British History

On this day in history….22nd March 1808

On this day in history : 22nd March 1808 – The birth of author, social reformer and feminist Caroline Norton, who campaigned for women’s rights in Victorian England….

Born Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Sheridan in London, Caroline was the granddaughter of Irish playwright and poet Richard Brinkley Sheridan…. Her father was Thomas Sheridan, a soldier and her mother was Scottish novelist Caroline Henrietta Callender…. Tragically Thomas died in 1817 whilst serving in South Africa – he left his family virtually penniless….

Caroline was the second of three daughters, all known as beauties and sometimes referred to as ‘The Three Graces’…. Caroline herself was a high-spirited girl and quick of tongue…. Her mother, finding it difficult to control her, packed her off to boarding school in Shalford, Surrey when she was 16….

Some of the girls attending the school were invited to Wonersh Park, the home of local landowner William Norton, Lord Grantley…. It was here that Caroline caught the eye of Lord Grantley’s younger brother, George Norton…. He made up his mind there and then that he was going to marry her…. He wasted no time in writing to her mother….who whilst keen to see her daughter married off, insisted that they wait for three years…. The marriage took place in 1827, she was 19 and not overly happy about the union but agreed as she was all too aware of her family’s continuing financial difficulties….

The marriage was a disaster from the start…. He was somewhat dull, jealous – and a little dim…. She was bright, quick-witted and flirtatious…. They were also completely incompatible in their political views…. Norton was a hardline Tory – and MP for Guildford – whereas Caroline had liberal tendencies and like her grandfather she supported the Whigs…. Because she dared to voice her opinions she suffered regular, savage beatings at the hands of her husband….

Caroline buried herself in her writing…. She had shown a gift for verse from an early age…. It was two such pieces, ‘The Sorrows of Rosalie’ in 1829 and ‘The Undying One’ in 1830, that led to her being appointed editor of the publications ‘La Belle Assemblee’ and ‘Court Magazine’….thus giving her some financial independence…. She counted amongst her close friends influential people, such as Mary Shelley, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Benjamin Disraeli, Edward Trelawney, Fanny Kemble and the then Home Secretary Lord Melbourne….

Portrait engraving of Caroline from one of her books – Tucker Collection – New York Library Archives – Public domain

Caroline finally left her husband in 1836…. Norton retaliated by accusing her of having an affair with Lord Melbourne…. It was a friendship he had initially encouraged – for his own gains…. Having lost his Conservative seat Norton had hoped that by using her friendship with Melbourne she could secure him a highly-paid government post…. Caroline and Melbourne, a widower who liked the ladies, were to become the subject of gossip – something Norton had in the beginning turned a blind eye to…. But once his wife had left him he sued Melbourne for seducing her…. He lost the case but Caroline’s reputation was in tatters…. To add to her misery Norton denied her access to their three young sons, Fletcher b.1829, Brinsley b.1831 and William b.1833…. Caroline’s battle against her husband for access to her boys eventually led to the Infant Custody Bill, 1839….

Norton then tried to claim the money she earned from her writing…. This prompted her to write to Queen Victoria, as part of a campaign to ensure women were supported after divorce…. The letter was published and became influential in helping the Marriage and Divorce Act 1857 succeed….

Watercolour sketch of Caroline by Emma Fergusson, 1860, National Portrait Gallery of Scotland – Image : Stephencdickson – own work CC BY-SA 4.0

Caroline herself was refused a divorce by her husband – she was not released from the legality of the marriage until his death in 1875…. Two years later, in March 1877, she married her old friend of 25 years, Sir William Stirling Maxwell, the Scottish historical writer and politician…. Sadly only three months later, on the 15th of June 1877, Caroline was to die….

On this day in history….21st March 1920

On this day in history : 21st March 1920 – The death of Evelina Haverfield, the British suffragette who during WW1 began to devote herself to helping the Serbian people….

Portrait of Honorable Evelina Haverfield by B. Cundy – The Wellcome Collection CC BY 4.0

Evelina Scarlett, the daughter of William Frederick Scarlett, 3rd Baron Abinger and Helen Magruder Scarlett, was born at Inverlochy Castle, Kingussie, Scotland on the 9th of August 1867…. She grew up in London and Inverlochy before going to school in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1880….

