British History
Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘British History’
Harald Hardrada made sure that his fate was never out of his own hands.
For a time, exiled Norwegian prince Harald Hardrada captained the Varangian Guard, Scandinavians in the service of the Roman Emperor. In 1038, he helped General Giorgios Maniakis win back Sicily from the Arabs, yet it annoyed Giorgios that Harald’s men always picked the best places to camp, and the matter nearly came to blows.
The editor of the country’s most famous newspaper had to use a little sleight-of-hand to bring journalism to the people.
The best kind of automation creates jobs and raises wages by increasing productivity. Unfortunately, when the Times introduced steam presses in 1814 many workers and activists still did not understand this, and it took daring and a little deception to help Progress on her way.
A French sea-captain let his tongue wag over dinner, and New Zealand’s destiny took a different turn.
When Britain finally decided to make a colony of New Zealand, she sent Captain William Hobson (1792-1842) of the Royal Navy to North Island, as Lieutenant to the Governor of New South Wales in Australia. He landed at Kororareka (now Russell) in the Bay of Islands on January 29th, 1840.
Edmund Burke warned that the French Revolution could have a devastating effect on British and European culture.
Edmund Burke (1729-1797) regarded the fates of England and France as closely intertwined, and consequently the catastrophic events of the French Revolution in 1789 made him afraid for England. If France falls into tyranny and moral decline, he warned, it will be that much harder for England to resist going the same way.
After a hundred and forty-two slaves were tossed overboard in an insurance scam, Granville Sharp wouldn’t let the matter rest.
The scandal of the slave-ship ‘Zong’ was one of the turning points in the campaign to end slavery throughout the British Empire. As so often, the quest for justice was led by self-taught jurist Granville Sharp, who turned to the Press after a sensational court case had failed to deliver any kind of justice at all.
Royalist soldier Sir Jacob Ashly exemplified a Christian gentleman in the heat of battle.
As secretary to the Chancellor of Oxford University, William King moved among elevated but sometimes tactless company. He remembered one dinner-time conversation in 1715 during which Sir William Wyndham, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, joked about prayer right in front of Lord Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester.