Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480-[525]) was a Roman statesman and philosopher. Famous for his learning, he enjoyed the confidence of King Theodoric, who sent him on several diplomatic missions. His enemies accused him of disloyalty to the King, whereupon Boethius was imprisoned and later executed. During his imprisonment he wrote his most famous work, 'De consolatione philosophiae'. Previously he had also written works on mathematics, music, theology and logic - one of his original logical treatises was 'De differentiis topicis'.
Very little is known about Johannes Gratian, who was born in Italy, possibly in Chiusi, Tuscany. He became a Camaldolese monk, and taught at Bologna. At a date some time after 1139 (probably 1140), Gratian compiled the Church laws (`canons') from all available sources and called the collection Concordia Discordantium Canonum (the harmonizing of discordant canons). The collection became known as the Decretum Gratiani. He died before 1179, some say as early as 1160. Although the Dectretum was not an official collection, it was, for a time and for all practical purposes, accepted as the fundamental text of Church law.
Ethne Thompson was involved in the running of a girls' club.
Hingley was the Librarian for the Royal Astronomical Society and has published numerous articles on his field of study.
The Headfort Estate was purchased by Thomas Taylour of Sussex in 1660. Taylor had assisted Sir William Petty in his 'Down Survey' - an attempt to produce a topographical map of Ireland, and it is likely Taylour was either awarded Headfort for his assistance or bought it with revenue gained from his part in the survey. Thomas Taylour's son, Thomas Taylour (1662-1736) was made an Irish Baronet and was MP for Kells. His son, also Sir Thomas Taylour (d 1757) was the 2nd Baronet and also MP for Kells. The volumes date primarily from the period of Thomas Taylour (1724-1795), Earl of Bective.
The East India Company (formally called the Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies (1600-1708) and the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies (1708-1873)), was an English company formed for the exploitation of the spice trade in East and Southeast Asia and India. It was incorporated by Royal Charter in December 1600.
In 1784 the British government instituted standing Commissioners (the Board of Control) in London to exercise superiority over the Company's Indian policies.
Turnpike Trusts were local organisations in England and Wales, each established by an Act of Parliament. They usually comprised local gentry, manufacturers, and other substantial persons. Trusts were often charged with repairing certain roads which were listed in the Act. They were frequently authorised to divert roads, and occasionally to build completely new ones. The Birmingham and Bromsgove road was turnpiked in 1726.
Born in 1826, Alfred James Hipkins initially worked as a piano tuner for J Broadwood and Sons, piano makers. He went on to write a series of works relating to musical instruments, musicology and composers, some in collaboration with his daughter Edith. His publications included Canter lectures on musical instruments, their construction and capabilities (London, 1891); A comparison of various tuning forks by means of a monochord (London, 1869); A description of the history of the pianoforte and of the older keyboard stringed instruments (London, 1896); Dorian and Phyrgian reconsidered from a non-harmonic point of view (London, 1902); How Chopin played (J M Dent and Sons, London); and Musical instruments: historic, rare and unique (A & C Black, Edinburgh, 1888).
Stephen Elvey was born in 1805 in Canterbury and was trained as a chorister at the Cathedral under Highmore Skeats. In 1830 he became organist at New College Oxford and then at St Mary's University Church and St John's College. He composed a few, yet significant, pieces of sacred music including Evening Service in Continuation of Croft's Morning Service in A (1825) and The Psalter, or Canticles and Psalms of David (Parker and Co, Oxford, 1856). He died in 1860.
Stephen Elvey's younger brother, George, was born in 1816 in Canterbury. Also an organist George attended the Royal Academy and graduated from New College Oxford in 1838 when he was appointed organist to St George's Chapel. George Elvey composed church music as well as teaching several members of the Royal family. He was knighted in 1871 and died in 1893.