On the 10th of February 1887 Evelina married Royal Artillery Major Henry Wykeham Brooke Tunstall Haverfield – she was 19-years-old, he was 20 years older than her…. They had two sons, John Campbell Haverfield in 1887 followed by Brook Tunstall Haverfield in 1889…. The family made their home in Sherborne, Dorset….only Henry was to die only a few years later in 1895….

Evelina remarried on the 19th of July 1899 – another Royal Artillery Major, John Henry Balguy, a friend of her late husband…. She kept her house in Sherborne – and continued to use the name Haverfield, changing it back by deed poll just a month after the marriage…. She accompanied her new husband to South Africa during the Second World War…. Being an accomplished horsewoman herself she formed a retirement camp for horses…. After 10 years Evelina and Balguy went their separate ways as it was not a happy union, although they never actually divorced….

After joining the Sherborne branch of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Evelina attended a rally at the Royal Albert Hall…. Inspired she then in 1908 joined the Women’s Social and Political Union, founded by Emmeline Pankhurst…. She was arrested several times, once with Emmeline during a demonstration, another time along with 200 other suffragettes for smashing windows and in 1910 for assaulting a police officer…. She reportedly claimed in court that she had not hit him hard enough and “next time I will bring a revolver!” She eventually found herself in Holloway serving a two week sentence after attempting to break through a police cordon outside the House of Parliament…..

In 1911 Evelina began a relationship with Vera ‘Jack’’ Holme, also known as the Pankhursts’ Chauffeur……it was a friendship that was to last for the rest of her life…. They soon began to live together, quite possibly as a couple – and Vera made Evelina the sole heir in her Will….

Not a lot is known about the early life of Vera Holme…. She was born on the 29th of August 1881 in Birkdale, Lancashire to parents Richard and Mary Holme…. She may have been educated in France before becoming an actress…. Vera was known to be a lesbian, she tended to dress in masculine clothes and adopted mannish mannerisms…. She joined the WSPU in 1908, soon becoming an active member, working alongside the likes of Annie Kennedy, Clara Codd and Elsie Howey…. It was in 1909 that a wealthy supporter of the WSPU bought Emmeline Pankhurst an automobile that Vera was appointed her chauffeur…. Vera also spent time in Holloway….during 1911 after being convicted of stone throwing….

Vera ‘Jack’ Holme – LSE Library via Flickr

At the outbreak of WW1 Evelina founded the Women’s Emergency Corps, to help with the war effort….an organisation that helped women to become doctors, nurses and motorcycle messengers….

In 1915 she received instructions to organise the dispatch of the Scottish Women’s Hospital units to Serbia, an expedition she herself accompanied…. The Scottish Women’s Hospital to Foreign Services had been founded in 1914, providing nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers, cooks and orderlies to what was to become four hospitals in Serbia…. The conditions in Serbia were beyond dire….the Serbian army had just 300 doctors for half a million men…. As well as battle injuries to contend with there was also a typhus epidemic affecting both the military and civilians alike…. However, in 1916 the volunteers were forced to leave after Serbia was finally invaded…. A hard resistance campaign had been fought against the invading Austrians but eventually starvation, disease and exhaustion were to take their toll in the winter of 1915 – Serbia could no longer hold out….

In August 1916 Evelina was dispatched to Serbia via Russia as ‘Head of Transport Column’ – she was in charge of an army of 75 women…. She was then later to co-found with Flora Sandes the ‘Evelina Haverfield’s and Flora Sandes’ Fund for Promoting Comforts for Serbian Soldiers and Prisoners’…. Back in England she raised awareness of the situation in Serbia….

Flora Sandes in Serbian Army uniform ca.1918 – Public domain

After the War Evelina and Vera travelled back to Serbia and they set up a children’s health centre and orphanage in the small mountain town of Bajina Bašta…. The centre was later to be named after her – and she was to receive the highest Serbian award….the Order of the White Eagle….

