1.
Royal Academy of Arts
–
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
2.
English people
–
The English are a nation and an ethnic group native to England, who speak the English language. The English identity is of medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Angelcynn. Their ethnonym is derived from the Angles, one of the Germanic peoples who migrated to Great Britain around the 5th century AD, England is one of the countries of the United Kingdom. Collectively known as the Anglo-Saxons, they founded what was to become England along with the later Danes, Normans, in the Acts of Union 1707, the Kingdom of England was succeeded by the Kingdom of Great Britain. Over the years, English customs and identity have become closely aligned with British customs. The English people are the source of the English language, the Westminster system and these and other English cultural characteristics have spread worldwide, in part as a result of the former British Empire. The concept of an English nation is far older than that of the British nation, many recent immigrants to England have assumed a solely British identity, while others have developed dual or mixed identities. Use of the word English to describe Britons from ethnic minorities in England is complicated by most non-white people in England identifying as British rather than English. In their 2004 Annual Population Survey, the Office for National Statistics compared the ethnic identities of British people with their national identity. They found that while 58% of white people in England described their nationality as English and it is unclear how many British people consider themselves English. Following complaints about this, the 2011 census was changed to allow respondents to record their English, Welsh, Scottish, another complication in defining the English is a common tendency for the words English and British to be used interchangeably, especially overseas. In his study of English identity, Krishan Kumar describes a common slip of the tongue in which people say English, I mean British. He notes that this slip is made only by the English themselves and by foreigners. Kumar suggests that although this blurring is a sign of Englands dominant position with the UK and it tells of the difficulty that most English people have of distinguishing themselves, in a collective way, from the other inhabitants of the British Isles. In 1965, the historian A. J. P. Taylor wrote, When the Oxford History of England was launched a generation ago and it meant indiscriminately England and Wales, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and even the British Empire. Foreigners used it as the name of a Great Power and indeed continue to do so, bonar Law, by origin a Scotch Canadian, was not ashamed to describe himself as Prime Minister of England Now terms have become more rigorous. The use of England except for a geographic area brings protests and this version of history is now regarded by many historians as incorrect, on the basis of more recent genetic and archaeological research. The 2016 study authored by Stephan Schiffels et al, the remaining portion of English DNA is primarily French, introduced in a migration after the end of the Ice Age
3.
Sculpture
–
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It is one of the plastic arts, a wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or molded, or cast. However, most ancient sculpture was painted, and this has been lost. Those cultures whose sculptures have survived in quantities include the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, India and China, the Western tradition of sculpture began in ancient Greece, and Greece is widely seen as producing great masterpieces in the classical period. During the Middle Ages, Gothic sculpture represented the agonies and passions of the Christian faith, the revival of classical models in the Renaissance produced famous sculptures such as Michelangelos David. Relief is often classified by the degree of projection from the wall into low or bas-relief, high relief, sunk-relief is a technique restricted to ancient Egypt. Relief sculpture may also decorate steles, upright slabs, usually of stone, techniques such as casting, stamping and moulding use an intermediate matrix containing the design to produce the work, many of these allow the production of several copies. The term sculpture is used mainly to describe large works. The very large or colossal statue has had an enduring appeal since antiquity, another grand form of portrait sculpture is the equestrian statue of a rider on horse, which has become rare in recent decades. The smallest forms of life-size portrait sculpture are the head, showing just that, or the bust, small forms of sculpture include the figurine, normally a statue that is no more than 18 inches tall, and for reliefs the plaquette, medal or coin. Sculpture is an important form of public art, a collection of sculpture in a garden setting can be called a sculpture garden. One of the most common purposes of sculpture is in form of association with religion. Cult images are common in cultures, though they are often not the colossal statues of deities which characterized ancient Greek art. The actual cult images in the innermost sanctuaries of Egyptian temples, of which none have survived, were rather small. The same is true in Hinduism, where the very simple. Some undoubtedly advanced cultures, such as the Indus Valley civilization, appear to have had no monumental sculpture at all, though producing very sophisticated figurines, the Mississippian culture seems to have been progressing towards its use, with small stone figures, when it collapsed. Other cultures, such as ancient Egypt and the Easter Island culture, from the 20th century the relatively restricted range of subjects found in large sculpture expanded greatly, with abstract subjects and the use or representation of any type of subject now common. Today much sculpture is made for intermittent display in galleries and museums, small sculpted fittings for furniture and other objects go well back into antiquity, as in the Nimrud ivories, Begram ivories and finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun
4.
Architect
–
An architect is someone who plans, designs, and reviews the construction of buildings. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, which derives from the Greek, practical, technical, and academic requirements for becoming an architect vary by jurisdiction. The terms architect and architecture are used in the disciplines of landscape architecture, naval architecture. In most jurisdictions, the professional and commercial uses of the terms architect, throughout ancient and medieval history, most architectural design and construction was carried out by artisans—such as stone masons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. Until modern times, there was no distinction between architect and engineer. In Europe, the architect and engineer were primarily geographical variations that referred to the same person. It is suggested that various developments in technology and mathematics allowed the development of the gentleman architect. Paper was not used in Europe for drawing until the 15th century, pencils were used more often for drawing by 1600. The availability of both allowed pre-construction drawings to be made by professionals, until the 18th-century, buildings continued to be designed and set out by craftsmen with the exception of high-status projects. In most developed countries, only qualified people with appropriate license, certification, or registration with a relevant body, such licensure usually requires an accredited university degree, successful completion of exams, and a training period. To practice architecture implies the ability to independently of supervision. In many places, independent, non-licensed individuals may perform design services outside the professional restrictions, such design houses, in the architectural profession, technical and environmental knowledge, design and construction management, and an understanding of business are as important as design. However, design is the force throughout the project and beyond. An architect accepts a commission from a client, the commission might involve preparing feasibility reports, building audits, the design of a building or of several buildings, structures, and the spaces among them. The architect participates in developing the requirements the client wants in the building, throughout the project, the architect co-ordinates a design team. Structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers and other specialists, are hired by the client or the architect, the architect hired by a client is responsible for creating a design concept that meets the requirements of that client and provides a facility suitable to the required use. In that, the architect must meet with and question the client to ascertain all the requirements, often the full brief is not entirely clear at the beginning, entailing a degree of risk in the design undertaking. The architect may make proposals to the client which may rework the terms of the brief
5.
