,1811 George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales began his nine-year tenure as regent and became known as The Prince Regent. This sub-period of the Georgian era began the formal Regency, the Duke of Wellington held off the French at Fuentes dOnoro and Albuhera in the Peninsular War. The Prince Regent held a fete at 9,00 p. m, june 19,1811, at Carlton House in celebration of his assumption of the Regency. 1812 Spencer Perceval assassinated in the House of Commons, final shipment of the Elgin Marbles arrived in England. Sarah Siddons retired from the stage, shipping and territory disputes started the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom and the United States. The British were victorious over French armies at the Battle of Salamanca), charles John Huffam Dickens English writer and social critic of the Victorian era was born on 7 February 18121813 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was published. William Hedleys Puffing Billy, a steam locomotive, ran on smooth rails
13.
Victorian era
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The Victorian era was the period of Queen Victorias reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities. Some scholars date the beginning of the period in terms of sensibilities, the era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian period. The later half of the Victorian age roughly coincided with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe, culturally there was a transition away from the rationalism of the Georgian period and toward romanticism and mysticism with regard to religion, social values, and arts. The end of the saw the Boer War. Domestically, the agenda was increasingly liberal with a number of shifts in the direction of political reform, industrial reform. Two especially important figures in period of British history are the prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone. Disraeli, favoured by the queen, was a gregarious Conservative and his rival Gladstone, a Liberal distrusted by the Queen, served more terms and oversaw much of the overall legislative development of the era. The population of England and Wales almost doubled from 16.8 million in 1851 to 30.5 million in 1901, Scotlands population also rose rapidly, from 2.8 million in 1851 to 4.4 million in 1901. However, Irelands population decreased sharply, from 8.2 million in 1841 to less than 4.5 million in 1901, mostly due to the Great Famine. Between 1837 and 1901 about 15 million emigrants departed the UK permanently, in search of a life in the United States, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia. During the early part of the era, politics in the House of Commons involved battles between the two parties, the Whigs/Liberals and the Conservatives. These parties were led by such prominent statesmen as Lord Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston, Gladstone, Disraeli, Victoria became queen in 1837 at age 18. Her long reign until 1901 was mainly a time of peace, Britain reached the zenith of its economic, political, diplomatic and cultural power. The era saw the expansion of the second British Empire, Historians have characterised the mid-Victorian era as Britains Golden Years. There was prosperity, as the income per person grew by half. There was peace abroad, and social peace at home, opposition to the new order melted away, says Porter. The Chartist movement peaked as a movement among the working class in 1848, its leaders moved to other pursuits, such as trade unions
14.
Andrew Bloxam
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Andrew Bloxam was an English clergyman and naturalist, in his later life he had a particular interest in botany. He was the naturalist on board HMS Blonde during its voyage around South America and the Pacific in 1824–26, later as a Church of England minister he lived in Warwickshire and Leicestershire and made significant contributions to the study of the natural history of the area. His special interest was in fungi and the genera Rubus and Rosa and his botanical author abbreviation is A. Bloxam. Andrew Bloxam was born at Rugby, Warwickshire, on 22 September 1801 and he was the fourth son of Rev. Richard Rouse Bloxam, who was a schoolmaster at Rugby School, and Ann Lawrence, who was the sister of the painter Sir Thomas Lawrence. He was educated at Rugby School from 1809 and Worcester College, in the autumn of 1824, he was appointed as a naturalist on board HMS Blonde, commanded by Capt. Lord Byron, cousin of the poet George Gordon Byron and his brother, R. Rowland Bloxam, was the chaplain. The voyage lasted over 18 months, during which time he visited South America and various islands of the Pacific, including the Galápagos Islands, most of Bloxams collections during the voyage eventually found their way to the British Museum. After returning from the voyage on 15 March 1826, he was ordained on 25 June 1826 as a Church of England minister and he spent some time in Leicestershire and as a curate in Atherstone, before he became the Vicar of Twycross. 1872, when he was made Vicar of Radford Semele and shortly afterwards Rector of Harborough Magna and he was married to Ann Roby. The main purpose of the voyage was to return to the Kingdom of Hawaii the bodies of King Kamehameha II, Andrew Bloxam was appointed as a naturalist, his brother Rowland Bloxam was the chaplain. The Royal Horticultural Society sent the Scottish botanist James Macrae, whose MS diary was edited by William Wilson, the ship left Spithead, England on 28 September 1824. Following a call at Madeira, they reached Rio de Janeiro, after spending time both in Rio de Janeiro and St Catherines, they left Brazil on 1 January 1825, bound for Valparaíso, Chile, which they reached on 4 February 1825. They sailed north up the coast to reach Callao, Peru, on 16 March 1825, before sailing west to the Galapagos Islands, the Blonde arrived in the Hawaiian Islands on 4 May 1825. The party remained in the Hawaiian Islands from 4 May to 18 July 1825, the voyage ended back in Spithead, England on 15 March 1826, after an absence of 532 days. Although in later life, Bloxam was a noted mycologist and botanist and named c.20 species of fungi and plants, at the time of the voyage of the Blonde, he was young and inexperienced. According to Macraes diary, Andrew Bloxom acted as a sort of amateur naturalist on the Blonde, for a long time the only published record of Bloxams naturalising during the voyage was a very short section in Grahams book. Only in 1925 was his diary published, between 1986 and 1996, Olson published detailed studies of Bloxams ornithological work in the Hawaiian Islands, based on both the diary and unpublished notebooks. Having been appointed by the Admiralty, on his return Bloxam had written to thank them, a barrel contained geological and mineralogical specimens, along with insects, shells and other marine objects from South America and the Pacific islands visited by the Blonde
15.
David Garrick
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He appeared in a number of amateur theatricals, and with his appearance in the title role of Shakespeares Richard III, audiences and managers began to take notice. Impressed by his portrayals of Richard III and a number of roles, Charles Fleetwood engaged Garrick for a season at the Theatre Royal. He remained with the Drury Lane company for the five years. This purchase inaugurated 29 years of Garricks management of the Drury Lane, at his death, three years after his retirement from Drury Lane and the stage, he was given a lavish public funeral at Westminster Abbey where he was laid to rest in Poets Corner. As an actor, Garrick promoted realistic acting that departed from the style that was entrenched when he first came to prominence. His acting delighted many audiences and his direction of many of the top actors of the English stage influenced their styles as well, during his tenure as manager of Drury Lane, Garrick also sought to reform audience behaviour. While this led to discontent among the theatre-going public, many of his reforms eventually did take hold. Garrick also sought reform in matters, bringing an overarching consistency to productions that included set design, costumes. Garricks influence extended into the side of theatre as well. Critics are almost unanimous in saying he was not a good playwright, in addition, he adapted many older plays in the repertoire that might have been forgotten. These included many plays of the Restoration era, indeed, while influencing the theatre towards a better standard he also gained a better reputation for theatre folk. This accomplishment led Samuel Johnson to remark that his profession made him rich, Garrick was born at the Angel Inn, Widemarsh Street, Hereford in 1717 into a family with French Huguenot roots in the Languedoc region of Southern France. Garricks grandfather, David Garric, was in Bordeaux in 1685 when the Edict of Nantes was abolished, revoking the rights of Protestants in France. David Garric fled to London and his son, Peter, who was an infant at the time, was smuggled out by a nurse when he was deemed old enough to make the journey. David Garric became a British subject upon his arrival in Britain, some time after David Garricks birth the family moved to Lichfield, home to Garricks mother. His father, a captain in the army, was an officer stationed in Gibraltar through most of young Garricks childhood. Garrick was the third of seven children and his brother, George. The playwright and actor Charles Dibdin recorded that George, discovering his brothers absence would often inquire Did David want me, upon Garricks death in 1779, it was noted that George died 48 hours later, leading some to speculate that David wanted him
16.
Daines Barrington
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Daines Barrington, FRS, FSA was an English lawyer, antiquary and naturalist. Barrington was the son of John Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington. He matriculated at The Queens College, Oxford in 1745, in the same year he was admitted to the Inner Temple, and was called to the bar in 1750. He resigned all his offices in 1785, retaining only that of Commissary General of the stores at Gibraltar. In 1773 Barrington published an edition of Orosius, with King Alfreds Saxon version, and his Tracts on the Probability of reaching the North Pole were written in consequence of the northern voyage of discovery undertaken by Captain Constantine John Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave. Many of these papers were collected by him in a volume entitled Miscellanies on various Subjects. He contributed to the Royal Societys Philosophical Transactions for 1770, an account of Mozarts visit at nine years of age to London. In his Miscellanies on varied subjects he included this with accounts of four other prodigies, namely, William Crotch, Charles and Samuel Wesley, and Garret Wesley, 1st Earl of Mornington. Among the more unusual of his papers are his Experiments and Observations on the Singing of Birds, Barrington met the Cornish speaker Dolly Pentreath and published a report of the encounter. This report is the source for the claim that Dolly was the last monoglot speaker of the language. Barrington also speaks of a John Nancarrow from Marazion who was a native speaker, Barrington never married, and lived for most of his life in chambers in Kings Bench Walk in the Inner Temple, London. He died after an illness in March 1800, and was buried in the Temple Church. Orosius, Alfred the Great, Barrington, Daines, eds
17.
