British History

On this day in history….9th August 1927

On this day in history : 9th August 1927 – The birth of actor, novelist and playwright Robert Shaw – who was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Henry VIII in ‘A Man For All Seasons’….

Shaw was born in Westhoughton, Lancashire and was the son of a former nurse, Doreen Nora and a doctor of Scottish descent, Thomas Archibald Shaw…. He had a brother and three sisters and when he was 7 the family moved to Orkney, Scotland…. Shaw’s father was an alcoholic and a manic depressive – when Shaw was 12 his father committed suicide…. The family relocated to Cornwall….

Shaw was inspired by one of his schoolmasters, who would regularly take his students to see plays in London…. The first play Shaw saw was Hamlet in 1944, with Sir John Gielgud…. After a brief time of working as a teacher himself Shaw used a £1,000 inheritance from his grandmother to join the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art….

He graduated and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company – where he was to be directed by Gielgud…. After making his stage debut in 1949 Shaw was to tour Australia with the Old Vic and then go on to tour Europe and South Africa…. It was whilst performing in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ in Stratford during 1950 that he was spotted by Sir Alec Guinness – who suggested he ‘come to London to do Hamlet’…. Shaw had been discovered….

His first film role was a small part in the classic ‘Lavender Hill’…. It was also around this time that he married his first wife, actress Jennifer Bourne…. They were to have four daughters…. He went on to have parts in films such as ‘The Dam Busters’, ‘A Hill in Korea’ and a successful role as Dan Tempest in the 1956 film ‘The Buccaneers’…. It was around this time that he was to write his first novel, ‘The Hiding Place’ – which was to sell some 12,000 copies in the UK and around the same in the US and France…. He also began to write for television….

Robert Shaw in ‘The Buccaneers’, 1957 – Public domain

In 1959 Shaw met and began an affair with well-known actress Mary Ure, who was married to playwright and actor John Osbourne (Look Back in Anger)…. The pair were to work together and although both were still married had a child in 1961…. Shaw’s wife also gave birth around the same time…. They were to divorce, as were Ure and Osbourne – and in April 1963 Shaw and Ure married and went on to have three more children…. His film career continued; in 1963 he played the blond assassin Donald ‘Red’ Grant in the Bond film ‘From Russia With Love’….

Shaw had become a very familiar face to the cinema-going public…. He was to appear in ‘The Sting’ in 1973 and ‘The Taking of Pelham One Two Three’ in 1974…. But the role many will remember him for is as Quint, the Irish shark hunter in the 1975 film ‘Jaws’…. It was part he very nearly did not take on, as he was unimpressed with the script…. The film was to be one of the biggest box-office successes of the time, netting more than $100 million worldwide….

However, he was to make little or no money from it, due to taxes he owed in the US, Canada and Ireland…. This was a bleak period for Shaw….his wife had died after taking an accidental overdose of prescription drugs – and he began to suffer from depression….

Despite his depression he continued to work….and he was to find love again, after falling for his secretary, Virginia Dewitt Jansen…. They married in July 1976 – he adopted her son and they were to have another of their own….

In 1977 Shaw began work on his next film ‘The Deep’ and also in the same year he starred in ‘Force 10 from Navarone’ – a sequel to ‘The Guns of Navarone’…. It was whilst making ‘Avalanche Express’ in 1979 that the film’s Director, Mark Robson, died….and production stopped…. As it turned out this film was also to be Shaw’s last – as by now his health was beginning to suffer on account of his alcoholism….

Shaw returned to Ireland whilst he waited for filming to resume…. It was while driving home to Tourmakeady, with his wife and son in the car, that he was taken ill…. The day had been spent playing golf with friends in Castlebar and shopping with his family…. As they neared home he began to experience chest pains – he pulled the car over and got out…. Shaw collapsed by the side of the road – an ambulance arrived 15 minutes later and he was taken to Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, where he was pronounced dead…. Robert Shaw had died from a heart attack at the age of 51…. A memorial stone marks the location where he died….

Image credit : ClintMalpaso – own work CC BY-SA 3.0

On this day in history….8th August 1834

On this day in history : 8th August 1834 – The Poor Law Amendment Act is passed in Britain…. With the introduction of the Workhouse parishes are no longer responsible for the care of their poor….

Poverty relief was in the hands of individual parishes prior to 1834…. The belief was that the badly organised system encouraged the poor to be lazy and take advantage…. This unfortunate attitude came from the more privileged classes – in truth nearly everybody in the working classes found themselves in poverty at some time in their lives – whether through unemployment, sickness or old age…. There was no welfare system such as we know today….