Charles William Crawley (1899-1992) was educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Cambridge University. He was a Fellow of Trinity Hall from 1924 to 1966, during which time he acted as Assistant Tutor (1927), Senior Tutor (1946-1958) and Vice-Master (1950-1966). He was University Lecturer in History from 1931-1966. His writings include The question of Greek independence, 1821-33 (1930); (ed)New Cambridge Modern History, Vol IX (1965); John Capodistrias: unpublished documents (1970); and Trinity Hall: the history of a Cambridge College, 1350-1975 (1976).
Thomas Sturge Moore was a poet, art and literature critic, book designer, illustrator, editor, stage-designer and wood engraver. He was born on 4 March 1870 and was educated at The Croydon Art School and Lambeth Art School. Sturge Moore was a prolific poet and his subjects included morality, art and the spirit. His first pamphlet, Two Poems, was printed privately in 1893 and his first book of verse, The Vinedresser, was published in 1899. His love for poetry lead him to become an active member of the Poetry Recital Society. His first (of 31) plays to be produced was Aphrodite against Artemis (1906), staged by the Literary Theatre Club of which he became a member in 1908. He received a civil list pension in 1920 in recognition for his contribution to literature and in 1930 he was nominated as one of seven candidates for the position of Poet Laureate. He died on 18 July 1944.
Frances Khan's poetry was published in the Big Issue and Dial.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Opal Whiteley was born on December 11th 1897, in Colton, Washington, the daughter of Edward and Lizzie Whiteley. During Opal's childhood the family moved to the rural area of Oregon where she grew up. From a very young age she demonstrated an enthusiasm and affinity with nature. She was also very much involved in church activities and gained a reputation as a speaker and a teacher on the natural world.
Whiteley enrolled to study at the University of Oregon in 1916. She supported herself by giving lectures, but unfortunately could not afford to complete her studies. In 1918 she went to Hollywood in order to try and become a film actor but was this was an unsuccessful venture. Her lectures, however, continued to be popular, and she began work on a nature book for children called The Fairyland All Around Us. She covered the cost of publication by raising subscriptions, but ran out of money when she wanted to make changes to the printing plates, and these were destroyed by the publishers. Whiteley continued to work on the book by hand, to the detriment of her health.
Whilst trying to find a publisher for The Fairyland All Around Us, Whiteley met Ellery Sedgwick, editor of the American periodical The Atlantic. It was in this journal that The Story of Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart was first published. Introduced as the diary written by Whiteley during her sixth and seventh years, it was an immediate success. However, within a year of its publication there was considerable controversy about the work. Many people came to believe that it was a hoax, and that it had actually been written by the adult Whiteley.
The issues surrounding Whiteley and her work are further confused by the doubts surrounding her identity. From about the time of the publication of the Diary Whiteley began to claim that she was the daughter of Henri d'Orléans, a prince of the deposed royal family of Bourbon of France. This man, and her mother (who was identified variously by Whiteley) are referred to 'Angel Father' and 'Angel Mother' in the Diary. From this time onward she began to use the name Françoise de Bourbon d'Orléans.
Whiteley devoted much of her time to the search for information about what she regarded as her true parentage. Various influential people supported her in this search. In 1923 she used money received from Lord Grey of Falloden, who had become a close friend after reading the Diary, to travel to England. From England she went to France where she visited Françoise Marie Amélie d'Orléans, the mother of Henri d'Orléans. She, in turn, provided the funds for Whiteley to travel to the Udaipur region of India, where Henri d'Orléans died, so that she could find out more about him. From September 1924 Whiteley lived at the guesthouse of the palace of the maharana of Udaipur, under the assumed name of Françoise d'Orlé.
While she was in India Whiteley carried out extensive research into the customs, activities, life and surroundings of the areas in which she travelled. The results of this work can be partially seen in an article, The Story of Unknown India, which was eventually published by The Queen magazine. She also had plans to publish longer works on the subject of India, but these never came to fruition.
Whiteley returned to England in 1925, and in 1926 she travelled to Rome, and then on to Vienna where she spent 2 years living in a convent. In 1927 she returned to England, and for the next 20 years lived variously in London and in Oxford. She devoted herself to her writings, collecting books relating to her researches and to her Catholic faith. Her writings from this period grow increasingly confused, and many of her many friends and supporters appear to have lost touch with her from the late thirties onwards. In 1948 Whiteley was found to be unable to look after herself, and was taken into the care of Napsbury Hospital in St Albans. She died there in February 1992.