Bath, Somerset
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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
18.
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
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Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire was an English socialite, style icon, author, and activist. Of noble birth from the House of Spencer, married into the House of Cavendish, she was the first wife of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, as the 5th Duchess of Devonshire, she garnered much attention and fame in society during her lifetime. She was the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales and their lives, centuries apart, have been compared in tragedy in contemporary time. The duchess was born Miss Georgiana Spencer, on 7 June 1757, as the first child of John Spencer and his wife, Georgiana, at the Spencer family home, Althorp. After her daughters birth, her mother wrote that I will own I feel so partial to my Dear little Gee, two younger siblings followed, Henrietta and George. Mr John Spencer, great-grandson of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and he built a Spencer family residence at St. Jamess, London and raised his children there. The parents raised Georgiana and her siblings in a marriage which bears no record of ever having been any extramarital affairs - a rarity in the era. Meanwhile, Georgiana grew to be close to her mother who was said to favour Georgiana over her other children, when her father assumed the title of Viscount Spencer in 1761, she became The Honourable Georgiana Spencer. In 1765, her father became Earl Spencer and she Lady Georgiana Spencer, on her seventeenth birthday,7 June 1774, Lady Georgiana Spencer was married to societys most eligible bachelor, William Cavendish, the 5th Duke of Devonshire. The wedding took place at Wimbledon Parish Church and it was a small ceremony attended only by her parents, her maternal grandmother, one of her prospective brothers-in-law, and soon-to-be sister-in-law. Her parents were reluctant to let their daughter go. Her father, who had always shown affection to his children, wrote to her, My Dearest Georgiana, I did not know till lately how much I loved you, I miss you every day. Mother and daughter continued to correspond throughout their lives and many of their letters survive. From the beginning of the marriage, the Duke of Devonshire proved to be a reserved man who was quite unlike the duchesss father. The spouses also had little in common and he would seldom be at her side and would spend nights at Brooks playing cards. The duke continued with adulterous behaviour throughout their life and discord followed pregnancies that ended in miscarriage or failure to produce a male child as heir. Before their marriage, the duke had fathered a daughter, Charlotte Williams, born from a dalliance with a former milliner. This was unknown to the duchess until years after her marriage to the duke, after the death of the childs mother, she was compelled to raise Charlotte herself
19.
Sarah Siddons
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Sarah Siddons was a Welsh-born actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. She was the sister of John Philip Kemble, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock. She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character, Lady Macbeth, a character she made her own, the Sarah Siddons Society continues to present the Sarah Siddons Award in Chicago every year to a prominent actress. Acting was only just becoming a profession for a woman. In 1774, Siddons won her first success as Belvidera in Thomas Otways Venice Preservd and she was, in her own words, banished from Drury Lane as a worthless candidate for fame and fortune In 1777, she went on the circuit in the provinces. For the next six years she worked in companies, in particular York. Her first appearance at Baths Old Orchard Street Theatre was in autumn 1778 at a salary of £3 per week and she lived with her husband and children at number 33 The Paragon until her final performance in May 1782. Having gradually built up a reputation, her next Drury Lane appearance, on 10 October 1782 and she was an immediate sensation playing the title role in Garricks adaptation of a play by Thomas Southerne, Isabella, or, The Fatal Marriage. Her most famous role was that of Lady Macbeth, it was the grandeur of her emotions as she expressed Lady Macbeths murderous passions that held her audiences spellbound, in Lady Macbeth she found the highest and best scope for her acting abilities. She was tall and had a figure, brilliant beauty, powerfully expressive eyes. She once told Samuel Johnson that Catherine was her favourite role and it was the beginning of twenty years in which she was the undisputed queen of Drury Lane. Her celebrity status has been called mythical and monumental, and by the mid-1780s Siddons was established as an icon, along with Hannah Murphy. She mixed with the literary and social elites of London society, and her acquaintances included Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, Hester Thrale Piozzi and she nevertheless continued to act in the provinces, appearing at The Theatre, Leeds in 1786 and on several other occasions. In a 1785 visit to her earliest friend the Hon and her approbation and unremitting kindness, when we were both very young indeed, kindled the latest sparks of genius to a flame, which she now gazes on with wonder and delight. Let this not appear like vanity, recollect what I am, and you will find it proceeds from a better source. In 1802 she left Drury Lane and subsequently appeared from time to time on the stage of the establishment, Covent Garden. It was there, on 29 June 1812, that she gave perhaps the most extraordinary farewell performance in theatre history and she was playing her most famous role, Lady Macbeth, and the audience refused to allow the play to continue after the end of the sleepwalking scene. Mrs. Siddons formally retired from the stage in 1812, and her last appearance was on 9 June 1819 as Lady Randolph in John Homes Douglas
20.
Sir Henry Harpur, 6th Baronet
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Sir Henry Harpur, 6th Baronet was an English Tory politician who represented the constituency of Derbyshire. Harpur was the son of Sir Henry Harpur, 5th Baronet and Lady Caroline Manners, daughter of John Manners and he succeeded his father to the Baronetcy in 1748. He lived at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire and 35 Upper Grosvenor Street and he was returned as Member of Parliament for Derbyshire in 1761, but was replaced in a rare contested election in 1768. He served as High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1774, Harpur married Frances Greville, second daughter of Francis Greville, 1st Earl of Warwick and 1st Earl Brooke. in 1762. He was succeeded by his son Sir Henry Crewe, 7th Baronet, debretts Baronetage of England 7th Edition Leigh Rayments list of baronets Leigh Rayments Historical List of MPs National Portrait Gallery NPG D2572
21.
Calke Abbey
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Calke Abbey is a Grade I listed country house near Ticknall, Derbyshire, England, in the care of the charitable National Trust. The site was an Augustinian priory from the 12th century until its dissolution by Henry VIII, the present building, named Calke Abbey in 1808, was never actually an abbey, but is a Baroque mansion built between 1701 and 1704. The house was owned by the Harpur family for nearly 300 years until it was passed to the Trust in 1985 in lieu of death duties. Today, the house is open to the public and many of its rooms are displayed in the state of decline in which the house was handed to the Trust. Calke Priory was initially an independent community, but after the death of Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester in 1153, it part of the dowry of his widow. Maud initially granted nearby St. Wystans Church, Repton to the canons at Calke Priory, in 1172 she moved the Canons from Calke to the new Repton Priory, with Calke then becoming a subordinate cell to Repton Priory. Repton Priory was dissolved in 1538, and its land confiscated by The Crown. The canons had, however, anticipated the dissolution and so had begun to lease out some of their estates, Calke was one of these, John Prest was granted the lease to Calke Priory for 99 years, having prepaid for the first 59. He was a member of the London Grocers Company and lived at Calke until his death in 1546, the house then passed to his widow, then through his daughter Frances to her husband William Bradborne. Little was known about how this Elizabethan House looked until repair work on the current house was undertaken by the National Trust in 1988, the work also revealed a later 17th-century arcaded loggia which were built next to both the stair-turrets. The east and west ranges of this house were not parallel, something that has affected the shape. This discrepancy could either reflect the different phases of construction within the Elizabethan house or the layout, in 1585, Wendsley sold the estate to three-time MP for Derby, Robert Bainbridge. He was an extreme protestant who was imprisoned in 1586 in the Beauchamp Tower of The Tower of London for refusing to accept Elizabeth Is Church Settlement. Historian Oliver Garnett suggests that Bainbridge may have chosen to live at Calke as the parish was not under the control of a bishop, following Roberts death, Calke passed to his son, another Robert. This Robert sold the estate in 1622 to Sir Henry Harpur, in 1622 the estate was bought by Sir Henry Harpur, 1st baronet. He and his descendants acquired, through wealth and marriage, estates in Staffordshire and Derbyshire, the house was rebuilt by Sir John Harpur, 4th baronet between 1701 and 1704. The house and estate were owned by successive Harpur baronets and were inherited by Sir Vauncey Harpur-Crewe. When he died, his eldest daughter, Hilda Harpur-Crewe sold some of his collection of birds and she was succeeded by her nephew, Charles Jenney, who was the eldest son of Frances Harpur-Crewe, the fourth daughter of Sir Vauncey
22.
