1.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
2.
Sussex
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Sussex, from the Old English Sūþsēaxe, is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Brighton and Hove was created as an authority in 1997. Until then, Chichester was Sussexs only city, Sussex has three main geographic sub-regions, each oriented approximately east to west. In the south-west is the fertile and densely populated coastal plain, North of this are the rolling chalk hills of the South Downs, beyond which is the well-wooded Sussex Weald. The name derives from the Kingdom of Sussex, which was founded, according to legend, in 825, it was absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex and subsequently into the kingdom of England. It was the home of some of Europes earliest hominids, whose remains have been found at Boxgrove, in 1974, the Lord-Lieutenant of Sussex was replaced with one each for East and West Sussex, which became separate ceremonial counties. Sussex continues to be recognised as a territory and cultural region. It has had a police force since 1968 and its name is in common use in the media. In 2007, Sussex Day was created to celebrate the rich culture. Based on the emblem of Sussex, a blue shield with six gold martlets. In 2013, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles formally recognised and acknowledged the existence of Englands 39 historic counties. The name Sussex is derived from the Middle English Suth-sæxe, which is in turn derived from the Old English Suth-Seaxe which means of the South Saxons, the South Saxons were a Germanic tribe that settled in the region from the North German Plain during the 5th and 6th centuries. The earliest known usage of the term South Saxons is in a charter of 689 which names them and their king, Noðhelm. The monastic chronicler who wrote up the entry classifying the invasion seems to have got his dates wrong, the New Latin word Suthsexia was used for Sussex by Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in his 1645 map. Three United States counties, and a former division of Western Australia, are named after Sussex. The flag of Sussex consists of six gold martlets, or heraldic swallows, on a background, blazoned as Azure. Officially recognised by the Flag Institute on 20 May 2011, its design is based on the shield of Sussex. The first known recording of this emblem being used to represent the county was in 1611 when cartographer John Speed deployed it to represent the Kingdom of the South Saxons
3.
King's College London
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Kings College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, and a founding constituent college of the federal University of London. Kings was established in 1829 by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington, in 1836, Kings became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London. It is a member of organisations such as the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the European University Association. Kings has five campuses, its main campus on the Strand in central London. In 2015/16, Kings had an income of £738.4 million, of which £193.2 million was from research grants and contracts and as of 2014/15. It has the fifth largest endowment of any university in the United Kingdom, and its academic activities are organised into nine faculties which are subdivided into numerous departments, centres and research divisions. Kings is home to six Medical Research Council centres and is a member of the Kings Health Partners academic health sciences centre, Francis Crick Institute. Kings College London, so named to indicate the patronage of King George IV, was founded in 1829 in response to the controversy surrounding the founding of London University in 1826. The need for such an institution was a result of the religious and social nature of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which then educated solely the sons of wealthy Anglicans. The secular nature of London University was disapproved by The Establishment, indeed, thus, the creation of a rival institution represented a Tory response to reassert the educational values of The Establishment. Winchilsea and about 150 other contributors withdrew their support of Kings College London in response to Wellingtons support of Catholic emancipation. In a letter to Wellington he accused the Duke to have in mind insidious designs for the infringement of our liberty, the letter provoked a furious exchange of correspondence and Wellington accused Winchilsea of imputing him with disgraceful and criminal motives in setting up Kings College London. The result was a duel in Battersea Fields on 21 March 1829, Winchilsea did not fire, a plan he and his second almost certainly decided upon before the duel, Wellington took aim and fired wide to the right. Accounts differ as to whether Wellington missed on purpose, Wellington, noted for his poor aim, claimed he did, other reports more sympathetic to Winchilsea claimed he had aimed to kill. Honour was saved and Winchilsea wrote Wellington an apology, duel Day is still celebrated on the first Thursday after 21 March every year, marked by various events throughout Kings, including reenactments. Kings opened in October 1831 with the cleric William Otter appointed as first principal, despite the attempts to make Kings Anglican-only, the initial prospectus permitted, nonconformists of all sorts to enter the college freely. William Howley, the governors and the professors, except the linguists, had to be members of the Church of England but the students did not, though attendance at chapel was compulsory. Kings was divided into a department and a junior department, also known as Kings College School
4.
