British History – Page 26

On this day in history….10th November 1847

On this day in history : 10th November 1847 – A passenger ship is wrecked off the coast of Southern Ireland, killing 92 out of the 110 onboard – it prompts the construction of the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse….

The ‘Stephen Whitney’, a 1,034 ton ship, was built in New York around 1840; it was a fully rigged, wooden vessel and was part of Robert Kermit’s Red Star Line…. It had been named after an investor in Kermit’s Company, Stephen Whitney, one of the wealthiest merchants in New York City….

MAGAZINE OF AMERCIAN HISTORY — Stephen Whitney – Magazine of American History, 1890 – Google Books – Public domain

The ship left New York on the 18th of October bound for Liverpool, with a stop scheduled for Cork…. As well as the 76 passengers onboard it also carried a cargo which included 10,000 bushels of corn, 600 boxes of cheese, 1,000 barrels of flour, 1,000 bales of raw cotton and 20 boxes of clocks…. The voyage across the Atlantic was uneventful but it was as they approached the Irish coast on Wednesday the 10th of November that the weather became hazy making visibility difficult – and then it turned to thick fog…. Captain Charles W. Popham, originally from Cork, mistook Crookhaven Lighthouse for one at the Old Head of Kinsale – which is situated a little further around the coast to the east….

Around 10pm the ship struck the western tip of West Calf Island (between Cape Clear and Skull in Co. Cork) and ran aground…. Within ten minutes the ship had completely broken up….92 out of the 110 passengers and crew onboard perished…. The maritime community had long complained about the positioning of the main lighthouse on Cape Clear – the loss of the Stephen Whitney prompted the replacement of the lighthouse with one on the Fastnet Rock….

Construction of the first lighthouse began in 1853 and it went into operation on the 1st of January 1854…. Built from cast iron with an inner lining of brick, at a cost of £17,390, it was designed by George Halpin…. The tower was 19.43m high with an 8.43m high lantern housing on top – making a total structure of approx. 28m high…. The oil burning lamp put out 38 kilocandelas of light; the average modern lighthouse puts out 1,300 kilocandelas as a comparison….

Fastnet Rock Lighthouse C.1900 – National Library of Ireland on The Commons – no restrictions

It didn’t take long for it to be realised that the structure was too weak…. In high winds the tower would shake – to the extent that crockery would sometimes fly off of tables…. Various attempts were made to strengthen it – such as putting a cast around the lower section and filling it with stone….

In 1891 it was decided that it was time to replace it…. The new lighthouse was designed by William Douglass and constructed from stone, as cast iron was now deemed unsatisfactory – although the lower half of the original lighthouse was left standing and was used as an oil store….

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The second Lighthouse – the base of the previous (used as an oil store) can be seen to the right, on top of the Rock – Image : Anthony Patterson from Cork, Ireland CC BY 2.0

Construction began in 1897 and the new lighthouse entered service on the 27th of June 1904; it had cost £90,000 to build…. The tower stands some 45m high and at the base is 16m in diameter…. The original paraffin lamp was replaced by electric on the 10th of May 1969 – and at the end of March 1989 it was converted to an automatically operated lighthouse….The lamp has power of 2,500 kilocandelas and can be seen from a distance of 27 nautical miles….

On the 16th of October 2017 downgraded Hurricane Ophelia hit Ireland; a gust of 191 kph was recorded at the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse…. Had it not of been automated, I wonder if the crockery would have stayed on the tables….

On this day in history….10th November 1998

On this day in history : 10th November 1998 – The death of English actress and singer Mary Millar – who played Rose in the highly successful BBC TV comedy series Keeping Up Appearances….

Mary Millar as Rose in ‘Keeping Up Appearances’ – Fair use

Mary was born on the 26th of July 1936 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, to music hall singers Horace and Irene Weston…. Her parents had an act, Sweethearts in Harmony and as a child Mary would go on tour with them…. At first she had her heart set on becoming a stable hand – but changed her mind and began singing arias on stage at the age of 14….

