Regency Celebrity: Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

200px-9thEarlOfDundonald Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald (1 January 1748 – 1 July 1831) was a Scottish nobleman and inventor.

Life
The son of Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald, he joined the British Army as a youth and also served time in the Royal Navy before returning to Culross in 1778 after inheriting the Earldom of Dundonald from his father. He inherited a title and family lands, but little money. Left with no other means of support, Archibald turned to invention.

Cochrane’s most noted invention was a method for making coal tar (patented in 1781) on an industrial scale. The British Tar Company invested in a works; it was managed by John Loudon McAdam. The coke byproduct was used, in part, by an ironworks at Muirkirk. McAdam bought the company, but the deal was troubled.

Cochrane hoped that he would be able to sell tar as a sealant for the hulls of ships to the Royal Navy. After contacts with the British Admiralty were made, a test was performed on a buoy. The buoy was coated on one side and left uncoated on the other. After some time the uncoated half was leaking and full of worms and barnacles, while the treated half was in quite good condition. A patent for his invention was drawn up, while the family estates were used as collateral.

The coal tar technique was a rival to copper sheathing, preferred by the Admiralty. It has been argued that were also powerful interests at play, shipyards needing the maintenance business. The patent expired, and the Royal Navy eventually adopted the tar mixture.

Other experiments with alum production, making bread from potatoes, and paint manufacturing also proved unprofitable. His experiments with producing soda from table salt proved more successful but were not enough to reverse his financial misfortunes.

Cochrane died impoverished in Paris at the age of 83. The earldom of Dundonald passed to his son Thomas Cochrane.

Family
He married three times. His first wife was Anne Gilchrist, daughter of Captain James Gilchrist whom he married in 1774. After her death, he married Isabella Raymond, daughter of Samuel Raymond, in 1788. His third wife was Anna Maria Plowden, daughter of Francis Plowden whom he married in 1819. He had four sons: Thomas Cochrane who was a highly successful Royal Navy officer, Basil Cochrane who briefly served in the Royal Navy before transferring to the British Army, William Erskine Cochrane who served in the British Army and Archibald Cochrane who also served in the Royal Navy.

The Cochrane Brothers
Cochrane’s younger brothers also had notable careers. Basil Cochrane (1753-1826) made a fortune providing supplies to the Royal Navy in India. Alexander Cochrane (1758-1832) became an admiral. George (b. 1762) served in the army and in Parliament. Andrew (1867-1833) was an army officer, colonial governor, member of Parliament, and fraudster.

The Earl of St. Vincent, Admiral of the Fleet, wrote of the Cochrane brothers in 1806, “The Cochranes are not to be trusted out of sight, they are all mad, romantic, money-getting and not truth-telling—and there is not a single exception in any part of the family.”

Posted in British history, buildings and structures, Great Britain, Living in the Regency, Napoleonic Wars, real life tales, Regency era, Regency personalities, Scotland | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Regency Celebrity: Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald

Victorian Happenings: The Rebecca Riots in Wales

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Regina Jeffers
Depiction of the Rebecca Riots, Illustrated London News 1843

Depiction of the Rebecca Riots, Illustrated London News 1843

The Rebecca Riots took place between 1839 and 1843 in South and Mid Wales. They were a series of protests undertaken by local farmers and agricultural workers in response to perceived unfair taxation. The rioters, often men dressed as women, took their actions against toll-gates, as they were tangible representations of high taxes and tolls. The riots ceased prior to 1844 due to several factors, including increased troop levels, a desire by the protestors to avoid violence and the appearance of criminal groups using the guise of Rebecca for their own purposes. In 1844 a Parliamentary act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to turnpike trusts in Wales was passed.

History
Events Leading to the Riots
In the late 1830s and early 1840s, the agricultural communities of south Wales were in dire poverty. In 1837 and 1838 the whole country suffered from poor harvests, worse in the south west, where atrocious seasons of rain forced farmers to buy corn at famine prices to feed themselves, their animals and their families, which further eroded what little capital they had. Grain harvests collapsed, but the price of butter between 1837 and 1841, and sheep between 1839 and 1841, was relatively high, and even the low cattle prices of 1839 recovered by 1841.

But by 1842 a general fall in prices occurred throughout the agricultural markets that continued into 1843. Cattle prices slumped sharply in 1842, and the blame was placed on the Government, and in particular Robert Peel’s tariff measures which eased importation of foreign cattle and meat.

In 1842, the harvest was one of the most successful in years, and that combined with the contraction in demand from the Glamorgan ironworks, led to a slump in corn prices. Therefore, the farmers’ economic position had shifted from that of dire grain harvests, with life supported by sheep and butter sales, to one where the price of their corn, when the weather was favourable, was a very low. The diminution of the Glamorgan ironworks, coupled with the new tariff, also had an adverse effect on the prices of butter, cheese, pigs, horses, sheep and lean cattle, impacting harshly on the Welsh pastoral farmer.

The farmers were faced with a drastic reduction in their income, but had no financial relief in similar reductions in their outgoings, mainly rents, tithes, county rates, poor rates and the turnpike tolls. Farm rents stayed mainly static, but the tithes, tolls and poor rates increased. Seeing themselves as victims of ‘tyranny and oppression,’ the farmers and their workers took the law into their own hands to rid themselves of these unjust taxes. The first institutions to be attacked were the hated toll-gates.

In the early 19th century many toll-gates on the roads in Wales were operated by trusts which were supposed to maintain and improve the roads, funding this from tolls. However, many trusts charged extortionate tolls and diverted the money raised to other uses. Even where this was not done, the toll-gate laws imposed an additional financial burden on poor farming communities. The ‘oppression,’ felt by the farmers, began in the late 1830s, when a group of English toll-renters took over the region’s trusts. This group was led by Thomas Bullin, an Englishman, who was hated by those who paid his tolls. The main reason for his dislike was the exacting method of the toll collection and the big toll increases of side-bars. The side-bars were simple toll gates, away from the main trunk roads, placed strategically on by-roads to catch any traffic that had tried to bypass the main toll booths via side lanes. These side-bars increased the cost dramatically of farmers’ carting lime to their fields that was needed as fertilizer or to counteract acidity in soil: e.g. it was said that it cost an amount to buy a load of lime in Cardiff docks, and then ten times as much in road tolls to cart it to a farm in the hills inland.