No information was discovered at the time of compilation.
Perez was born in 1711 in Italy. He composed several operas, amongst them Didone Abbandonata, 1753. He died in 1778.
No information available at present. Melloney Hotspur by John Masefield, was published by William Heinemann in 1922.
Noel Wildsmith designed the sets for the production of "The Homecoming" by Harold Pinter. This production of the play, which starred Pinter himself, took place at the Palace Theatre, Watford in February 1969.
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) was an Italian violinist and composer. He studied in Rome with Arcangelo Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti before moving to London in 1714. He quickly established himself as a performer and composer and also published a series of theoretical works on performance techniques and on harmony. He visited Ireland on numerous occasions and died in Dublin in 1762.
The publishing house of Duckworth was founded in 1898 by Gerald de L'Etang Duckworth. In 1901 he was joined in partnership by George Harry Milsted. Thomas Balston became the third partner in 1923. Duckworth died in 1937, and in 1938 Mervyn Horder and Patrick Crichton Stuart bought interests in the firm and joined the Board of Directors. In 1950, George Milsted retired, and in 1955 Crichton Stuart moved on, leaving Mervyn Horder to become the Managing Director of the firm. By 1956 he had been joined by Charles Gifford as a director.
Such figures as Jonathan Cape and Anthony Powell were amongst the publisher's distinguished staff. Early authors included Hilaire Belloc, D. H. Lawrence and Evelyn Waugh. The firm also published the Sitwells, the plays of John Galsworthy and novels by Elizabeth Goudge. In earlier years, the firm published a wide range of material, including novels and plays, but by the 1950s it was primarily publishing educational material. Series published by the firm include the "Great Lives" series and the "Hundred Years" series, which was aimed at university students and gave accounts of the developments in various fields during the preceding hundred years. There were also two theological series - "Studies in Theology" and the Colet Library - and the "Modern Health Series", originally edited by Mervyn Horder's father, Lord Horder.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
No information available at present.
Alan Fairbourn worked in the University of London Computing Centre in the 1960s.
The Madrigal Society were involved in reviving Renaissance vocal music in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Catch Club were involved in reviving Renaissance vocal music in the 18th and 19th centuries.
George Daniel was born in 1789. Though he made his main living as a businessman, he was also a writer and book collector. In his early years, he published squibs on Royal scandals, some of which were suppressed, and satirised contemporary poetasters in The modern Dunciad, 1814. He had a circle of literary friends, including Charles Lamb and Robert Bloomfield, and was also interested in the theatre, editing British Theatre (John Cumberland, London), 1823-1831, and Davison's Actable Drama. Daniel also wrote two farces for the Drury Lane Theatre, as well as numerous humorous and religious poems. At his residence, 18 Canonbury Square, London, he brought together a magnificent collection of Elizabethan books, black-letters ballads and theatrical curiosities, which were dispersed following his death in 1864.
John Baxter was born in Australia in 1939. He has written extensively on the cinema, producing biographies of Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, Luis Bunel, Steven Spielberg, Frederico Fellini, Josef von Sternberg and George Lucas. He lived for a time in Los Angeles, where he was a film journalist and wrote screenplays. Baxter is also known for writing and commentating on science fiction. He has lived in Paris since 1989.
No information was available at the time of compilation.
Brian Lapping Associates was formed by Brian Lapping and Norma Percy in 1988, and is a London based television production company specialising in documentaries. Watergate was a joint production with the BBC and the Discovery Channel, produced by Norma Percy and broadcast in the UK and the USA in June and August 1994.