In 1953, aged 17, Mary made her first TV appearance in Those Were the Days…. She went on to appear in The Dick Emery Show and The Stanley Baxter Show…. But she is probably best remembered as Rose, the youngest sister of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances…. Rose, with her eye for the men (especially married ones) and her love of skimpy clothes, who brought shame to her social climbing snobbish elder sister….

The cast of ‘Keeping up Appearances’ – Fair use

In 1962 Mary made her acting stage debut in Lock Up Your Daughters; in the same year she married Rafael D Frame and the couple had a daughter in 1972…. Mary had a busy and constant theatrical career and was in the original cast of Phantom of the Opera…. Her final performance was in 1998 as Mrs Potts in the West End production Beauty and the Beast…. She left the production in February 1998 as her health was deteriorating – she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer the previous month…. Mary lost her battle with her illness in the November of 1998, dying in Brockley, London, with her husband and daughter at her bedside….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….9th November 1908

On this day in history : 9th November 1908 – Elizabeth Garrett Anderson becomes Britain’s first woman Mayor – when she is elected at Aldeburgh, Suffolk….

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson as Mayor of Aldeburgh, November 1908 – Unknown photographer, public domain

This in itself was no mean feat – but then this was a truly remarkable woman…. Elizabeth Garrett was born in Whitechapel, East London in 1836; she was one of twelve children and the daughter of a pawnbroker…. Elizabeth’s father became a successful businessman and was able to provide a good education for his children – the expectation being that Elizabeth would complete her studies and then marry, settle down and live the life of a lady…. However, it was upon meeting Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female to qualify as a doctor in the United States, that Elizabeth decided she had to become a doctor herself…. (Elizabeth Blackwell was herself an Englishwoman who had emigrated to America as a child)….

Portrait of Elizabeth, 1860s – Unknown, public domain

At a time when women were not even allowed to attend university, the trained medical world was completely male dominated – therefore, it was hardly surprising that Elizabeth was unable to find a medical school that would offer her a place…. Undeterred she enrolled as a nursing student at the Middlesex Hospital – studying alongside male colleagues, some of whom made complaints about her presence – and so she was banned….

Elizabeth needed to find a back door method of gaining a qualification….which indeed she did via the Society of Apothecaries…. They had no stipulations as to who could sit their entrance exam – and so in 1865 she did – and passed…. The Society then changed the rules to prevent any more women from taking the exam!

In 1866, with her father’s backing Elizabeth established St. Mary’s Dispensary, London – at which she acted as a medical attendant…. Still determined to become a doctor she taught herself French, then attended university in Paris and gained a medical degree…. And yet the British Medical Board still refused her….

Elizabeth Garrett before the Faculty of Medicine, Paris – Unknown, public domain

Elizabeth married James Anderson in 1871 and together they had three children…. But even becoming a wife and mother was not going to stop her from fulfilling her ambition…. In 1870 Elizabeth had been given the position of visiting physician to the East London Hospital for Children….making her the first woman in Britain to be appointed to an official medical post…. In 1872 she co-founded the New Hospital for Women – which was later to become the London School of Medicine for Women….

In 1876 an Act was passed in Parliament, finally permitting women to enter the medical profession…. Due to her constant campaigning Elizabeth had a huge influence on enabling this to happen…. In 1883 she was appointed Dean at the London School of Medicine for Women – which she had helped to set up….

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson circa 1889 – Walery, public domain

Elizabeth retired in 1902 – to Aldeburgh, on the Suffolk coast…. A retirement well deserved; not only in her working lifetime had she achieved becoming Britain’s first woman doctor – she was also an active member of the Suffragette Movement (as was her daughter, Louisa)…. But even in her so-called ‘retirement’ she wasn’t yet finished with making history….as six years later she was to become Britain’s First Lady Mayor….

NPG x32106; Elizabeth Garrett Anderson; Emmeline Pankhurst by Unknown photographer — Elizabeth Garrett Anderson with Emmeline Pankhurst by Unknown photographer, bromide press print, 18 November 1910 – Public domain

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson died in December 1917…. In 1918 the London School of Medicine for Women changed its name to The Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Hospital…. It is now part of the University of London….

