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....

British History

On this day in history….15th May 1909

On this day in history : 15th May 1909 – The birth of British actor James Mason – who was to appear in more than 80 films, including 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Julius Caesar….

James was born in Huddersfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire…. He was the youngest of the three sons of Mabel Hattersley and John Mason, a wealthy textile merchant…. After attending Marlborough College James was to go on to graduate from Cambridge with a degree in architecture…. It was whilst at university that he got involved with the theatre, purely for enjoyment, he never trained as an actor….

He was to make his stage debut in 1931, in a production of The Rascal in Aldershot…. He went on to join the Old Vic theatre in London, appearing in stage productions such as Henry VIII, The Importance of Being Earnest, Measure for Measure, The Tempest and Twelfth Night among others…. He became a prominent stage actor….

James Mason – Image credit : John Irving via Flickr

James made his film debut in 1935 in Late Extra…. He was to make a lot of minor ‘quota quickie’ films – as at the time in an attempt to counter American dominance a certain percentage of films shown in cinemas in the UK had to be British made…. As a result James was to become one of Britain’s major film stars of the 1940s….It was also in the late 1930s that he appeared in early television productions of plays….

Being a strong pacifist meant James was to become a conscientious objector during WW2 – which caused a long-lasting rift between him and his family…. He married his first wife, Pamela, in February 1941 and they were to have two children, a daughter, Portland, in 1948 and a son, Morgan in 1955…. Morgan is incidentally married to singer Belinda Carlisle….

James Mason and his family from the 1957 TV program Panic!

James was very much an animal lover and in 1949 he and Pamela published a book ‘The Cats in our Lives’…. Mostly written and illustrated by James he tells the mostly humorous but sometimes sad tales of the cats he had known – and the occasional dog….

His first Hollywood film, Caught, came in 1949…. However, it wasn’t until 1951, when he was cast as General Rommel in The Desert Fox, that his Hollywood career was to really take off…. His contract with 20th Century Fox was for 7 years with the stipulation of making one film per year….

In 1952 he bought the Hollywood mansion that had once belonged to Buster Keaton….. Whilst carrying out renovation work he was to discover reels of Keaton’s films that had previously been thought lost…. Realising their historical importance James had them transferred on to cellulose acetate film, thus saving them….

James Mason in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, 1959 – Public domain

Not everything was rosy in life for James…. In 1959 he suffered a major heart attack and continuing troubles in his personal life were a persistent blight on his happiness…. His wife was particularly fond of the Hollywood social scene and was reputedly frequently unfaithful…. However, it was eventually she who sued for divorce in 1962 accusing him of unfaithfulness…. It led to her receiving a $1 million divorce settlement….

In 1963 James made his home in Switzerland, commuting transatlantic to continue his career…. He married Australian actress Clarissa Kaye in 1971 and they were on occasion to work together…. James was to suffer a further heart attack, which proved to be fatal on the 27th of July 1984, whilst in Lausanne, Switzerland….

James Mason in The Fall of the Roman Empire, 1964 – Public domain

On this day in history….14th May 1889

On this day in history : 14th May 1889 – The launch in London of the children’s charity the ‘National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’….

It was in 1881 that Liverpool businessman Thomas Agnew travelled to New York…. Whilst he was there he visited the ‘New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’…. He was so impressed by what he saw that he wanted to create something similar for the children of Liverpool…. It was in 1883 that he founded the ‘Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’ (LSPCC)….

Other towns were quick to follow and the 11th of July 1884 saw the founding of a London society – the ‘London SPCC’ – by Lord Shaftesbury along with the Reverend Edward Rudolf and the Reverend Benjamin Waugh….

At the time there was no legal protection for children in the UK…. The very first child cruelty case to be brought was actually by the RSPCA – and was successful…. After five years of campaigning by London SPCC the first law was finally passed by Parliament in 1889, to protect children against abuse and neglect….

