We had an interesting talk about Mary Chapman and the Bethel Hospital on Tuesday. It was interesting and somewhat disturbing to learn about the treatments for mental health in 18th century Britain and it was because of Mary's pioneering work that some of these treatments were changed. For those that would like to read some more about Mary, here is an article from the Norfolk Record Office:
Since I saw the last Mary Queen of Scots film which had Adrian Lester playing one of Queen Elizabeth’s advisers, I have always wondered whether there were prominent black people in Tudor society and it appears there were. It all started with Catherine of Aragon and her entourage which included Moors from her native country. One such black person became a freeman of the City of York but who was he? Over 300,000 poor souls were transported across the Atlantic in bondage mainly by the Spanish and Portuguese but of course some by Francis Drake, so did many of these find their way into Tudor society? There is evidence that Francis Drake held one such captive in such high regard that he named a fort after him. To answer these questions and learn more, please select the following article:
https://www.tudorsociety.com/africans-in-tudor-and-stuart-england-by-conor-byrne/#google_vignette
Many thanks to Pat Wright for her talk on Dragon Hall on Tuesday. It's an incredible building and a shame that I haven't visited it yet. Hopefully this will be soon rectified. For those that would like to read some more about the history of Dragon Hall, here is an article from their website:
https://www.dragonhallnorwich.org.uk/pages/history-of-dragon-hall.html
I thought the following would be of interest after seeing his name mentioned under a Black Lives Matter article. John was a trumpeter for Henry VIII and he petitioned Henry for a pay rise - brave man! It is also apparent that John is a free man not a slave and probably a Christian. He also knew his value to the King which prompted this bold move. How much of a pay rise did he require? What were his reasons? Was he successful? What did the King buy him as a wedding gift? To answer these questions and learn more, please select the following article:
The extended Bayeux Tapestry in Norwich castle tells the story of Emma De Gauder. She was a noble woman who held Norwich castle against the King and she was only sixteen years old. She even held the castle for three months and also negotiated her safe passage. This was connected to what was known as the “Revolt of the Earls” and Emma and her husband Ralph De Gauder were an integral part of this. To find out more, please select the following links:
https://rosiesplaques.com/pages/plaque-emma-de-gauder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Earls
Here is an article about some of the most intriguing Norfolk village signs:
https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/norfolk/22614887.norfolks-village-signs-13-interesting/
I don’t normally like including Wikipedia as a source but this was the best article I could find about the background to village signs. I didn’t realise that it all started in Norfolk with Edward VII - something else we are indebted to him (remember he brought the Victorians to Norfolk and helped to establish resorts such as Hunstanton and Cromer). To find out more please read the following article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Village_sign
