British History

On this day in history….26th December 1900

On this day in history : 26th December 1900 – The discovery is made that the keepers of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse have disappeared without a trace…. The mystery still remains unsolved today….

The lighthouse is to be found on Ellean Mor, one of the uninhabited Flannan Islands of the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland…. The islands were named for St. Flannan, a 6th century Irish Bishop who later became a saint…. Apart from the lighthouse, which is still in use today, the only other building to be found on the islands is a ruined chapel….

On the 15th of December 1900 it had been noticed that there was no light shining from the lighthouse…. At the time it was manned by three keepers, James Ducat, Thomas Marshall and William MacArthur…. All were experienced, seasoned seafarers….

A ship, captained by James Harvey, was despatched to carry replacement keeper Joseph Moore to investigate what was going on…. When they arrived at the landing platform they were surprised to see nobody was there to greet them, as approaching visitors were always spotted well in advance…. The crew sounded the ship’s horn and sent up a flare to attract attention – but still nobody appeared…. There was no sign of life anywhere, not even the flag was flying from the flagpole….

Moore rowed ashore with a great sense of unease…. He could not help but notice the disarray at the landing area; a crate that housed ropes and equipment had been severely damaged…. He climbed the steep steps to the lighthouse – and found the door unlocked…. Just inside, where three sets of oilskins should have been hanging, he found just one set…. He ventured into the kitchen and discovered a chaotic scene…. A chair had been overturned and there were the remains of a meal which had obviously been abandoned half way through…. The kitchen clock had stopped…. Moore searched the rest of the lighthouse, the beds were unmade and the place was deserted….

He returned to the ship and a search of the island was organised – but there was nothing to be found…. A telegram was sent to the Northern Lighthouse Board : “A dreadful accident has happened at Flannans. The three keepers, Ducat, Marshall and the occasional have disappeared from the island. On our arrival there this afternoon no sign of life was to be seen on the island”…. The message went on to say the accident must have happened about a week before and that the poor fellows must have been blown over a cliff or drowned trying to secure a crate of similar…. Whatever had happened it was assumed they had been claimed by the sea….

On the 29th on December the Board’s Superintendent, Robert Muirhead, arrived to investigate…. He knew the three missing keepers personally, as he had recruited them…. He initially found nothing else that Moore had not already discovered – but then he turned his attention to the lighthouse logbook and found some surprising entries…. One for the 12th of December read: “Severe winds the likes of which I have never seen before in twenty years” – this in itself was odd as there had been no reported storms in the area before the 17th…. The log went on to say that James Ducat had been very quiet and that William MacArthur had been crying…. Again this did not add up – the men were all tough, in fact MacArthur had a reputation for brawling…. All three were used to life in a lighthouse – and this particular one was brand new and the safest of the safe – so it was unlikely that any of them would have cracked…. The last entry on the 15th of December read : “Storm ended, sea calm, God is over all”…. It had also been noted in the log that the men had been praying….

There were many unanswered questions – not least why the men had broken one of the strictest rules of their employment…. On no occasion whatsoever were they to leave the lighthouse unmanned – one of them had to be inside at all times…. Yet, for whatever reason, all three of them had left it….

There was much speculation as to what had happened…. Had they gone mad? Had one of them murdered the other two? Was it a sea monster that had taken them – or were they abducted by aliens? Was it the supernatural? Had they absconded to a better life? We shall never know…. The most plausible explanation is perhaps that two of them went to secure the storage crate on the landing platform – seeing his mates in trouble the third went to try and help them, only for all three to be swept away by a freak wave…. No bodies were ever found….

Over the following years future lighthouse keepers at Flannan reported strange goings on…. They told of voices crying out the names of Thomas Marshall, James Ducat and Donald MacArthur…. Considering the experience of these three lighthouse keepers – and the apparent calmness of the sea before their disappearance – maybe it is only these ghosts who will ever know what really happened….

Flannan Isles Lighthouse, 1912 postcard – Image credit : CartoonPeril2011 via Flickr

On this day in history….25th December 1864

On this day in history : 25th December 1864 – The first traditional Christmas Day swimming race in London’s Hyde Park Serpentine Lake takes place….

The Serpentine had been formed between 1730-33 and was the idea of Queen Caroline, wife of King George II…. as she had wanted an ornamental lake in Hyde Park…. There is some evidence that swimming races had been held informally since the 1830s as swimming clubs such as the London Swimming Club had been using it…. However, it was the Serpentine Swimming Club who first brought some structure to the proceedings….

The first 100yd Christmas Day race was won by H.Coulter – and it is an event that has been held every year since…. In 1904 it became known as the Peter Pan Cup as in this year a trophy was presented to the winner by James Barrie, author of Peter Pan…. It was the first time a trophy was given – as previous winners had received a gold medal…. Barrie lived in nearby Bayswater and was a regular visitor to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park – he would undoubtedly have watched the swimmers from time to time…. In 1904 his play Peter Pan made its debut on the London stage….