Rebecca
The first appearance of Rebecca, as the members called themselves, occurred in 1839. Although this precedes the economic events of 1842, the early appearances of Rebecca were sporadic isolated outburts, with the true body of rioting not beginning until the winter of 1842.Although these early ‘uprisings’ were few and uncommon, they were the first appearance of mobs dressed in the guise of Rebecca. These gangs became known as Merched Beca (Welsh for “Rebecca’s Daughters”) or merely the Rebeccas. The origin of their name is said to be a verse in the Bible, Genesis 24:60 – ‘And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them’. This verse was shouted many a time from the religious urban dwellers.

Prior to destroying the toll gates, ‘Rebecca’ would call to his followers who were also dressed as women and perform a scene which involved the following words:

Rebecca: “What is this my children? There is something in my way. I cannot go on….”
Rioters: “What is it, mother Rebecca? Nothing should stand in your way,”
Rebecca: “I do not know my children. I am old and cannot see well.”
Rioters: “Shall we come and move it out of your way mother Rebecca?”
Rebecca: “Wait! It feels like a big gate put across the road to stop your old mother.”
Rioters: “We will break it down, mother. Nothing stands in your way.”
Rebecca: “Perhaps it will open…Oh my dear children, it is locked and bolted. What can be done?”
Rioters: “It must be taken down, mother. You and your children must be able to pass.”
Rebecca: “Off with it then, my children.”
This would then in turn lead to the destruction of the toll gates.

Although not all members of the mob would wear women’s clothes, those that did, often in white gowns, would also blacken their faces or otherwise wear masks. The attacks were accompanied by much noise; and in the earliest attacks, a mock trial would also take place.

The accepted leader of the first protests, Thomas Rees (Twm Carnabwth), wore women’s clothes when leading attacks. Some versions of the story say that these clothes were borrowed from a woman called Rebecca living near his home at the foot of the Preseli Hills. The story states that this woman was an old maid and her clothes were borrowed because she was the only woman tall enough and large enough in the village. Local records do not bear this out—and the wearing of women’s clothes was an established part of traditional Welsh justice (the Ceffyl Pren, wooden horse), of which Twm Carnabwth is remembered as a notoriously enthusiastic participant.

The Ceffyl Pren bears many similarities to the Rebeccas, with men wearing female clothing, blackening their faces and conducting mock trials; and was on a significant increase in the late 1830s in Wales. The Ceffyl Pren was a way of frightening and punishing members of a community, to whom wrongdoing was suspected, but little will or evidence existed to bring the person to justice. Normally ‘crimes’ punished by the Ceffyl Pren included marital infidelity or informing on a neighbour.

The Riots
The Rebecca Riots are often mistaken as a response solely against the toll gates, ignoring the other factors affecting the Welsh farming communities of the time. The main reason for the choice of toll gates as targets for Rebecca, was that the booths and gates were tangible representations of the system they so despised. The only other options for the rioters would be the union workhouses, as the Poor Law was as hated as the toll roads; but these could be easily defended and were often garrisoned by troops.

The first protests led by “Rebecca” destroyed the toll-gates at Yr Efail Wen in two attacks in Carmarthenshire in 1839. These were believed to be led by Twm, though he did not appear to participate in further riots when the attacks flared again three years later. Other communities later adopted the name and disguise, and other grievances besides the toll gates were aired in the riots. Anglican clergymen from the established Church of Wales were targets on several occasions. The Church of England could demand tithes and other ecclesiastical benefits even though most of the population of Wales were Nonconformists. Other victims were petty local villains such as the fathers of illegitimate children.

The next time the Rebeccas assembled was roughly three years later, when Tom Bullin was allowed to raise a tollgate by the Mermaid Tavern near St Clears. This was an obvious ‘trap’ side-bar, and angered the locals, who destroyed it and two other gates. Other tollgates to be target included the Bolgoed tollgate on the outskirts of Pontarddulais. On 6 July 1843 the Bolgoed tollgate was attacked and destroyed by a group of some 200 men. In mid-July 1843, letters were sent from representatives of the Rebeccas, targeting the landlords of farmers. These threatening letters warned the landlords to make reductions in the rent of their tenant farmers. The summer of 1843 also saw farmers conducting open meetings demanding a lowering of rent by at least a third. The threats came to little and the meetings had no effect, and the rents remained the same, though by August farmers had changed tactics to calling for an independent assessment of the regulations of rents.

The riots caused at least one fatality, in the small village of Hendy on 7 September 1843, in which a young woman and gate keeper named Sarah Williams died. She had been warned beforehand that the rioters were on their way but refused to leave. On the night of her death she could be heard shouting “I know who you are” by a family living up the road who had locked their doors from the rioters. Williams called for help at the house of John Thomas, a labourer, to extinguish a fire at the toll gate, but when she returned to the toll house, a shot was heard. Williams returned to the house of John Thomas, and collapsed at the threshold of the house. Two minutes later she was dead.

From August 1843, local and open protest meetings were taking the place of riots. Partly due to the farmers scaling back on violent activity, and also due to the increasing presence of troop numbers. Another major factor that saw the riots reduce were the activities of a group of petty criminals masquerading as Rebecca operating from Five Roads near Llanelli. This group, led by known trouble-maker John Jones (Shoni Sguborfawr) and his associate David Davies (Dai’r Cantwr), who were eventually convicted and transported to Australia, turned more respectable people away from Rebecca. Jones, unlike Davies, was not convicted of crimes during the riots, but for a later assault charge.