Warren Hastings
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He was accused of corruption and impeached in 1787, but after a long trial he was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1814, Hastings was born in Churchill, Oxfordshire in 1732 to a poor father, Penystone Hastings, and a mother, Hester Hastings, who died soon after he was born. He attended Westminster School where he was a contemporary of the future Prime Ministers Lord Shelburne and he joined the British East India Company in 1750 as a clerk and sailed out to India reaching Calcutta in August 1750. Hastings built up a reputation for work and diligence, and spent his free time learning about India and mastering Urdu. He was rewarded for his work in 1752 when he was promoted and sent to Kasimbazar, while there he received further lessons about the nature of East Indian politics. This made British trading posts throughout Bengal increasingly insecure, as Siraj ud-Daulah was known to harbour anti-European views, when Alivardi Khan died in April 1756, the British traders and small garrison at Kasimbazar were left vulnerable. On 3 June, after being surrounded by a larger force. Hastings was imprisoned with others in the Bengali capital, Murshidabad, while the Nawabs forces marched on Calcutta, the garrison and civilians were then locked up under appalling conditions in the Black Hole of Calcutta. While there, he met and married Mary Buchanan, the widow of one of the victims of the Black Hole, shortly afterwards a British expedition from Madras under Robert Clive arrived to rescue them. Hastings served as a volunteer in Clives forces as they retook Calcutta in January 1757, after this swift defeat, the Nawab urgently sought peace and the war came to an end. Clive was impressed with Hastings when he met him, and arranged for his return to Kasimbazar to resume his pre-war activities, later in 1757 fighting resumed, leading to the Battle of Plassey, where Clive won a decisive victory over the Nawab. Siraj ud-Daulah was overthrown and replaced by his uncle Mir Jafar, in 1758 Hastings became the British Resident in the Bengali capital of Murshidabad – a major step forward in his career – at the instigation of Clive. Hastings personally sympathised with Mir Jafar and regarded many of the placed on him by the Company as excessive. As he grew older, Mir Jafar became gradually less effective in ruling the state, Hastings expressed his doubts to Calcutta over the move, believing they were honour-bound to support Mir Jafar, but his opinions were overruled. Hastings established a relationship with the new Nawab and again had misgivings about the demands he relayed from his superiors. In 1761 he was recalled and appointed to the Calcutta council, Hastings was personally angered when he conducted an investigation into trading abuses in Bengal. He alleged some European and British-allied Indian merchants were taking advantage of the situation to enrich themselves personally, Hastings felt this was bringing shame on Britains reputation, and he urged the ruling authorities in Calcutta to put an end to it. The Council considered his report but ultimately rejected Hastings proposals and he was criticised by other members
23.
Elijah Impey
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Sir Elijah Impey was a British judge, the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, Chief Justice of the Sadr Diwani Adalat and MP for New Romney. He was born the youngest son of Elijah Impey and his wife Martha, daughter of James Fraser and was educated at Westminster School with Warren Hastings and he proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1752, graduating in 1756 as the second Chancellors classical medallist. As a result of the trial he went down in history, because in 1787 he was subjected to impeachment, along with Warren Hastings, for their conduct of the case. According to Macaulay, Impey later applied English law so aggressively as to throw a great country into the most dreadful confusion and he had married on 18 January 1768 Mary, daughter of Sir John Reade, of Shipton Court, Oxfordshire, they had five sons. In 1795 his application for a fellowship of the Royal Society was rejected and his wife, Lady Mary Impey, is commemorated in the name of the Impeyan pheasant. James Fitzjames Stephen, The Story of Nuncomar and the Impeachment of Sir Elijah Impey, the story of Nuncomar and the impeachment of Sir Elijah Impey Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection. Cornell University Library Digital Collections Exhibition of Lady Impey’s Indian Bird Paintings at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Memoirs of Sir Elijah Impey, Knt
24.
William Hoare
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William Hoare of Bath RA was an English portraitist, painter and printmaker. From c.1740 to 1759, he was the leading oil portraitist at Bath, Somerset, noted for his pastels, he was a foundation member of the Royal Academy. Born near Eye, Suffolk, Hoare received an education in Faringdon. He showed an aptitude for drawing and was sent to London to study under Giuseppe Grisoni, when Grisoni returned to Italy in 1728, Hoare went with him, travelling to Rome and continuing his studies under the direction of Francesco Imperiali. He remained in Rome for nine years, returning to London in 1737/8, failing to establish himself in London, Hoare settled in Bath, an expanding spa town popular with the wealthier classes. He obtained numerous commissions, the most important being for official portraits of leaders of the day. There are several versions of most of these, suggesting that he had a studio, Hoare himself was a delicate etcher and published a number of private plates, mostly of family and friends, including a Miss Hoare, Christopher Anstey and the 3rd Duke of Beaufort. His pastels were influenced by Rosalba Carriera, william Hoare was the first fashionable portraitist to settle in Bath, and he remained as the leading portraitist there until the arrival of Thomas Gainsborough in 1759. He remained the favourite of his patron the Duke of Newcastle, his family, followers. Included amongst his other important patrons were the Earls of Pembroke and Chesterfield, with Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, he was a founding member of the Royal Academy. Hoare was closely involved with the running of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital in Bath from 1742 and he served as a governor of the hospital. And became acquainted with Baths notable visitors and the landed families. Chalmers described him as an ingenious and amiable English painter and he died at Bath on 12 December 1792. His son, Prince Hoare, achieved fame as a painter, holbrook, M. Painters in Bath in the eighteenth century. William Hoare of Bath RA, 1707–92, dr Oliver and Mr Peirce Examining Patients
25.
Raphael
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Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running a large workshop and, despite his death at 37. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, the best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings and he was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region and his poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture, growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a humanistic education however, it is unclear how easily he read Latin. His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1,1494 by his father, Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven, his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master and he had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been a great help to his father. A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity and his fathers workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter, and Luca Signorelli, according to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice despite the tears of his mother. The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, an alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters, the Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a master, that is to say fully trained and his first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was named in the commission
26.
Silver-gilt
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Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually silver-gilt, for example most sporting trophies, medals, apart from being much cheaper than gold, large silver-gilt objects are also much lighter if required to be lifted, and stronger. The gold threads used in embroidered goldwork are normally also silver-gilt, keum-boo is a special Korean technique of silver-gilding, using depletion gilding. In China gilt-bronze, also known as ormolu, was more common, in 18th century London two different silversmiths charged 3 shillings per ounce of silver for an initial gilding, and 1 shilling and 9 pence per ounce for regilding. Often only the interior of cups was gilded, perhaps from concern at the compounds used to clean tarnish from silver. Fully silver-gilt items are visually indistinguishable from gold, and were no doubt often thought to be solid gold, the English Gothic Revival architect, Sir George Gilbert Scott was concerned by the morality of this. Gilding of the only he accepted, but with all-over gilding we. Reach the actual boundary of truth and falsehood, and I am convinced if we adopt this custom we overstep it. Why make our gift look more costly than it is and we increase its beauty, but it is at the sacrifice of truth. Indeed, some Early Medieval silver-gilt Celtic brooches had compartments, apparently for small weights to aid such deception. Silver in England, Taylor & Francis,2006, ISBN 0-415-38215-7, greek and Roman Gold and Silver Plate, Taylor & Francis,1979, ISBN 0-416-72510-4, ISBN 978-0-416-72510-0 Inventory of the goods, jewels, etc. Jamess, and several places, with the several contracts made by the contractors for sale of the said goods
27.