(c) Royal Free Hospital; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation — Portrait circa 1900 – attributed to Reginald Grenville Eves – Public domain

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….8th November 1974

On this day in history : 8th November 1974 – Police launch a manhunt for Lord Lucan, following his disappearance after the murder of his children’s nanny and an attack on his estranged wife….

Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, married Veronica Duncan in 1963 – and they had three children…. The marriage broke down in 1972 and Lucan moved out of the family home in Belgravia, London into a nearby flat…. A bitter custody battle over the children followed, which Lucan lost…. He became a man obsessed – stalking his wife and recording their telephone conversations….

Lord Lucan and his wife, 1963 – Photoshot.com – Fair use

On the night of the 7th of November Sandra Rivett, the 29-year-old nanny to the children, was bludgeoned to death with a blunt instrument in the basement of the family home…. The assailant had presumably intended to move her body, as when she was found she had been placed in a sack….

FEMAIL — Sandra Rivett – unknown photographer, used in the Daily Mail – Fair use

On disturbing the intruder Lady Lucan was attacked and beaten around the head with a piece of lead piping….and left for dead…. Despite this she managed to stumble to a nearby public house, the Plumbers Arms – and raise the alarm…. Lady Lucan named her husband….he, meanwhile, had fled….

The Plumbers Arms – Carcharoth (Commons) CC BY-SA 3.0

At 10.30pm Lucan phoned his mother and asked her to collect the children…. At 11.30pm he arrived at the house of the Maxwell-Scotts, some friends in Uckfield, East Sussex…. He told them that he had been walking passed the house and had looked in through one of the basement windows – to see someone struggling with his wife in the basement kitchen…. He let himself in and rushed down the stairs, managing to slip in a pool of blood; by this time the attacker had managed to escape…. Lucan claimed he had calmed his wife down but whilst he visited the bathroom she had run from the house screaming murder…. He realised how bad it looked for him – panicked and fled….

46, Belgrave Street, Belgravia – Carcharoth (Commons) CC BY-SA 3.0

Lucan’s car, a Ford Corsair, that he had borrowed from a friend a couple of weeks before, was found abandoned in a quiet residential street in New Haven, early the next morning…. Lord Lucan was never officially seen again….

A popular theory is that he had mistaken Sandra Rivett for his wife in the dark….it was Lady Lucan he had intended to murder….realising his error he drowned himself in New Haven Harbour…. There has been much speculation over the years as to what happened to Lord Lucan – some believe he fled to Africa of South America and has led a secret life ever since…. Another far-fetched theory was that he went to his friend John Aspinal’s zoo in Kent – and shot himself…. His remains were then fed to a tiger named Zorra….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….7th November 1869

On this day in history: 7th November 1869 – The first bicycle road race is held, between the two French cities of Paris and Rouen – and is won by Englishman James Moore….

20-year-old Moore, who lived in France, completed the course in 10 hours and 40 minutes – 15 minutes ahead of the next competitors to cross the finishing line…. The first prize was 1,000 gold francs and a bicycle….

The race was organised by cycling magazine ‘Le Vélocipède Illustré’ and the Olivier brothers, owners of the Michaud Company – a bicycle manufacturing business…. 325 riders entered the event, including two women; there were so many entrants that the organisers feared for safety and the riders were split into groups…. Only 32 finished the race within 24 hours; the first woman to cross the finishing line, known as ‘Miss America’, finished in 29th place – 12 hours and 10 minutes after Moore….

Masthead of the first edition of Le Velocipede Illustre, 1st April 1869 – Public domain

The race took them through St. Germain, Mantes, Vernon and Louviers; it started at the Arc de Triomphe and ended in the centre of Rouen…. The rules stipulated bicycles were not allowed to be pulled along by dogs or use sails….

James Moore had only got his first bicycle four years previously, in 1865…. It was an old, heavy wooden ‘bone shaker’….