The Victorian Workhouse was a place of misery…. No able bodied person could now get poor relief unless they entered the Workhouse…. Where they had to work in slave labour conditions for their food and accommodation…. Families were separated; men, women and children were split into separate accommodation and punishments were harsh if they were caught talking to each other…. Inmates were made to wear a uniform, so that everyone looked the same; the working hours were long and the inadequate food provided in starvation rations….

Men at Crumpsall Workhouse c.1897 – Image credit : Manchester Archives via Flickr

The Workhouse was self sufficient; usually with its own bakery, laundry, vegetable gardens and dairy…. It had workrooms for making clothes and shoes, communal dining rooms, a sick ward, nursery, chapel and even a mortuary…. As well as providing accommodation, what passed as food, clothes, medical care and a place of work, it also provided education for the children and training for a future job…. However, many children found themselves being hired out – or even sold – to factories and mines….

A Basketful of Babies….at Crumpsall Workhouse – Image credit : Manchester Archives via Flickr

Each Workhouse was run by a master and matron, a chaplain, school teacher, medical officer and porter…. There was little compassion and cruelty often arose…. The neglect was more than apparent and beatings frequent…. The mortality rate was high; diseases such as tuberculosis and small pox were rife…. It was a harsh system and was intended to put the fear of God into people – to make them do their utmost to keep out of the prison like conditions….

Women at mealtime, St Pancras Workhouse, London – Public domain

The Workhouse was focused on profit rather than solving the issues of the poor…. Many of the inmates were unskilled and were used as a labour force for hard manual tasks, such as crushing bones for making fertiliser or picking oakum from old ropes…. Workhouses were overseen by ‘Guardians’ – usually ruthless local businessmen seeking a profit….

Over time the Workhouse evolved and became a refuge for the sick and the elderly…. Attitudes changed towards the end of the 19th century, people expressed anger at the cruelty within them…. By 1929 new legislation had been introduced allowing local authorities to take over the running of workhouses as hospitals…. In 1930 the workhouses officially closed, although it was several years before the system totally stopped as so many people needed help…. In 1948, with the introduction of the National Assistance Act, the last of the Poor Laws were eradicated….

People queuing at South Marylebone Workhouse circa 1900 – Wellcome Collection CC BY 4.0

British History

On this day in history….7th August 1935

On this day in history : 7th August 1935 : A plague of flying ants descends on London – authorities claim it to be the worst attack of pestilence in a quarter of a century….

The insects got into houses, crawled into pantries, heaped up on doorsteps and even stopped a tennis tournament….

‘Flying Ant Day’ is the day when the queen ants emerge from the nest to embark on their nuptial flight…. As the queen flies she emits pheromones to attract males…. They follow her and she flies away forcing them to chase her – meaning only the strongest get to mate with her…. She mates with several during the flight, storing the sperm in her abdomen, enough to last her lifetime and uses it to fertilise millions of eggs…. Once landed she will form a new colony….

This usually happens during July or August…. The weather is a key factor to determine when – heat and high humidity is needed…. Species and habitat are also factors….

The ants are mostly harmless, some have been known to bite but this is a rarity in the UK…. It may be unpleasant but it only lasts for a few hours – and is good for the environment…. The ants help to aerate the ground – and provide food for the birds….

British History

On this day in history….6th August 1976

On this day in history : 6th August 1976 – Harold Wilson’s Labour Government passes the Drought Act to tackle the ongoing drought in the United Kingdom….

Lyme Regis Beach, Dorset August 1976 – Image credit : Trevor Rickard CC BY-SA 2.0

Many of us will remember the summer of 1976 only too well…. The parched gardens, cracked land, dry reservoirs and the standpipes…. The melting roads, overheated cars – even Big Ben broke down…. The crops that failed in the fields, the trees that died through lack of water and the heath fires that killed so much wildlife…. Fish died in the rivers and birds died due to the stagnant waters…. Warmth loving insects thrived, such as the Dutch Elm beetle, causing the demise of yet more trees…. Large numbers of aphids and greenfly in turn attracted swarms of ladybirds….

The years of 1971-75 had seen the lowest rainfall in any 5 year period since the 1850s…. Then between May 1975 – August 1976 it had been the driest since records began in 1717…. In the winter of 1974-75 the jet stream shifted north of the Hebrides where it stayed for most of 1975-76 before moving up close to Iceland, which is about as far north as it can go…. The jet stream determines our weather and as a result the whole of Western Europe was affected by drought….

The summer of 1975 had been warm and dry with lots of sunshine and was followed by a drier and milder than normal winter…. By the spring of 1976 reservoirs were only half full and still rain failed to appear…. By the beginning of July it was becoming obvious that water was going to have to be rationed…. Slogans such as ‘Save Water, Bath With A Friend’ began to be bandied around….