Aftermath
By late 1843, the riots had stopped. Although Rebecca had failed to produce an immediate effect on the lives of the farmers she had sought to serve, the very nature of a leaderless uprising of the downtrodden peasantry in an attempt to obtain justice from an unfair system, was an important socio-political event within Wales. In the aftermath of the riots, some rent reductions were achieved, the toll rates were improved (although destroyed toll-houses were rebuilt) and the protests prompted several reforms, including a Royal Commission into the question of toll roads, which lead to the Turnpikes Act of 1844. This Act consolidated the trusts, and simplified the rates; furthermore it reduced the hated toll on lime movement by half. More importantly, the riots inspired later Welsh protests.

Rebeccaism in Radnorshire
Throughout the second half of the 19th century and even as late as the 1930s, Radnorshire gangs known as Rebecca rioters continued to engage in violent protests, mainly but not exclusively against the Fishery laws. These often involved open poaching of salmon on the River Wye and its tributaries and resulted in the dispatch of troops and police to the area in largely fruitless efforts to restore order.

The Rebecca Riots in Popular Culture
The Rebecca Riots were the setting for the novel Hosts of Rebecca by Alexander Cordell.

One of the earliest novels about the Rebecca Riots was written by Welsh author Amy Dillwyn, who wrote The Rebecca Rioter, first published in 1880.

In 1948 Dylan Thomas wrote the screenplay for a film, Rebecca’s Daughters, which was published as a novel of the same name in 1965. The film was not released until 1992, and starred Peter O’Toole, Paul Rhys and Joely Richardson. The 44 years between the writing of the screenplay and the release of the film is the longest on record.

The name Rebecca is also mentioned in the context of the Merthyr Rising of 1831 (see my November 25, 2013, post on the Merthyr Rising) in the song “Ironmasters” by the British folkpunk band “The Men They Couldn’t Hang” on their album Night of a Thousand Candles.

The phrase “The Rebeccas ride at dawn, petticoat ghost and Tom. Working to reclaim the land for no reward” is found in the song “Newtown Jericho” from rock band The Alarm.

Posted in British history, buildings and structures, Great Britain, political stance, real life tales, Victorian era, Wales | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Regency Celebrity: John Loudon McAdam, Bringing Progress Through Road Improvements: Macadamisation

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

150px-John_Loudon_McAdam John Loudon McAdam (21 September 1756 – 26 November 1836) was a Scottish engineer and road-builder. He invented a new process, “macadamisation,” for building roads with a smooth hard surface that would be more durable and less muddy than soil-based tracks.

Modern road construction still reflects McAdam’s influence. Of subsequent improvements, the most significant was the introduction of tar (originally coal tar) to bind the road surface’s stones together – “tarmac” (for Tar Macadam) – followed later by the use of hot-laid tarred aggregate or tar-sprayed chippings to create better road metalling. More recently, oil-based asphalt laid on reinforced concrete has become a major road surface, but its use of granite or limestone chippings still recalls McAdam’s innovation.

Early Life
McAdam was born in Ayr, Scotland. He was the youngest of ten children and second son of the Baron of Waterhead. The family name was traditionally called McGregor, but was changed to McAdam (claiming descent from the Biblical Adam) for political reasons in James VI’s reign.

He moved to New York in 1770 and, as a merchant and prize agent during the American Revolution, made his fortune working at his uncle’s counting house. He returned to Scotland in 1783 and purchased an estate at Sauchrie, Ayrshire.

Besides taking part in local Ayrshire affairs, McAdam operated the Kaims Colliery. The colliery supplied coal to the British Tar Company, of Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald and partners in the coal tar trade; McAdam ran its kilns. He further was involved in the ironworks at Muirkirk, which was a customer for the coke byproduct of the tar business. This business connection is the only direct relationship of McAdam and tar.

Road Builder
McAdam became a trustee of the Ayrshire Turnpike in 1783 and became increasingly involved with day-to-day road construction over the next 10 years. In 1802 he moved to Bristol, England, and he became general surveyor for the Bristol Corporation in 1804. He put forward his ideas in evidence to Parliamentary enquiries in 1810, 1819 and 1823. In two treatises written in 1816 and 1819 (Remarks on the Present System of Road-Making and Practical Essay on the Scientific Repair and Preservation of Roads) he argued that roads needed to be raised above the surrounding ground and constructed from layered rocks and gravel in a systematic manner.

McAdam had also been appointed surveyor to the Bristol Turnpike Trust in 1816, where he decided to remake the roads under his care with crushed stone bound with gravel on a firm base of large stones. A camber, making the road slightly convex, ensured rainwater rapidly drained off the road rather than penetrate and damage the road’s foundations. This construction method, the greatest advance in road construction since Roman times, became known as “macadamisation,” or, more simply, “macadam.”

The macadam method spread very quickly across the world. The first macadam road in North America, the National Road, was completed in the 1830s and most of the main roads in Europe were subject to the McAdam process by the end of the nineteenth century.

Although McAdam was paid £5,000 for his Bristol Turnpike Trust work and made Surveyor-General of Metropolitan Roads in 1820, professional jealousy cut a £5,000 grant for expenses from the Parliament of the United Kingdom to £2,000 in 1827. His efficient road-building and management work had revealed the corruption and abuse of road tolls by unscrupulous Turnpike Trusts, many of which were run at a deliberate loss despite high toll receipts.

Death and Descendants
McAdam died in Moffat, Dumfriesshire, while returning to his home in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, from his annual summer visit to Scotland. His three sons, and in turn four grandsons, followed him into the profession and assisted with the management of turnpike trusts around the country. His second surviving son, James Nicholl MacAdam, the “Colossus of Roads,” was knighted for managing turnpike trusts—a knighthood, it is said, previously offered to his father, but declined.

(P.S. John Loudon McAdam will play a minor role in my upcoming release of A Touch of Honor, book 7 of my highly popular Realm series.)

Posted in British history, buildings and structures, Great Britain, Living in the Regency, real life tales, Regency era, Regency personalities, Scotland | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Presbyterian Church of Wales: In 1811, It Seceded from Church of England

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Regina Jeffers
Caernarfon Church

Caernarfon Church

The Presbyterian Church of Wales (Welsh: Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Cymru), also known as The Calvinistic Methodist Church (Yr Eglwys Fethodistaidd Galfinaidd), is a denomination of Protestant Christianity.

History
It was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival and the preaching of Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland in the 18th Century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811. In 1823, a Confession of Faith was created and adopted, based on the standard Westminster Confession. Theological colleges for ministerial training were opened in Bala, then in Merionethshire, now Gwynedd (1837), Trefeca, then in Brecnockshire, now Powys (1842), and Aberystwyth, in Ceredigion (1906). It produces a quarterly journal Y Traethodydd and a monthly periodical Y Cenhadwr.

It is distinguished from other forms of Methodism by the Calvinistic nature of its theology. For the history of the church, see Calvinistic Methodists. In 1840, the Foreign Missionary Society was formed in Liverpool to provide missionaries to India. It held its first General Assembly in 1864. In 1928 it officially adopted the name Presbyterian Church in Wales but still retained the name Welsh Calvinistic Methodism with equal standing. In 1933 its constitution was modified as a result of the Presbyterian Church in Wales Act of Parliament in 1933, receiving Royal assent. In 1947 the Association in the East was established for English speaking churches.

In 1978 Pamela Turner became the first woman to be ordained as a minister. In 2004 the central office moved to Cardiff. In 2007 new boundaries and structures was adopted for presbyteries. It claims to be the only truly Welsh denomination in Christianity, and is rare among Presbyterian Churches, by originating in the Methodist Revival rather than deriving from the Calvinist Reformation.

Statistics
The Presbyterian Church of Wales has around 30,000 members who worship in around 700 churches. Most of these churches are in Wales, but due to strong historical links between the Welsh and certain English cities, there are churches using both the English and the Welsh languages in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry and Liverpool. Churches belong to one of eighteen Presbyteries, grouped into three Provinces, the Association in the North, the Association in the South (both in Wales), and the Association in the East (England), along with a General Assembly. About 5% of the Welsh population have official membership.

The Church offices are located at the Tabernacle Church, Merthyr Road, Whitchurch, Cardiff.
The Moderator is the Reverend Meirion Morris.

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A Jane Austen Time Line

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

1764-The Reverend George Austen marries Cassandra Leigh. They take up residence at Deane Parsonage in Hampshire.
1765-Brother James was born. Like his sister, James had literary aspirations, but unlike Jane, he never knew success.
1766-George Austen was born. Mentally challenged, George was boarded out for most of his life.
1767-Edward Austen was born. Later, he was adopted by Thomas Knight. Because the Knight family had no children, Edward inherited all their property.
1767-The Austens move to Steventon Rectory.
1771-Jane’s brother Henry was born. It was with Henry’s influence that Jane found her publisher.
1773-Cassandra Austen is born.
1774-The first of Jane’s sea-faring brothers, Frank, was born.
1775-On December 16, Jane Austen is born.
1779-Charles Austen was born. Charles spent seven years in the British navy’s efforts in the West Indies.
1783-Jane nearly dies from typhoid fever, which she contracted while attending a boarding school in Oxford.
1787-Jane’s formal education ends, and she begins to write. She preserves scraps of her early writing in Volume the First.
1793-The last pieces are added to Volume the Third. Jane’s nieces Anna and Fanny Austen are born.
1795-Jane writes Elinor and Marianne.
1796-The first of the letters, which were preserved, are dated from this year. For example, in a January letter, Jane writes of flirting with Tom Lefroy, and in an October one, she tells of beginning First Impressions.
1797-Jane finishes First Impressions. It is offered to the publisher, Cadell, who declines Rev. Austen’s presentation of the manuscript.
Jane also begins Sense and Sensibility in 1797.
1798-Jane begins writing Lady Susan. Her nephew (and future biographer), James Edward Austen is born.
1799-Jane finishes Lady Susan. She stays for some time in Queen Square in Bath.
1800-Jane’s parents decide to retire in Bath.
1801-Jane’s parents take a lease on 4 Sydney Place in Bath.
1802-Harris Bigg-Wither proposes.
1803–Susan is sold to publisher Crosby.
1804-Jane’s family moves to Green Park Buildings, Bath.
1805-Rev. George Austen dies. Jane begins The Watsons, which she soon abandons. Her family moves to Gay Street in the spring and then to Trim Street in the autumn.
1807-The Austen women (mother, Jane, and Cassandra) take a house with brother Frank and his wife in Castle Square, Southampton.
1808-Brother Edward offers the Chawton cottage to his mother and sisters.
1809-In July, the women move into the Chawton cottage.
1811-Jane begins writing Mansfield Park. In November, Egerton publishes Sense and Sensibility.
1813-In January, Jane releases Pride and Prejudice. By July, Mansfield Park is finished.
1814-Austen begins Emma in the early part of the year. In May, Mansfield Park is published.
1815-Jane begins Persuasion. Emma is published in December.
1816-Sir Walter Scott gives Emma favorable notice in Quarterly Reviews. In August, Jane finishes Persuasion. She takes ill shortly afterwards.
1817-She begins Sanditon, but abandons it due to her health issues. In July, Jane Austen dies. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral. Persuasion and Northanger Abbey are published posthumously with a Biographical Notice written by Henry.

