British History

On this day in history….30th September 1630

On this day in history : 30th September 1630 – John Billington, one of the original pilgrims to set sail on the Mayflower to the New World, becomes the first settler to be executed in the English Colonies….

The Mayflower at Sea – copyrighted and published by A S Burbank – Public domain

Believed to be from Lincolnshire Billington, along with his wife Eleanor and two sons, John and Francis, set sail with the Mayflower when it departed on the 16th of September 1620…. They were soon to become known as the trouble-making family onboard…. On one occasion young Francis got hold of his father’s musket and shot it close to an open barrel of gun powder – nearly blowing the whole ship sky-high….

Billington himself was foul-mouthed and bullish and had soon made plenty of enemies…. The family were not part of the Puritan group who were travelling to the New World – the Billingtons were actually making the voyage to escape creditors in England….

Pilgrims at prayer during their voyage to North America – 1844 painting by Robert Walter Weir – Public domain

In the March of 1621 Billington was convicted of contempt after insulting Captain Myles Standish…. His punishment was to be having his heels tied to his neck…. However, as it was his first convicted offence and because he begged for humble forgiveness, he was spared the sentence….

Things did not improve once the settlers had arrived and established themselves in Plymouth, Massachusetts…. The family were regularly involved in disputes and civil disobedience…. Even Eleanor got herself into bother and spent a spell in the stocks accompanied by a whipping after being accused of slander against church deacon and politician John Doane….

Then in September 1630 Billington got into a dispute over hunting rights with fellow colonist John Newcomen…. Billington shot him dead with a blunderbuss…. Once he had been tried and convicted Governor William Bradford felt he had no alternative but to order capital punishment…. Billington was hanged in Plymouth….

Mayflower II – replica of the original Mayflower at Plymouth, Massachusetts – Image credit : Gma.Joli – own work – CC BY-SA 4.0

On this day in history….29th September 1258

On this day in history : 29th September 1258 – The Consecration of Salisbury Cathedral…. At 123m (404ft) it has the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom….

Salisbury Cathedral was built in a style we now call early English Gothic…. The foundation stones were laid on the 28th of April by William Longspee, the 3rd Earl of Salisbury and his wife, Ela of Salisbury…. Many powerful people of the time helped to provide the materials used to build the Cathedral…. King Henry III donated trees from his estates in Wiltshire and Ireland for the timber – whilst Alice Brewer supplied marble from her Purbeck quarry for the columns and bases…. The Bishop, Dean and 52 Canons all contributed financially….

The main body of the Cathedral had been completed by the consecration date but there was still much to be done…. The West Front, Cloisters and the Chapter House were all still to be built…. Salisbury now has the largest Cloister and largest Cathedral Close in Britain….

The spire was added between 1300 and 1320….Its height was not unusual at that time – the old St. Paul’s in London and Lincoln Cathedral both had spires even taller…. However, being made from timber and lead neither lasted; Salisbury is now the only one surviving and since the late 1500s has been the tallest in Britain….

Not long after the spire’s completion problems began to arise…. The original builders of the Cathedral had not planned for such a spire – the weight, pressing down on the centre of the building began to distort it by pushing the columns out of alignment…. There was a serious threat of the Cathedral collapsing…. In the mid 1300s work began to reinforce the structure – iron ties and buttresses were added, along with arches across both sets of transepts….

The spire has undergone repair work several times over the centuries – most famously when Christopher Wren was commissioned to undertake an architectural survey…. He discovered the spire to be leaning by 30 inches – and iron rods were inserted to strengthen the structure…. Hundreds of years later, when this work was inspected, it was found that the spire had not budged another inch….

British History

On this day in history….28th September 1745

On this day in history : 28th September 1745 – The national anthem – God Save the King – is sung for the first time – at the Drury Lane Theatre, London….

God bless our noble King,
God save great George our King....