Leslie Stephen
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Sir Leslie Stephen KCB was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, and mountaineer, and father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Stephen was born at Kensington Gore in London, and son of Sir James Stephen and his father was Colonial Undersecretary of State and a noted abolitionist. He was the fourth of five children, his siblings including James Fitzjames Stephen and his family had belonged to the Clapham Sect, the early 19th century group of mainly evangelical Christian social reformers. At his fathers house he saw a deal of the Macaulays, James Spedding, Sir Henry Taylor. He recounted some of his experiences in a chapter in his Life of Fawcett as well as in less formal Sketches from Cambridge. These sketches were reprinted from the Pall Mall Gazette, to the proprietor of which, George Murray Smith, the family connections included that of William Makepeace Thackeray. His brother, Fitzjames had been a friend of Thackerays and assisted in the disposition of his estate when he died in 1863 and his sister Caroline met Thackerays daughters, Anny and Minny when they were mutual guests of Julia Margaret Cameron. This led to an invitation to visit from Leslie Stephens mother, Lady Stephen and they also met at George Murray Smiths house at Hampstead. Minny and Leslie became engaged on December 4,1866 and married on June 19,1867. After the wedding they travelled to the Swiss Alps and northern Italy, and on return to England lived at the Thackeray sisters home at 16 Onslow Gardens with Anny, in the spring of 1868 Minny miscarried but recovered sufficiently for the couple to tour the eastern United States. Minny miscarried again in 1869, but became pregnant again in 1870 and on December 7 gave birth to their daughter, Laura was premature, weighing three pounds. In March 1873 Thackeray and the Stephens moved to 8 Southwell Gardens, the couple travelled extensively, and by 1875 Minny was pregnant again, but this time was in poor health. On November 27 she developed convulsions, and died the day of eclampsia. After Minnys death, Leslie Stephen continued to live with Anny, Leslie Stephen and his daughter were also cared for by his sister, the writer Caroline Emelia Stephen, although Leslie described her as Silly Milly and her books as little works. Meanwhile, Anny was falling in love with her younger cousin Richmond Ritchie, Ritchie became a constant visitor and they became engaged in May 1877, and were married on August 2. At the same time Leslie Stephen was seeing more and more of Julia Duckworth and his second marriage was to Julia Prinsep Duckworth. Julia had been born in India and after returning to England she became a model for Pre-Raphaelite painters such as Edward Burne-Jones, in 1867 she had married Herbert Duckworth by whom she had three children prior to his death in 1870. Leslie Stephen and Julia Duckworth were married on March 26,1878 and they had four children, Vanessa married Clive Bell Thoby Virginia married Leonard Woolf Adrian In May 1895, Julia died of influenza, leaving her husband with four young children aged 11 to 15
5.