Posted in British history, Great Britain, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, real life tales, Regency era, Regency personalities, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Victorian Happenings: The Bedchamber Crisis

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

The Bedchamber crisis occurred in May 1839 after Whig politician Lord Melbourne had resigned as Prime Minister. Queen Victoria invited Tory politician Robert Peel to form a new government. Peel realised that such a government would hold a minority in the House of Commons and would be structurally weak, possibly damaging his future political career.

Peel accepted the invitation on the condition that Queen Victoria dismiss some of her ladies of the bedchamber, many of whom were wives or relatives of leading Whig politicians. The Queen refused the request, considering her ladies as close friends and confidantes, not as objects of political bargaining. Peel, therefore, refused to become Prime Minister and Melbourne was eventually persuaded to stay on as Prime Minister.

The Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of the person holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen or princess. The position is traditionally held by a female member of a noble family.

In 1839, concerns that Queen Victoria was determined to surround herself with wives of Whig politicians led to the bedchamber crisis, preventing the installation of a Tory government under Robert Peel.

This is a list of those who have served as Lady of the Bedchamber (also styled Gentlewoman of Her Majesty’s Bedchamber) in the British Royal Household under Queen Victoria.

Ladies of the Bedchamber to Victoria, 1837-1901
1837–1838: Louisa Petty-FitzMaurice, Marchioness of Lansdowne
1837–1838: Louisa Lambton, Countess of Durham
1837–1841: Maria Phipps, Marchioness of Normanby

Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford

Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford

1837–1841: Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford
1837–1842: Sarah Lyttelton, Baroness Lyttelton, then Governess (Lady Superintendent) of the Royal Children 1842–1850.
1837–1842: Frances Noel, Countess of Gainsborough
1837–1851: Emma Portman, Baroness Portman
1837–1854: Anne Caulfield, Countess of Charlemont
1838–1840: Blanche Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
1839: Elizabeth Campbell, Marchioness of Breadalbane
1839–1842: Mary Montagu, Countess of Sandwich
1840–1854 & 1863–1865: Carolina Edgcumbe, Countess of Mount Edgcumbe
1841–1845: Catherine Murray, Countess of Dunmore
1841–1867: Frances Jocelyn, Viscountess Jocelyn (extra 1867-1880)
1842: Susan Broun-Ramsay, Countess of Dalhousie
1842–1843: Charlotte Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
1842–1855: Charlotte Canning, Countess Canning
1843–1858: Elizabeth Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington
1845–1864: Elizabeth Cuffe, Countess of Desart
1851–1889: Jane Loftus, Marchioness of Ely
1854–1897: Anne Murray, Duchess of Atholl
1854–1900: Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill
1855–1863: Maria Bosville-Macdonald, Baroness Macdonald
1858–1878: Jane Alexander, Countess of Caledon
1864–1890: Elizabeth Cavendish, Baroness Waterpark
1865–1895: Susanna Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe
1867–1872: Eliza Agar-Ellis, Viscountess Clifden
1872–1874: Blanche Bourke, Countess of Mayo
1873–1901: Eliza Hay, Countess of Erroll
Julia Janet Georginana Duncan

Julia Janet Georginana Duncan

1874–1885: Julia Abercromby, Baroness Abercromby
1878–1901: Ismania FitzRoy, Baroness Southampton
1885–1901: Emily Russell, Baroness Ampthill
1889–1901: Cecilia Dawnay, Viscountess Downe
1890–1901: Louisa McDonnell, Countess of Antrim
1895–1901: Edith Bulwer-Lytton, Countess of Lytton
1897–1901: Anne Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe

After Victoria’s marriage to Prince Albert in 1840, the Queen no longer relied on her ladies as companions. In the 1841 general election, Peel’s Tories gained a majority and Peel replaced Melbourne. Perhaps on the advice of Prince Albert, Victoria made no attempt to block Peel’s request to replace the Whig ladies of the bedchamber with Conservatives.

The Bedchamber Crisis was depicted in the 2009 film The Young Victoria.

Posted in British history, Great Britain, political stance, real life tales, Victorian era | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Things Jane Austen and Charles Dickens Never Did as a Writer

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

How would  Charles Dickens and Jane Austen fare as writers marketing their books in today’s world?  The value of their contributions cannot be questioned, but how would they cope with technology and the added demands of promotion in today’s marketplace?  Let’s pretend Charles and Jane are contemporaries and very close friends.  Observe as they wrestle with the challenges of the modern writer. According to writer, Kathleen Baldwin, here are six things, these greats would never have to do:

http://kathleenbaldwin.com/writing-challenges/six-things-charles-dickens-jane-austen-never-had -to-do/

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Victorian Happenings: The Formation of the Anti-Corn Law League

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

Meeting of the Anti-Corn Law League in Exeter Hall in 1846

Meeting of the Anti-Corn Law League in Exeter Hall in 1846

The Anti-Corn Law League was in effect the resumption of the Anti-Corn Law Association, which had been created in London in 1836 but did not obtain widespread popularity. The Anti-Corn Law League was founded in Manchester in 1838. Richard Cobden and John Bright were the two principal persons of the league while George Wilson, the president of the League, was in charge of administrative duties. Joseph Ivimey, the Superintendent Registrar for St Pancras, was an active member and acted as the League’s solicitor.

Richard_Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was a British manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with John Bright in the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League as well as with the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. He has been called “the greatest classical-liberal thinker on international affairs” by historian Ralph Raico.

In 1838, an association was formed in Manchester in opposition to the Corn Laws, which, on Cobden’s suggestion, subsequently became a national association, under the title of the Anti-Corn Law League. During the league’s seven years, Cobden was its chief spokesman and animating spirit. He was not afraid to take his challenge in person to the agricultural landlords or to confront the Chartists, led by Feargus O’Connor.