Westminster School
–
Westminster School is an English independent day and boarding school located within the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It has the highest Oxford and Cambridge university acceptance rates of any school or college in the world. With origins before the 12th century, the tradition of Westminster probably dates back as far as AD960. Boys are admitted to the Under School at age seven and to the school at age thirteen. The school has around 750 pupils, around a quarter are boarders, most of whom go home at weekends and it is one of the original seven public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. Charging up to £7,800 per term for day pupils and £11,264 for boarders in 2014/15, Westminster is the 13th most expensive HMC day school and 10th most expensive HMC boarding school in the UK. In 1540, Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries in England, including that of the powerful Abbots of Westminster, the Royal College of St. Peter carried on with forty Kings Scholars financed from the royal purse. By this point Westminster School had certainly become a public school, during Mary Is brief reign the Abbey was reinstated as a Roman Catholic monastery, but the school continued. Elizabeth I refounded the School in 1560, with new statutes to select 40 Queens Scholars from boys who had attended the school for a year. Queen Elizabeth frequently visited her scholars, although she never signed the statutes nor endowed her scholarships, Elizabeth I appointed William Camden as headmaster, and he is the only layman known to have held the position until 1937. Regardless of politics, he thrashed Royalist and Puritan boys alike without fear or favour, Busby also took part in Oliver Cromwells funeral procession in 1658, when Robert Uvedale, a Westminster schoolboy, succeeded in snatching the Majesty Scutcheon draped on the coffin. Busby remained in office throughout the Civil War and the Commonwealth, when the school was governed by Parliamentary Commissioners, and well into the Restoration. In 1679, a group of scholars killed a bailiff, ostensibly in defence of the Abbeys traditional right of sanctuary, dr Busby obtained a royal pardon for his scholars from Charles II and added the cost to the school bills. Until the 19th century, the curriculum was made up of Latin and Greek. After the Public Schools Act 1868, in response to the Clarendon Commission on the financial and other malpractices at nine pre-eminent public schools, the school began to approach its modern form. It was legally separated from the Abbey, although the organisations remain close, there followed a scandalous public and parliamentary dispute lasting a further 25 years, to settle the transfer of the properties from the Canons of the Abbey to the School. School statutes have been made by Order in Council of Queen Elizabeth II, the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford and the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge are ex officio members of the schools governing body. Westminster Under School was formed in 1943 in the school buildings in Westminster
6.
Dean Street
–
Dean Street is a street in Soho, central London, running from Oxford Street south to Shaftesbury Avenue. In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, then a boy, gave a recital at 21 Dean Street. Admiral Nelson stayed in Dean Street the day before setting sail for the Battle of Trafalgar and he spent the night drawing up his final battleplans, including the masterstroke of painting identifiable gold and black checks on the ships. Charles Dickens was also a regular on Dean Street when he was a young actor enthusiastically participating in amateur productions at Fanny Kellys Royalty Theatre at number 73-74. In 1845 he starred in an adaptation of Ben Jonsons Every Man in his Humour, Dickenss artistic contemporary George Cruikshank was also a resident of Dean Street and it was here that he drew the illustration for Dickenss early works. Cruikshank is perhaps best known as a cutting caricaturist with scant regard for his targets and he was once bribed £100 for his pledge not to caricature His Majesty in any immoral situation. He obliged and instead created a caricature of England which came to be known as John Bull. Furniture maker William Hean lived in Dean Street between 1827 and 1845, karl Marx lived at 28 Dean Street between 1851 and 1856, above what is now the Hart Brothers restaurant Quo Vadis. The Marxes shared their house in Dean Street with Italian teachers and their rooms were described by one visitor as One of the worst, therefore one of the cheapest, quarters of London. Three of their five children died while living here, all in infancy, marxs collaborator Friedrich Engels also lived in an apartment at 28 Dean Street. The French House in Dean Street is a house that was the unofficial headquarters of Charles de Gaulle. The street has a tradition in healthcare, over the years there have been various hospitals on the street, pioneering establishments for prevention and cure of diseases. The Royal Ear Hospital occupied number 10, a maternity hospital was also located here. Today there are two Sexual Health clinics on Dean Street,56 Dean Street and Dean Street Express at number 34. Dean Street has in recent years been a centre of the creative and advertising industries including film and video editing facilities, there have been many music and theatre venues on the street. New Romanticism, a fashion movement, began largely through the nightclub Billys in Dean Street in the late 1970s. The Groucho Club, a club frequented by people in the arts, is located here as is the Soho Theatre. On 10 July 2009 a fire out on Dean Street
7.
Vine Street, London
–
Vine Street is a street in Westminster, London, running from Swallow Street, parallel to Regent Street and Piccadilly. It is now an end that was shortened from a longer road in the early 18th century owing to the building of Regent Street. From the 18th to 20th century, it was home to Vine Street Police Station, the Marquess of Queensberry was charged with libel against Oscar Wilde here in 1895. There was also a house in the 18th and early 19th century. The streets association with law has led to it being grouped with Bow Street, the street is approximately 70 feet long and is a dead end, running east and parallel to Piccadilly near Piccadilly Circus. It consists mainly of the facades of buildings facing onto other streets. It connects to Swallow Street at its end and an alleyway. At the eastern end, the Man in the Moon Passage provides foot access to Regent Street, the nearest tube station is Piccadilly Circus. The street is named after The Vine, an 18th-century public house and it was documented on ratebooks as Little Swallow Street in 1675. It was laid out around 1686 and originally ran further, along what is now the Man in the Moon Passage, john Rocques Map of London,1746 shows Vine Street extending from Piccadilly northeast to Warwick Street. In 1720, the properties on the street were a brewery. Vine Street was split into two following the construction of Regent Street between 1816 and 1819. The Man in the Moon Passage was created at this time, the northern section towards Warwick Street was renamed Great Vine Street, and then a branch of Warwick Street itself. It ceased to exist after the reconstruction of the Regent Street Quadrant in 1920, in 1853, Charles Moreign purchased several small houses at the end of Vine Street so they could be redeveloped into St Jamess Hall, Piccadilly. A rear entrance to the hall backed onto the street, the hall was demolished in 1905 and replaced by the Piccadilly Hotel, which also backs onto Vine Street. Vine Street has long associated with the police and law. Around 1751-2, a house was built at the western end of the street. It closed in 1836 following the reorganisation of the system around Westminster and was subsequently occupied by the lawyer Edward Gaffin
8.