Hilda Hulme was born in Staffordshire in 1914 and read English at University College London (UCL) in 1932. She received a BA in 1935, and a MA in 1937. After graduation she studied for a University of London teacher's diploma and then taught at schools in Yorkshire before becoming the Temporary Assistant Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at UCL in 1944. In 1947, she received a Ph.D. and stayed on as a lecturer at UCL until 1966 when she took up a Research Fellowship at the Folgar Shakespeare Library in Washington DC, USA. She returned to England and continued to work at UCL until her retirement through ill-health in 1976. Her most renowned work was Explorations in Shakespeare's English, published in 1962.
Thomas Sturge Moore was a poet, art and literature critic, book designer, illustrator, editor, stage-designer and wood engraver. He was born on 4 March 1870 and was educated at The Croydon Art School and Lambeth Art School. Sturge Moore was a prolific poet and his subjects included, morality, art and the spirit. His first pamphlet, Two Poems, was printed privately in 1893 and his first book of verse, The Vinedresser, was published in 1899. His love for poetry lead him to become an active member of the Poetry Recital Society. His first (of 31) plays to be produced was Aphrodite against Artemis (1906), staged by the Literary Theatre Club of which he became a member in 1908. He received a civil list pension in 1920 in recognition for his contribution to literature and in 1930 he was nominated as one of seven candidates for the position of Poet Laureate. He died on 18 July 1944.
Presbyterianism was established as the national religion of Scotland in 1690.
Basil Williams was born in 1867, and educated at Marlborough and New College, Oxford University, where he studied classics. He became a clerk in the House of Commons, but then signed up for service in the Second Boer War, 1899-1901. He remained in South Africa for a year, then resigned from the Army and returned as a civilian, where he worked as an administrator in the Education Department. Following his return to England, Williams began to write articles and books as a scholar of eighteenth century history. With no need to work, due to a private income, he concentrated on building a reputation as a historian, and stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as a Liberal in 1910. He acted as editor for Home Rule Problems (P. S. King & Son, London, 1911) and Makers of the Nineteenth Century (Constable & Co, London, 1915-28).
On the outbreak of World War One, 1914-1918, Williams served as an education officer in the Royal Field Artillery. He was awarded the OBE in 1919. Williams was appointed Kingsford Professor of History at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, from 1921 to 1925, and Professor of History at Edinburgh University from 1925 to 1937, the year of his retirement. He died in 1950.
Among his publications were Botha, Smuts and South Africa (Hodder & Stoughton for the English Universities Press, London, 1946), Carteret & Newcastle: a contrast in contemporaries (University Press, Cambridge, 1943), Cecil Rhodes (London, 1921), Erskine Childers, 1870-1922. A sketch (Privately printed, London, 1926), Stanhope. A study in eighteenth-century war and diplomacy (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1932), The British Empire (Thornton Butterworth, London, 1928), and The Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (Longmans & Co.: London, 1913).
Born in 1923, Brown was a scholar of medieval manuscripts and Palaeography. He wrote and edited several publications towards the end of his life. Some of his most significant papers were published posthumously under the title of A Palaeographer's view - the selected writings of Julian Brown, 1993. He died in 1987.
Andrew Rutherford was born in Sutherland in 1929. He was educated at Helmsdale School, George Watson's Boys' College, the University of Edinburgh and Merton College, Oxford University. From 1952 to 1953 he served with the Seaforth Highlanders, remaining a member of the 11th Bn (TA) until 1958. Rutherford was appointed Assistant Lecturer (1955) and Lecturer in English (1956-1964) at the University of Edinburgh; in 1964 he moved to the University of Aberdeen where he was Senior Lecturer, 1964, Professor of English, 1965-1968, and Regius Professor of English Literature, 1968-1984. During this period he was a member of the University Court, 1978-1984; Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 1979-1982; and Senior Vice-President, 1982-1984. Rutherford left Aberdeen and became Warden of Goldsmith's College from 1984 to 1992, also serving as a Professor of the University of London, 1988-1992, and a member of its Court, 1990-1992. He retired in 1992, but returned to the University of London to serve as Vice-Chancellor from 1994 to 1997. He died in 1998. Andrew Rutherford wrote widely on subjects relating to English literature, most notably on Byron, on literature and war and on Kipling.