On the 14th of May 1889 the London SPCC was renamed the ‘National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’ – as by now there were branches all across England, Wales and Ireland…. On the 28th of May 1895 Queen Victoria became its first Royal Patron, the NSPCC had gained its Royal Charter…. However, it did not add ‘Royal’ to its name in order to avoid confusion with the already long established RSPCA….

After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra became the Royal Patrons – and so it continues to the present day with Her Majesty The Queen as Royal Patron….

Today the NSPCC works across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands…. Children 1st, formerly the ‘Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’ is the Scottish equivalent….

NSPCC Head Office – Howard Lake via Flickr

British History

On this day in history….13th May 1995

On this day in history : 13th May 1995 – British mother Alison Hargreaves becomes the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of Sherpas – only to die tragically three months later….

Mount Everest – Image credit : Pavel Novak CC BY-SA 2.5

Alison was born on the 17th of February 1962 and spent her childhood in Belper, Derbyshire where she attended Belper High School…. She married James Ballard and in 1995 they moved to Spean Bridge in the Scottish Highlands, close to suitable conditions for her training….

For it was Alison’s intention to climb in 1995 the three highest mountains in the world – Everest, K2 and Kanchenjunga – and her aim was to do it unaided….

She arrived at base camp on Mount Everest on the 11th of April….and on the 13th of May, at 12.08 local time (7.23am) in Britain) she reached the 29,028ft summit…. She had done it without the aid of Sherpas or bottled oxygen – and was the second ever person to do so – the first being Reinhold Messner in 1980…. On reaching the summit Alison immediately radioed back to base camp as she wanted to get a message home to her husband and two children, 6-year-old Tom and 4-year-old Kate….

After a short break back in Scotland she set out in the June of 1995 for her climb of K2…. She was joining an American team who had a permit to climb the world’s second highest mountain, at 28,251ft and located in Pakistan….

K2 – Image credit : Maria Ly – CC BY 2.0

By the 13th of August the team had joined forces with teams from New Zealand and Canada…. Then on arriving at Camp 4, around 12 hours from the summit, they joined a Spanish team….

At 6.45pm on the 13th Alison and Spaniard Javier Oliver reached the summit of K2 – shortly afterwards American Rob Slater, New Zealander Bruce Grant and Javier Escartin and Lorenzo Ortiz from the Spanish team arrived…. It is unclear exactly what happened next….

The following day two other Spanish climbers were descending the mountain when they came across equipment they recognised as Alison’s – and a blood stained anorak…. In the distance a body could be seen – but it was impossible to get to and so was never formerly identified – but it was believed to be Alison….It appears she had been blown off of the mountain…. All six members of the team had been killed…. Witnesses on the mountain at the time said there was a sudden violent mountain storm with winds reaching 100mph….

Alison had died exactly three months to the day following her jubilant conquest of Mount Everest…. Her son, Tom, was to also to go on to become a climber….becoming the first to climb solo all six great north faces of the Alps in one single winter…. He died in 2019, whilst climbing the 9th highest mountain in the world, Nanga Parbat – the western anchor of the Himalayas….

British History

On this day in history….12th May 1937

On this day in history : 12th May 1937 – The birth of English cyclist Beryl Burton – who was to dominate women’s cycle racing in the United Kingdom, winning more than 90 titles….

Beryl Burton – Dutch National Archives CC0

Born Beryl Charnock in the Halton area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, Beryl was to spend the duration of her life in Morley…. As a child she suffered with rheumatic fever resulting in a hospital stay and then fifteen months in a convalescence home….

She married her husband, Charlie Burton, in 1955 and it was he who introduced her to cycling…. In 1957 she won her first national medal – a silver in the National 100-mile Individual Time Trial Championship….

During her international career she won the Women’s World Road Race Championship in 1960 and again in 1967…. She won world championship medals 5 times, was a silver medalist 3 times and won bronze 4 times….

