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Joseph Joachim was regarded by most people in Europe as the greatest violinist ever, but in the home of Sterndale Bennett there was a dissenting voice.
Pianist, composer and teacher Sir William Sterndale Bennett (1816-1875) enjoyed the friendship and respect of many illustrious figures in the world of music, including Felix Mendelssohn, Jenny Lind, Robert and Clara Schumann. Bennett appeared alongside supreme violinist Joseph Joachim on many occasions, but not everyone in the Bennett household shared Sterndale’s admiration for the great man.
Posted December 27 2020
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When Elizabeth Fry asked if she could lead prayers for the women inside Newgate gaol, the Governor was momentarily confused.
Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) sprang to the public’s attention in 1813, after asking the Governor of Newgate prison if she might be allowed to read prayers for the female inmates. To his amazement she wanted to do it not through the railings of the outer courtyard, but inside the gaol. And to his credit the Governor, feebly informing her that there was no precedent for such a thing, said Yes.
Posted December 25 2020
501
Toby ‘Trotty’ Veck used to love hearing the church bells ring the New Year in, but now the chimes make him feel guilty, and afraid for the world.
It is New Year’s Eve, but old Toby ‘Trotty’ Veck, a hard-up widower, is not celebrating. Alderman Cute has got him so worked up about a sustainable economy, food injustice and industrialisation that Trotty despairs for future generations if things carry on as they are. Even the church bells seem to toll the death knell of Victorian England. But that night, the spirits of the bells rise up to demand an apology.
Posted December 21 2020
502
Cricketing legend W. G. Grace tells a story illustrating how fellow-batsman K. S. Ranjitsinhji set about winning the hearts of English cricketers.
“Among cricketers” wrote that great cricketing legend Dr W. G. Grace, “‘Ranji’ is exceedingly popular, his open-hearted generosity and geniality having captured all their hearts.” But when K. S. Ranjitsinhji (1872-1933) first came up to Cambridge in 1888, he had yet to win his popularity — even as he had yet to win his crown as Prince of Nawanagar. From this story, it is easy to see how Ranji wore down the barriers.
Posted December 20 2020
503
Rikki-tikki-tavi had never met a cobra before, but when the first thrill of fear had passed he knew what he must do.
Little mongoose Rikki-tikki-tavi has been swept by a flood into the garden of an English couple living in a bungalow in Sugauli (near the border with Nepal) during the Raj. He is immediately adopted as a pet by Teddy, the couple’s young boy, but Rikki-tikki soon finds that not all is well in the garden. Indeed, Darzee the tailorbird is desolate.
Posted December 17 2020
504
Sir Sidney Low blamed the recent catalogue of war and revolution on out-of-touch diplomats who had tried to hammer the peoples of Europe into artificial unity.
Looking back in 1915 over the causes of the Great War (which had broken out the previous year) Sir Sidney Low blamed not the nationalism of small states but Europe’s meddlesome political elite. Wrapped up in their own concerns, jealous of their own privileges, and wise in their own conceit, the Powers had imposed an artificial order that they could maintain only by rising violence.
Posted December 15 2020