You may recall that I sent a link out recently of the forthcoming events by the Norwich Records Office. This is one of their presentations focusing on Bullard’s and the Norfolk brewing industry. Of course it was safer to drink beer than water in 19th century Norwich but how many brewers were there? Why were some inns named “Arms”? Who was Paul Pry? Why were some inns named “The Horse Shoe Inn”? To find answers to these questions and find out more please select the following link and press play (you may also need to move the red bar to the start):
Tuesday 17 November 2020
Thursday 12 November 2020
The National Day of Mourning (Volkstrauertag)
I have always wondered what Germany’s equivalent of Remembrance Day is? How does Germany remember the the victims of war and tyranny? What wartime song do they sing in Parliament? They treat this as an occasion not only to mourn the dead but also to illustrate the tragedy of war and to speak out for peace. To find out more, please select the following article:
Ten Stories Of Wartime Sacrifice
Here are some stories of sacrifice for which we owe so much. So who were the Canary Girls and what did they do? What dangers did they face? Who was the sixteen year old who won a VC at the Battle of Jutland? Doctor Noel Chavasse was the only man to get the Victoria Cross and Bar in the First World War but how did he win it? There is also a story about a Scottish missionary who looked after 400 girls who died in Auschwitz. To obtain answers to these questions and to find out more, please select the following link:
We Shall Keep the Faith by Moina Michael
I am always moved by the Remembrance Day Services as we honour the sacrifices made by our armed forces. I do hope this continues for future generations. Anyway, the first item is a lovely wartime poem:
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.
And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.
And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields
Tuesday 3 November 2020
Lions At Colney Hall
Tony Harper has suggested this fascinating article. Can you believe that lions were kept at Colney Hall. Where did they come from and how did they get to Norfolk? And did one go them really kill a member of the Barclay family? To find out more please access the following link:
https://www.edp24.co.uk/features/barclay-colney-hall-1-5318789
Human Touches at St Andrew's, Frenze, South Norfolk
Colin has started writing on a blog called Ragged Ramblers, he writes under the moniker of ‘Munro Tweeder-Harris, Esq.’ He has written three articles recently and here is one of them. It is about St Andrews Church at Frenze in South Norfolk. This wonderful little church has an excellent Tudor brick porch with some medieval finger prints and some medieval graffiti. If you would like to find out more then please select the following article and also take time to explore this wonderful blog:
Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights in Norfolk
Rachel at the Heritage Centre has informed us that they have launched an online exhibition/blog in partnership with the British Library’s Living Knowledge Network called “Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights in Norfolk.” This is to support the British Library’s exhibition which has opened today. The website can be accessed via this link:
https://unfinishedbusinessnorfolk.wordpress.com/.
They are also running a programme of online events, including talks by Frank Meeres and Gill Blanchard, which may be of interest to you. These can be accessed via the following link:
History Behind Common Superstitions
On a related theme, here is an article on common superstitions that remain to this day. So why did the Ancient Romans believe that breaking a mirror would bring bad luck? Why is sneezing a risky activity? The Egyptian umbrella was only used by the nobility and its shade was sacred. In the 14th century, black cats were thought to be causing Black Death. Why do you break the trinity when walking under a ladder? To answer these questions and find out more please select the following article:
https://www.insider.com/history-origin-people-superstitions-2018-4
10 things you didn’t know about Halloween!
