1.
Langport
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Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 5 miles west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish has a population of 1,081, the parish includes the hamlets of Bowdens and Combe. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a parish which includes much of the towns outskirts. Langport consists of two parts, one on the hill and one by the river, the former owed its origin to its defensible position, and the latter its growth to its facilities for trade on the chief river of Somerset. Its name looks like Anglo-Saxon for long port, but it may well be long market place which could have been on the causeway which is now Bow Street, many of the houses in Bow Street tilt backwards due to settlement of the land behind the causeway. It is speculated that Langport is the mentioned in old Welsh sources as Llongborth = Ship-port. Longphort is a used in Ireland for a Viking ship enclosure or shore fortress. Langport was previously known as Langport Eastover, with the part on the western bank being Langport Westover. Langport is on the ancient way from Glastonbury to Taunton, Langport could well have been important during the Roman occupation as there were several villas in the vicinity. It was one of the forts listed in the Burghal Hidage indicating its position to King Alfred. In 1086 according to Domesday Book it had 34 resident burgesses and was worth the sum of £79-10s-7d. The parish of Combe was part of the Kilmersdon Hundred, while Langport Eastover was within the Hundred of Pitney. The first charter, given by Elizabeth I in 1562, recognized that Langport was a borough of great antiquity and it was incorporated by James I in 1617, but the corporation was abolished in 1883. Langport was represented in parliament in 1304 and 1306, in medieval times Langport was an important centre for cloth making. The charter of 1562 granted three annual fairs to Langport, on 28 June,11 November and the second Monday in Lent, one fair only is now held, a horse and cattle fair on 3 September. A Saturday market was held under the grant of 1562, on 10 July 1645, the Battle of Langport was fought here, in which the last effective Royalist field army was destroyed and the Parliamentary victory in the Civil War became all but inevitable. When the Royalists retreated through the many were killed by the bridge over the Parrett. In 1826 it was the birthplace of Walter Bagehot a businessman, essayist and journalist and he went into partnership with George Stuckey and by 1866 the company owned 14 East Indiamen as well as 19 barges on the River Parrett
2.
Somerset
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Somerset is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset is a county of rolling hills such as the Blackdown Hills, Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park. There is evidence of occupation from Paleolithic times, and of subsequent settlement in the Roman. The county played a significant part in the consolidation of power and rise of King Alfred the Great, and later in the English Civil War, the city of Bath is famous for its substantial Georgian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Somersets name derives from Old English Sumorsǣte, short for Sumortūnsǣte, an alternative suggestion is the name derives from Seo-mere-saetan meaning settlers by the sea lakes. The Old English name is used in the motto of the county, Sumorsǣte ealle, adopted as the motto in 1911, the phrase is taken from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Somerset settlement names are mostly Anglo-Saxon in origin, but some hill names include Brittonic Celtic elements, for example, an Anglo-Saxon charter of 682 refers to Creechborough Hill as the hill the British call Cructan and we call Crychbeorh. Some modern names are Brythonic in origin, such as Tarnock, the caves of the Mendip Hills were settled during the Palaeolithic period, and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at Cheddar Gorge. Bones from Goughs Cave have been dated to 12,000 BC, examples of cave art have been found in Avelines Hole. Some caves continued to be occupied until modern times, including Wookey Hole, the Somerset Levels—specifically dry points at Glastonbury and Brent Knoll— also have a long history of settlement, and are known to have been settled by Mesolithic hunters. Travel in the area was facilitated by the construction of one of the worlds oldest known engineered roadways, the Sweet Track, the exact age of the henge monument at Stanton Drew stone circles is unknown, but it is believed to be Neolithic. There are numerous Iron Age hill forts, some of which, like Cadbury Castle, on the authority of the future emperor Vespasian, as part of the ongoing expansion of the Roman presence in Britain, the Second Legion Augusta invaded Somerset from the south-east in AD47. The county remained part of the Roman Empire until around AD409, a variety of Roman remains have been found, including Pagans Hill Roman temple in Chew Stoke, Low Ham Roman Villa and the Roman Baths that gave their name to the city of Bath. After the Romans left, Britain was invaded by Anglo-Saxon peoples, by AD600 they had established control over much of what is now England, but Somerset was still in native British hands. The Saxon royal palace in Cheddar was used several times in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot. After the Norman Conquest, the county was divided into 700 fiefs, Somerset contains HM Prison Shepton Mallet, which was Englands oldest prison still in use prior to its closure in 2013, having opened in 1610. In the English Civil War Somerset was largely Parliamentarian, with key engagements being the Sieges of Taunton, in 1685 the Monmouth Rebellion was played out in Somerset and neighbouring Dorset
3.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
4.