Competing on the track, 1967 – Dutch National Archives – CC BY-SA 3.0nl

But it was at home that she was to really dominate…. For 25 consecutive years, from 1959-1983 she was the Road Time Trials Council’s ‘British Best All-Rounder’…. She won a total of 72 national time trial titles and a further 24 national titles in road racing and on the track….

She was to set 50 new national records…. In 1963 she became the first woman to break the hour barrier for a 25 mile time trial…. And in 1967 she set a 12-hour time trial of 277.25 miles – surpassing even the men’s record by .73 miles…. Beryl’s motto was “Anything lads can do ~ I can do”…. It appears she wasn’t wrong there…. It was 1967 and 99 men started off on an Otley Cycle Club 12-hour time trial…. Beryl waited for a couple of minutes after their departure and then set off after them…. One by one she overtook the lot – including the famous Mike McNamara…. The story goes that as she passed him she handed him a liquorice allsort – to which he said “Ta, love” – popped it in his mouth and ate it….

Even in her mid 40s she was still setting records – when in 1982 she set the British 10-mile record for women’s tandem bicycle, with her 26-year-old daughter, Denise….

Beryl remained an amateur throughout her cycling career – even though she was offered plenty of lucrative sponsorships ~ as a day job she worked on a rhubarb farm…. In 1968 she was awarded an OBE….

On the 5th of May 1996 Beryl was out on her bicycle delivering invitations for her upcoming 59th birthday party – when she suffered sudden heart failure and died…. There has to be an element of irony in there somewhere….

British History

On this day in history….11th May 1685

On this day in history : 11th May 1685 – The execution by drowning of 18-year-old Scottish martyr Margaret Wilson – for refusing to swear an oath declaring James II of England (James VII of Scotland) as head of the Church….

‘The Martyr of Solway’ – painting of Margaret Wilson by John Everett Millais, 1871 – Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool – Public domain

Margaret was the daughter of wealthy farmer Gilbert Wilson, of Glevernoch, near Newton Stewart, Wigtownshire…. Her parents were loyal Episcopalians – whereas Margaret followed her older brothers’ example of worshipping the Covenanters – a movement to maintain the reforms of the Scottish Reformation…. After the Restoration of the Monarchy the Covenanters were declared treasonable….

Many Covenant ministers refused to give up their beliefs and submit, instead they took to holding illegal open-air conventicles which were often broken up using military force…. By 1684 many Covenanters had gone into hiding in the hills to escape the authorities, as by now refusing to swear an allegiance to King James and renouncing the Covenant carried a death sentence….

Despite this Margaret began attending conventicles with her younger brother, Thomas…. However, in February 1685 he too had fled to the hills….

Margaret and her younger sister, Agnes, went into Wigtown to visit a friend, elderly widow Margaret McLachlan…. It was during this visit that the two sisters were seized by the authorities and imprisoned in the ‘thieves hole’…. Here they refused to take the oath renouncing the Covenant…. A few days later Margaret McLachlan and her servant woman were also arrested and imprisoned with the sisters….

The women appeared before the local assizes on the 13th of April 1685 and were found guilty of attending illegal conventicle meetings…. The two sisters and McLachlan were sentenced to be ‘tied to palisades fixed in the sand, within the flood mark of the sea, and there to stand till the flood o’erflowed them’….

Gilbert Wilson travelled to Edinburgh to plead clemency for his daughters and McLachlan…. Agnes was granted freedom on a bond of £100 and reprieves were granted for the two Margarets, dated the 30th of April 1685…. The authorities of Wigtown were urged to respect the reprieves….

However, on the 11th of May 1685 Margaret Wilson and Margaret McLachlan were chained to stakes on the Solway Firth…. As the salt water began to choke her Margaret Wilson was given a last chance to offer a prayer to the King – which she did but she still refused to renounce the Covenant…. She was then forcibly pushed beneath the waves to her death….

Illustration of Margaret Wilson’s martyrdom, published in Once A Week, July 1862 – Public domain

She and McLachlan were buried in the churchyard of Wigtown…. The two Margarets became known as the ‘Wigtown Martyrs’….