George Lee, 3rd Earl of Lichfield
–
George Henry Lee II, 3rd Earl of Lichfield PC was a British politician and peer. He was made a Privy Councillor and Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms in 1762, previously, he had served as Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire from 1740 until acceding to the peerage in 1743. He was born at Windsor Castle on 21 May 1718, the son of George Henry Lee I, 2nd Earl of Lichfield and his wife, from birth he was styled Viscount Quarendon. In the family tradition, he was educated at St Johns College, on 14 February 1732 he was made an M. A. of Oxford. He went on to earn his D. C. L. of Oxford on 25 August 1743,23 years later, on 19 August of the year 1760, Lichfield received the great position of High Steward of the University of Oxford. On 9 December 1760, he became Lord of the Bedchamber to King George III and he joined the Privy Council on 14 July 1762. He replaced George Huddesford as the Deputy Ranger of Hampton Court Park in July 1762, finally, on 23 September 1762, he assumed the role of Chancellor of the University of Oxford. P.349, The graceful dignity, the polite condescension, the ne quid nimis of the Chancellor were universally admired —1763. In brief, he earned his D. C. L. of Oxford degree on 27 September 1762, became a Vice-President of the Society of Arts, and a Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire county on 17 October 1763. He married Diana or Dinah, daughter of Sir Thomas Frankland, they had no children, in 1744 Charlotte had married the 11th Viscount Dillon. Their son Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon inherited the estate of Ditchley, Ditchley remained the home of the Viscounts Dillon until 1934. The title was created for a time when Thomas Anson was created Earl of Lichfield in the 1831 coronation honors of William IV. Lee Baronets of Quarendon, Buckinghamshire, 1611–1776 Attribution Blakiston, Herbert Edward Douglas, london, Smith, Elder & Co. Leigh Rayments Peerage Pages
9.
Spelsbury
–
Spelsbury is a village and civil parish about 1.5 miles north of Charlbury and about 4 miles southeast of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village is on a hill between the Coldron and Taston brooks overlooking the River Evenlode and the ancient Wychwood Forest to the south. The 2011 Census recorded the population as 305. The toponym is derived from the Old English for either spying place or the place of a person called Speol and it was first recorded in the Cartularium Saxonicum in AD1010 as Speoles byrig. In 1086 the Domesday Book recorded the village as Spelesberie, the Church of England parish church of All Saints was originally Norman with a central tower. In about 1200 transepts were added, but during the 13th century the Early English Gothic nave was built on the site of the Norman chancel, the nave is flanked by north and south aisles. The present west doorway in the tower and several of the windows in the aisles are early 14th century. > In 1706 the 1st Earl of Lichfield had the tower restored. In 1740 the 2nd Earl of Lichfield had the chancel rebuilt, in 1774 the 4th Earl of Lichfield had the nave and aisles remodelled. The chancel was again in 1851. Spelsbury parish includes the hamlets of Dean and Taston, in 2001 the Church of England Benefice of Ascott-under-Wychwood, Chadlington and Spelsbury merged with that of Enstone and Heythrop to form the Chase Benefice. Spelsbury has a group of almshouses built in 1688 by John Carry, Coldron Mill, south-west of the village, is on a site where a mill has existed for at least a thousand years. In the village a fountain in the shape of a shell commemorates Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon. The poet John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester lived and is buried in Spelsbury, the actor Sir Ben Kingsley lives in the village. Ben Kingsley interview, dark soul of the knight, fieldwalking at Spelsburydown and in the Chadlington Area
10.
Oxfordshire
–
Oxfordshire is a county in South East England bordering on Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. The county has major education and tourist industries and is noted for the concentration of performance companies and facilities. Oxford University Press is the largest firm among a concentration of print and publishing firms, the main centre of population is the city of Oxford. The highest point is White Horse Hill, in the Vale of White Horse, oxfordshires county flower is the Snakes-head Fritillary. Historically the area has always had some importance, since it contains valuable agricultural land in the centre of the county, largely ignored by the Romans, it was not until the formation of a settlement at Oxford in the eighth century that the area grew in importance. Alfred the Great was born across the Thames in Wantage, Vale of White Horse, the University of Oxford was founded in 1096, though its collegiate structure did not develop until later on. The university in the county town of Oxford grew in importance during the Middle Ages, the area was part of the Cotswolds wool trade from the 13th century, generating much wealth, particularly in the western portions of the county in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. Morris Motors was founded in Oxford in 1912, bringing industry to an otherwise agricultural county. The importance of agriculture as an employer has declined rapidly in the 20th century though, nonetheless, Oxfordshire remains a very agricultural county by land use, with a lower population than neighbouring Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, which are both smaller. The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, the army unit in the area, was based at Cowley Barracks on Bullingdon Green. Conversely, the Caversham area of Reading, now administratively in Berkshire, was part of Oxfordshire as was the parish of Stokenchurch. This is a chart of trend of gross value added of Oxfordshire at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Oxfordshire has a comprehensive education system with 23 independent schools and 35 state secondary schools. Only eight schools do not have a form, these are mostly in South Oxfordshire. The county has two universities, the ancient University of Oxford and the modern Oxford Brookes University, both located in Oxford, in addition, Wroxton College, located in Banbury, is affiliated with Fairleigh Dickinson University of New Jersey. The dreaming spires of the buildings of the University of Oxford are among the reasons for Oxford being the sixth most visited city in the United Kingdom for international visitors. Among many notable University buildings are the Sheldonian Theatre, built 1664–68 to the design of Sir Christopher Wren, Blenheim Palace close to Woodstock was built by the great architect John Vanbrugh for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, after he had won the battle of Blenheim. The gardens, which can be visited, were designed by the landscape gardener Capability Brown, in the palace, which can also be visited by the public, Sir Winston Churchill was born in 1874
11.
Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet
–
See also John Cust, 1st Earl Brownlow. Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet PC was a British politician and he served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1761 to 1770. Cust was the son of Sir Richard Cust, 2nd Baronet and he was educated at Eton and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Cust was elected to the House of Commons for Grantham in 1743, in 1761 he was appointed Speaker of the House of Commons, which he remained until shortly before his death in 1770. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1762, Cust married Etheldred Payne, daughter of Thomas Payne, in 1743. He died in January 1770, aged 51, and was succeeded in his title by his son Brownlow Cust, who in 1776 was raised to the peerage as Baron Brownlow in recognition of his fathers services
12.
Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)
–
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdoms lower chamber of Parliament. The office is held by John Bercow, who was initially elected on 22 June 2009. He was returned as an MP in the 2010 general election and was re-elected as Speaker when the House sat at the start of the new Parliament on 18 May 2010. He was again returned as an MP in the 2015 general election and was re-elected, unopposed, the Speaker presides over the Houses debates, determining which members may speak. The Speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, the Speaker does not take part in debate or vote. Aside from duties relating to presiding over the House, the Speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions, the Speaker has the right and obligation to reside in Speakers House at the Palace of Westminster. The office of Speaker is almost as old as Parliament itself, the earliest year for which a presiding officer has been identified is 1258, when Peter de Montfort presided over the Parliament held in Oxford. Early presiding officers were known by the title parlour or prolocutor, Edward III was frail and in seclusion, his prestigious eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, terminally ill. It was left to the son, a furious John of Gaunt. He arrested De la Mare and disgraced other leading critics, in the next, Bad Parliament, in 1377, a cowed Commons put forward Gaunts steward, Thomas Hungerford, as their spokesman in retracting their predecessors misdoings of the previous year. On 6 October 1399, Sir John Cheyne of Beckford was elected speaker, the powerful Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Arundel, is said to have voiced his fears of Cheynes reputation as a critic of the Church. Eight days later, Cheyne resigned on grounds of ill-health, although he remained in favour with the king, in such a situation, the influence of the speaker should not be underestimated. Sir Thomas More was the first speaker to go on to become Lord Chancellor, until the 17th century, members of the House of Commons often continued to view their Speaker as an agent of the Crown. As Parliament evolved, however, the Speakers position grew into one that involved more duties to the House than to the Crown, such was definitely the case by the time of the English Civil War. This change is said to be reflected by an incident in 1642. The development of Cabinet government under King William III in the late 17th century caused further change in the nature of the Speakership, Speakers were generally associated with the ministry, and often held other government offices. For example, Robert Harley served simultaneously as Speaker and as a Secretary of State between 1704 and 1705, the Speaker between 1728 and 1761, Arthur Onslow, reduced ties with the government, though the office did remain to a large degree political. The Speakership evolved into its modern form—in which the holder is an impartial and apolitical officer who does not belong to any party—only during the middle of the 19th century, over 150 individuals have served as Speaker of the House of Commons
13.
York Minster
–
The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the church for the Diocese of York. It is run by a dean and chapter, under the Dean of York, the title minster is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title. Services in the minster are sometimes regarded as on the High Church or Anglo-Catholic end of the Anglican continuum, the minster has a very wide Decorated Gothic nave and chapter house, a Perpendicular Gothic Quire and east end and Early English North and South transepts. The nave contains the West Window, constructed in 1338, and over the Lady Chapel in the east end is the Great East Window, in the north transept is the Five Sisters Window, each lancet being over 52 feet high. The south transept contains a window, while the West Window contains a heart-shaped design colloquially known as The Heart of Yorkshire. York has had a verifiable Christian presence from the 4th century, however, there is circumstantial evidence pointing to much earlier Christian involvement. Tradition speaks of 28 British bishops, one for each of the greater British cities, over whom presided the Archbishops of London, York and Caerleon-on-Usk. The first recorded church on the site was a structure built hurriedly in 627 to provide a place to baptise Edwin. Moves toward a substantial building began in the decade of the 630s. A stone structure was completed in 637 by Oswald and was dedicated to Saint Peter, the church soon fell into disrepair and was dilapidated by 670 when Saint Wilfrid ascended to the See of York. He repaired and renewed the structure, the attached school and library were established and by the 8th century were some of the most substantial in Northern Europe. In 741 the church was destroyed in a fire and it was rebuilt as a more impressive structure containing thirty altars. The church and the area then passed through the hands of numerous invaders. There was a series of Benedictine archbishops, including Saint Oswald of Worcester, Wulfstan and Ealdred, Ealdred died in 1069 and was buried in the church. The church was damaged in 1069 during William the Conquerors harrying of the North, the Danes destroyed the church in 1075, but it was again rebuilt from 1080. Built in the Norman style, it was 111 m long and rendered in white, the new structure was damaged by fire in 1137 but was soon repaired. The choir and crypt were remodelled in 1154, and a new chapel was built, the Gothic style in cathedrals had arrived in the mid 12th century
14.
Henry Medley
–
Henry Medley was an officer of the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of vice-admiral. Medley entered the Royal Navy in 1703, and in 1706 was midshipman of the 80-gun HMS Somerset with Captain Price at the relief of Barcelona, in 1717 he was a lieutenant of the 90-gun HMS Barfleur, flagship of Sir George Byng in the Baltic Sea. Early in 1720 Medley was promoted to the command of HMS Poole, a fire-ship and he later commanded the Leopard on the coast of Portugal and in the English Channel until the end of 1728. From 1731 to 1735 Medley was employed on the home station, in 1739 and 1740 he was on fishery protection with the Newfoundland fleet, in HMS Romney. At this period he was Governor of Newfoundland, in 1741 Medley commanded the 70-gun HMS Nassau in the Channel Fleet under Sir John Norris, and in 1742–4 was with Norris as captain of the fleet. On 19 June 1744 he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the white, on 23 April 1745 Medley was promoted to be vice-admiral, and sent out as commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. On 15 July 1747 Medley was advanced to be Vice-Admiral of the Red and he died, probably not knowing of the promotion, on board the 80-gun HMS Russell, at Vado Ligure, on 5 August 1747. George Rodney served with him on two ships at the beginning of his career with Medley acting as a mentor to the younger man, a monument in Medleys memory, attributed to William Tyler, was placed in York Minster. Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Medley
15.
Martin Folkes
–
Martin Folkes, was an English antiquary, numismatist, mathematician, and astronomer. Folkes was born in Westminster on 29 October 1690, the eldest son of Martin Folkes, educated at Clare College, Cambridge, he so distinguished himself in mathematics that when only twenty-three years of age he was chosen a fellow of the Royal Society. He was elected one of the council in 1716, and in 1723 Sir Isaac Newton, president of the society, Folkes was a prominent Freemason, being appointed Deputy Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England during the year 1724-1725. In 1733 he set out on a tour through Italy, in the course of which he composed his Dissertations on the weights, in 1745 he printed the latter with another on the history of silver coinage. He also contributed both to the Society of Antiquaries and to the Royal Society other papers, chiefly on Roman antiquities, in 1739 he was elected one of the founding vice-presidents of Londons charitable Foundling Hospital for abandoned children, a position he maintained until 1747. Folkes was married in 1714 to Lucretia Bradshaw, an actress who had appeared at the Haymarket and his portrait was painted and etched by William Hogarth. Folkes was a noted atheist, and abhorred racial prejudice, some of his public statements have been interpreted as evidence of a Darwinian viewpoint. For Sir John Hills attack on Folkes, see Isaac DIsraeli, Calamities and Quarrels of Authors and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed. Works by or about Martin Folkes in libraries
16.