The then Theatre Royal, Drury Lane – Public domain

The words were sung as a patriotic song in support of King George II…. ‘The Young Pretender’ – Prince Charles Edward Stuart – had just defeated the King’s army at Prestonpans, near to Edinburgh…. When word reached London Thomas Augustine Arne, leader of the orchestra at the Drury Lane Theatre (and incidentally composer of Rule Britannia) wanted to show patriotic solidarity to the King…. He arranged a musical version of the words which had first been published in Gentleman’s Magazine earlier in 1745…. The true origins of the words are obscure; some attribute them to John Bull, others to Thomas Ravenscroft, Henry Purcell or Henry Covey….

The anthem was performed after the evening performance of the theatre’s play on the 28th of September…. It proved so popular that it was repeated every night thereafter – and had soon spread to other theatres….

British History

On this day in history….27th September 1066

On this day in history : 27th September 1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from northern France to begin the Norman Conquest of England….

Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry showing the Normans preparing for the invasion of England – Public domain

William was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy…. The Duke had no other heir and so after his death in 1035 William, at the age of 7, became the Duke of Normandy….

When he turned 20 he began to rule for himself, with the backing of Henry I of France – but who later turned against him…. Nevertheless, William managed to hold on to his rule and in 1063 he extended his land into the Maine region….

In 1051 William had visited his English cousin, Edward the Confessor….and according to Norman historians, Edward having no heir of his own promised to make William his successor as King of England…. Only, in January 1066, as he lay on his deathbed, Edward had second thoughts and made Harold Godwinson his successor…. Harold, as head of the leading noble family in England, was a man even more powerful than the King himself….

Harold Godwinson from the Bayeux Tapestry – Public domain

However, the new King Harold II had those who wanted his position for themselves…. Obviously William disputed Harold’s appointment but then so did two others – King Harald III Hardradde of Norway – and Harold’s own brother, Tostig; both had their eye on becoming King of England….

Harold II expected an invasion by William and so assembled his troops – but his brother proved to be a thorn in his side, by launching a series of raids…. Harold was forced to leave the English Channel unguarded…. Meanwhile Tostig had joined forces with the Norwegian king and together they invaded England from Scotland…. The two opposing sides met on the 25th of September 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge…. Harold killed both his brother and Harald III….

Whilst all this was happening William and his army had prepared to set sail from the mouth of the Somme River, at Picardy – and landed in England at Pevensey on the 28th of September…. With his 7,000 troops William seized Pevensey and marched on to Hastings….

On the 13th of October Harold II arrived with his army and the next day the two sides met in battle…. Harold was killed by, according to the legend, an arrow in his eye….

Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings – Public domain

William then marched to London and on Christmas Day 1066 he was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey…. He was to be the first Norman King of England and was later to be succeeded by his son, William Rufus….

British History

On this day in history….26th September 1938

On this day in history : 26th September 1938 – The first gas masks are issued to British citizens as concerns over the prospect of war with Germany grow….

The government issued some 35 million ‘General Civilian respirators’…. During World War One chlorine gas and then mustard gas had been used for the first time…. It is estimated some 88,000 were killed by gas and 1,200,000 injured….

As World War Two loomed the UK government planned for tens of thousands of deaths in London alone…. They had been advised to expect 250,000 deaths from gas in Britain in the first week of the war….

Masks were issued in a cardboard box, with the instructions printed inside the lid…. Adults had ones made of plain black rubber; children had ‘Mickey Mouse’ masks – in an attempt to make them seem a little less scary…. Babies had a mask ‘suit’ which completely enclosed them, leaving only their legs exposed….

AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS ON THE BRITISH HOME FRONT: MOTHER AND BABY IN GAS MASKS, C 1941 (D 3918) Copyright: � IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205198677

People were instructed to carry their masks with them at all times – and to practice putting them on and wearing them…. Many found the masks awkward and cumbersome whilst others found the small of the rubber made them nauseous….

British couple wearing their gas masks at home in 1941 – Image : Ministry of Information – Public domain

It was to be almost a year before war eventually broke out…. Whilst the government had prepared the public for what it feared would be Hitler’s secret weapon thankfully the masks were never needed….