The restoration and living in of an English country cottage
Author: cottagecapers
Hi, I'm Hazel....
I write purely for pleasure; I love to delve in history, customs, traditions and nature....or whatever else grabs my attention at the time....
I am in no way an expert on what I choose to write about - I simply love to find out about things.... Whilst I always endeavour to get the facts right - occasionally I may get things wrong.... I guess you could call this my disclaimer....
I hope you enjoy reading my blog posts.... If so please give me a follow on Twitter or sign up via email for future posts.... If you are on Facebook Cottage Capers has a page with lots of ‘mini blogs’ and snippets.... It’s where we ‘like-minded’ folk can interact.... Hope to meet you again soon....
On this day in history : 23rd August 1305 – Sir William Wallace, Scottish patriot, is hanged, drawn, beheaded and quartered in London….
Statue of William Wallace, Aberdeen
After the English had been defeated at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 Wallace was appointed Guardian of Scotland and remained so until his defeat in the Battle of Falkirk in July 1298….
In 1305 he was captured and handed over to King Edward I and brought to trial on the charge of treason – to which he responded “I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject”….
Wallace’s trial in Westminster Hall – by Daniel Maclise – Public domain
Following the trial Wallace was taken to the Tower of London…. Here he was stripped naked and then dragged through the streets of the city behind a horse….to the Elms at Smithfield…. He was hanged, drawn and quartered…. He was also emasculated and eviscerated – his private parts and bowels burned before him…. Wallace was then beheaded and his body cut into four parts…. His head, dipped in tar to preserve it, was displayed on a pike on top of London Bridge…. His limbs were sent to Perth, Stirling, Newcastle and Berwick to be displayed separately….
On this day in history : 22nd August 1925 – The birth of actress Honor Blackman – probably best known for her role as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger and as Cathy Gale in The Avengers….
Honor in January 2000 – Image credit : Rob Young via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0
Honor was born in Plaistow, East London and was one of the four children of Frederick and Edith Blackman…. Her father, a civil service statistician, believed his strong Cockney accent had held him back in his career and he was determined to give his children the best opportunities in life that he could…. For her 15th birthday Honor was given elocution lessons by her parents…. This might not sound the most exciting of presents for a 15 year old girl – but it was Honor’s choice – she was offered either the lessons or a bicycle…. She chose wisely….
Following her lessons Honor was admitted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama…. She graduated and landed the role of understudy in the West End play The Guinea Pig – and then in 1947 she appeared at the Apollo Theatre in The Blind Goddess….
Her film debut came in 1947 – a non-speaking part in Fame is the Spur…. She then went on to roles in films such as A Night to Remember, 1958, The Square Peg, 1958 and Jason and the Argonauts, 1963….
Honor as the goddess Hera in ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ – Public domain
Honor joined The Avengers in the first episode of the second series in 1962…. She played the part of Dr Cathy Gale alongside Patrick Macnee as John Steel…. Her character is remembered for her quick wit, her skill in judo and her love of tight fitting leather clothing….
Honor’s success in the series led her to be cast as Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger in 1964, opposite Sean Connery…. She was one of the oldest Bond girls to be cast, five years older than Connery – but according to public polls was perhaps the most popular….
Honor as Pussy Galore – Fair use
Honor’s theatre career continued and she became a familiar face on television in the 1990s sitcom The Upper Hand – which ran for 96 episodes….
In 1999 she portrayed Joy Adamson in the film To Walk with Lions and in 2001 appeared in Bridget Jones’ Diary’…. In her late eighties she toured in her one woman show Honor Blackman as Herself….
Honor married twice; firstly to Bill Sankey in 1948 only to divorce in 1956…. Then in 1961 he married British actor Maurice Kaufmann and they adopted two children…. This marriage ended in 1975 and Honor did not remarry again, saying she preferred to be single…. She died at her home in Lewes, East Sussex on the 5th of April 2020, aged 94….
Parr had joined the 4th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment in 1912, after lying about his age; he claimed to be the required age of 18 whereas in truth he was only 14…. He was trained to be a reconnaissance cyclist – a scout riding ahead of the marching battalion on a bicycle to check the way ahead for enemy activity….
In August 1914 the 4th Middlesex was one of the first British Army units to be mobilised and sent to Northern France…. 1,100 men left Southampton destined for Boulogne-sur-Mer – just as the Germans were advancing into Belgium….
On the 21st of August Private Parr and another cyclist were despatched to the village of Obourg, just over the border into Belgium…. Their mission was to pinpoint the exact location of the German troops…. Nobody knows for sure exactly what happened next…. It is believed that Parr and his companion came across a German patrol engaged in a similar task to that of their own…. Whilst his companion returned to report to the commanding officer of the Middlesex Regiment Parr remained behind to try and head off the enemy patrol…. It was thought he died in an exchange of rifle fire with the Germans….
However, later research carried out in 2014 unearthed the possibility that Parr was actually killed by friendly fire…. Whatever the circumstances, British troops almost immediately retreated from the area and Parr’s body was left behind…. His grave was later found in a battle graveyard, where he was most likely buried by the Germans…. He now lies in St. Symphorien Military Cemetery, south east of Mons – in a grave that faces that of George Edwin Ellison, thought to be the last British soldier to be killed in World War One…. The age on Parr’s headstone reads as ‘20’ – not the 17 he really was….
On this day in history : 20th August 1989 – A pleasure cruiser, ‘The Marchioness’ and a dredger, ‘The Bowbelle’, collide on the River Thames in London…. 51 people lose their lives….
The Marchioness, after she had been raised from the River Thames – Fair use
The accident happened during the early hours of the morning…. The Marchioness had been hired for a birthday party and most of the 126 party goers onboard were in their 20s…. Also onboard were 4 crew and bar staff…. Both the pleasure cruiser and the dredger were heading downstream, against the tide towards Southwark Bridge – with the larger vessel, The Bowbelle travelling the faster of the two….