Joshua Reynolds
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Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential eighteenth-century English painter, specialising in portraits. He promoted the Grand Style in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect and he was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, and was knighted by George III in 1769. Reynolds was born in Plympton, Devon, on 16 July 1723 the third son of the Rev. Samuel Reynolds and his father had been a fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, but did not send any of his sons to the university. One of his sisters was Mary Palmer, seven years his senior, author of Devonshire Dialogue, in 1740 she provided £60, half of the premium paid to Thomas Hudson the portrait-painter, for Joshuas pupilage, and nine years later advanced money for his expenses in Italy. His other siblings included Frances Reynolds and Elizabeth Johnson, as a boy, he came under the influence of Zachariah Mudge, whose Platonistic philosophy stayed with him all his life. The work that came to have the most influential impact on Reynolds was Jonathan Richardsons An Essay on the Theory of Painting, having shown an early interest in art, Reynolds was apprenticed in 1740 to the fashionable London portrait painter Thomas Hudson, who had been born in Devon. Hudson had a collection of old master drawings, including some by Guercino, although apprenticed to Hudson for four years, Reynolds only remained with him until summer 1743. Having left Hudson, Reynolds worked for some time as a portrait-painter in Plymouth Dock and he returned to London before the end of 1744, but following his fathers death in late 1745 he shared a house in Plymouth Dock with his sisters. In 1749, Reynolds met Commodore Augustus Keppel, who invited him to join HMS Centurion, of which he had command, while with the ship he visited Lisbon, Cadiz, Algiers, and Minorca. From Minorca he travelled to Livorno in Italy, and then to Rome, while in Rome he suffered a severe cold, which left him partially deaf, and, as a result, he began to carry a small ear trumpet with which he is often pictured. Reynolds travelled homeward overland via Florence, Bologna, Venice, and he was accompanied by Giuseppe Marchi, then aged about 17. Apart from a brief interlude in 1770, Marchi remained in Reynolds employment as an assistant for the rest of the artists career. Following his arrival in England in October 1752, Reynolds spent three months in Devon, before establishing himself in London, where he remained for the rest of his life. He took rooms in St Martins Lane, before moving to Great Newport Street and he achieved success rapidly, and was extremely prolific. In 1760 Reynolds moved into a house, with space to show his works and accommodate his assistants. Alongside ambitious full-length portraits, Reynolds painted large numbers of smaller works, in the late 1750s, at the height of the social season, he received five or six sitters a day, each for an hour. By 1761 Reynolds could command a fee of 80 guineas for a full-length portrait, the clothing of Reynolds sitters was usually painted either by one of his pupils, his studio assistant Giuseppe Marchi, or the specialist drapery painter Peter Toms. Lay figures were used to model the clothes and he had an excellent vantage from his house, Wick House, on Richmond Hill, and painted the view in about 1780
28.
Somerset House
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Somerset House is a large Neoclassical building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The building, originally the site of a Tudor palace, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776, the East Wing forms part of the adjacent Strand campus of Kings College London. In the sixteenth century, the Strand, the bank of the Thames between the City of London and the Palace of Westminster was a favoured site for the mansions of the nobility. In 1539 Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, obtained a grant of land at Chester Place, outside Temple Bar, when his nephew the boy-king Edward VI came to the throne in 1547, Seymour became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. Pauls Cathedral which were demolished partly at his behest as part of the ongoing Dissolution of the Monasteries and it was a two storey house built around a quadrangle with a gateway rising to three stories and was one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture in England. It is not known who designed the building, before it was finished, however, Somerset was overthrown, attainted by Parliament and in 1552 was executed on Tower Hill. Somerset Place then came into the possession of the Crown and his royal nephews half-sister the future Queen Elizabeth I lived there during the reign of her half-sister Queen Mary I. The process of completion and improvement was slow and costly, as late as 1598 Stow refers to it as yet unfinished. In the 17th century, the house was used as a residence by queens consort, during the reign of King James I, the building became the London residence of his wife, Anne of Denmark, and was renamed Denmark House. She commissioned a number of additions and improvements, some to designs by Inigo Jones. In particular, during the period between 1630 and 1635 he built a Chapel where Henrietta Maria of France, wife of King Charles I and this was in the care of the Capuchin Order and was on a site to the south-west of the Great Court. A small cemetery was attached and some of the tombstones are still to be built into one of the walls of a passage under the present quadrangle. Royal occupation of Somerset House was interrupted by the English Civil War and they failed to find a buyer, though a sale of the contents realised the very considerable sum of £118,000. Use was still found for it however, part of it served as an Army headquarters, General Fairfax being given official quarters there, lodgings were also provided for certain other Parliamentary notables. It was in Somerset House that Oliver Cromwells body lay in state after his death in 1658, however she returned to France in 1665 before it was finished. It was then used as a residence by Catherine of Braganza. During her time it received a certain notoriety as being, in the popular mind, Somerset House was refurbished by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Somerset House entered on a period of decline, being used for grace
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William Linley
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William Linley was one of seven musical siblings born to Thomas Linley the elder and his wife Mary Johnson. Born in Bath, Somerset, on 27 January 1771 Linley was the youngest child of Thomas Linley, educated at Harrow and then St Pauls School, additional tutoring in musical disciplines was provided by his father and Carl Friedrich Abel. He joined the British East India Company and was in India 1790-5 and 1800-5 and he retired from the company in 1810 and devoted himself to singing, composing glees and songs and writing literature. He bequeathed his collection of portraits to Dulwich Picture Gallery. William Linley brothers William Linleys sisters Free scores by William Linley in the Choral Public Domain Library
30.
Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom
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Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom was a member of the British Royal Family. She was the 15th child and 6th daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom and his queen consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Princess Amelia was born on 7 August 1783, at the Royal Lodge, Windsor and it is often said that she was her fathers favourite, he affectionately called her Emily. She was born after the deaths of her two elder brothers, Octavius and Alfred. These deaths left a gap of almost six years between Amelia and her nearest surviving sibling, Princess Sophia and she was twenty-one years younger than her eldest sibling, George, and nearly seventeen years younger than her eldest sister, Charlotte. Amelia was christened at the Chapel Royal, St Jamess Palace by John Moore, Archbishop of Canterbury and her godparents were the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Augusta Sophia. She was the fifteenth sibling christened there and she was later confirmed by the Archbishop on 24 December 1799. Our littlest sister is without one of the prettiest children I have ever seen. She was expected to be as beautiful, charming, and winning as Octavius, as a result of her two brothers deaths, Amelia was considered as her fathers favourite. From an early age, Amelia was conscious of her rank, burney even dubbed her the little idol. As the youngest of the thirteen surviving children, Amelia spent most of her time with her sisters Mary and Sophia and it seems that the three youngest princesses were much wilder than their elder sisters, as evidenced by their behaviour when they sat for a portrait in 1785. In 1770, Zoffany had been able to paint the King, the Queen, in 1785, however, Copley had so much difficulty getting the dogs, birds, and especially the three royal children to sit still that he never painted another portrait. Compared to the carefully planned education that Charlotte, Augusta, and Elizabeth had been given, the given to Mary, Sophia. Amelia was only five years old when her father suffered his first bout of madness, as a consequence of her fathers declining health, she never experienced the closeness and affection that had characterized the family during her elder sisters early years. Prior to 1788, King George had told his daughters that he would take them to Hanover and find suitable husbands despite misgivings he had. He remarked, I cannot deny that I have never wished to see any of them marry, I am happy in their company, however, the King suffered his first bout of madness that year, when Amelia was aged five. Further lapses into insanity occurred in 1801 and 1804, thus forestalling talk of marriage for his daughters, the question of matrimony was rarely raised, Queen Charlotte feared that the subject, which had always discomforted the King, would push him back into insanity. Furthermore, the Queen, under strain due to her illness, Amelia and her sisters, Charlotte, Augusta Sophia, Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia were over-protected and isolated, which restricted meeting eligible suitors of their own age
31.
Elizabeth Farren
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Elizabeth Farren was an English actress of the late 18th century. Elizabeth Farren was the daughter of George Farren of Cork, Ireland, a surgeon and apothecary, later an actor, and his wife of Liverpool, at a very early age Farren performed at Bath and elsewhere in juvenile parts. In 1774 she was acting with her mother and sisters at Wakefield under Tate Wilkinson’s opponent, Whiteley, when she played Columbine and sang. At the age of fifteen, at Liverpool, she played Rosetta in Love in a Village and her first London appearance was in 1777 as Miss Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer, and subsequent successes established her reputation. The Shakespearean parts of Hermione, Portia, Olivia and Juliet were in her repertory and she was introduced by Younger, her Liverpool manager, to George Colman and made her first appearance in London at the Haymarket on 9 June 1777, playing Miss Hardcastle. She also spoke the epilogue to the play, on 11 July 1778 she was the original Nancy Lovel in Colmans Suicide. This was a part, to which her figure was unsuited. Performances as Lady Townly, and Lady Fanciful in the Provoked Wife restored her to public favour, in September 1778 she made her first appearance at Drury Lane, as Charlotte Rusport in the West Indian. She performed primarily at this theatre or at the Haymarket for the rest of her career, with occasional performances in the provinces. The last original part she played was the heroine of Holcrofts Force of Ridicule,6 Dec.1796, which was unfavourably received on its first night and remains unprinted. On her last appearance,8 April 1797, she played Lady Teazle, an audience was attracted. Farren had a figure and was above average height. Her face was expressive and animated, she had blue eyes, a smile. In manner and bearing she appears to have had no rival except Frances Abington, on 1 May 1797 she married Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby by whom she had a son and two daughters. She died on 23 April 1829 at Knowsley Park, Lancashire and she had a short sentimental attachment to John Palmer and was admired and followed by Charles Fox. Lord Derby reportedly treated her more respect than was sometimes given to ex-actresses. Hazlitt speaks of Miss Farren, with her fine-lady airs and graces, with that elegant turn of her head and motion of her fan, richard Cumberland mentions her style as exquisite. George Colman the younger says of the lovely and accomplished Miss Farren that No person ever more successfully performed the elegant levies of Lady Townly, Tate Wilkinson credits her with infinite merit
32.
