On this day in history : 13th November 1964 – The Royal Shakespeare Company performs Hamlet in Rome, to an audience which includes the Pope – who almost causes a diplomatic embarrassment….
Pope VI in 1963 – Image : Vatican City – Public domain
The RSC owns a copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays…. Printed in 1623 only 233 copies remain, many of which are incomplete…. It is one of the most valuable books in the World…. The RSC’s edition was carefully packaged and the Company carried it with them to Rome for Pope Paul VI to bless at the end of a performance of Hamlet – which was being held at the Palazzo Pio to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth….
The book was presented to the Pope and he looked through some of the pages….before graciously accepting the ‘gift’ for the Vatican Library…. Without a doubt some diplomacy and tact had to be rapidly deployed…. The 400 year old copy of the Bard’s work is now kept safely at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon….
The First Folio – Folger Shakespeare library, Washington DC – Image : Daderot CC BY-SA
On this day in history : 12th November 1933 – The first known photograph of the ‘so-called’ Loch Ness Monster is taken by Hugh Gray….
According to Gray, he had been walking along the shore of Loch Ness after attending Church – when he spotted “an object of considerable dimensions, making a big splash with spray on the surface of the Loch”…. Fortunately he just happened to have a camera with him – and although the picture is blurred it does indeed resemble a large ‘monster type’ object….but when examined closely the shape of a dog’s head can be seen…. As Gray had a Labrador, which he often took walking with him, it is suspected the image is in fact of his dog fetching a stick from the water…. However, at the time the picture caused much excitement amongst those who believed in Nessie….
In December 1933 the Daily Mail hired a well known big-game hunter by the name of Marmaduke Whetherell, to find the monster…. He was soon to return to them with evidence he had found….a series of giant footprints leading from the Loch’s shore into the water…. He believed they had been made by a soft-footed creature at least 20 feet long…. However, zoologists at the Natural History Museum identified the footprints as have being made by a dried hippopotamus foot…. At the time it was commonplace for household items, such as umbrella stands, to be made from them – so it would not have been hard to obtain such an object…. It was concluded that the prints were a hoax – it was never determined if Whetherell was involved or if he just happened to be the one to find them – but he felt humiliated and embarrassed by the Daily Mail and retreated from public life….
In 1934 another photograph was taken which caused much excitement at the time…. Known as ‘The Surgeon’s Photograph’, it was taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson and published by the Daily Mail on the 21st of April 1934…. Wilson refused to have his name associated with the picture – but as he was a London gynaecologist this is how it became known a the Surgeon’s Photograph…. Wilson claimed he had been looking out across the Loch when the creature rose from the water – he grabbed his camera and took four shots…. Only two came out when developed and one was too blurred to be of much use…. Being a respected surgeon Wilson’s story was taken very seriously…. After the Daily Mail published the image hundreds, if not thousands of people flocked to Loch Ness to see if they could get a glimpse of Nessie…. There was much speculation that it was a plesiosaur- a dinosaur that had been extinct for millions of years….
The Surgeon’s Photograph – Fair use
In 1994, sixty years after the photograph was taken, Marmaduke Whetherell’s stepson, Christopher Spurling, admitted it was a hoax and revealed his own part in it…. His stepfather, harbouring a grudge, wanted to get his own back…. He enlisted the help of Christopher, a model-maker by trade, by getting him to model a monster’s head and neck from plastic and wood – which was then fixed to a toy submarine…. How convenient a London surgeon happened to be on the shore of the Loch with a camera at the time….
On this day in history : 11th November 1920 – The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London – Britain’s monument to her war dead – is unveiled….
The Unveiling Ceremony, 11th November 1920 – Horace Nicholls – Public domain
Originally a temporary structure, made from wood and plaster, stood in its place…. It was intended as part of the first anniversary of the Armistice in 1919…. Prime Minister Lloyd George asked Edwin Lutyens to design and build it – he had just 10 days to do so…. Such was the enthusiasm and demand of the public the decision was made to provide a permanent memorial….
The Cenotaph we have today was once again designed by Lutyens – and is constructed from Portland Stone…. The name ‘Cenotaph’ comes from the Greek literally meaning ’empty tomb’…. The inscription upon it simply reads ‘The Glorious Dead’….
The Cenotaph – Whitehall. Image : Godot13 CC BY-SA 4.0
The unveiling ceremony was performed by King George V – he pressed a button on a pillar before him causing two Union Jack flags to fall…. Every year a Remembrance Service is held on Remembrance Sunday….hymns are sung, prayers are said and a two-minute silence is held…. Wreaths are laid upon the Cenotaph steps and a march by war veterans takes place – to show respect for those who have fallen…. Of course, there are no longer any veterans from WW1 to do so now….
Remembrance Sunday always falls on the Sunday closest to November the 11th….
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….
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….
Rock Island and Crookhaven Lighthouse
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….
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….
Image : Odd Wellies via Flickr
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 : 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….
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….
Portrait circa 1900 – attributed to Reginald Grenville Eves – Public domain
Cottage Capers 