University College London
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University College London is a public research university in London, England, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It is the largest postgraduate institution in the UK by enrollment and is regarded as one of the worlds leading research universities. UCL also makes the claims of being the third-oldest university in England. In 1836 UCL became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London, which was granted a charter in the same year. UCL has its campus in the Bloomsbury area of central London, with a number of institutes and teaching hospitals elsewhere in central London. UCL is organised into 11 constituent faculties, within there are over 100 departments, institutes. In 2015/16, UCL had around 38,300 students and 12,000 staff and had an income of £1.36 billion. UCL ranks highly in national and international league tables and its graduates rank among the most employable in the world, UCL academics discovered five of the naturally occurring noble gases, co-discovered hormones, invented the vacuum tube, and made several foundational advances in modern statistics. There are at least 29 Nobel Prize winners and 3 Fields medalists amongst UCLs alumni and current, UCL was founded on 11 February 1826 under the name London University, as an alternative to the Anglican universities of Oxford and Cambridge. London Universitys first Warden was Leonard Horner, who was the first scientist to head a British university and this suggests that while his ideas may have been influential, he himself was less so. In 1827, the Chair of Political Economy at London University was created, with John Ramsay McCulloch as the first incumbent, in 1828 the university became the first in England to offer English as a subject and the teaching of Classics and medicine began. In 1830, London University founded the London University School, which would later become University College School, in 1833, the university appointed Alexander Maconochie, Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society, as the first professor of geography in the UK. In 1834, University College Hospital opened as a hospital for the universitys medical school. In 1836, London University was incorporated by charter under the name University College. The Slade School of Fine Art was founded as part of University College in 1871, in 1878, the University of London gained a supplemental charter making it the first British university to be allowed to award degrees to women. The same year, UCL admitted women to the faculties of Arts and Law and of Science, although women remained barred from the faculties of Engineering and of Medicine. Armstrong College, an institution of Newcastle University, also allowed women to enter from its foundation in 1871. Women were finally admitted to medical studies during the First World War in 1917, in 1898, Sir William Ramsay discovered the elements krypton, neon and xenon whilst professor of chemistry at UCL
5.
Lincoln's Inn
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The Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. It is recognised to be one of the worlds most prestigious professional bodies of judges and it is the largest Inn and it covers 11 acres. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Grays Inn, the Inn is believed to be named after Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln. The Inn is also known for its large garden and library. The nearest tube station is Holborn tube station or Chancery Lane, Lincolns Inn does not declare a specific foundation date, as there is a tradition that none of the Inns of Court regards itself to be any older than the others. The Inn was home to influential people, including Prime Ministers, Chief Judges. During the 12th and 13th century, the law was taught in the City of London primarily by the clergy, as a result, the system of legal education fell apart. The common lawyers migrated to the hamlet of Holborn, the nearest place to the law courts at Westminster Hall that was outside the City, as with the other Inns of Court, the precise date of founding of Lincolns Inn is unknown. The third Earl of Lincoln had encouraged lawyers to move to Holborn and it is felt that Lincolns Inn became a formally organised Inn of Court soon after the Earls death in 1310. At some point before 1422, the part of Lincolns Inn, as they had become known, after the Earl, moved to the estate of Ralph Neville. They retained Thavies and Furnivals Inn, using them as training houses for young lawyers, in 1537, the land Lincolns Inn sat on was sold by Bishop Richard Sampson to a Bencher named William Suliard, and his son sold the land to Lincolns Inn in 1580. The Inn became formally organised as a place of legal education thanks to a decree in 1464, during the 15th century, the Inn was not a particularly prosperous one, and the Benchers, particularly John Fortescue, are credited with fixing this situation. Lincolns Inn had no constitution or fundamental form of governance, admissions were recorded in the black books and divided into two categories, Clerks who were admitted to Clerks Commons, and Fellows Socii who were admitted to Fellows Commons. By 1466, the Fellows were divided into Benchers, those at the Bar, by 1502, the extra barram Fellows were being referred to as inner barristers, in contrast to the utter or outer barristers. A Bencher, Benchsitter or Master of the Bench is a member of the Council, the term originally referred to one who sat on the benches in the main hall of the Inn, which were used for dining and during moots, and the term originally had no significance. In Lincolns Inn, the idea of a Bencher was believed to have far earlier than elsewhere, there are records of four Benchers being sworn in 1440. William Holdsworth and the editor of the Black Books both concluded that Benchers were, from the earliest times, the governors of the Inn, the Governors were elected to serve a year-long term, with between four and six sitting at any one time. By the late 15th century, the group were the Governors with assistance and advice from the other masters of the Bench
6.