Joseph Farington
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Joseph Farington RA was an 18th-century English landscape painter and diarist. Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Farington was the second of seven sons of William Farington and his father was the rector of Warrington and vicar of Leigh. Three of his brothers—William, Henry, and Richard—were employed in the service of the East India Company. Edward died of fever when he was 32. Robert attended Brasenose College and became vicar of St George in the East, George Farington became a painter, like Joseph himself. After his early education in Manchester, Farington went to study with Richard Wilson in London in 1763, in 1764,1765, and 1766 he won premiums from the Society of Artists for his landscape drawing, he became a member in 1765. He joined the Royal Academy when it was founded in 1769 and was elected an ARA in 1783, Farington contributed works to the Academys exhibitions every year until 1801, but only occasionally between 1801 and 1813. He was an member of the Academy and sat on several important committees. He also acted as executor for the estate of fellow Academician, in 1793 he became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and helped establish the British Institution. He assisted in the Thomas Gainsborough, William Hogarth, and Richard Wilson exhibitions in 1806, Farington took two trips in Europe, one to the Netherlands in 1793 to prepare illustrations for an official record of the siege of Valenciennes. During the Peace of Amiens in 1802, he travelled to Paris with the artists Benjamin West, John Hoppner, there he saw antique sculpture and Italian art, he also visited the studios of Jacques-Louis David and François Gérard. After returning from this trip, he painted less and less, in 1785, he published Views of the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmorland and in 1794 he published a two-volume History of the River Thames with 76 aquatints. In the early 19th century, he participated in T. Cadell, Farington edited the Memoirs of Sir Joshua Reynolds, in six volumes,1819. When his wife died in 1800, Farington collapsed and could neither draw nor paint and his family and friends, such as the painter Robert Smirke and his family, helped Farington recover. Farington kept a diary from 13 July 1793 until his death. This diary has proved invaluable to historians, particularly its references to the London art world, as Newby explains, ith its emphasis on biography and anecdote it is an invaluable source of information on artists of the period and of the internal workings of the Royal Academy. The diary eventually constituted 16 volumes and were kept as a family heirloom until they were auctioned off in 1921 to the Morning Post and they were first published serially and then edited by James Greig and published in book form between 1922 and 1928. Another 16-volume edition was issued between 1978 and 1984, Farington died on a visit to his brother Robert in Lancashire on 30 December 1821, after falling down a flight of stairs in a church
33.
John Milton
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John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of flux and political upheaval. Miltons poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, Samuel Johnson praised Paradise Lost as a poem which. The phases of Miltons life parallel the major historical and political divisions in Stuart Britain, the Restoration of 1660 deprived Milton, now completely blind, of his public platform, but this period saw him complete most of his major works of poetry. Miltons views developed from his extensive reading, as well as travel and experience. By the time of his death in 1674, Milton was impoverished and on the margins of English intellectual life, yet famous throughout Europe, John Milton was born in Bread Street, London on 9 December 1608, the son of composer John Milton and his wife Sarah Jeffrey. The senior John Milton moved to London around 1583 after being disinherited by his devout Catholic father Richard Milton for embracing Protestantism, in London, the senior John Milton married Sarah Jeffrey and found lasting financial success as a scrivener. He lived in and worked from a house on Bread Street, the elder Milton was noted for his skill as a musical composer, and this talent left his son with a lifelong appreciation for music and friendships with musicians such as Henry Lawes. Miltons fathers prosperity provided his eldest son with a tutor, Thomas Young. Research suggests that Youngs influence served as the introduction to religious radicalism. After Youngs tutorship, Milton attended St Pauls School in London, there he began the study of Latin and Greek, and the classical languages left an imprint on his poetry in English. Miltons first datable compositions are two psalms done at age 15 at Long Bennington, one contemporary source is the Brief Lives of John Aubrey, an uneven compilation including first-hand reports. In the work, Aubrey quotes Christopher, Miltons younger brother, When he was young, he studied hard and sat up very late. In 1625, Milton began attending Christs College, Cambridge and he graduated with a B. A. in 1629, and ranked fourth of 24 honours graduates that year in the University of Cambridge. Preparing to become an Anglican priest, Milton stayed on to obtain his Master of Arts degree on 3 July 1632, Milton was probably rusticated for quarrelling in his first year with his tutor, Bishop William Chappell. He was certainly at home in the Lent Term 1626, there he wrote his Elegia Prima, a first Latin elegy, to Charles Diodati, based on remarks of John Aubrey, Chappell whipt Milton. This story is now disputed, though certainly Milton disliked Chappell, historian Christopher Hill cautiously notes that Milton was apparently rusticated, and that the differences between Chappell and Milton may have been either religious or personal. It is also possible that, like Isaac Newton four decades later, Milton was sent home because of the plague, in 1626, Miltons tutor was Nathaniel Tovey
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Paradise Lost
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Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. The first version, published in 1667, consisted of ten books with over ten lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books with minor revisions throughout and it is considered by critics to be Miltons major work, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time. The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man, Miltons purpose, stated in Book I, is to justify the ways of God to men. In his introduction to the Penguin edition of Paradise Lost, the Milton scholar John Leonard notes, John Aubrey tells us that the poem was begun in about 1658 and finished in about 1663. But parts were almost certainly written earlier, and its roots lie in Miltons earliest youth, Leonard speculates that the English Civil War interrupted Miltons earliest attempts to start his epic that would encompass all space and time. Leonard also notes that Milton did not at first plan to write a biblical epic, however, in the 1672 edition, Paradise Lost contained twelve books. Having gone totally blind in 1652, Milton wrote Paradise Lost entirely through dictation with the help of amanuenses, the poem is separated into twelve books or sections, the lengths of which vary greatly. The Arguments at the head of each book were added in subsequent imprints of the first edition, originally published in ten books, a fully Revised and Augmented edition reorganized into twelve books was issued in 1674, and this is the edition generally used today. The poem follows the tradition of starting in medias res. Miltons story has two narrative arcs, one about Satan and the other following Adam and Eve and it begins after Satan and the other rebel angels have been defeated and banished to Hell, or, as it is also called in the poem, Tartarus. In Pandæmonium, Satan employs his rhetorical skill to organise his followers, he is aided by Mammon, belial and Moloch are also present. At the end of the debate, Satan volunteers to poison the newly created Earth and Gods new and most favoured creation and he braves the dangers of the Abyss alone in a manner reminiscent of Odysseus or Aeneas. After an arduous traversal of the Chaos outside Hell, he enters Gods new material World, at several points in the poem, an Angelic War over Heaven is recounted from different perspectives. Satans rebellion follows the convention of large-scale warfare. The battles between the angels and Satans forces take place over three days. At the final battle, the Son of God single-handedly defeats the legion of angelic rebels. Following this purge, God creates the World, culminating in his creation of Adam and Eve
35.
John Philip Kemble
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John Philip Kemble was an English actor. He was born into a family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on the stage of the Theatre Royal and his other siblings Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock also enjoyed success on the stage. The second child of Roger Kemble – the manager of the theatre company the Warwickshire Company of Comedians – he was born at Prescot. His mother being a Roman Catholic, he was educated at Sedgley Park Catholic seminary, near Wolverhampton, in 1781 he obtained a star engagement at Dublin making his first appearance there on 2 November as Hamlet. He also achieved success as Raymond in The Count of Narbonne. In this role he awakened interest and discussion among the critics such as Harriet Evans Martin rather than the approval of the public. As Macbeth on 31 March 1785 he shared in the enthusiasm aroused by Sarah Siddons, brother and sister had first appeared together at Drury Lane on 22 November 1783, as Beverley and Mrs Beverley in Edward Moores The Gamester, and as King John and Constance in Shakespeares tragedy. Between 1785 and 1787 Kemble appeared in a variety of roles, in December 1787 he married Priscilla Hopkins Brereton, the widow of an actor and herself an actress. He was also able to experiment with whatever parts might strike his fancy, in 1785 the well-known actor, John Henderson, asked his friend, the critic Richard Conversation Sharp, to go and see the newcomer, Kemble, and to report back to him. Very careful study appears in all he says and all he does, excepting in serious parts, I suppose he will never put on the sock. His elocutionary art, his sense of rhythm and emphasis, enabled him to excel in declamation. In all the other great Shakespearean characters he was, according to the best critics, inferior to them, least so in Lear, Hamlet and Wolsey and his production of Cymbeline was staged regularly from 1801 on. In 1803 he became manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, Kemble had been nearly ruined by the fire, and was only saved by a generous loan, afterwards converted into a gift, of £10,000 from the Duke of Northumberland. Kemble took his leave of the stage in the part of Coriolanus on 23 June 1817. His retirement was hastened by the rising popularity of Edmund Kean. The remaining years of his life were spent chiefly abroad, although Kemble was interred at Lausanne, a life-size marble statue of him stands in the chapel of St Andrew in Westminster Abbey, close to that of his sister, Sarah Siddons. He is also commemorated in the name of a street in his place of birth, a bust of Kemble by Charles Molloy Westmacott was exhibited at the Royal Academy, London in 1822
36.
