British History – Page 33

On this day in history….10th October 1903

On this day in history : 10th October 1903 – Emmeline Pankhurst forms the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) – to fight for women’s emancipation in Britain….

Emmeline Pankhurst c.1913 – Photo credit: Matzene, Chicago. Restored by Adam Cuerden – Public domain

The WSPU was founded at 62, Nelson Street, Manchester – the home of the Pankhurst family…. Emmeline, her husband Richard and their daughters Christabel and Sylvia had all previously been active members of the Independent Labour Party, which was founded in 1893 by Keir Hardie, who was a family friend…. (Hardie went on to form the Labour Party)….

Minolta DSC — 62, Nelson Street, where the WSPU was formed – Photo credit: Kurt Adkins (WebHamster) CC BY-SA 3.0

Many women had put their faith in the ILP – believing it to be the party to fight for their cause…. However, Emmeline became disillusioned with the party – finding its commitment and support of female suffrage half-hearted….a lot of talk and promises but nothing was happening…. She invited a group of women members of the ILP to her home and together they formed the WSPU…. Their motto ~ “Deeds, not words”….

For further reading – A stitch in time….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….9th October 1897

On this day in history : 9th October 1897 – Henry Sturmey is the first person to drive from John O’Groats to Land’s End….

Image : http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Henry_Sturmey

Accompanied by mechanic Richard Ashley, in a journey that took 10 days to make, Henry Sturmey drove his 4.5 hp Daimler (one of the first in Britain) the 929 miles from one end of the land to the other…. The trip was included as part of an epic 1,600 mile tour, the longest ever car journey recorded at that time….

Sturmey was a director and acted as deputy Chairman for Daimler – he had invested heavily in the company…. He was a friend of Harry J Lawson, who was the official chairman – but who rarely attended board meetings, leaving Sturmey to stand in…. Sturmey had a reputation for being a live wire….

And indeed he was…. Known as an inventor, especially for the ‘Sturmey-Archer Three Speed Hub’ for bicycles – a collaboration with James Archer….Sturmey was also a technical editor and journalist, was one of the original editors of ‘Autocar’, which was first published in 1895 and he later founded ‘The Motor’ in January 1903…. He was also a cycle and automobile writer…. All this is a far cry from his original career as a schoolmaster, his first post being as an assistant master at Brixton Hill College….

Cross-sectional diagram of the Sturmey-Archer three-speed hub – Public domain

Sturmey took up motoring in 1895 – and motored in France, Germany, the USA and Canada – as well as here in Britain….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….8th October 1908

On this day in history : 8th October 1908 – Kenneth Grahame’s classic children’s book ‘The Wind in the Willows’ is published – and has never been out of print since….

Kenneth started work at the Bank of England in 1879 – from a junior position he worked his way up through the ranks, eventually to become Secretary of the Bank….

igrahan001p1 — Kenneth Grahame in 1910 – Public domain

In 1899 he married Elspeth Thomson and they had one son, Alistair – a sickly child, born premature, blind in one eye and suffering ill-health all his life…. His parents gave him the affectionate nickname of ‘Mouse’….

When the boy was around 4-years-old his father began to tell him bedtime stories, about four animal friends – Toad, Badger, Ratty and Mole…. When Kenneth was away from home, (often on the boating holidays he enjoyed so much), he would write home to Alistair – his letters full of more tales of the four friends…. The child was quite a headstrong and wayward boy – and Kenneth based the character of Toad on him…. Ratty was based on a good friend of his – fellow writer Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch….

In 1908 Kenneth retired early from the Bank due to ill-health…. The family moved to Crookham in Berkshire – the area where Kenneth had spent much of his childhood…. In his retirement he spent much of his time by the banks of the River Thames…. Having decided to develop his tales of Toad, Badger, Ratty and Mole he no doubt drew much of his inspiration from the river….and giving us the children’s book ‘The Wind in the Willows’ that we all grew up with and loved so much….

Ratty and Mole – Image credit : Amber Case via Flickr

Sadly Alistair, who was an under-graduate at Oxford University at the time, committed suicide on a railway track five days before his 20th birthday….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….7th October 1920

On this day in history : 7th October 1920 – Women are granted the right for full admission and to become members of Oxford University….

From the late 1870s women had been allowed to attend lectures, take the same examinations as men and gain honours…. However, they were unable to receive the degrees that they would have been entitled to had they of been men…. Between 1904 and 1907 some women travelled to Dublin – the university there being more relaxed and willing to award degrees to women – and they became known as ‘Steamboat Ladies’….

By 1920 four women’s colleges had been established;- Lady Margaret Hall, St. Hugh’s, Somerville and St. Hilda’s…. Women who had previously gained honours were able to return to ‘matriculate’ – go through the formal admission ceremony to the university – and then have the degree they were now entitled to awarded to them in another formal ceremony….At the very first of these ceremonies more than forty women attended….

Lady Margaret Hall – Herbi1922 CC BY-SA 4.0

It wasn’t totally equal rights immediately though…. A quota limiting how many women could enrol at any one time was not abolished until 1957…. The colleges remained single-sex until the 1970s – the last single-sex college, St. Benet’s Hall, finally opened its doors to women in 2015….

Students arriving for a matriculation ceremony at Oxford – Toby Ord CC BY-SA 2.5

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….6th October 1968

On this day in history : 6th October 1968 – The first three places in the United States Grand Prix are taken by British drivers – Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and John Surtees….

Jackie Stewart – Matra Ford : Jim Culp via Flickr

The 108 lap Formula One race was held at Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course, New York and was watched by a crowd of 93,000…. It was a dry and overcast day, Jackie Stewart started the race in his Matra MS10-Cosworth second on the grid…. He had been unable to defend his potential pole position as his car had suffered a broken sub-axle during the second practice day…. To the surprise of everybody pole position went to rising American Indy star Mario Andretti in his Lotus 49B-Ford – who pipped Jackie by seven one-hundredths of a second…. It was also his first ever Grand Prix start….

Mario Andretti, 1978 – Suyk, Koen/Anefo/neg. stroken CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

Jackie Stewart provided the fastest lap of the race, at 1 minute 5.22 seconds – and went on to win, with Graham Hill for Lotus second and John Surtees in his Honda third….

It must have been both a joyous yet bitter-sweet occasion for Jackie…. Earlier in the year he had lost his friend and role model – fellow Scot Jimmy Clark…. Jimmy had been racing in a Formula 2 race in wet conditions at Hockenheim, Germany in his Lotus 48 – when in the fifth lap of the first heat his car skidded off the track and hit trees…. Suffering a broken neck and skull fracture Jimmy died on the way to hospital…. The cause of the accident was never conclusively identified although it was likely due to a deflating rear tyre….