In 1841, Sir Robert Peel having defeated the Melbourne ministry in Parliament, there was a general election, Cobden being returned as MP for Stockport. His opponents had confidently predicted that he would fail utterly in the House of Commons. He did not wait long, after his admission into that assembly, in bringing their predictions to the test. Parliament met on 19 August. On the 24th, during the debate on the Queen’s Speech, Cobden delivered his first address. “It was remarked,” reported Harriet Martineau in her History of the Peace, “that he was not treated in the House with the courtesy usually accorded to a new member, and it was perceived that he did not need such observance.” Undeterred, he gave a simple and forceful exposition of his position on the Corn Laws. This marked the start of his reputation as a master of the issues.

On 17 February 1843 Cobden launched an attack on Peel, holding him responsible for the miserable state of the nation’s workers. Peel did not respond in the debate, but the speech was made at a time of heightened political feelings. Edward Drummond, Peel’s private secretary, had recently been mistaken for the prime minister and shot dead in the street by a lunatic.

However, later in the evening, Peel referred in excited and agitated tones to the remark, as an incitement to violence against his person. Peel’s party, catching at this hint, threw themselves into a frantic state of excitement, and when Cobden attempted to explain that he meant official, not personal responsibility, he was drowned out.

Peel went on to “fully and unequivocally withdraw the imputation which was thrown out in the heat of debate under an erroneous impression,” and was eventually swayed by Cobden’s arguments, at the cost of splitting his own party. The bill to repeal the Corn Laws passed the House of Commons on 16 May 1846 by 98 votes. In the next month Peel was forced to resign the Prime Ministership, and in his resignation speech he credited Cobden, more than anyone else, with the repeal of the Corn Laws.

The goal of the league was the abolition of the Corn Laws; this was achieved in 1846, and on 4 July 1846 the League dissolved itself.

Many of its members continued their political activism in the Liberal Party, with the goal of establishing a fully free-trade economy and thus decreasing the price of basic food products (such as bread and agricultural produce), enhancing the performance of agriculture and industry, and creating stronger commercial relations – supposedly the guarantors of peace – with other nations.

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Howell Harris, Leader of the Welsh Methodist Revival

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

Howell_harris Howell Harris (January 24, 1714 – July 21, 1773) (Welsh: Hywel Harris) was one of the main leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century, along with Daniel Rowland and William Williams Pantycelyn.

Life
Harris was born at Talgarth in Brecknockshire on January 24, 1714. He underwent a religious conversion in 1735 while listening to a sermon by the Rev. Pryce Davies in the parish church on the necessity of partaking of Holy Communion. While listening to that sermon Harris came to the conviction that he had received mercy through the blood of Christ. He immediately began to tell others about this and to hold meetings in his own home encouraging others to seek the same assurance that he had of Christ’s forgiveness.

Having failed to be accepted for ordination in the Church of England because of his “Methodist” views, he became a travelling preacher and was tireless in his determination to spread the word throughout Wales. His preaching often led him into personal danger, and he endured considerable persecution and hardship before gaining a following. From 1738 he was supported by Marmaduke Gwynne who was a local squire and early convert.

In 1750, having fallen out with Daniel Rowland, and having been the subject of a public scandal as a result of his close friendship with “Madam” Sidney Griffith, he retreated to his home at Trefeca, near Brecon. In 1752, inspired by the example of the Moravians, he founded a religious community there, known as Teulu Trefeca (=The Trefeca family) with himself as “father.”

However, Harris had not given up preaching, and resumed his former activities in 1763, after reconciliation with Daniel Rowland. When he died, ten years later, and was buried close to his birthplace at Talgarth, twenty thousand people are said to have attended his funeral.

He was effectively the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Wales, also known as the Calvinistic Methodist church.

The Papers of Howell Harris
Harris kept a detailed diary, in addition to a careful filing of letters he sent and received during his ministry. His papers afford access to a first eye witness of the Welsh Methodist revival. After his death, they were left to gather dust for over a century until O. M. Edwards, in the 1880s, noted their importance and suggested they ought to be cared for. By this time, the once-home of Harris at Trefeca had been turned into a college. The deputy head of the College, Edwin Williams, took on the task of putting the papers in order. They were kept at Trefeca until 1910 when the Presbyterian church of Wales (which ‘owned’ the papers) decided to set up a committee whose responsibility it would be to take care of the papers and to study them.

By 1913 the scale of the work needing to be done on the papers became apparent. As many of the papers were in Latin, it was estimated that it would take much of a decade and a vast sum of money to ready the papers for publication. In 1913, it was decided that a better use of resources would be to set up a Historical Society of the Presbyterian church of Wales that would be responsible for publishing a regular journal to include, amongst other articles, some of Howell Harris’s papers.

It is believed that around 1932, the papers were moved from Trefeca to the denomination’s theological College in Aberystwyth. Those papers, along with others from Coleg y Bala (an old college of the denomination in Bala, North Wales), were taken in 1934 to be stored safely at the National Library of Wales. The papers are in the vaults to this day. Recently Dr. Geraint Tudur (son of R. Tudur Jones), Chair of Church History at University of Wales, Bangor, published a biography of Harris: Howell Harris: From conversion to separation, 1735-1750, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000.

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Victorian Happenings: March 26, 1839 ~ The First Henley Royal Regatta Is Held

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

240px-Henley_crest Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage. It should not be confused with the three other regattas rowed over approximately the same course (Henley Women’s Regatta, Henley Veterans Regatta, and Henley Town and Visitors Regatta), each of which is an entirely separate event.

The regatta lasts for 5 days (Wednesday to Sunday) over the first weekend in July. Races are head-to-head knock out competitions, raced over a course of 1 mile, 550 yards (2,112 m).[1] The regatta regularly attracts international crews to race. The most prestigious event at the regatta is the Grand Challenge Cup for Men’s Eights, which has been awarded since the regatta was first staged.