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
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Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville PC FRSE was a Scottish advocate and Tory politician. He was the first Secretary of State for War and became, in 1806, although acquitted, he never held public office again. Dundas was born in Edinburgh on 28 April 1742 in the known as Bishops Land on the Royal Mile. He was the son of Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord President of the Court of Session, by his second wife, Anne Gordon. While a student he was a member of the Edinburgh University Belles Lettres Society, participating in its meetings and his name appears in the 1776 minute book of the Poker Club. After holding subordinate offices under William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and William Pitt the Younger, appointed Minister for War on the outbreak of the Wars of the French Revolution, he was Pitts closest advisor and planner for Britains military participation in the First Coalition. He is largely responsible for the lack of organization and confused planning in the Flanders Campaign. In November 1793, he provided support to Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Graham, from 1794 to 1801 he was War Secretary under Pitt, his great friend. From about 1798 on he pleaded frequently to be allowed to resign on grounds, but Pitt. In 1802 he was elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Viscount Melville and Baron Dunira, under Pitt in 1804 he again entered office as First Lord of the Admiralty, when he introduced numerous improvements in the details of the department. Suspicion had arisen, however, as to the management of the Admiralty. In 1802 a commission of inquiry was appointed, which reported in 1805, the result was the impeachment of Dundas in 1806, on the initiative of Samuel Whitbread, for the misappropriation of public money. Although the process ended in an acquittal, and nothing more than formal negligence lay against him and this was the last impeachment trial ever held in the House of Lords. Another reason for his retreat could have been Pitts death in 1806, an earldom was offered in 1809 but declined. Lord Melvilles first marriage was to Elizabeth, daughter of David Rannie, of Melville Castle, within days she had confessed by letter to her husband, and approximately a month later they were divorced. She never saw her again, dying in 1847, aged 97. Henry Dundas, as was the law of the time, kept all of the money, after this divorce he married again, to Lady Jane Hope, daughter of John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun, in 1793. He died in May 1811, aged 69, and was succeeded in his titles by his son from his first marriage, the Viscountess Melville later remarried and died in June 1829
37.
William Etty
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William Etty RA was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude figures. He was the first significant British painter of nudes and still lifes, born in York, he left school at the age of 12 to become an apprentice printer in Hull. He completed his apprenticeship seven years later and moved to London, there he studied under Thomas Lawrence and trained by copying works by other artists. Etty earned respect at the Royal Academy of Arts for his ability to paint realistic flesh tones, Ettys Cleopatras Arrival in Cilicia, painted in 1821, featured numerous nudes and was exhibited to great acclaim. Its success prompted several further depictions of scenes with nudes. All but one of the works he exhibited at the Royal Academy in the 1820s contained at least one nude figure, and he acquired a reputation for indecency. Despite this, he was successful and critically acclaimed, and in 1828 was elected a Royal Academician. Although he was one of the most respected artists in the country he continued to study at life classes throughout his life, a practice considered inappropriate by his fellow artists. In the 1830s Etty began to branch out into the lucrative but less respected field of portraiture. He continued to paint both male and female nudes, which caused criticism and condemnation from some elements of the press. An extremely shy man, Etty rarely socialised and never married, from 1824 until his death he lived with his niece Betsy. Even in London he retained a keen interest in his native York, and was instrumental in the establishment of the towns first art school, Etty was prolific and commercially successful throughout the 1840s, but the quality of his work deteriorated throughout this period. As his health worsened he retired to York in 1848. He died in 1849, shortly after a retrospective exhibition. In the immediate aftermath of his death his works became highly collectable, changing tastes meant his work later fell out of fashion, and imitators soon abandoned his style. By the end of the 19th century the value of all of his works had fallen below their original prices, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, British painting was strongly influenced by Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts. After Reynoldss death his Discourses on Art, which extolled the notion of a duty to paint idealised subjects. The Royal Academy dominated British art, with the annual Royal Academy Summer Exhibition the most important event in the calendar
38.
George Henry Harlow
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George Henry Harlow, was a highly regarded English portrait painter. Harlow was sent when quite young to Dr. Barrows classical school in Soho Square and he was for a short time at Westminster School, but having shown a predilection for painting, he was placed under Henry De Cort, the landscape-painter. He next worked under Samuel Drummond, A. R. A, the portrait-painter, but after about a year entered the studio of Sir Thomas Lawrence. Harlow paid Lawrence handsomely for his admission and the right to copy, Harlow decided to devote himself to painting, and refused an offer of a writership in the East India trade made by his fathers friends. He spent about eighteen months in Lawrences studio, copying his pictures, Harlow henceforth pursued an original system of art education. He inveighed strongly against all rules and principles. Young, headstrong, and impatient of restraint, with a person and amiable disposition. His foibles led his friends to nickname him Clarissa Harlowe and he worked, however, with industry and enthusiasm in his art. Though openly opposed to the Royal Academy, he was a candidate for academician and he exhibited for the first time at the Academy in 1804, showing a portrait of Dr. Thornton. In later years he exhibited many other portraits and his practice in this line was extensive. His portraits are well conceived, and, though much in the manner and his portraits of ladies were always graceful and pleasing. He was less successful, owing to his artistic education, in historical painting. His first exhibited pictures were Queen Elizabeth striking the Earl of Essex, at the Royal Academy,1807. In 1815 he painted Hubert and Prince Arthur for William Leader, in 1814 he painted a set of portraits of the actor Charles Mathews in various characters, which attracted general attention. It was engraved by W. Greatbach for Yates Life of Mathews, early in his career Harlow had made sketches of performers in the theatre, notably of the actress Sarah Siddons, who retired in 1812. A commission from the music teacher Thomas Welsh to paint Siddons as Queen Katharine in Shakespeares Henry VIII and this was begun from memory, but subsequently the actress, at Welshs request, gave the painter a sitting. While painting the portrait, Harlow decided to expand the picture into the Trial Scene from the play, introducing portraits of the various members of the Kemble family. Welsh, though not consulted by Harlow concerning this change of plan, the picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1817, and excited great public interest
39.