Virginia Woolf
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Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the twentieth century. During the interwar period, Woolf was a significant figure in London literary society, Woolf suffered from severe bouts of mental illness throughout her life and took her own life by drowning in 1941 at the age of 59. Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen at 22 Hyde Park Gate in Kensington, London and her parents were Sir Leslie Stephen and Julia Prinsep Duckworth Stephen. Julia Stephen was born in British India to Dr. John and she was the niece of the photographer Julia Margaret Cameron and first cousin of the temperance leader Lady Henry Somerset. Julia moved to England with her mother, where she served as a model for Pre-Raphaelite painters such as Edward Burne-Jones, Woolf was educated by her parents in their literate and well-connected household. Her parents had each been married previously and been widowed, and, consequently, Julia had three children by her first husband, Herbert Duckworth, George, Stella, and Gerald Duckworth. Leslie and Julia had four children together, Vanessa Stephen, Thoby Stephen, Virginia, Henry James, George Henry Lewes, and Virginias honorary godfather, James Russell Lowell, were among the visitors to the house. Julia Stephen was equally well connected, supplementing these influences was the immense library at the Stephens house, from which Virginia and Vanessa were taught the classics and English literature. Unlike the girls, their brothers Adrian and Julian were formally educated and sent to Cambridge, the sisters did, however, benefit indirectly from their brothers Cambridge contacts, as the boys brought their new intellectual friends home to the Stephens drawing room. According to Woolfs memoirs, her most vivid memories were not of London but of St Ives, Cornwall. The Stephens summer home, Talland House, looked out over Porthminster Bay, memories of these family holidays and impressions of the landscape, especially the Godrevy Lighthouse, informed the fiction Woolf wrote in later years, most notably To the Lighthouse. She describes why she felt so connected to Talland House in an entry dated March 22nd,1921. Why am I so incredibly and incurably romantic about Cornwall. One’s past, I suppose, I see children running in the garden … The sound of the sea at night … almost forty years of life, all built on that, permeated by that, so much I could never explain. The sudden death of her mother in 1895, when Virginia was thirteen, after her mother and half-sister, she quickly lost her surrogate mother, Stella Duckworth, as well as her cherished brother Thoby, when he was in his mid-20s. She was, however, able to take courses of study in Ancient Greek, Latin, German and this brought her into contact with some of the early reformers of womens higher education such as the principal of the Ladies Department, Lilian Faithfull, Clara Pater and George Warr. Her sister Vanessa also studied Latin, Italian, art and architecture at Kings Ladies Department, in 2013 Woolf was honoured by her alma mater with the opening of a building named after her on Kingsway. The death of her father in 1904 provoked her most alarming collapse and she spent time recovering at her friend Violet Dickinsons house, and at her aunt Carolines house in Cambridge
6.
Interior design
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An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordinates, and manages such projects. Interior design is the process of shaping the experience of interior space, in the past, interiors were put together instinctively as a part of the process of building. The profession of design has been a consequence of the development of society. The pursuit of effective use of space, user well-being and functional design has contributed to the development of the interior design profession. The profession of design is separate and distinct from the role of Interior Decorator. The term is common in the UK where the profession of interior design is still unregulated and therefore, strictly speaking. In ancient India, architects used to work as interior designers and this can be seen from the references of Vishwakarma the architect - one of the gods in Indian mythology. Additionally, the sculptures depicting ancient texts and events are seen in palaces built in 17th century India, in ancient Egypt, soul houses or models of houses were placed in tombs as receptacles for food offerings. Architects would also employ craftsmen or artisans to complete design for their buildings. Large furniture firms began to branch out into general interior design and management and this business model flourished from the mid-century to 1914, when this role was increasingly usurped by independent, often amateur, designers. This paved the way for the emergence of the interior design in the mid-20th century. In the 1950s and 1960s, upholsterers began to expand their business remits and they framed their business more broadly and in artistic terms and began to advertise their furnishings to the public. Firms began to publish and circulate catalogs with prints for different lavish styles to attract the attention of expanding middle classes, as department stores increased in number and size, retail spaces within shops were furnished in different styles as examples for customers. One particularly effective advertising tool was to set up rooms at national and international exhibitions in showrooms for the public to see. Some of the firms in this regard were Waring & Gillow, James Shoolbred, Mintons. This type of firm emerged in America after the Civil War, the Herter Brothers, founded by two German emigre brothers, began as an upholstery warehouse and became one of the first firms of furniture makers and interior decorators. A pivotal figure in popularizing theories of interior design to the class was the architect Owen Jones. His most significant publication was The Grammar of Ornament, in which Jones formulated 37 key principles of interior design, in 1882, the London Directory of the Post Office listed 80 interior decorators
7.