As the regatta pre-dates any national or international rowing organisation, it has its own rules and organisation, although it is recognised by both British Rowing (the governing body of rowing in England and Wales) and FISA (the International Federation of Rowing Associations). The regatta is organised by a self-electing body of Stewards, who are largely former rowers themselves. Pierre de Coubertin modelled elements of the organisation of the International Olympic Committee on the Henley Stewards.

The regatta is regarded as part of the English social season. As with other events in the season, certain enclosures at the regatta have strict dress codes.

Format of Competition:
Qualifying
Entries for the regatta close at 6:00 P.M. sixteen days before the Regatta.In order to encourage a high quality of racing, create a manageable race timetable and to ensure that most crews race only once a day, each event has a limited number of places. Qualifying races are held on the Friday before the regatta. The regatta’s Committee of Management decides at its absolute discretion which crews are obliged to qualify; the Committee will examine the form and calibre of the entrants and may choose to pre-qualify some of them.

The qualifying races take the form of a timed processional race up the regatta course, with the fastest crews qualifying. Times are released for non-qualifying crews only. This does not stop an enthusiastic band of unofficial timers with synchronised watches working out how fast their first round opposition might be.

If it is apparent that there are a number of outstanding crews in an event, they may be ‘selected’ by the Stewards, to prevent them from meeting too early in the competition. The regatta insists that selection is not the same as seeding, the main difference being that there is no ‘rank order’ as is usually the case in, for example, a tennis tournament.

The Draw
The draw is a public event that takes place in the Henley town hall, normally at 3 P.M. on the Saturday before the regatta. For each event the names of all selected crews are placed on pieces of paper which are then drawn at random from the Grand Challenge Cup. These crews are then placed on pre-determined positions on the draw chart, as far apart as possible. The remaining qualifying crews are then drawn from the cup, filling in from the top of the draw chart downwards, until all places have been filled.

Racing
Each event in the regatta takes the form of a knockout competition, with each race consisting of two crews racing side by side up the Henley course. The course is marked out by two lines of booms (wooden bars which float on the water, secured between vertical poles), which are placed along the river to form a straight course 2,112 metres long. The course is wide enough to allow two crews to race down with a few metres between them. As such it is not uncommon for inexperienced steersmen or coxswains to crash into the booms, possibly costing their crew the race.

The race begins at the downstream end of Temple Island, where the crews attach to a pair of pontoons. The race umpire will then call out the names of the two crews and start them when they are both straight and ready. Each crew is assigned to row on either the ‘Bucks’ (Buckinghamshire) or ‘Berks’ (Berkshire) side of the race course. The coxswains or steersmen are expected to keep their crew on the allocated side of the course at all times during the race, else they risk disqualification. The only exception is when a crew leads by a sizeable margin and is not deemed by the umpire to be impeding the trailing crew.

There are several progress markers along the course. Intermediate times are recorded at two of them – “the Barrier” and “Fawley,” in addition to the time to the finish. The regatta has official commentary, which is announced at these points along the course. The commentary is renowned for being unemotional and factual, with the commentator only allowed to announce the rate of striking, which crew is leading, the distance between the crews, and the progress marker which the crews are passing.

The Course
Henley Royal Regatta has always been raced over a distance of ‘about one mile and 550 yards’ from Temple Island upstream towards Henley Bridge. However, four distinct courses have been used over the regatta’s history, with smaller changes also being made incrementally. Changes to the course have all been aimed at improving the prospects for fair and safe racing.

The Old Course (1839-1885)

An 1877 painting by James Tissot showing the Old Course

An 1877 painting by James Tissot showing the Old Course

This ran from a point just upstream of Temple Island. At the first regatta in 1839, the finish line was Henley Bridge itself, but it was presumably quickly realised that this had inherent problems. From 1840 onward the finish was moved downstream slightly; eventually a point opposite the lawn of the Red Lion hotel became the standard finish line. A grandstand was erected for the Stewards and their guests outside the Red Lion. Other spectators could watch from the adjacent roadway (in front of the Little White Hart Hotel) while those with carriages surveyed the scene from a vantage point on Henley Bridge. There were three racing stations (Berkshire, Centre and Buckinghamshire). When only two crews raced, the Centre Station was not used.
The Old Course had a large lefthand bend in the last quarter-mile. This benefited the crew on the Berkshire side of the course not only because they raced a shorter distance but also because they avoided the worst of the river’s current. Between 1866 and 1885, 57.7% all races were won by the crew on the Berkshire station, with the Buckinghamshire and Centre crews sharing 42.3%. The course was not boomed or piled, although between 1871 and 1873, poles were roped across the bay on the Berkshire side upstream of Poplar Point, in an attempt to minimise the advantage given to the crew on the Berkshire station.

The New Course (1886-1922)
In 1884, a sub-committee of the regatta’s Committee of Management discussed options for reducing the unfairness of the course. Their recommendation was to move the finish line downstream to Poplar Point (thus avoiding the bend) and the start to the bottom of Temple Island. This was not popular with spectators as it made previous viewing points obsolete. The sub-committee also recommending reducing the racing lanes from three to two and extending racing from two days to three. The Committee gained support from the Captains of competing Clubs and the changes were introduced for the 1886 Regatta.

The New Course started just downstream of Temple Island, on the Buckinghamshire side and finished opposite the upstream end of Phyllis Court, very close to the current finish line. There were two slight bends (at Remenham and just after Fawley) and a staggered start to compensate for them. The course was also piled for the first time, although not boomed. Unfortunately, it became apparent that in trying to eliminate the unfairness of the Old Course, a new problem had been introduced. Downstream of Fawley, bushes grew alongside the Buckinghamshire bank and provided shelter from the prevailing wind. The course now ran close to this bank and crew on the Buckinghamshire station gained the advantage of shelter whenever a ‘Bushes Wind’ was blowing. From 1886 to 1905, Bucks took 59% of wins against 41% on Berks.