William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne
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William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, PC, FRS, usually addressed as Lord Melbourne, was a British Whig statesman who served as Home Secretary and Prime Minister. He is best known for his intense and successful mentoring of Queen Victoria, at ages 18–21, but he was kind, honest and not self-seeking. Melbourne was dismissed by King William IV in 1834, the last British prime minister to be dismissed by a monarch. Born in London in 1779 to an aristocratic Whig family, William Lamb was the son of The 1st Viscount Melbourne and Elizabeth, Viscountess Melbourne, though his paternity was questioned. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he fell in with a group of Romantic Radicals that included Percy Bysshe Shelley, against the background of the Napoleonic Wars, Lamb served at home as captain and major in the Hertfordshire Volunteer Infantry. In 1805 he succeeded his brother as heir to his fathers title and married Lady Caroline Ponsonby. The next year he was elected to the British House of Commons as the Whig MP for Leominster, for the election in 1806 he was moved to the seat of Haddington Burghs and for the 1807 election he successfully stood for Portarlington. The resulting scandal was the talk of Britain in 1812, eventually the two reconciled and, though they separated in 1825, her death in 1828 affected him considerably. In 1816 Lamb was returned for Peterborough by Whig grandee Lord Fitzwilliam and he told Lord Holland that he was committed to the Whig principles of the Glorious Revolution but not to a heap of modern additions, interpolations, facts and fictions. He therefore spoke against parliamentary reform and voted for the suspension of habeas corpus in 1817 when sedition was rife, lambs hallmark was finding the middle ground. Though a Whig, he accepted the post of Chief Secretary for Ireland in the moderate Tory governments of George Canning and Lord Goderich. Upon the death of his father in 1828 and his becoming The 2nd Viscount Melbourne, of Kilmore in the County of Cavan and he had spent 25 years in the Commons as a backbencher and was not politically well known. When the Whigs came to power under Lord Grey in November 1830 Melbourne became Home Secretary in the new government, during the disturbances of 1830–32 he acted both vigorously and sensitively, and it was for this function that his reforming brethren thanked him heartily. The disturbances over reform in 1831–32 were countered with the enforcement of the usual laws, after Lord Grey resigned as Prime Minister in July 1834, the King was forced to appoint another Whig to replace him, as the Tories were not strong enough to support a government. Melbourne was the man most likely to be acceptable to the King and hold the Whig party together. Melbourne hesitated after receiving from Grey the letter from the King requesting him to him to discuss the formation of a government. Melbourne thought he would not enjoy the work that accompanied the office of Premier but he did not want to let his friends. According to Charles Greville, Melbourne said to his secretary, Tom Young, I am in many minds as to what to do
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Lady Caroline Lamb
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Her husband was The Hon. William Lamb, who later became Viscount Melbourne and Prime Minister. However, she was never the Viscountess Melbourne because she died before Melbourne succeeded to the peerage, hence, as a small child she was considered delicate and for her health spent much time in the country. She travelled with her mother and other family to Italy, where she made a recovery from an illness caused by worms that nearly ended her life. During childhood she became close to Lady Harriet Cavendish, who was only three months older. Lady Morgan reported in her memoirs that Lady Caroline told her that she had grown up as a tomboy, while many scholars have accepted this at face value, published works of correspondence about her family members make it extremely unlikely. The grandmother she shared with her Cavendish cousins, the formidable Dowager Lady Spencer, was dedicated to promoting education. This governess was Miss Selina Trimmer, who was the daughter of Mrs Sarah Trimmer and she taught them an extensive curriculum, considerably beyond mere literacy. There is a published letter Lady Caroline wrote on 31 October 1796 that not only demonstrates her literacy, Lady Caroline was exceptionally well educated at home, and also attended a school in Hans Place, London. In her early years, she not only wrote prose and poetry. These courtly skills stood her in good stead and she spoke French and Italian fluently, was skilled at Greek and Latin, and also enjoyed music and drama. In June 1805, at the age of nineteen, Lady Caroline Ponsonby married the Hon. William Lamb, an up-and-coming politician, although their meeting had been shrewdly orchestrated by William Lambs mother, theirs was a love match. The couple had become mutually captivated during a visit to Brocket Hall in 1802 and their union produced a son, George Augustus Frederick, born on 11 August 1807, and a premature daughter, born in 1809 who died within 24 hours. Lady Caroline was physically ill-suited to childbirth and suffered long periods after each one. Her son was born with mental problems that may have been a type of autism. The stress of their sons ill health, combined with William Lambs consuming career ambitions, from March to August 1812, Lady Caroline embarked on a well-publicized affair with Lord Byron. She had spurned the attention of the poet on their first meeting, subsequently giving Byron what became his lasting epitaph when she described him as mad, bad, and dangerous to know. Byrons response to her enticements, was to visit her because of her social status as a niece of the Duchess of Devonshire. Lady Caroline and Lord Byron publicly decried each other as they pledged their love over the following months
41.
Caroline of Brunswick
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Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, best known as Caroline of Brunswick, was Queen of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George IV from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821. She was the Princess of Wales from 1795 to 1820 and her father was the ruler of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in Germany, and her mother, Princess Augusta, was the sister of George III. George and Caroline married the year, and nine months later Caroline had a child. Shortly after Charlottes birth, George and Caroline separated, by 1806, rumours that Caroline had taken lovers and had an illegitimate child led to an investigation into her private life. The dignitaries who led the investigation concluded there was no foundation to the rumours. In 1814, Caroline moved to Italy, where she employed Bartolomeo Pergami as a servant, Pergami soon became Carolines closest companion, and it was widely assumed that they were lovers. In 1817, Caroline was devastated when her daughter Charlotte died in childbirth, she heard the news from a passing courier as George had refused to write and he was determined to divorce Caroline, and set up a second investigation to collect evidence of her adultery. In 1820, George became king of the United Kingdom and Hanover, George hated her, vowed she would never be the queen, and insisted on a divorce, which she refused. A legal divorce was possible but difficult to obtain, Caroline returned to Britain to assert her position as queen. She was wildly popular with the British populace, who sympathized with her, in July 1821, Caroline was barred from the coronation on the orders of her husband. She fell ill in London and died three weeks later, her funeral procession passed through London on its way to her native Brunswick, Caroline was born as Princess of Brunswick, with the courtesy title of Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel on 17 May 1768 at Braunschweig in Germany. She was the daughter of Charles William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Caroline was brought up in a difficult family situation. She was educated by governesses, but the subject in which she was given a high education was music. From 1783 until 1791 Countess Eleonore von Münster was her governess, and won her affection, Caroline could understand English and French, but her father admitted that she was lacking in education. John Stanley, later Lord Stanley of Alderley, saw her in 1781, in 1784, she was described as a beauty, and two years later, Mirabeau described her as most amiable, lively, playful, witty and handsome. Caroline was brought up with a degree of seclusion from contact with the opposite sex even for her own time. She was reportedly constantly supervised by her governess and elder ladies, restricted to her room when the family was entertaining guests and she was normally refused permission to attend balls and court functions, and when allowed, she was forbidden to dance. Abbé Baron commented during the winter of 1789–90, She is supervised with the greatest severity, I doubt if the torches of hymen will illuminate for her
42.
Princess Charlotte of Wales
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Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales was the only child of George, Prince of Wales and Caroline of Brunswick. Had she outlived both her grandfather King George III and her father, she would have become Queen of the United Kingdom, Charlottes parents disliked each other from before their arranged marriage and soon separated. The Prince of Wales left most of Charlottes care to governesses and servants, but only allowed her limited contact with the Princess of Wales, who eventually left the country. As Charlotte grew to adulthood, her father pressured her to marry William, Hereditary Prince of Orange and this resulted in an extended contest of wills between her and her father, and finally the Prince of Wales permitted her to marry Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After a year and a half of marriage, Charlotte died after delivering a stillborn son. Charlottes death set off tremendous mourning among the British, who had seen her as a sign of hope, as she had been King George IIIs only legitimate grandchild, there was considerable pressure on the Kings unmarried sons to find wives. King George IIIs fourth son, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, fathered the eventual heir, Victoria, in 1794, George, Prince of Wales, sought a suitable bride. He did not do so out of any desire to secure the succession. George, despite receiving large incomes as Prince of Wales and as Duke of Cornwall, lived well beyond his means, George had attempted marriage once, to his mistress, Maria Fitzherbert. The attempted marriage was invalid as no attempt had been made to obtain the consent of King George III, the Princes father. Nevertheless, the Prince kept Fitzherbert as his mistress, that is, George considered two German princesses as possible brides, both of whom were his first cousins. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the daughter of Georges mothers brother, while Caroline of Brunswick was his fathers sisters daughter. Princess Caroline had, it was said, behaved improperly with an Irish officer in her fathers army, Harris found the Princess dressed in a dishevelled manner, and it was obvious that she had not washed in several days. He found her conversation coarse and overly familiar, the diplomat brought Caroline to St. Jamess Palace, on first sight of his bride, the Prince stated, Harris, I am not well, pray get me a glass of brandy. After the Prince had left, Caroline said, I think he is very fat and nothing like as handsome as his portrait. Before the wedding on 8 April 1795, George sent his brother William, Duke of Clarence, to tell Fitzherbert that she was the woman he would ever love, then went to the ceremony. Caroline on the other hand later hinted that the Prince was impotent, the royal couple separated within weeks, though they remained under the same roof. One day short of nine months after the wedding, Caroline gave birth to a daughter, Charlotte was born at the Princes residence, Carlton House, London, on 7 January 1796
43.