Hyde Park, London
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Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in London and one of its Royal Parks. The park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water, the park is contiguous with Kensington Gardens, which are often assumed to be part of Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens has been separate since 1728, when Queen Caroline divided them. To the southeast, outside the park, is Hyde Park Corner, during daylight, the two parks merge seamlessly into each other, but Kensington Gardens closes at dusk, and Hyde Park remains open throughout the year from 5 a. m. until midnight. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held in the park, for which the Crystal Palace, the park became a traditional location for mass demonstrations. The Chartists, the Reform League, the suffragettes, and the Stop the War Coalition have all held protests there, many protesters on the Liberty and Livelihood March in 2002 started their march from Hyde Park. Hyde Park is also a ward of the City of Westminster, the population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 12,462. Hyde Park was created for hunting by Henry Vlll in 1536, Charles I created the Ring, and in 1637 he opened the park to the general public. In 1652, during the Interregnum, Parliament ordered the then 620-acre park to be sold for ready money and it realised £17,000 with an additional £765 6s 2d for the resident deer. In 1689, when William III moved his residence to Kensington Palace on the far side of Hyde Park, public transport entering London from the west runs parallel to the Kings private road along Kensington Gore, just outside the park. In the late 1800s, the row was used by the wealthy for horseback rides, the first coherent landscaping was undertaken by Charles Bridgeman for Queen Caroline, under the supervision of Charles Withers, the Surveyor-General of Woods and Forests, who took some credit. It was completed in 1733 at a cost to the public purse of £20,000, the 2nd Viscount Weymouth was made Ranger of Hyde Park in 1739 and shortly after began digging the Serpentine lakes at Longleat. The Serpentine is divided from the Long Water by a bridge designed by George Rennie, one of the most important events to take place in the park was the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Crystal Palace was constructed on the side of the park. The public did not want the building to remain after the closure of the exhibition and he had it moved to Sydenham Hill in South London. At the age of twenty-five, Decimus Burton was commissioned by the Office of Woods and he laid out the paths and driveways and designed a series of lodges, the Screen/Gate at Hyde Park Corner and the Wellington Arch. The Screen and the Arch originally formed a single composition, designed to provide a transition between Hyde Park and Green Park, although the arch was later moved. An early description reports, It consists of a screen of handsome fluted Ionic columns, the extent of the whole frontage is about 107 ft. The two side gateways, in their elevations, present two insulated Ionic columns, flanked by antae, all these entrances are finished by a blocking, the sides of the central one being decorated with a beautiful frieze, representing a naval and military triumphal procession
8.
Westminster
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Westminster is an area of central London within the City of Westminster, part of the West End, on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically the area lay within St Margarets parish, City & Liberty of Westminster and it has been the home of the permanent institutions of Englands government continuously since about 1200 and is now the seat of British government. In a government context, Westminster often refers to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the closest tube stations are Westminster, St Jamess Park on the Jubilee, Circle, and District lines. Within the area is Westminster School, a public school which grew out of the Abbey. Bounding Westminster to the north is Green Park, a Royal Park of London, the area has a substantial resident population, indeed most of its listed buildings are residential. A proportion of residents are people of limited means, living in council, hotels, large Victorian homes and barracks exist nearer to Buckingham Palace. The name describes an area no more than 1 mile from Westminster Abbey, the settlement grew up around the palace and abbey, as a service area for them. The need for a church, St Margarets Westminster for the servants of the palace. It became larger and in the Georgian period became connected through urban development with the City along the Strand. It did not become a local government unit until created as a civil parish. Indeed, the Cathedral and diocesan status of the church lasted only from 1539 to 1556, as such it is first known to have had two Members of Parliament in 1545 as a new Parliamentary Borough, centuries after the City of London and Southwark were enfranchised. The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built, the abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the kings and queens of England from that of Harold Godwinson onwards. From about 1200, near the abbey, the Palace of Westminster became the royal residence, marked by the transfer of royal treasury. Later the palace housed the developing Parliament and Englands law courts, thus London developed two focal points, the City of London and Westminster. The monarchs later moved to St James Palace and the Palace of Whitehall a little towards the north-east, the main law courts have since moved to the Royal Courts of Justice. The Westminster area formed part of the City and Liberty of Westminster in Middlesex, the ancient parish was St Margaret, after 1727 this became the civil parish of St Margaret and St John, the latter a new church required for the increasing population. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter surrounded by —, until 1900 the local authority was the combined vestry of St Margaret and St John, which was based at Westminster City Hall in Caxton Street from 1883. The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included St Martin in the Fields, Westminster had its own quarter sessions, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction
9.