To attempt to reduce the effect of the Bushes Wind, the course was narrowed and pushed further to the centre of the river. The width was 135 feet in 1887, in 120 feet in 1888 and then progressively until by 1914 it was down to 100 feet at the start tapering to 80 feet at the finish. In 1899, floating booms secured between the pilings which mark the course were also introduced along part of its length in an attempt to keep spectators from obstructing races.

The Experimental Course (1923) and the Straight Course (1924 onwards)
In around 1920, the Stewards carried out a survey canvassing the idea of a moving the start of the course to the Berkshire side of Temple Island. At the time this channel was a winding, shallow backwater and it would clearly not be possible to lay a course of the full Henley distance without significant alteration to the bank, the island and the riverbed.

For the 1923 regatta, the Stewards therefore decided to try a shorter experimental straight course which started at the top of the island. This produced 53.2% wins on Bucks and 46.8% on Berks, deemed enough of an improvement on the New Course to justify a permanent change. The consent of the landowners of the Berkshire bank and Temple island (Lord Hambleden and W.D. Mackenzie respectively) was obtained to widen and deepen the Berkshire channel; 10,000 cubic yards (7,600 m3) of material were excavated. The Straight Course was now ready for use.

The Straight Course runs from the upstream end of Temple Island to a point opposite the upstream end of the Phyllis Court. It is 80 feet (24 m) wide. The Straight Course has generally addressed the problems of unfairness: for example, between 1975 and 1984, 50.52% of races were won on Bucks and 49.31% on Berks (with the remainder dead heats). However, when a strong stream is flowing, the Berks station enjoys considerable shelter from the stream, particularly in the last ¼ mile. Conversely, when there is a strong south-westerly wind it is better to be on the Bucks station because it is more sheltered from the wind. The course is now piled and boomed along its entire length, except for crossing points. The booms can present a hazard for the inexperienced coxswain or steersman.

Precise Length of the Course
When the start and finish positions of the Old Course had become established, the distance between them was found to be 1 mile 570 yds (2131 metres). However, boats were aligned by their sterns at the start and judged by their bows at the finish. This meant that the course was slightly longer for single sculls than for eights. The length of an eight was assumed to be twenty yards and as such the course came to be described as ‘about 1 mile and 550 yards (2112 metres)’, which was the distance covered by an eight.

In 1967 the start of the Straight Course was relocated exactly 1 mile 550 yd from the finish. In the same year, moving pontoons were introduced at the start which allowed all boats, from singles to eights, to be aligned by the bows precisely on the start line. Since then all crews have raced a course of exactly one mile and 550 yards (2112 metres).

History
At a public meeting in Henley town hall on 26 March 1839, Captain Edmund Gardiner proposed “that from the lively interest which had been manifested at the various boat races which have taken place on the Henley reach during the last few years, and the great influx of visitors on such occasions, this meeting is of the opinion that the establishing of an annual regatta, under judicious and respectable management, would not only be productive of the most beneficial results to the town of Henley, but from its peculiar attractions would also be a source of amusement and gratification to the neighbourhood, and the public in general.”

The regatta was first staged in 1839 and proved so successful that it was expanded the next year from one day to two the next year. As the regatta’s popularity has grown it has further expanded: to three days in 1886, four days in 1906 and five days in 1986. The regatta has been known as Henley Royal Regatta since 1851, when Prince Albert became the first royal patron. Since his death, every reigning monarch has agreed to be the patron.

Amateurism
At the regatta’s inception it was intended for amateur oarsmen rather than those who rowed professionally. In 1879 Henley produced its first formal definition of an amateur:
No person shall be considered an amateur oarsman or sculler, or coxswain:
Who has ever competed in any open competition for a stake, money, or entrance fee. (Not to apply to foreign crews.)
Who has ever competed with or against a professional for any prize.
Who has ever taught, pursued or assisted in the practice of athletic exercises of any kind as a means of gaining a livelihood.
Who has been employed in or about boats for money or wages.
Who is or has been by trade or employment for wages a mechanic, artisan or labourer.

In 1884, amateur status for overseas oarsmen was put on the same basis as for home oarsmen, thus ending the concession on racing for money prizes. By 1886 a phrase had also been added debarring any person “engaged in any menial activity.”

These rules would become the cause of growing controversy as international entries to Henley increased; most foreign countries having a different definition of amateur. The adoption of Henley’s definition of amateur by the Amateur Rowing Association of Great Britain would also cause a 66-year schism in British rowing, when in 1890 a rival National Amateur Rowing Association was set up, with a much more inclusive definition of amateurism.

One well-known incident was the exclusion of future Olympic champion John B. Kelly, Sr., who had served an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, from the 1920 regatta. According to the minutes of the regatta’s Committee of Management, Kelly was excluded both because he was not eligible under the manual labour rules and because he was a member of Vesper Boat Club, which was banned in 1906 because members of its 1905 Henley crew had raised money to pay for their trip through public donations – making them professionals in the eyes of the Henley Stewards.

Kelly’s exclusion was widely reported in newspapers in both the UK and USA, with many seeing it as an attempt to prevent an American from winning the Diamonds. Kelly’s son, John B. Kelly, Jr.. would dramatically win the 1947 Diamond Sculls, and his daughter would become the famous Academy Award winning actress turned Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly, keeping the incident in the public eye for years afterwards.

In 1936, there was a further controversy when the Australian national eight, preparing for the Berlin Olympics, was excluded from the Grand Challenge Cup because the crew was composed of policemen, deemed to be ‘manual workers.’ The resulting embarrassment persuaded the Amateur Rowing Association and the Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta of the need for change. On 9 June 1937, the offending references to manual labourers, mechanics, artisans and menial duties were deleted from the ARA rules; Henley’s rules were changed the following day, coming into effect from the 1938 regatta.

In September 1997, FISA removed all references to amateurism in its rules and in December 1998 Henley followed suit. The regatta is therefore now entirely open.

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