Delicate investigation
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Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, best known as Caroline of Brunswick, was Queen of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George IV from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821. She was the Princess of Wales from 1795 to 1820 and her father was the ruler of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in Germany, and her mother, Princess Augusta, was the sister of George III. George and Caroline married the year, and nine months later Caroline had a child. Shortly after Charlottes birth, George and Caroline separated, by 1806, rumours that Caroline had taken lovers and had an illegitimate child led to an investigation into her private life. The dignitaries who led the investigation concluded there was no foundation to the rumours. In 1814, Caroline moved to Italy, where she employed Bartolomeo Pergami as a servant, Pergami soon became Carolines closest companion, and it was widely assumed that they were lovers. In 1817, Caroline was devastated when her daughter Charlotte died in childbirth, she heard the news from a passing courier as George had refused to write and he was determined to divorce Caroline, and set up a second investigation to collect evidence of her adultery. In 1820, George became king of the United Kingdom and Hanover, George hated her, vowed she would never be the queen, and insisted on a divorce, which she refused. A legal divorce was possible but difficult to obtain, Caroline returned to Britain to assert her position as queen. She was wildly popular with the British populace, who sympathized with her, in July 1821, Caroline was barred from the coronation on the orders of her husband. She fell ill in London and died three weeks later, her funeral procession passed through London on its way to her native Brunswick, Caroline was born as Princess of Brunswick, with the courtesy title of Duchess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel on 17 May 1768 at Braunschweig in Germany. She was the daughter of Charles William, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Caroline was brought up in a difficult family situation. She was educated by governesses, but the subject in which she was given a high education was music. From 1783 until 1791 Countess Eleonore von Münster was her governess, and won her affection, Caroline could understand English and French, but her father admitted that she was lacking in education. John Stanley, later Lord Stanley of Alderley, saw her in 1781, in 1784, she was described as a beauty, and two years later, Mirabeau described her as most amiable, lively, playful, witty and handsome. Caroline was brought up with a degree of seclusion from contact with the opposite sex even for her own time. She was reportedly constantly supervised by her governess and elder ladies, restricted to her room when the family was entertaining guests and she was normally refused permission to attend balls and court functions, and when allowed, she was forbidden to dance. Abbé Baron commented during the winter of 1789–90, She is supervised with the greatest severity, I doubt if the torches of hymen will illuminate for her
44.
Spencer Perceval
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Spencer Perceval, KC, PC was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 October 1809 until his death on 11 May 1812. He is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated, the younger son of an Irish earl, Perceval was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge. A follower of William Pitt, Perceval always described himself as a friend of Mr Pitt rather than a Tory, Perceval was opposed to Catholic emancipation and reform of Parliament, he supported the war against Napoleon and the abolition of the slave trade. He was opposed to hunting, gambling and adultery, did not drink as much as most Members of Parliament, gave generously to charity and he overcame these crises, successfully pursued the Peninsular War in the face of opposition defeatism, and won the support of the Prince Regent. Perceval was born in Audley Square, Mayfair, the son of John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont. His mother, Catherine Compton, Baroness Arden, was a granddaughter of the 4th Earl of Northampton, Spencer was a Compton family name, Catherine Comptons great uncle Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, had been prime minister. His father, an advisor to Frederick, Prince of Wales and King George III. Perceval’s early childhood was spent at Charlton House, which his father had taken to be near Woolwich docks, Perceval’s father died when he was eight. Perceval went to Harrow School, where he was a disciplined and it was at Harrow that he developed an interest in evangelical Anglicanism and formed what was to be a lifelong friendship with Dudley Ryder. After five years at Harrow he followed his older brother Charles to Trinity College, Cambridge, as the second son of a second marriage, and with an allowance of only £200 a year, Perceval faced the prospect of having to make his own way in life. He chose the law as a profession, studied at Lincoln’s Inn, Perceval, who was at that time an impecunious barrister on the Midland Circuit, was told to wait until the younger daughter, Jane, came of age in three years’ time. When Jane reached 21, in 1790, Perceval’s career was not prospering. They set up together in lodgings over a carpet shop in Bedford Row, later moving to Lindsey House. He acted as counsel for the Crown in the prosecutions of Thomas Paine in absentia for seditious libel. Perceval joined the London and Westminster Light Horse Volunteers in 1794 when the country was under threat of invasion by France, Perceval wrote anonymous pamphlets in favour of the impeachment of Warren Hastings, and in defence of public order against sedition. These pamphlets brought him to the attention of William Pitt the Younger and he could earn more as a barrister and needed the money to support his growing family. In 1796 he became a King’s Counsel and had an income of about £1000 a year, in 1796, Perceval’s uncle, the 8th Earl of Northampton, died. Perceval’s cousin, who was MP for Northampton, succeeded to the earldom, Perceval was invited to stand for election in his place
45.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
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His defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 put him in the top rank of Britains military heroes. Wellesley was born in Dublin, belonging to the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland and he was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army in 1787, serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland. He was also elected as a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons and he was a colonel by 1796, and saw action in the Netherlands and in India, where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam. He was appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore in 1799 and, as a newly appointed major-general, following Napoleons exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the army which defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Wellesleys battle record is exemplary, he participated in some 60 battles during the course of his military career. Wellington is famous for his defensive style of warfare, resulting in several victories against numerically superior forces while minimising his own losses. He is regarded as one of the greatest defensive commanders of all time, after ending his active military career, Wellington returned to politics. He was twice British prime minister as part of the Tory party, from 1828 to 1830 and he oversaw the passage of the Catholic Relief Act 1829, but opposed the Reform Act 1832. He continued as one of the figures in the House of Lords until his retirement. As such, he belonged to the Protestant Ascendancy and his biographers mostly follow the contemporary newspaper evidence in saying that he was born 1 May 1769, the day that he was baptised. He was most likely born at his parents townhouse,24 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin, but his mother Anne, Countess of Mornington, recalled in 1815 that he had been born at 6 Merrion Street, Dublin. He spent most of his childhood at his familys two homes, the first a house in Dublin and the second Dangan Castle,3 miles north of Summerhill on the Trim Road in County Meath. In 1781, Arthurs father died and his eldest brother Richard inherited his fathers earldom and he went to the diocesan school in Trim when at Dangan, Mr Whytes Academy when in Dublin, and Browns School in Chelsea when in London. He then enrolled at Eton, where he studied from 1781 to 1784, moreover, Eton had no playing fields at the time. In 1785, a lack of success at Eton, combined with a shortage of funds due to his fathers death, forced the young Wellesley. Until his early twenties, Arthur showed little sign of distinction and his mother grew concerned at his idleness, stating. A year later, Arthur enrolled in the French Royal Academy of Equitation in Angers, where he progressed significantly, becoming a good horseman and learning French, upon returning to England in late 1786, he astonished his mother with his improvement
46.
Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry
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Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry KG GCB GCH PC, born Charles William Stewart and raised to the peerage as Baron Stewart in 1814, was a British soldier, politician and nobleman. Charles Stewart was educated at Eton and was commissioned into the British army in 1794 and he saw active service in Flanders and Ireland before being elected a member of the Irish House of Commons. In 1803 he was aide-de-camp to King George III and four later became Under-Secretary of State for War. He fought in the Peninsula War under both Sir John Moore and Sir Arthur Wellesley, in 1810 Stewart was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the Prussian Court in Berlin and remained in that position until end of the war in 1814. In 1815 he was appointed British Ambassador to Vienna, and was at the Congress of Vienna with his half brother Lord Castlereagh, Lord Stewart succeeded his half-brother as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822. The following year he was created Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham, from 1823 he was Governor of County Londonderry and was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Durham in 1842. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1853, born in Dublin, Charles Stewart was the only son of Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry, by his second wife Lady Frances, daughter of Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, was his half-brother, Charles Stewart was educated at Eton, and at the age of 16 was commissioned into the British Army as a lieutenant. He saw service in Flanders in 1794, and was lieutenant colonel of the 5th Royal Irish Dragoons by the time he helped put down the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Two years later he was elected to the Irish House of Commons as Tory representative for Thomastown, County Kilkenny and he sat for the latter constituency until the Act of Union in 1801, and then represented Londonderry in the British House of Commons until 1814. By the time of the Great Irish Famine in the 1840s and he owned land across Ulster in addition to property in Britain. In 1803 Stewart was appointed aide-de-camp to King George III, and four later became Under-Secretary of State for War. During the Corunna Campaign of 1808–1809 he commanded a brigade of cavalry and he received the thanks of Parliament in 1810, and on 20 November 1813 was made Colonel of the 25th Light Dragoons, becoming a Knight of the Bath that same year. Until the end of the war he was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Berlin, the recipient of numerous foreign honours, Stewart was also, in 1814, ennobled as Baron Stewart, of Stewarts Court and Ballylawn in the County of Donegal. That same year he received degrees from Oxford and Cambridge, was admitted to the Privy Council. He was appointed GCH in 1816 and made colonel of the 10th Regiment of Dragoons on 3 February 1820. His first wife was Lady Catherine Bligh, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Darnley and she died during the night of 10–11 February 1812, of fever following a minor operation, while her husband was on active service in the Peninsula. Lord Stewart married his second wife Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, on 3 April 1819 at her mothers house on Bruton Street, Mayfair
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