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
10.
Lady Ottoline Morrell
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Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Born Ottoline Violet Anne Cavendish-Bentinck, she was the daughter of Lieutenant-General Arthur Cavendish-Bentinck and his second wife, Lady Ottolines great-great-uncle was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The dukedom was a title which belonged to the Cavendish-Bentinck family, Morrell was known to have had many lovers. Her first love affair was with a man, the doctor and writer Axel Munthe. In February 1902, she married the MP Philip Morrell, with whom she shared a passion for art and they shared what would now be known as an open marriage for the rest of their lives. Philips extramarital affairs produced several children who were cared for by his wife, the Morrells themselves had two children, a son, Hugh, who died in infancy, and a daughter, Julian. Morrell had an affair with philosopher Bertrand Russell, with whom she exchanged more than 2000 letters. Her circle of friends included many authors, artists, sculptors and her work as a patron was enduring and influential, notably in her contribution to the Contemporary Art Society during its early years. The Morrells maintained a townhouse in Bedford Square, in the Central London neighbourhood known as Bloomsbury, Morrell delighted in opening both as havens for like-minded people. 44 Bedford Square served as her London salon, while Garsington provided a convenient retreat, gilbert Spencer lived for a while in a house on the Garsington estate. During World War I, the Morrells were notable pacifists, not a position then. They invited conscientious objectors such as Duncan Grant, Clive Bell, siegfried Sassoon, recuperating there after an injury, was encouraged to go absent without leave as a protest against the war. The hospitality offered by the Morrells was such that most of their guests had no suspicion that they were in financial difficulties, many of them assumed that Ottoline was a wealthy woman. This was far from being the case and during 1927, the Morrells were compelled to sell the house and its estate. In 1928 she was diagnosed cancer, which resulted in a long hospitalization. She died from a drug given by a doctor. Henry Green, the novelist, wrote to Philip Morrell of her love for all things true and her memorial in St Winifreds Church, Holbeck was carved by Eric Gill. Morrell wrote two volumes of memoirs, but these were edited and revised after her death, losing a little of their charm and she also maintained detailed journals, over a period of twenty years, which remain unpublished
11.
Lytton Strachey
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Giles Lytton Strachey was a British writer and critic. His biography Queen Victoria was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and he was named Giles Lytton after an early sixteenth-century Gyles Strachey and the first Earl of Lytton, who had been a friend of Richard Stracheys when he was Viceroy of India in the late 1870s. The Earl of Lytton was also Lytton Stracheys godfather, the Stracheys had thirteen children in total, ten of whom survived to adulthood, including Lyttons sister Dorothy Strachey and youngest brother, the psychoanalyst, James Strachey. When Lytton was four years old the family moved from Stowey House to 69 Lancaster Gate and this was their home until Sir Richard retired 20 years later. Lady Strachey was an enthusiast for languages and literature, making her children perform their own plays and she thought that Lytton had the potential to become a great artist so she decided that he would receive the best education possible in order to be enlightened. By 1887 he had begun the study of French, and he was to admire French culture throughout his life, Strachey was educated at a series of schools, beginning at Parkstone, Dorset. This was a school with a wide range of after-class activities. He told his mother how much he liked dressing as a woman in life to confuse. Lady Strachey decided in 1893 that her son should start his more serious education and sent him to Abbotsholme School in Rocester, Derbyshire, where pupils were required to do manual work every day. Strachey, who always had a fragile physique, objected to this requirement and after few months he was transferred to Leamington College, Sir Richard, however, told his son to grin and bear the petty bullying. Strachey did eventually adapt to the school and became one of its best pupils and his health also seems to have improved during the three years he spent at Leamington, although various illnesses continued to plague him. They recommended Lincoln College as a suitable institution, advice that Lady Strachey took as an insult, deciding then that he would attend Trinity College, Cambridge. Strachey was admitted as a Pensioner at Trinity College, Cambridge and he became an Exhibitioner in 1900 and a Scholar in 1902. He won the Chancellors Medal for English Verse in 1902 and was given a B. A. degree after he had won a class in the History Tripos in June 1903. He did not, however, take leave of Trinity, but remained until October 1905, Strachey was often ill and had to leave Cambridge repeatedly to recover from the palpitations that affected him. Stracheys years at Cambridge were happy and productive, among the freshmen at Trinity there were three with whom Strachey soon became closely associated, Clive Bell, Leonard Woolf and Saxon Sydney-Turner. With another undergraduate, A. J. Robertson, these formed a group called the Midnight Society. Other close friends at Cambridge were Thoby Stephen and his sisters Vanessa, Strachey also belonged to the Conversazione Society, the Cambridge Apostles to which Tennyson, Hallam, Maurice, and Sterling had once belonged
12.