The collection contains material from James Cook's student days at Imperial College, London in the 1920s and 1930s, papers relating to the Ipswich Unemployed Workers' League and other political activities in this period. There are papers relating to Cook's period in the South Place Ethical Society and general correspondence on national and international politics. The collection also contains papers relating to Cook's parliamentary campaigns in Henley-on-Thames in Berkshire and Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey; local political parties in Windsor; his time as Senator at the University of London and his involvement with the University of London Society; his membership of the Labour Party and his work in the General Municipal Workers Union. There is also material relating to Cook's personal life.
Katherine Emily Eggar spent over thirty years researching the life and times of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Eggar argued that Lord Oxford was the real author of Shakespeare's works. Her plan was to publish her writings, but unfortunately she died on 15 August 1961, before the preparatory work for her book was complete.
Nathaniel Lardner (1684-1768) was born in Kent and trained at the Presbyterian Academy in London. From 1699-1703 he studied in Utrecht, afterwards returning to London where he undertook 6 years of private study. In 1709 he preached his first sermon in the church of his study colleague Martin Tomkiss in Stoke Newington. From 1713 to 1721 Lardner was domestic chaplain to Lady Treby, and tutor to her youngest son. On her death in 1721, he took over the role of assistant to his father at the Presbyterian meeting house in Hoxton Square. In 1723 he gave a series of lectures on 'The credibility of Gospel history', which began a life's work on the subject. His first publication of the lecture series in 1729 placed him in the first rank of Christian apologists, and he continued to write on Gospel history for the remainder of his life. He also acted as a preacher at the Presbyterian meeting house in Poor Jewry Lane from 1729 to 1751, being elected Pastor in 1740. IN 1745 he gained a D.D. from Marischal College in Scotland.
Joshua Gee was a London merchant, who was frequently consulted by the Government, particularly the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, on matters of trade, manufacturing and the colonies. He died in 1730, leaving a large fortune to his family. Publications: The trade and navigation of Great-Britain considered (Sam. Buckley, London, 1729).
King Charles III (1716-1788) was the ruler of Spain (1759-1788) and Naples and Sicily (1735-1759).
Harold Foster Hallet was born in 1886, and was an engineering pupil at the work and shipyard of Messrs Young and Co at Poplar from 1904 to 1908, during which time he gained a BSc in Engineering from the University of London. In 1912 he gained an MA in Mental Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh, and went on to become a Lecturer in Logic, and Assistant in Logic and Metaphysics (1912-1916) and an Assistant in Moral Philosophy, 1915-1916. In 1919 Hallett was appointed Assistant Lecturer, 1919-1922, and Lecturer, 1922-1931, in Philosophy at the University of Leeds. He became Professor of Philosophy at King's College London from 1931 to 1951. Hallett was also the British Secretary of the Societas Spinoza, 1929-1935, Chairman of the Board of Philosophical Studies at the University of London, 1935-1945, and the author of numerous books and articles on philosophy.
Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) was born in a small village on the Rhine. He studied arts and theology at Heidelberg, 1503-1508, during which time he joined the Franciscan Order. His study in the next few years broadened his knowledge of mathematical geography and cartography, and he published several works on the subject, as well as works on hebraistics. The latter won him a post as Chair of Hebrew at the University of Basel, which he took up in 1529 and remained in until his death from plague in 1552. Münster left the Franciscan Order and adhered to Lutheranism. During the remainder of his life he became the leading cartographer and geographer in Germany. The Cosmographia consisted of detailed geographical descriptions and depictions of Germany, and was first published in 1544.
Born in Barbados in 1784, William Maynard Gomm enjoyed a successful career in the armed forces, participating in the fighting on the continent leading up to the Battle of Waterloo. He was Governor of Mauritius, 1842-1849, Constable of the Tower of London, 1849, and Commander in Chief in India, 1950-1955.
No information available at present.