Freemasons' Hall, London
–
It is in Great Queen Street between Holborn and Covent Garden and has been a Masonic meeting place since 1775. There have been three Masonic buildings on the site, with the current incarnation being opened in 1933. Parts of the building are open to the daily, and its preserved classic Art Deco style, together with its regular use as a film. In 1775 the premier Grand Lodge purchased a house fronting the street, behind which was a garden, a competition was held for the design of a Grand Hall to link the two houses. The front house was the Freemasons Tavern, the house was to become offices. The winning design was by Thomas Sandby and it is an imposing Art Deco building, covering two and one quarter acres. Initially known as the Masonic Peace Memorial, the name was changed to Freemasons Hall at the outbreak of the World War II in 1939, the financing for building the hall was raised by the Masonic Million Memorial Fund. This fund raised over £1 million and it is a Grade II* listed building. Many non-Masonic organisations also use the Grand Temple for numerous events as diverse as Fashion shows, bronze doors, each weighing one and a quarter tonnes, open on to a Chamber 123 feet long,90 feet wide and 62 feet high capable of seating 1,700. A large pipe organ is installed, built by the leading British organ builders Henry Willis & Sons, from the province of Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, Brother Luke Howard was passed in the Second Degree on the 25th March 2017. A historic moment for for the province as its first ceremony within the Grand Temple, Masons from around the province came in attendance to witness Bro Lukes passing upon which he was entrusted with the knowledge of the Second Degree. In addition to the Grand Temple, there are a further 23 masonic temples, or meeting rooms, within the building, used by Lodges, all are highly ornate in their various art deco styles, and no two are identical. Amongst the temples which are of note, Temple No 1 was very large. However, the temple was converted into a space, by removing the furnishings. In addition to these 23 Temples, and the Grand Temple, there are very simple and plain temples reserved for Lodges of Instruction. Unlike the Grand Temple the other 23 temples are not normally open to the public, as they are in constant demand by private London Lodges, approximately 1800 lodges and chapters meet regularly in London, and a high proportion of these meet at Freemasons Hall. The Library and Museum is a Charitable Trust and is registered with the Charity Commission, the Library and Museum is open to the general public from Monday to Friday 10am–5pm and entry is free of charge. The Museum has a collection of objects with Masonic decoration, including clocks, furniture, glassware, jewellery, porcelain, pottery, regalia, displayed items include belongings of famous Freemasons such as King Edward VII and Winston Churchill
17.
Thomas Sandby
–
Thomas Sandby RA was an English draughtsman, watercolour artist, architect and teacher. In 1743 he was appointed secretary to the Duke of Cumberland, who later appointed him Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park. Along with his younger brother Paul, he was one of the members of the Royal Academy in 1768. His most notable work was the Freemasons Hall in London. Sandby was born in Nottingham, the son of Thomas Sandby, a textile worker, another source says that Thomas initially went to London for the purpose of having one of his pictures – a view of Nottingham – engraved. In 1743 Sandby was appointed secretary and draughtsman to William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. Sandby was at the battle of Dettingen in 1743, jamess Park to commemorate the victories. In this year the Duke was appointed ranger of Windsor Great Park, Sandby again accompanied the duke to the Netherlands during the War of the Austrian Succession, and probably remained there till the conclusion of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in October 1748. He drew four views of the camps in the Low Countries, covering extensive tracts of country, the Great Lodge was enlarged under his supervision as a residence for the Duke. The lower lodge was occupied by himself, in 1754, Thomas made eight drawings of the lake which were engraved on copper by Paul Sandby and other engravers and dedicated to the Duke of Cumberland. They were republished by John Boydell in 1772, although devoted to his work at Windsor and preferring a retired life, Sandby spent part of each year in London. He rented a house in Great Marlborough Street from 1760 to 1766 and he was on the committee of the St. Both he and his brother Paul were among the 28 original members of the Royal Academy who were nominated by George III in 1768 and he was elected Academys first professor of architecture, delivering the first of a series of six lectures in that capacity on 8 October 1770. He continued these lectures with alterations and additions annually till his death and they were never published, but the manuscripts were held in the library of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The illustrations were sold with his drawings after his death. In February 1769 Sandby entered a competition to design the Royal Exchange at Dublin, the Hall was extended in the 1820s by Sir John Soane, but was demolished in 1930 after suffering irreparable structural damage in a fire in 1883. He built several houses in the neighbourhood of Windsor, including St Leonards Hill for the Duchess of Gloucester, designs exist for many others of his architectural works which cannot now be identified. In 1777 he was appointed, jointly with James Adam, architect of his majestys works, the name of his first wife is stated to have been Schultz
18.
Westminster
–
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
19.
Kensington
–
Kensington is an affluent district within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London. Its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, the affluent and densely populated area contains the major museum district of South Kensington, which has the Royal Albert Hall for music and nearby Royal College of Music. The area is home to many of Londons European embassies, the first mention of the area is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was written in Latin as Chenesitone, which has been interpreted to have originally been Kenesignetun in Anglo-Saxon. A variation may be Kesyngton, in 1396 and he in turn granted the tenancy of Kensington to his vassal Aubrey de Vere I, who was holding the manor in 1086, according to Domesday Book. The bishops heir, Robert de Mowbray, rebelled against William Rufus, Aubrey de Vere I had his tenure converted to a tenancy in-chief, holding Kensington after 1095 directly of the crown. He granted land and church there to Abingdon Abbey at the deathbed request of his young eldest son, Geoffrey. As the Veres became the earls of Oxford, their estate at Kensington came to be known as Earls Court, while the Abingdon lands were called Abbots Kensington and the church St Mary Abbots. The original Kensington Barracks, built at Kensington Gate in the late 18th century, were demolished in 1858, the focus of the area is Kensington High Street, a busy commercial centre with many shops, typically upmarket. The street was declared Londons second best shopping street in February 2005 thanks to its range, however, since October 2008 the street has faced competition from the Westfield shopping centre in nearby White City. Kensingtons second group of buildings is at South Kensington, where several streets of small to medium-sized shops. This is also the end of Exhibition Road, the thoroughfare that serves the areas museums. To the west, a border is kept along the line of the Counter Creek marked by the West London railway line, in the north east, the large Royal Park of Kensington Gardens is a green buffer. The other main area in Kensington is Holland Park, just north of Kensington High Street. Kensington is, in general, an affluent area, a trait that it now shares with its neighbour to the south. In early 2007, houses sold in Upper Phillimore Gardens for in excess of £20 million, Kensington is also very densely populated, it forms part of the most densely populated local government district in the United Kingdom. This high density is not formed from high-rise buildings, instead, unlike northern extremities of the Borough, Kensington lacks high-rise buildings except for the Holiday Inns London Kensington Forum Hotel in Cromwell Road, which is a 27-storey building. The Olympia exhibition hall is just over the border in West Kensington. Kensington is part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the head office of newspaper group DMGT is located in Northcliffe House in Kensington, which is the office part of the large Barkers building
20.
Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh
–
Maria Walpole, the Countess Waldegrave and Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. Maria Walpole was the daughter of Edward Walpole and Dorothy Clement and her grandfather was Robert Walpole, considered to be the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She grew up at Frogmore House in Windsor, but her parents were not married, on 15 May 1759, she married James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave. The Earl Waldegrave died on 28 April 1763, anna and Hugh were the great-grandparents of Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, who was the great-grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales. The Earls Spencer are descended from John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, there is a portrait of Maria in 1764–65, shortly after she was widowed, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. She also commissioned him in 1780 to paint The Ladies Waldegrave, on 6 September 1766 she married Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, at her home in Pall Mall, London. The Duke was a brother of King George III, the marriage was conducted in secret as the British Royal Family would not have approved of a marriage between a prince and a widow of non-royal rank and illegitimate birth. They lived at St Leonards Hill in Clewer, near Windsor and it was only in September 1772, five months after the passage of the Act, that the King became aware of Prince Williams marriage to Maria. As the Acts provisions could not be applied retroactively, Maria, due, however, to the anger of her brother-in-law at the marriage, she was never received at court. Princess Caroline died aged nine months following an inoculation, intended to protect her from the disease
21.
George Canning
–
The son of an actress and a failed businessman and lawyer, Canning was supported financially by his uncle Stratford, allowing him to attend Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. Canning entered politics in 1793 and rose rapidly and he was Paymaster of the Forces and Treasurer of the Navy under William Pitt the Younger. Canning was Foreign Secretary under the Duke of Portland, who was ill, Canning was the dominant figure in the cabinet and directed the seizure of the Danish fleet in 1807 to assure Britains naval supremacy over Napoleon. In 1809, he was wounded in a duel with his foe Lord Castlereagh and was thereafter passed over as a successor to the Duke of Portland in favour of Spencer Perceval. He remained out of office until after Perceval was assassinated in 1812. The King disliked Canning and there were efforts to frustrate his foreign policies, Canning, however, successfully built wide public support for his policies. His policies ensured a major trading advantage to British merchants and supported the Americans Monroe Doctrine, Canning was the arch-enemy of the Concert of Europe system set up by the conservative powers at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Hayes says that in terms of foreign affairs, His most important achievements was the destruction of the system of the neo-Holy Alliance which, if unchallenged and they both declined to serve under Canning and the Tories split between Peel and Wellingtons Ultra-Tories and the Canningites. Canning then invited several Whigs to join his cabinet, however, his health collapsed and he died in office in August 1827, after just 119 days in office, the shortest tenure of any British Prime Minister. Canning was born into an Anglo-Irish family at his parents home in Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, Canning described himself as an Irishman born in London. His father, George Canning, Sr. George Sr. eventually abandoned the family and died in poverty on 11 April 1771, his sons first birthday, Cannings mother, Mary Anne Costello, took work as a stage actress, a profession not considered respectable at the time. Indeed, when in 1827 it looked as if Canning would become Prime Minister, Lord Grey remarked that the son of an actress is, ipso facto, disqualified from becoming Prime Minister. Because Canning showed unusual intelligence and promise at an age, family friends persuaded his uncle, London merchant Stratford Canning. George Canning grew up with his cousins at the home of his uncle, who provided him with an income, Stratford Cannings financial support allowed the young Canning to study at Hyde Abbey School, Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. Canning came out top of the school at Eton and left at the age of seventeen and his time at Eton has been described as a triumph almost without parallel. He proved a brilliant classicist, came top of the school, Canning struck up friendships with the future Lord Liverpool as well as with Granville Leveson-Gower and John Hookham Frere. In 1789 he won a prize for his Latin poem The Pilgrimage to Mecca which he recited in Oxford Theatre, Canning began practising law after receiving his BA from Oxford in the summer of 1791, but he wished to enter politics. Stratford Canning was a Whig and would introduce his nephew in the 1780s to prominent Whigs such as Charles James Fox, Edmund Burke, George Cannings friendship with Sheridan would last for the remainder of Sheridans life
22.
Dorset
–
Dorset /ˈdɔːrsᵻt/ is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the county, which is governed by Dorset County Council. Covering an area of 2,653 square kilometres, Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, the county town is Dorchester which is in the south. After the reorganisation of government in 1974 the countys border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth. Around half of the lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The county has a history of human settlement stretching back to the Neolithic era. The Romans conquered Dorsets indigenous Celtic tribe, and during the early Middle Ages, the first recorded Viking raid on the British Isles occurred in Dorset during the eighth century, and the Black Death entered England at Melcombe Regis in 1348. During the Second World War, Dorset was heavily involved in the preparations for the invasion of Normandy, the former was the sailing venue in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and both have clubs or hire venues for sailing, Cornish pilot gig rowing, sea kayaking and powerboating. Dorset has a varied landscape featuring broad elevated chalk downs, steep limestone ridges, over half the county is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Three-quarters of its coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast Natural World Heritage Site due to its geological and it features notable landforms such as Lulworth Cove, the Isle of Portland, Chesil Beach and Durdle Door. Agriculture was traditionally the major industry of Dorset but is now in decline, there are no motorways in Dorset but a network of A roads cross the county and two railway main lines connect to London. Dorset has ports at Poole, Weymouth and Portland, and an international airport, the county has a variety of museums, theatres and festivals, and is host to one of Europes largest outdoor shows. It is the birthplace of Thomas Hardy, who used the county as the setting of his novels. Dorset derives its name from the county town of Dorchester, the Romans established the settlement in the 1st century and named it Durnovaria which was a Latinised version of a Common Brittonic word possibly meaning place with fist-sized pebbles. It is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in AD845 and in the 10th century the countys archaic name, the first human visitors to Dorset were Mesolithic hunters, from around 8000 BC. The first permanent Neolithic settlers appeared around 3000 BC and were responsible for the creation of the Dorset Cursus, from 2800 BC onwards Bronze Age farmers cleared Dorsets woodlands for agricultural use and Dorsets high chalk hills provided a location for numerous round barrows. During the Iron Age, the British tribe known as the Durotriges established a series of forts across the county—most notably Maiden Castle which is one of the largest in Europe. The Romans arrived in Dorset during their conquest of Britain in AD43, Maiden Castle was captured by a Roman legion under the command of Vespasian, and the Roman settlement of Durnovaria was established nearby
23.