Duncan Grant
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Duncan James Corrowr Grant was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group and his father was Bartle Grant, a poverty-stricken major in the army, and much of his early childhood was spent in India and Burma. He was a grandson of Sir John Peter Grant, 12th Laird of Rothiemurchus, KCB, GCMG, Grant was also the first cousin twice removed of John Grant, 13th Earl of Dysart. Grant was born on 21 January 1885 to Major Bartle Grant and Ethel McNeil in Rothiemurchus, Aviemore, between 1887-94 the family lived in India and Burma, returning to England every two years. During this period Grant was educated by his governess, Alice Bates, along with Rupert Brooke, Grant attended Hillbrow School, Rugby where he received lessons from an art teacher and became interested in Japanese prints. During this period, Grant would spend his holidays at Hogarth House, Chiswick with his grandmother. He attended St Pauls School, London between 1899-91 where he was awarded several art prizes, between 1899/1900-1906, Grant lived with his aunt and uncle, Sir Richard and Lady Strachey and their children. When Grant was younger, he accompanied Lady Strachey to picture Sunday which gave him the opportunity to meet with eminent painters, Lady Strachey was able to persuade Grants parents that he should be allowed to pursue an education in art. In 1902 Grant was enrolled by his aunt at Westminster School of Art, while at Westminster, Grant was encouraged in his studies by Simon Bussy, a French painter and lifelong friend of Matisse, who went on to marry Dorothy Strachey. On his return, at the advice of Simon Bussy, Grant made a copy of the Angel musicians in Pieros Nativity in the National Gallery, Grant was introduced to Vanessa Bell by Pippa Strachey at the Friday Club in the autumn of 1905. From 1906, thanks to a gift of £100 from an aunt, Grant spent a year in Paris studying at the Académie de La Palette, during this period he visited the Musée du Luxembourg and saw, among other paintings, the Caillebotte Bequest of French Impressionists. In January 1907, and again in the summer of 1908, in 1908, Grant painted a portrait of John Maynard Keynes, who he had met the previous year, while the two were on holiday in Orkney. A year later, the pair would share rooms on Belgrave Road, in 1909 Grant visited Michael and Gertrude Stein in Paris and saw their collection that included paintings by, among others, Picasso and Matisse. In the summer, with an introduction from Simon Bussy, Grant visited Matisse himself, then living at Clamart, in November 1909 Grant moved to 21 Fitzroy Square - where he occupied two rooms on the second floor of the building on the west side of the square. A few doors away, at 29 Fitzroy Square, lived Adrian, Grant would later recall, a close friendship sprang up between Adrian Stephen and myself and I had only to tap on the window to be let in. The maid told Virginia that Mr Grant gets in everywhere, but very irregular as my visits were, they became more and more a habit, and I think they soon became frequent enough to escape notice. In June 1910, Grant exhibited with the Friday Club at the Alpine Club Gallery, during the summer of 1911 Grant was invited by Roger Fry to contribute to the redecoration of the dining room at the Borough Polytechnic. Grant composed two oil paintings to fit with the theme of illustrating London on Holiday, both his paintings, Football and Bathing, bear the influence of early Italian art and Byzantine mosaics
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