Saturday morning, 23 March 1829 became a significant day in England; it was the last time a sitting Prime Minister was to be involved in a duel – which took place on the Battersea-fields in the early hours of the morning. The Duke of Wellington, incumbent PM, had challenged Lord Winchilsea to ‘that which a … Read more
John Morton was a preacher and farmer who, in the nineteenth century, saved Bucklebury Common in Berkshire from enclosure, and therefore ensured it continued to be accessible to all. Morton was born into a poor family in 1788. His father died when he was eight years old, and he moved with his mother to Hope … Read more
Torquay is regarded as a sleepy and affluent place. Yet, despite its ‘sleepy’ reputation, the Riot Act was read twice in the nineteenth century. The town was one of great inequality. While large villas were built for wealthy families, there was a shortage of homes for the working people. In one slum, two thousand men, … Read more
If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should! A Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens and published in December 1843, is a much loved Christmas tale. Its … Read more
“The gospel alone is sufficient to rule the lives of Christians everywhere. Any additional rules made to govern men’s conduct added nothing to the perfection already found on the gospel of Jesus Christ.” John Wyclif. Lollardy was a religious movement calling for reform of the Church from the mid-14th century until the English Reformation. John … Read more
Only two years after the royal supremacy was written into law, and only months after Henry VIII’s first reforms of religious worship, a series of rebellions threatened to halt the English Reformation in its tracks. These rebellions started in October 1536 in the small market town of Louth in the Lincolnshire Wolds and quickly spread … Read more