Dorchester, Dorset
–
Dorchester is the county town of Dorset, England. It is situated between Poole and Bridport on the A35 trunk route, the area around the town was first settled in prehistoric times. After the departure of the Romans, the town diminished in significance and it was the site of the Bloody Assizes presided over by Judge Jeffreys after the Monmouth Rebellion, and later the trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. In the 2011 census, the population of Dorchester was 19,060, the Brewery Square redevelopment project is taking place in phases, with other development projects planned. The town has a college, Kingston Maurward College, the Thomas Hardye Upper School. The Dorset County Hospital offers an accident and emergency service, through vehicular traffic is routed round the town by means of a bypass. The town has a club and a rugby union club, several museums. It is twinned with three towns in Europe, as well as having many listed buildings, a number of notable people have been associated with the town. It was for years the home and inspiration of the author Thomas Hardy. Dorchesters roots stem back to prehistoric times, different tribes lived there from 4000 BC. The Durotriges were likely to have been there when the Romans arrived in Britain in 43 AD and it appears to have taken part of its name from the local Durotriges tribe who inhabited the area. The remains of the Roman walls that surrounded the town can still be seen, the majority have been replaced by pathways that form a square inside modern Dorchester known as The Walks. A small segment of the wall remains near the Top o Town roundabout. Other Roman remains include part of the walls and the foundations of a town house near the county hall. Modern building works within the walls have unearthed Roman finds, in 1936 a cache of 22,000 3rd-century Roman coins was discovered in South Street. Other Roman finds include silver and copper known as Dorn pennies, a gold ring. The County Museum contains many Roman artefacts, the Romans built an aqueduct to supply the town with water. It was rediscovered in 1900 as the remains of a cut into the chalk
24.
Gower Street, London
–
Gower Street is a street in Bloomsbury, central London, running from Montague Place in the south to Euston Road at the north. The street continues as North Gower Street north of the Euston Road, to the south it becomes Bloomsbury Street. University College London and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art are located along Gower Street as is part of University College Hospital, UCL maintains two student residences along the street, the Arthur Tattersall and John Tovell Houses. Of the many UCL buildings along Gower Street, the Cruciform Building is especially notable, Old boys of University College School are known as Old Gowers after the street where it founded and co-located with UCL. Euston Square tube station is located at the end of Gower Street. Gower Street is named after Lady Gertrude Leveson-Gower, daughter of John Leveson-Gower, notable residents of Gower Street have included the architect George Dance the Younger, painter William de Morgan, and the Shaws. John Shaw, Sr. and John Shaw, Jr. formed a famous nineteenth-century architectural partnership, thomas Budd Shaw was a professor of English literature to the grand dukes of Russia. He moved in on 31 December, and with Emma moved in on the day of their marriage,29 January 1839, the development of Darwins theory of natural selection made progress in this house, and their children William Erasmus Darwin and Anne Darwin were born there. In 1842 the family moved to Down House in the countryside, on 13 December 1904 a London County Council blue plaque was put up, to Charles Darwin Naturalist. The house suffered from damage in 1941 during the Blitz. In 1961 the site became part of the Biological Sciences building of University College London, the long thin garden which backed on to Gower Mews North was incorporated into Foster Court car park in 1978. The etymologist and philologist Hensleigh Wedgwood, who was Charles Darwins cousin and brother-in-law, lived at 94 Gower Street and it was erected by The Trevithick Centenary Memorial Committee. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in the Millais family house on Gower Street in the winter of 1848–49, millicent Fawcett, a leading figure in the constitutional wing of the British womens suffrage movement, lived at No.2 Gower Street. The Walloon poet Henri Michaux briefly resided in Gower Street in February 1931, from 1976 until 1995 the headquarters of MI5 were an anonymous grey office block at 140 Gower Street, adjacent to the Euston Road. The site has since been redeveloped, many of the Georgian houses on Gower Street have been converted into small hotels. North Gower Street, the continuation of Gower Street beyond Euston Road, is not accessible from Gower Street at street level for vehicles or pedestrians. For pedestrians, the most direct access is via a subway along the concourse of Euston Square station, from Euston Road, North Gower Street continues past Drummond Street and then ends, with a footpath continuing north to connect with the Hampstead Road. It is lined mostly with Georgian terraced houses now converted into hotels and student accommodation or rebuilt
25.
Bedford Square
–
Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. The square takes its name from the title of the Russell family, the Dukes of Bedford. Bedford Square is one of the best preserved set pieces of Georgian architecture in London, numbers 1-10,11, 12–27, 28–38 and 40–54 are grade I listed buildings. Bedford College, the first place for higher education in Britain, was formerly located in Bedford Square. Nos.1 and 2, Cameron Mackintosh Limited No,3, Winston House Nos.4,5 and 6, New York Universitys London campus No. 7, London School of Business and Management Nos.8 &9, London School of Hygiene,11, Royal Holloway, University of London No. 12, ACCENT International Consortium for Academic Programs Abroad, London Study Center No,16, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art No. 18, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London No.19 New College of the Humanities No.21 FSPG Chartered Accountants No.26 SIS Digital the home of Digital out of Home No,29, London office of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus No. 30, Sothebys Institute of Art No,32,33,34,35,36,37,38 and 39, Architectural Association School of Architecture No. 47, Yale University Press, London Nos.49,50 and 51,6, Lord Eldon — Lord Chancellor No. 10, Charles Gilpin — MP No,11, John Scarlett Davis - artist, died there in 1845 Henry Cavendish — scientist No. 13, Harry Ricardo — engine designer — born here No,22, Johnston Forbes-Robertson — actor No. 26, National Council for Voluntary Organisations,1928 –1992 No,30, Jonathan Cape — publishing company No. 35, Thomas Hodgkin — physician, reformer and philanthropist No,35, Thomas Wakley — founder of The Lancet No. 41, William Butterfield — architect No,41, Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins — novelist No. 44, Margot Asquith — wife of the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, before that,48, Elizabeth Jesser Reid — anti-slavery activist and founder of Bedford College for Women No. 49, Francis Walker — entomologist, before that Ram Mohan Roy — Indian scholar and reformer No
26.
Joshua Reynolds
–
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
27.