On the 21stof March 1920 Evelina died of pneumonia…. She was buried with full military honours of the cemetery in Bajina Bašta…. Shops and offices closed for the day and all the inhabitants of the town attended…. Her work was continued after her death – a British medical mission remained in Bajina Bašta until 1922; now a hospital stands in its place where a plaque commemorating Evelina Haverfield hangs…. She is still held in the highest esteem by the Serbian people….

Evelina Haverfield on a 2015 Serbian postage stamp – Post of Serbia – Public domain

On her death Evelina left Vera £50 a year for life in her Will – even though it was contested by the man who was still legally her husband….

British History

On this day in history….20th March 1917

On this day in history : 20th March 1917 – The birth, in East Ham, London, of singer, songwriter and actress Dame Vera Lynn – known as ‘the Forces’ Sweetheart’….

Dame Vera Lynn in 1962 – Eric Koch / Anefo – National Archief Netherlands CC BY-SA 3.0

Born Vera Margaret Welch, into a working class family, she began to sing in working mens’ clubs at the age of 7…. When she was 11 she took her grandmother’s maiden name of ‘Lynn’ as her stage name and joined a singing troupe – ‘Madame Harris’s Kracker Kabaret Kids’….

Vera left school at the age of 14 and was spotted by a booking agent, who found her work at events and parties…. She began to perform on the radio in 1935 with Joe Loss and his orchestra….and in 1936 her first solo recording ‘Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire’ was released…. Her first hits came in 1937 with ‘Red Sails in the Sunset’ and ‘The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot’….

But Vera is probably best known for her 1939 trademark song ‘We’ll Meet Again’, written by the young composers Ross Parker and Hughie Charles, which became popular in World War 2 – as did ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’….

In 1941 Vera was given her own radio show, ‘Sincerely Yours’, which sent messages to the troops serving overseas….she and her band would perform requests…. It was also in 1941 that Vera married Harry Lewis, a clarinetist and saxophonist…. They had one child, a daughter, Virginia Penelope Anne Lewis….

Singing in a munitions factory 1941 – Ministry of Information, Photo Division photographer – Public domain

Vera appeared in the films ‘We’ll Meet Again’ and ‘Rhythm Serenade’ in 1943…. During the War she also toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving concerts as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association….

After the War the family moved to Finchley, North London…. It was the early 1960s that they relocated to Ditchling in East Sussex – and is where Vera lived for the rest of her life…. Her husband died in 1998….

Dame Vera Lynn in 1973 – Allan Warren – own work CC BY-SA 3.0

Her popularity continued after the War and then in 1952 her record ‘Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart’ became the first release by a British artist to top the US charts – where it stayed for nine weeks….

During the late 1960s and early 70s Vera hosted her own variety shows on BBC1 – she also appeared as a guest on other shows, such as Morcambe & Wise …. She appeared at the Royal Variety Performance four times…. In 1969 Vera was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE)…. Then in 1975 she was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)…. In 2017 Dame Vera became the oldest living artist to have an album in the top 10 of the British charts – with ‘100’ to celebrate her 100th birthday….

Dame Vera Lynn 2009 – at the War and Peace Show…. Photo credit : Nicki via Flickr

She wrote three memoirs – ‘Vocal Refrain’, 1975, ‘We’ll Meet Again’, 1989 and ‘Some Sunny Day’, 2009….

Dame Vera Lynn died on the 18th of June 2020, aged 103, at her home in Ditchling…. She was given a military funeral, with a procession from her home to Woodvale Crematorium, Brighton on the 10th of July 2020…. The route was lined by those wishing to pay their respects – members of the British Army, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Royal British Legion accompanied her cortège….and she was honoured with a Battle of Britain Spitfire flypast….

British History

On this day in history….19th March 1649

On this day in history : 19th March 1649 – The House of Commons passes an Act abolishing the House of Lords, declaring it “useless and dangerous to the people of England”….

During the reigns of the Tudor monarchs the Crown had steadily grown in power, reaching its height with the reign of King Henry VIII…. The House of Lords continued to be more powerful than the House of Commons – but the Commons was growing in its influence….

