619
The blacksmiths of Crowley’s ironworks in Winlaton and Swalwell took it upon themselves to regulate prices in the markets of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
When at the end of Pride and Prejudice (1811) Jane Austen banished George Wickham to serve in a militia regiment in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, she was not sending him out of harm’s way. Lydia might enjoy the town’s musical salons and Theatre Royal, but all around was a hive of heavy industry and radical politics. Both had long been dominated by Crowley’s Crew, articulate freethinkers among the blacksmiths of Crowley’s ironworks at Winlaton.
Posted June 14 2020
620
In 1770, agriculturist Arthur Young published his diary of a six-month tour of the north of England, which included a visit to the coalfields and ironworks of the Tyne.
In 1770, Arthur Young published his diary of a six months’ tour of the north of England. It included a visit to Newcastle, where he found a busy town prospering on the twin industries of the coal mine and the ironworks. Here, he gives his London readers a taste of the noisy, dirty but profitable business by the Tyne, and notes how the city’s fortunes rose and fell with the fortunes of war.
Posted June 13 2020
621
In 1807, the Government in Canada urged the leaders of the Five Nations to join with them in a medical revolution.
On November 8th, 1807, at Fort George in Upper Canada, leaders of Canada’s indigenous peoples were presented with an information pack explaining the newly developed science of vaccination, written by pioneering epidemiologist Edward Jenner. It was William Claus (1765-1826), Deputy Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, who spoke for Jenner.
Posted May 27 2020
622
A much-travelled Spanish visitor amazes an English audience with his tales of wonder overseas, until he is brought up short by his servant.
As a young man, James Howell (?1594-1666) had toured extensively abroad and studied several foreign languages. In 1642, his lavish tastes landed him in the Fleet prison for debt, and there he began to write professionally; that same year, he published a handbook on travel, in which he made a little digression on the subject of the tales travellers tell on their return.
Posted May 25 2020
623
On Easter night, monk Reginald woke from a doze to find the aged hermit Godric singing lustily.
St Godric of Finchale (?1065-1170) was a bed-ridden invalid near the end of a long and eventful life when Reginald, a monk from the nearby Durham Abbey, went to see him in his hermitage in a bend of the River Wear. It was a Saturday, the night before Easter Day. Back in the Abbey church, the monks were eagerly awaiting the sunrise, but Reginald had dozed off.
Posted May 22 2020
624
William Cowper’s peace was shattered by the arrival of a Parliamentary candidate doorstepping his Buckinghamshire constituents.
In December 1783, after losing the American colonies to independence, King George III sacked the Government and appointed 24-year-old William Pitt as Prime Minister; on March 25th, a Parliament in uproar was dissolved in readiness for a general election. Just days later, William Grenville MP came calling on William Cowper — somewhat uncomfortably, as Grenville supported Pitt and Cowper did not.
Posted May 18 2020