Born in 1880, Leonard Woolf worked for the Ceylon Civil Service from 1904-1911. He was the editor of the International Review, 1919, the literary editor of The Nation, 1923-1930, and joint editor of the Political Quarterly, 1931-1959. He was a member of the National Whitley Council for Administrative and Legal Departments of the Civil Service, 1938-1955. He was married to Virginia Stephen in 1912, and they founded the Hogarth Press in 1917. The Press published many of the works of the Bloomsbury group, including those of Virginia herself. To the Lighthouse, which was written in 1927, examined the life of an upper middle class British family, portraying the fragility of human relationships and the collapse of social values.
Born in Birmingham in 1811, Thomas Creswick studied under J V Barber and is best known for his landscapes of the north of England and Wales. He was London-based, and from 1828 exhibited 266 works at the Royal Academy, the British Institute and elsewhere. He died in 1869.
The North Midland Railway to Masborough opened on 11 May 1840.
Aretas Akers was born on the island of St Kitts in 1734, the eldest son of Edmund Akers, a man of English descent, who owned land on St Vincent. Akers acquired his own estates on St Kitts, and much later, inherited his father's estates on St Vincent. Akers added to his position of strength and influence in the islands through his marriage to Jean Douglas, the niece of the Governor of the Leeward Islands. He maintained his connections with Great Britain - having his children educated in Scotland and England. Jean Douglas died in 1768, soon after the birth of her seventh child - Akers did not remarry.
As a substantial landowner on St Kitts and St Vincent, Akers played an important role in finance, business, trade and politics of the islands. The influence of his position is demonstrated by the fact that he was appointed Receiver of the Casual Revenue or Droits of Admiralty for the Leeward Carribee Islands by the British government at the outset of the American War of Independence. This meant that he was responsible for the sale of ships and cargo captured during the war and distributed prize money to ships' crews. He was also appointed by Lord Rodney as one of the joint agents responsible for the distribution of prize money after the British conquered the island of St Eustatius in 1779.
Akers was also active in political life on St Kitts. He served as a represntative on the legislative assembly, but resigned from this position in 1769 as a result of a dispute ostensibly over the Governor's attempt to prevent assembly members who also acted for the British Government from voting for new representatives. As a result of this, Akers and his 6 fellow protestors were jailed for more than a month. After his release Akers may have travelled to London to bring the matter before the House of Commons, although it is unclear what the result of this was. In time all seven members of the assembly were re-elected to it. Akers also appears to visited England in 1774 in order to protest against the war with America because of the effect that it would have trade in the West Indies.
Aretas Akers and his family left St Kitts in 1782 when the island was captured by the French. The family settled in England, but Akers travelled to Paris in order to petition the French government concerning a problem with the Stubbs estate on St Vincent. He spent the remaining three years of his life working to bring some order to his financial and business affairs which had been thrown into chaos as a result of British losses in the West Indies. He was in dispute with the British government concerning the sale of ships and cargo in Tortola, where as a result of the lack of availability of currency he had accepted bonds from purchasers rather than cash. The government regarded Akers as been responsible for the subsequent debts. The Government also had a large claim against him for Droits of Admiralty for Greenwich Naval Hospital, which received unclaimed and forfeited shares of prize money. His financial position had been further weakened by the effect that the War and poor weather conditions had had on the management of his estates and trade.
Akers died in 1785, and in his will vested his estate in Alexander Douglas, his two sons, Edmund Fleming Akers and Aretas Akers, and William Forbes in trust for his heirs. Edmund and Aretas Akers then began the long process of ordering their father's tangled affairs so that the terms of the will could be executed. This process continued for more than twenty years, Edmund Akers managing affairs in the West Indies, and Aretas Akers II working from London.
Allchin was born in 1846 and received his education privately and at University College, London, where he studied medicine. He went on to become consulting physician at numerous London hospitals and examiner for several universities around England. He was a Fellow, and at one point Senior Censor, of the Royal College of Physicians, London. As well as a long connection with the University of London, Allchin was Physician-Extraordinary to King Edward VII. He died in 1911.
Carlton was a collector of all things concerning the history of shorthand.