When King Charles I came to power he clashed with Parliament over tax revenues and this eventually led to the English Civil Wars…. Charles lost both the first and second Civil War and after his execution the country fell under the control of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland…. On the 17th of March 1649 the Monarchy was abolished….

Now the Parliamentarians turned their attention to the House of Lords…. Although its power had diminished with the Bishops Exclusion Act of 1642 there were still enough royal sympathisers to be a nuisance…. So, two days after getting rid of the Monarchy the House of Lords was abolished by an Act of Parliament declaring “The Commons of England by too long experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous to the people of England”….

The House of Lords did not reassemble until 1660, once the Monarchy had been restored and King Charles II had taken the throne….

British History

On this day in history….18th March 1834

On this day in history : 18th March 1834 – A group of six farm labourers from the village of Tolpuddle, Dorset, are sentenced to transportation to Australia for forming a trade union….

Although trade unions were not technically illegal, laws – known as the ‘Combination Acts’ – had been passed outlawing organised methods of gaining improved working conditions…. They proved to be so unpopular that after being repealed in 1824 they were replaced with the ‘Combinations of Workmen Act 1825’….Trade unions had now been legalised but were tightly restricted in their powers….

This was something that became all too evident to 37-year-old George Loveless, a Methodist preacher from Tolpuddle, who led discussions with local landowners about the recent lowering of agricultural wages…. An agreement was made to raise the weekly wage to 10 shillings – however, in Tolpuddle the landowners would only raise it to 9 shillings…. They then lowered it to 7 and were threatening to cut it again, to 6 shillings….

In 1833 six men, led by George Loveless, formed the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers…. They were eventually to become known as the ‘Tolpuddle Martyrs’ and included Loveless himself, his brother James, their brother-in-law Thomas Standfield (in who’s cottage they would meet), another Thomas Standfield (their nephew) – and two other men, James Hammett and James Brine…. Their aim was to protest against the lowering of the agricultural wage – but with the emphasis on being a friendly society….

Landowners were determined to stamp out all organised protests….memories of the French Revolution still being very fresh…. It was magistrate and local landowner James Frampton who wrote to the then Home Secretary, Lord Melbourne, to complain of this new ‘trade union’…. Melbourne suggested using the ‘Unlawful Oaths Act 1797’ – an obscure law brought into force in 1797 in response to the Spithead and Nore Mutinies by sailors in the Royal Navy…. It made making secret oaths illegal – and it was under this charge that the six men from Tolpuddle were arrested….

The men were brought before Sir John Williams at the Dorchester Assizes, where they were found guilty and sentenced to 7 years transportation to the Australian colonies…. On the 25th of May 1833 the six set sail on the ‘Surry’ from Portsmouth, bound for New South Wales…. Loveless did not make it that far, due to illness he disembarked early on the 4th of September and ended up at Van Dieman’s Land (changed to Tasmania in 1856)…. The others sailed on to Sydney and all six were assigned to the role of farm labourer….

Meanwhile, back in England, the six men had become heroes amongst the working classes…. Some 800,000 had signed a petition calling for their release, which was then delivered to Parliament…. Protests took place and a march involving thousands was organised through London – it was to be one of the first ever successful marches of its kind in the United Kingdom…. Collections were made to support the families of the men…. George Loveless himself had left behind a wife, Betsy and three children….

The Shelter, Tolpuddle – erected as a memorial in 1934 – image John Goodall CC BY-SA 2.0

The transported men were eventually pardoned in March 1836, with support from the new Home Secretary, Lord John Russell…. By now Loveless had asked his wife to join him on Van Dieman’s Land but after receiving a letter on the 23rd December saying she would not be coming he set sail for England – arriving on the 13th of June 1837….

Due to delays by the authorities in releasing the remaining men from their duties, the others (with the exception of James Hammett) did not get to leave until the 11th of September – finally arriving back in Plymouth on the ‘John Barry’ on the 17th of March 1838…. Hammett, having been charged with assault, arrived back in August 1839…. The Tolpuddle Martyrs were all finally back home…. An annual festival is now held in Tolpuddle to commemorate the events that were to lead to the foundation of today’s modern trade unions….