Bowbelle – Fair use
It was a clear night, three days after a full moon and so the visibility was good…. The Bowbelle, at just under 80m long and weighing nearly 2,000 tons had left its berth at Nine Elms Pier near to Battersea Power Station at 1.12am…. The 26m, 90 ton Marchioness had been due to leave Embankment Pier at 1.00am but a delay meant departure was set back to 1.25am…. Its captain, Stephen Faldo, remained in the wheelhouse for the whole time until the collision…. His crew mate, Andrew McGowan, was also his business partner…. The pair ran Top Bar Enterprises, providing the bar and staff for onboard disco parties…. On this particular night there were two bar staff….
Just before Blackfriars Brisge the Marchioness passed her sister ship, ‘The Hurlingham’, which was also hosting a party…. The Bowbelle was fast catching up with them….
Around 1.46am the Marchioness had just passed under Southwark Bridge when it was suddenly hit twice to the stern by the bow of the Bowbelle…. The first blow caused the smaller vessel to turn to the port and the second turned it on its side…. The upper structure of the pleasure cruiser was torn off by the Bowbelle’s anchor; the dredger then ploughed over the Marchioness, pushing it under the water so that it sank…. It happened so quickly that it was impossible to use the life rafts or even life jackets….
Port side of Marchioness – Fair use
The Bowbelle’s captain, Douglas Henderson, was acquitted after a trial in 1991…. Families of the victims campaigned for ten years for a public inquiry, which finally began in 2000…. A report published in 2001 criticised Henderson for not setting up a proper lookout watch but he was allowed to keep his Master’s Certificate…. One of the report’s recommendations was that a River Thames life boat rescue service be established…. This first came into operation in 2002….
Tower Lifeboat Station – Image credit : SchroCat – own work – CC BY-SA 4.0
On this day in history : 19th August 1612 – Jane Southworth, Jennet Bierley and Ellen Bierley are put on trial accused of practising witchcraft, including child murder and cannibalism….
An illustration from ‘The Lancashire Witches’ – John Gilbert – Public domain
The three women lived in the village of Samlesbury in Lancashire…. Everyone has heard of the Pendle Witches, where a total of ten were convicted at the Pendle Witch Trails – but the tale of the Samlesbury Witches is not so well known…. In fact eight people from Samlesbury were accused – and were held in the same dungeon at Lancaster Castle as those from Pendle…. They were also hauled before the same Judge, Sir Edward Bromley, at the same Lancashire assizes….
Lancaster Castle – Image credit : Tom Oates CC BY-SA 3.0
Out of the eight accused from Samlesbury only three came to trial – Jane Southworth, who had recently been widowed and mother and daughter Jennet and Ellen Bierley…. They were accused by 14 year old Grace Sowerbutts, the granddaughter of Jennet and niece of Ellen, of practising witchcraft upon her – she was the chief prosecution witness….
It was a complicated time in British history…. King James I had succeeded the throne, following the death of his cousin Queen Elizabeth I in 1603 – and he was a great believer in witchcraft…. In 1604 a new law came into force in England ‘An Act against Conjuration,Witchcraft and dealing with Evil and Wicked Spirits’…. The death penalty was imposed for anyone believed to be causing harm through witchcraft….
At the time Lancashire was regarded as being a particularly lawless part of the country…. Many had refused to abandon Catholicism after Elizabeth I became Queen – large numbers still attended Mass, which was held in secret…. In the year of the witch trials it was ordered that each Justice of the Peace draw up a list of those who did not attend Church on a Sunday – which was a criminal offence at the time….
The Southworth family, who lived at Salmesbury Hall, were divided by their religious beliefs…. Most of them remained Catholic but the eldest son, John, converted to the Church of England…. As a result he was disinherited by his father…. Jane Southworth was the widow of John – and the mother of seven children…. She, along with Jennet and Ellen, was accused of using ‘diverse devilish and wicked Arts, called Witchcrafts,Inchauntments, Charmes and Sorceries, in and upon one Grace Sowerbutts’…. All three pleaded not guilty….
Salmesbury Hall – Image credit : Alexander P Kapp – CC BY-SA 2.0
Grace claimed her grandmother and aunt could turn themselves into familiars in the form of dogs and that they had ‘haunted and vexed’ her…. She said they had tried to persuade her to drown herself and had pulled her up to the top of a haystack by her hair…. She told of how they had stolen a baby from Thomas Walshman and his wife, so that they could suck its blood…. The child died; they cooked the body, ate some and then used the rest to make ointment to transform themselves into other beings…. Grace also claimed that the three attended Sabbats every Thursday and Sunday night and they met ‘Faire black things, going upright and yet not like men in the face’…. She accused them of eating, dancing and then having sex with these beings….
Thomas Walshman confirmed that his child had died of unknown causes…. He said that Grace had been found lying as if dead in his father’s barn on or around the 15th of April and she did not recover until the following day…. The three defendants, when asked to respond, fell to their knees weeping and begged the Judge re-examine Grace…. The witnesses then began to quarrel and accuse each other….and eventually Grace admitted that she had been put up to it by Jane’s uncle-by-marriage…. Christopher Southworth, also known as Thompson, was a Catholic priest who had gone into hiding….
When the three accused women were asked as to why they thought such evidence had been fabricated against them, the only reason they could give was that they attended the Anglican Church….
Lord Bromley ordered that the jury find the three defendants not guilty….
“God hath delivered you beyondexpectation. I pray God you may use this mercie and favour well; and take heed you fall not hereafter: And so the court doth order that you shall be delivered”….
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