Joseph Bonomi the Elder
–
Joseph Bonomi the Elder ARA was an Italian architect and draughtsman who spent most of his career in England where he became a successful designer of country houses. He was born Giuseppe Bonomi in Rome on 19 January 1739 and he was educated at the Collegio Romano and then studied architecture with Girolamo Teodoli. He made his reputation in Rome before moving to London in 1767 at the invitation of Robert and James Adam. In his early years in England Bonomi also worked as an assistant to Thomas Leverton and he became a close friend of the painter Angelica Kauffman, whose cousin Rosa Florini he married in 1775. The next year he produced a design for a proposed sacristy for St Peters in Rome, in 1783 Kauffman persuaded Bonomi to move back to Rome, where she was now living. Bonomis earliest known independent work dates from 1784, after this he quickly became a successful designer of country houses. In 1789, he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, reynolds resigned his presidency in protest, but was soon re-elected. In 1804 he was appointed architect of St. Peters at Rome and he died in London on 9 March 1808, aged 69, and was buried in the Marylebone Cemetery. In 1775 he married Rosa Florini, Angelica Kauffmans cousin, one son Ignatius Bonomi, was also an architect, and another, Joseph Bonomi the Younger, became an eminent sculptor, artist and Egyptologist. A favourite innovation was to project the main portico of a deep enough to form a porte cochère. Notable works include, Dale Park, Madehurst, Sussex, parts of Towneley Hall near Burnley in Lancashire. Barrells Hall, near Ullenhall, Henley in Arden Warwickshire, home of Lady Luxborough, gallery at Packington Hall, Great Packington, Warwickshire, for Heneage Finch, Earl of Aylesford. St James Church, Great Packington, Warwickshire, saloon for Lady Montagus house in Portman Square, London. Destroyed 1941 Eastwell House, Kent, for George Finch Hatton, London, The Spanish Chapel, Manchester Square replaced by St Jamess, Spanish Place Pyramidal mausoleum at Blickling Park, Norfolk in memory of John, second Earl of Buckinghamshire. Saloon and staircase at Piercefield House, Monmouthshire, alterations to Hatchlands Park, near Guildford, Surrey. Church of our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Westminster, sections of Lambton Castle, near Washington, County Durham. The castle was enlarged by Bonomis son Ignatius. Rosneath House, Dunbartonshire, for the Duke of Argyll, Bonomi is briefly mentioned in Sense and Sensibility
28.
George Dance the Younger
–
George Dance the younger, RA was an English architect and surveyor as well as a portraitist. The fifth and youngest son of the architect George Dance, he came from a family of architects, artists and dramatists and he was described by Sir John Summerson as among the few really outstanding architects of the century, but few of his buildings remain. The architect George Dance the elder married Elizabeth Gould in 1719 and their fifth son, George, was born 1 April 1741 at the family home in Chiswell Street, London and was educated at St Pauls School. Dance spent the six years between 1759 and 1765 studying architecture and draughtsmanship in Rome, aged 17, he set off on his Grand Tour, sailing from Gravesend, Kent in December 1758. After a short stay in Florence, where he was joined by his brother Nathaniel, by the early 1760s the brothers were living at 77 Strada Felice. At Rome, Dance was acquainted with the architect, James Adam, peters Basilica, showing much promise as a draughtsman. Much of his work was inspired by Piranesi. In late 1759 Dance received his first commission - to design two chimneypieces for Sir Robert Mainwaring. His drawings were dispatched to Parma in April 1763, and a few weeks later it was announced that he had won the Gold Medal, the projected building was in the latest style of neoclassical architecture. During June 1764 the Dance brothers were in Naples, but later that year they were back in Rome, entertaining the actor David Garrick and his wife. On the 21 December 1764 George Dance and his brother were elected to the Accademia di S. Luca, on the 16 February 1765 Dance dined with the painter Angelica Kauffman and James Boswell who was visiting Rome. A few weeks later the brothers left Rome to return to London, on his return from the Grand Tour, George joined his fathers office. His earliest London project was the rebuilding of All Hallows-on-the-Wall Church and he was one of five architects asked to submit designs, and his design was chosen on 8 May 1765. Work on the building starting in June 1765, at a cost of £2,941, in 1768, when he was only 27, George succeeded as Architect and Surveyor to the Corporation of London on his fathers death. His first major works were the rebuilding of Newgate Prison in 1770 and building the front of the Guildhall. Other London works of his include the rebuilding of the Church of St Bartholomew the Less, at Bath, Somerset he largely designed the Theatre Royal, built by John Palmer in 1804-5. Coleorton Hall was one of his few buildings in the Gothic style, Dance retired from practice in 1815. With his brother Nathaniel, George Dance was a member of the Royal Academy
29.
William Chambers (architect)
–
Sir William Chambers RA was a Scottish-Swedish architect, based in London. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, London, and the pagoda at Kew, Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy. William Chambers was born on 23 February 1723 in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 1740 and 1749 he was employed by the Swedish East India Company making three voyages to China where he studied Chinese architecture and decoration. Returning to Europe, he studied architecture in Paris and spent five years in Italy, then, in 1755, he moved to London, where he established an architectural practice. He worked for Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales making fanciful garden buildings at Kew and he developed his Chinese interests further with his Dissertation on Oriental Gardening, a fanciful elaboration of contemporary English ideas about the naturalistic style of gardening in China. His more serious and academic Treatise on Civil Architecture published in 1759 proved influential on builders and it included ideas from the works of many 16th- and 17th-century Italian architects then still little known in Britain. His influence was transmitted through a host of younger architects trained as pupils in his office, including Thomas Hardwick, who helped him build Somerset House. He was the rival of Adam in British Neoclassicism. Chambers was more international in outlook and was influenced by continental neoclassicism when designing for British clients, a second visit to Paris in 1774 confirmed the French cast to his sober and conservative refined blend of Neoclassicism and Palladian conventions. From around 1758 to the mid-1770s, Chambers concentrated on building houses for the nobility, in 1766 Chambers was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. His initial plans for an oval courtyard, connected to three smaller, narrow rectangular courts, were soon modified into a simpler rectalinear scheme. On 10 December 1768 the Royal Academy was founded and he was appointed the Academys first Treasurer. Chambers died in London in 1796, also designed two garden temples, similar to those at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Within Kew Gardens, some of his buildings are lost, those remaining being the ten-storey Pagoda, the Orangery, the Ruined Arch, the Temple of Bellona, the Pagoda, in Pagoda Gardens, Blackheath, London is attributed to Chambers. A three-storey house built as a pavilion for the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, caroline of Brunswick lived here after her separation from her husband, the Prince Regent, in 1799. Somerset House in London, his most famous building, which absorbed most of his energies over a period of two decades The gilded state coach that is used at coronations. Hedsor House, Buckinghamshire, the seat of Lord Boston, equerry to George III, for James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont, he designed Charlemont House and the Casino at Marino, as well as the chapel and public theatre in Trinity College, Dublin. He is also associated with Gothic additions to Milton Abbey in Dorset, wick House, Richmond Hill, commissioned in 1771 by painter Sir Joshua Reynolds