It’s that time of year again! So what is the history of Halloween - I always thought it came from America? Does it have religious origins? It appears they don’t carve pumpkins in Somerset, instead they carve mangel-wurzels but what do the children chant? It looks like Trick or Treat came from America (I knew there was an America connection)! So where did the supernatural and scary bits come from? It was even once romantic. To answer these questions and find out more please select the following article:
https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/halloween-history-facts-pumpkins-ghosts/
Henry Walpole (1558 - 1595)
Here is another interesting article on the Walpole family. The family name originates from the Norman conquest and was derived from the Old English words welle, meaning well, and pol, meaning pool, and refers to a pool formed by a well. We all know about Robert Walpole the Prime Minister, but who was Henry Walpole? An English Jesuit martyr from Docking, Norfolk who was executed at York for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy during Elizabeth I’s reign. Yes - atrocities occurred during her reign! Where did he become a follower of the Jesuits? When was he beatified and canonised? To answer these questions and find out more please select the following article:
Mannington Hall
I was out walking with the Ramblers last Thursday at Mannington Hall near Corpusty on the Holt Road and I wondered what its history was. It is a lovely 15th century moated house built in iron stained flint. William Lumnor built it in 1460 but where did the oaks come from (clue: from a very influential Norfolk family of the time)? It is the current home of the Walpole family but when did it become a Walpole home? How many varieties of roses are in its gardens? What scandal was the 4th Earl of Orford involved in? To answer these questions and find out more please select the following articles:
Ketteringham Hall
I visited Ketteringham Hall for the first time on Sunday - oh what a lovely place! There is also an Orangery there that has some lovely home made cakes and pastries. We didn’t eat there but we have made a note to go back. There is a lovely view if you sit outside. This gave me the idea for a related article on the history of Ketteringham Hall. The best article I could find was by Britain but Car - so not the normal historical source! Did you know it is reputed to be the home of Lady Jane Grey - the nine day queen? What was it’s military purpose during WWII? And what is it’s connection to Lotus cars? To answer these questions and learn more, please select the following article:
https://www.britainbycar.co.uk/ketteringham/339-ketteringham-hall
Earl Grey Tea
My wife loves Early Grey Tea. Long gone are the days when only the rich drank it. I thought a related article would be of interest. Where did it come from? As is often the case, there are a number of theories. Who was Earl Grey? How was Bergamot oil used to flavour the tea? To answer these questions and learn more, please select the following article:
Africans in Tudor and Stuart England
Here is another related article. 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/
John Blanke
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:
Norfolk Record Office - News and Events October 2020
Colin has asked me to circulate the up coming news and events from the Norfolk Record Office, please see the below email.
https://norfolkrecordofficeblog.org/events/
Norfolk Village Signs
I recently saw a book on village signs and I thought that a related article would be of interest. 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
This is another interesting website where you can select the village sign and view the lovely
photographs. Some of these provide details of the type of sign, wooden/metal and the depicted images. To find out more please select the following link and explore the village signs by selecting one at a time:
This is an EDP article that outlines 10 things you never knew about Norfolk village signs. Which village sign depicts what is believed to be the oldest valentine message? Where will you find the newest village sign? And who was Harry Carter? To find out more please read the following article:
The Gin Craze
The effects of the consumption of gin on the inner city population of London during the 18th century has been compared to the impact of crack cocaine on the American inner city ghettos. It was the arrival of William of Orange to the English throne in 1689 that drove the popularity of jenever (clear, botanically rich, malted grain-based spirit) in England and turned gin from being a medicine to a fashionable drink. It resulted in Eight Gin Acts! Did these Acts achieve their objective? Who were the professional informers? What was the shocking case of Judith Defour? To find out more please read the following article:
https://www.diffordsguide.com/g/1108/gin/history-of-gin-1728-1794
The Window Tax
We have been discussing methods of taxation in one of my U3A History Groups, so I thought a related article may be of interest. Introduced in 1696 this tax was intended to tax the rich more and the poor less - but did it achieve it? How did inhabitants try to avoid paying the tax? What was the impact on public health? And what constituted a window? To find out more please read the following article:
Life A Hundred Years Ago - Would You Fancy It?
This is an interesting article from the EDP. It outlines the fashions, foodstuffs, entertainments of the day. How much would a Cadillac car cost you? Which King visited Norwich? How much could you buy a brick built villa for in Ipswich? And there were still hangings taking place in Norwich. To find out more please read the following article:
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/history-norfolk-and-suffolk-in-the-1920s-1-6445511
The Captain's Parks
The following is an interesting article from the excellent Colonel Unthanks Norwich website. It is about Captain Arnold Edward Sandys-Winsch who built five parks throughout Norwich during the 1920s and 1930s. But what parks did he build and in what architectural style? He also planted 20,000 trees throughout Norwich which we all enjoy today and probably take for granted. What manpower was used to build these parks? There is also a 1950s cafe menu included in the article which is also worth a look and is very much different to the menus we see today! Please select the following link to find out more:
https://colonelunthanksnorwich.com/2019/07/05/the-captains-parks/
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