The Serpentine Swimming Club holds a race in the lake every Saturday throughout the year…. The Christmas Day race is only open to club members and to take part swimmers need to qualify by participating in 7 out of the 9 Winter races…. The December 25th race starts at 9am sharp and the swimmers wear just their bathing costumes, wet suits are not permitted – and the water is usually below a very chilly 4 degrees C…!!

British History

On this day in history….24th December 1914

On this day in history : 24th December 1914 – The first aerial bomb to be dropped on British soil lands on a rectory lawn in Dover, after being launched from a German Friedrichshafen FF 29 Seaplane….

Friedrichshafen FF 29 seaplane (on the deck of a German WW1 submarine) – Public domain

It landed in a garden near to Taswell Street, Dover – blowing the windows out of the house, a gardener out of a tree and leaving behind a 10ft crater….

It is believed the bomb had been intended for Dover Castle, which was nearby and being used as a military base during World War One….

On hearing the massive explosion residents of Dover believed the port town was being shelled – as only a few days before such attacks had been carried out on Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool on the north east coast….

People had not even been aware that bombs could be dropped from aeroplanes…. By the end of the War 184 bombs had been dropped on Dover, killing 23 people and injuring a further 71….

A fragment of the first bomb is now held by the Imperial War Museums – after it had been presented to King George V….

A variety of the bombs used by the Germans in WW1 – Public domain

British History

On this day in history….23rd December 1834

On this day in history : 23rd December 1834 – English architect Joseph Hansom patents the horse drawn taxi that becomes known as the Hansom Cab….

Hansom was a prolific architect from York, who designed some 200 buildings, including Birmingham Town Hall, Arundel Cathedral, the Oxford Oratory and the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Portsmouth…. He also designed many other churches and public buildings….

Birmingham Town Hall – Image credit : Very Quiet CC BY-SA 2.0

After designing his safety cab it was suggested by his employer that he patent it – and so he did in December 1834…. His cab had a lower centre of gravity than its contemporaries, with larger wheels and a suspended axle…. This gave a more comfortable ride and made it safer than existing carriages….

Hansom Cab – Image credit : Andrew Dunn CC BY-SA 2.0

Hansom sold his design and patent on to a manufacturing company for £10,000…. However, the company got into financial difficulties and so he never received his money…. The first Hansom Cab travelled down Coventry Road in Hinkley, Leicestershire in 1835….

The cabs soon began to appear on the streets of London and proved to become very popular…. They were fast and light enough to be pulled by one horse; their agility meant they could be easily steered around the traffic jams congesting the busy city centre…. It was not long before other cities in the UK and Ireland welcomed them and they went on to spread across continental cities such as Paris, Berlin and St. Petersburg…. They were used across the Empire – and became especially common in New York…. But by 1908 they were in decline as they were beginning to be widely replaced by motor vehicles….

British History

On this day in history….22nd December 1909

On this day in history : 22nd December 1909 – The birth of BAFTA award winning actress Patricia Hayes – who appeared in so many much loved radio and television comedy shows….

Patricia was born in Streatham, London…. Her father, George Frederick Hayes, was a civil service clerk and her mother, Florence Alice, was a school teacher…. After attending school in Hammersmith Patricia joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the age of 18 – having already made her stage debut when she was just 12 years old…. After her training she was to spend the next ten years in the repertory theatre….

She married actor Valentine Brooke in 1939 and they were to have three children, two daughters and a son, the actor Richard O’Callaghan…. Patricia and her husband were to divorce in 1951, she never remarried….

During the 1940s she appeared in numerous films, including Went the Day Well? in 1942 and Nicholas Nickleby in 1947 – but during the 1950s it was radio and TV comedy that she was to become well-known for…. Her work included Hancock’s Half Hour, The Benny Hill Show, The Arthur Askey Show and Till Death Us Do Part…. She was frequently cast in the roles of Cockney characters…. She would still occasionally undertake film work, appearing in films such as The Bargee in 1964, The NeverEnding Story in 1984, A Fish Called Wanda in 1988 and Willow in 1988….

Theatrical release poster for The NeverEnding Story

But it was in 1971 that Patricia took on a very different role to her usual comedy characters, when she stared in Jeremy Sandford’s Play for Today Edna, the Inebriate Woman…. Her powerful portrayal of the drunk and troubled Edna won her a BAFTA…. After this it would have been easy to alter the path of her career to follow a route of more serious roles – but Patricia chose to return to the comedy she did so well….

She was awarded with an OBE in 1987…. She continued acting well into the 1990s with appearances in ITV’s The Bill and the BBC’s Lovejoy…. Patricia died on the 19th of September 1998 in the Surrey village of Puttenham and is buried in Watts Cemetery, Compton…. Her last film Crime and Punishment was released posthumously in 2002….