Cottage Capers

On this day in history….30th August 1901

On this day in history : 30th August 1901 – Scottish inventor Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner…. The first model, “Puffing Billy”, was a large, horse-drawn contraption….

Before Booth introduced his version previous cleaning machines had worked on the principle of blowing or brushing dirt away…. Puffing Billy used suction….

The first machine was made for Osborne House on the Isle of Wight – which was then used as a naval officers training college…. The huge piece of apparatus measured 4’6″ x 4’10” x 3’6″ and had to be parked outside the building with its hoses having to be fed through the windows…. A five horsepower piston oil engine was used to drive a large suction pump….

Booth founded ‘The Vacuum Cleaner Company Ltd’ to manufacture his cleaner, its head office being in Fulham, South West London…. To market the machine a team of men in white suits toured the streets…. To demonstrate to a potential customer dirt would be thrown on to their carpet, a hose from the big red beast parked outside reeled in and the petrol motor would be started…. The dirt would then be sucked into a container attached to the hose…. But a deep clean could not be expected, it typically only collected surface dirt….and the machine was also incredibly expensive, costing approximately £350….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….29th August 1842

On this day in history : 29th August 1842 – The signing of the Treaty of Nanking by Britain and China, ending the first of the Opium Wars…. It also sets the foundations for Britain’s leasing of Hong Kong….

Signing of the Treaty of Nanking on board HMS Cornwallis – by Captain John Platt, Bengal Volunteers – Engraved by John Burnet – Public domain

The first Opium War lasted from 1839 to 1842; Britain invaded the Chinese mainland and occupied the island of Hong Kong in 1841 and then used it as a military base…. When Britain finally won the war Hong Kong was ceded to the British in the Treaty and so became part of the Empire….

British bombardment of Canton from the surrounding heights, May 1841 – Edward H. Cree – Public domain

A second Opium War resulted in Britain acquiring further territory – the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island…. In June 1898 a deal was struck between the Chinese and British agreeing that Britain would lease Hong Kong and the surrounding territories for 99 years….

It was during the 1970s that Britain and China began to consider Hong Kong’s future colonial status – and by the beginning of the 1980s negotiations to return it to China were underway…. After two years of tough bargaining a joint declaration was signed – agreeing that Britain would withdraw from Hong Kong on the 1st of July 1997….

City view of Kowloon, Hong Kong Island and the Hong Kong skyline – Ryan Cheng CC BY-SA 2.0

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….28th August 1207

On this day in history : 28th August 1207 – Liverpool is granted a Royal Charter by King John – officially making it a Borough of England….

Liverpool in 1680 – the earliest known image of Liverpool – (c) Merseyside Maritime Museum; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation – Public domain

Liuerpul (as it was known then – coming from the Old English ‘liver’, meaning thick or muddy and ‘pol’ for pool or creek) – literally meant a pool with muddy water…. Originally it started as a tiny fishing village on the banks of the Mersey – at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 it was not even big enough to warrant a mention….

By the time the Royal Charter was issued the village had just seven streets formed in the shape of a letter ‘H’…. King John needed to establish a port in northwest England to defend English interests and trade in Ireland…. Liverpool quickly grew into a busy port, helped by a weekly market that attracted visitors from a far…. A small castle was even built to help defend it (later to be demolished in 1726)….

A further charter was granted to the townsfolk in 1229, giving the merchants of Liverpool permission to form a guild – enabling the town to become self-governing…. The first mayor was elected in 1351 and the Borough of Liverpool continued to flourish…. In 1715 Liverpool became home to the World’s first-ever wet dock….and was given city status in 1880….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….27th August 1979

On this day in history : 27th August 1979 – Lord Louis Mountbatten is killed when the IRA detonate a remote-controlled 50lb (23kg) bomb upon his boat….

Lord Mountbatten in 1976 – by Allan Warren CC BY-SA 3.0

Lord Mountbatten, a second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and uncle of Prince Philip, had been enjoying a fishing trip with family members as part of a family holiday…. His boat, Shadow V, was sailing off the coast of County Sligo, Ireland when the bomb exploded….

Fisherman pulled 79-year-old Lord Mountbatten from the water – he was still alive but died before being brought ashore; both off his legs had been blown off….

Also onboard the boat were his eldest daughter, Patricia (Lady Brabourne), her husband John (Lord Brabourne) and their 14-year-old twins, Nicholas and Timothy…. Nicholas was killed, along with a 15-year-old crew member, Paul Maxwell…. Lord Brabourne’s 83-year-old mother, Doreen, died from her injuries the following day….

“Christ in Triumph over Darkness and Evil” by Gabriel Loire (1982) – at St. George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, South Africa – in memory of Lord Mountbatten – Rainer Halama CC BY 4.0

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….26th August 1346

On this day in history : 26th August 1346 – King Edward III and his son, Edward the Black Prince, lead and win the Battle of Crécy – against Philip VI of France….

img_3607-1 — The Battle of Crecy, from a 15th Century illuminated manuscript of Jean Froissart’s Chronicles – Public domain

Crécy, which was then a village in northern France, was one of the most famous battles of the Hundred Years War…. King Edward’s army faced a much larger French force, who were renowned for their skills with the crossbow…. However, the crossbow was no match for the English longbow – and to add to French woes they had forgotten to bring their shields with them, leaving them extremely vulnerable! The crossbowmen retreated – but such was the fury of the French knights – seeing the retreat as cowardice – that they slaughtered their fleeing countrymen…. Only when the knights took up their own turn to attack did they realise the full might of the English longbow and they themselves were to face slaughter….

Battle of Crecy (19th Century engraving) – Public domain

The battle was described as ‘a political catastrophe for the French Crown’ and ‘a total victory for the English’…. There is a legend – and it can only be described as such, as having no proven truth – that King Edward’s men did not kill the French crossbowmen that they captured…. Instead they cut off the two fingers needed to fire their bows…. It is said this is where the ‘V sign’ insult originates from – it became the two-fingered salute to the French before battle commenced….a gesture that has been used by the British – and later the Commonwealth countries ever since….