Burrator Reservoir, Devon July 1976 – Image credit : Crispin Purdye CC BY-SA 2.0

On the 3rd of July 1976 the Emergency Powers bill was announced and this was followed by the Drought Act on the 6th of August…. Hosepipes were banned and ‘Serious Emergency Powers’ enabled the authorities to reduce or even turn off domestic and industrial water supplies…. Generally this was not necessary – but in South East Wales, where the Brecon reservoirs had dried up, mains water was switched off for 17 hours per day…. By the end of August London had just 90 days worth of water left….

This was followed by an Autumn so wet that the potatoes rotted in the fields…. Global warming was not a phrase familiar to us back then….

Seathwaite Tarn, after the Summer of 1976

British History

On this day in history….5th August 1860

On this day in history : 5th August 1860 – The birth of English artist Louis Wain – who is known to us mainly for his drawings of comical anthropomorphic cats….

Marketing – Image credit : Aussie mobs via Flickr

Wain was born in Clerkenwell, London, to a French mother, Felicia Marie and an English father, William Matthew Wain, a textile merchant…. Wain had a troubled childhood; having been born with a cleft lip on the advice of doctors he did not start school until he was ten years old…. Then, once he had started, he found it hard to settle and would often play truant – and took to wandering around London…. However, despite this he did manage to get into the London School of Art and after finishing his studies stayed on to teach for a while….

When Wain was aged 20 his father died and it fell on his shoulders to support his mother and five sisters…. He became a freelance artist, specialising in the countryside and animals…. He carried out work for ‘The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News’ and then in 1886 began working for ‘The Illustrated London News’….

Early work by Louis Wain – Public domain

At the age of 23 Wain married Emily Richardson, governess to his sisters and ten years older than him…. Shortly after Emily became ill with breast cancer – and it was during this time that Peter came into their lives…. Peter was a tiny black and white scrap of a kitten that they rescued – this was at a time when cats were seldom kept as pets….but the kitten brought so much comfort to Emily…. To amuse her and raise her spirits Wain would draw sketches of Peter….delighted Emily encouraged him to publish them…. Emily died in 1887, so did not live long enough to see him do this…. However, in the Autumn of 1886, Wain had been commissioned to illustrate ‘Madame Tabby’s Establishment’ by Caroline Hughes, under the pen name of Kari…. Emily would have loved seeing Peter depicted in the book….

Wain’s first anthropomorphised cats picture that was published appeared in a Christmas edition of ‘The Illustrated London News’ and was entitled ‘A Kittens Christmas Party’….

A Kittens Christmas Party from the Illustrated London News

At this stage his cats remained on all fours and had yet to gain the humanisation of his later drawings…. As time progressed his cats began to walk upright and have more human facial expressions – and indulged in human pursuits: playing golf, drinking tea, gong to the opera, smoking…. Humanising animals was a popular trait during Victorian times and continued into the Edwardian era…. For the following 30 years Wain was a prolific artist, producing over 600 illustrations a year…. His work appeared in journals and magazines, he illustrated over 100 children’s books and between 1901-1915 even had an annual of his own….

Despite his success Wain experienced continuous financial difficulties…. He was still supporting his mother and sisters, none of whom had married – and his youngest sister had been declared as mentally insane…. Not being a businessman Wain was easily persuaded to invest into non-starter money making schemes – he was easily taken in…. He would also invariably sell his work without retaining copyright….

Later in his life Wain began to display symptoms of mental illness himself…. His last job was producing a cartoon strip for the ‘New York Journal-American’ between 1907-1910…. By the beginning of WW1 his work had begun to become less popular and by the 1920s he found himself in poverty…. His mental health continued to deteriorate and sometimes his behaviour could be erratic or even violent…. In 1924 he was committed to the pauper ward of London’s Springfield Mental Hospital…. He still continued to draw cats but they became more and more abstract…. Some think this was on account of schizophrenia, or maybe dementia, or even Asperger’s Syndrome…. Little was understood about mental illness back then, the tendency being to commit to an asylum…. Of course, there is also always the possibility that Wain was simply experimenting with a new style of psychedelic work….

Wain spent the last 15 years of his life in institutions…. At first it was not common knowledge what had happened to him and then in 1925 it became widely publicised…. An appeal was launched to raise funds to help him – with personal interventions from Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and author H.G.Wells…. £2,300 was raised and Wain was moved to Bethlem Royal Hospital, which provided a much better quality of care…. Then in 1930 he was moved again, to Napsbury Hospital, St. Albans, Hertfordshire – which had gardens he could enjoy – and had a large family of cats….

Wain died on the 4th of July 1939 and was buried with his father at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kensall Green, London….

H.G.Wells once said of him…. “He has made the cat his own…. He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world…. English cats that do not look and live like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves”….