James Wilson (businessman)
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Wilson was born in Hawick in the Borders. His wealthy father William Wilson owned a mill, and his ancestors were local sheep farmers. He was the fourth of 15 children, of whom 10 reached adulthood and his mother died when James was young. A successful disciplined autodidact scholar from a Quaker family, he was destined to be a schoolmaster, after considering studying for election to the Faculty of Advocates, against his family religion, he decided to be schooled in economics. So at the age of 16, he became an apprentice in a hat factory, later, his father then bought the business for him and his elder brother, William. They left Scotland and moved to London, England, when James was 19, the brothers established a manufacturing factory—Wilson, Irwin & Wilson—that they dissolved in 1831. Wilson continued in the line of business with much success. During the economic crisis of 1837, he lost most of his wealth when the price of indigo fell, by 1839 he sold most of his property and avoided bankruptcy. However, in 1853 he founded The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, Wilson was generally opposed to privileging the Church of England, the secret ballot when it was proposed in 1853, and the Corn Laws. He wrote a pamphlet titled Influences of the Corn Laws, as all classes of the community. It slowly received positive feedback and Wilsons fame had grown and he then went on writing on currency, and especially The Revenue, or, What should the Chancellor do. He started to write for newspapers, including the Manchester Guardian, in 1843 he established The Economist as a newspaper to campaign for free trade, and acted as Chief editor and sole proprietor for sixteen years. His overarching goal to end vested interests in The Empires parliament wherever these promoted poverty or starvation as the Corn Laws most notably had done, an article Wilson wrote in opposition to the Ten Hours Bill was criticised by Karl Marx for misunderstaning profit and the working day. The Economist is still published today, now with a circulation of over 1.6 million globally. Wilson entered the House of Commons as Liberal Member of Parliament for Westbury, Wiltshire, because of his economic experience, prime minister Lord John Russell appointed him Secretary of the Board of Control in 1848, a post he held until the government fell in 1852. He then served as Financial Secretary to the Treasury between 1853 and 1858, firstly in Lord Aberdeens coalition government and secondly in Lord Palmerstons first administration, in 1857 he was returned to Parliament for Devonport. He again briefly held office under Palmerston as Paymaster-General and Vice-President of the Board of Trade between June and August 1859 and was sworn of the Privy Council the same year. In August 1859 Wilson resigned these offices and his seat in parliament to sit as the member of the Council of India
7.
The Economist
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The Economist is an English-language weekly magazine-format newspaper owned by the Economist Group and edited at offices in London. Continuous publication began under its founder, James Wilson, in September 1843, in 2015 its average weekly circulation was a little over 1.5 million, about half of which were sold in the United States. The publication belongs to the Economist Group and it is 50% owned by the English branch of the Rothschild family and by the Agnelli family through its holding company Exor. The remaining 50% is held by investors including the editors. The Rothschilds and the Agnellis are represented on the board of directors, a board of trustees formally appoints the editor, who cannot be removed without its permission. Although The Economist has an emphasis and scope, about two-thirds of the 75 staff journalists are based in the London borough of Westminster. For the year to March 2016 the Economist Group declared operating profit of £61m, previous major shareholders include Pearson PLC. The Economist takes a stance of classical and economic liberalism which is supportive of free trade, globalisation, free immigration. The publication has described itself as a product of the Caledonian liberalism of Adam Smith and it targets highly educated readers and claims an audience containing many influential executives and policy-makers. The publications CEO described this recent global change, which was first noticed in the 1990s and accelerated in the beginning of the 21st century, on the contents page of each issue, The Economists mission statement is written in italics. The Economist was founded by the British businessman and banker James Wilson in 1843, to advance the repeal of the Corn Laws, articles relating to some practical, commercial, agricultural, or foreign topic of passing interest, such as foreign treaties. An article on the principles of political economy, applied to practical experience, covering the laws related to prices, wages, rent, exchange, revenue. Parliamentary reports, with focus on commerce, agriculture and free trade. Reports and accounts of popular movements advocating free trade, general news from the Court of St. Jamess, the Metropolis, the Provinces, Scotland, and Ireland. Law reports, confined chiefly to areas important to commerce, manufacturing, books, confined chiefly, but not so exclusively, to commerce, manufacturing, and agriculture, and including all treatises on political economy, finance, or taxation. A commercial gazette, with prices and statistics of the week, correspondence and inquiries from the news magazines readers. It has long respected as one of the most competent. Its logo was designed in 1959 by Reynolds Stone, in January 2012 The Economist launched a new weekly section devoted exclusively to China, the first new country section since the introduction of a section about the United States in 1942
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Bagehot, Walter". A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. Wikisource. 1910
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