Category: On This Day - Meandering Through Time

Battle of Torrington

16/2/2017

In what could be called a bit of a coup, Sir Ralph Hopton replaced Sir Richard Grenville at the head of the West Country royalist forces when Grenville refused to serve under Hopton and resigned his commission.

Beginning in the spring of 1643, Hopton's five Cornish regiments had defeated the Parliamentarian forces on Cornwall's border and were soon marching through neighboring Devon. By July, Hopton had led his forces in two battles, one at Crediton and at Landsdowne, where Hopton was injured. In 1644 Hopton, successfully defended Devizes from an attack by William Waller's forces and two years later he had taken up a defensive position in the Devon town of Torrington.

It was on the 16th February 1646, that Ralph Hopton faced the army of Thomas Fairfax in what is known as the Battle of Torrington.

A popular general, Thomas Fairfax, who was nearly twenty years younger than Hopton, had lead his troops to victory at the Battle of Nantwich in 1644, Naseby in 1645 and Colchester in 1648 and at thirty-two he had been appointed Commander in Chief of the New Model Army.

The 16th February 1646 turned out to be wet and cold, the combined forces of about seventeen thousand men fought on the narrow streets. No doubt the inhabitants of Torrington thought the bloodshed would never end, but end it did when gunpowder, that was stored in the parish church, was ignited by a stray spark. The explosion killed many from both sides effectively ending the battle. Ralph Hopton ordered to retreat, he and the remaining royalist army escaped back into Cornwall where he finally surrendered to Fairfax in Truro on 14 March.

The Battle of Torrington marked the end of Royalist resistance in the West Country.

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Malborough.

18/10/2016

Being a beautiful, clever and articulate woman was what made Sarah Churchill the woman she was, however these
attributes in conjunction with her friendship with Queen Anne, lead to a massive quarrel and ultimately her dismissal
at the beginning of 1711.

Sarah was not afraid to speak her mind, but she was also unable to control her feelings when she did not get what she wanted.
Sarah was the wife of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, her quarrel with the queen resulted in the loss of her place in
court, her dismissal from her position as Mistress of the Robes among others, and the replacement in the queens affections
by Abigail Masham. Her husband's demand for the position of captain generalship for life was the straw that broke the
camel's back and he felt the toe of the royal boot twelve months following Sarah's ejection.

The Duke of Malborough, for Queen Anne at least, represented all that was wrong with the country at that time. The fall out from the Spanish succession crisis had hit England hard. The people of England had become very sick of the fighting and
they had also become sick of paying for it.

Sarah and John Churchill were shrewd, capable and wealthy and classic examples of those who got too big for their boots.

The Duke of Malborough died in the June of 1722 and was buried at Westminster Abbey. Sarah died on the 18th October 1744 at Marlborough House. Following her burial at her beloved Blenheim, John Churchill's body was taken from
his resting place and re interred alongside her.

Edward Seymour

10/10/2016

On the 11th of October 1549, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset was arrested and brought before King Edward VI at Richmond.

The events leading to the civil unrest of 1548, such as Kett's Rebellion and the Prayer Book Rebellion a year later, were
laid firmly at Seymour's door. Edward Seymour was in favour of religious reform and against the system of enclosure which affected the livelihood of those living and working on the land, however Seymour's ideas for social reform were frowned
upon by the likes of John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, who gave his support to the wealthy landowners.

In the July of 1549 Seymour received a letter criticising the way he had dealt with the problem

"....would to God, that, at the first stir you had followed the matter hotly, and caused justice to be ministered in
solemn fashion " however the letter went on to state "there was never man that had the hearts of the poor as you have!"

Although William Paget, the author of the letter was understanding and sympathetic, and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was on Seymour's side, there were few others who would stand up to be counted. Three months later, Edward VI's council, the very same council who had made Seymour Protector of the Realm only two years before, laid the foundations for a take over by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.

Dudley was chief puppeteer, pulling the young kings strings in order that England dance to his tune.
Within a few months, Dudley took his place as head of the kings council and within four years Dudley would place his
daughter in law, Lady Jane Grey, on the throne of England.

Seymour was eventually released after spending just a few months in a cell of the Tower of London, he made an attempt to overthrow Dudley without success and on the 22nd January 1552, Edward Seymour found himself on the scaffold on
Tower Hill.

In June 1553, Edward VI's Devise for the Succession was signed by over a hundred nobles and members of the royal council,
in it he named his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his heir, and disinherited his half sisters Mary and Elizabeth.

John Dudley's plan had come to fruition.

meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/history-blog/the-duke-of-northemberland-and-the-devise-for-the-succession

Isabella of Angouleme

8/10/2016

There seems to be a bit of a disagreement among historians as to the reasons King John married his second wife Isabella of Angouleme, some say it was born out of lust, others out of the need to control the areas that neighboured Angouleme.
John, it has been said, took an immediate fancy to Isabella, the daughter of Audemar the Count of Angouleme, and was
quick to make a play for her. John certainly loved women, he was unfaithful to both his wives and kept numerous mistresses, some of them married women, so it is easy to believe that he was determined to have her and was not going
to take no for an answer.

There was a big difference in their ages, John was nearly thirty-four and Isabella about fifteen when they married on the 24th of August 1200. The birth of their first born suggests that the king may have respected her tender age and stayed out of the marriage bed till at least the end of 1206.

Following their marriage the couple arrived back in England, where on the 8th October 1200, Isabella was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

The view that most historians put forward, that King John was a tyrant and a thoroughly bad chap with absolutely no
redeeming features, makes it difficult to find anything positive to say about his twelve year marriage to Isabella, but from
what I have read it looks to be an exact copy of that of John's parents Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. John was a philanderer, so was Henry, Isabella a been a strong and forceful woman, so was Eleanor.

Soon after John's death in 1216, Isabella left her children, the youngest just a year old, in the care of the English court, and made a new life for herself with a new husband in her home of Angouleme.

Halt! Who Goes There?

16/9/2016

Did you know that on the 16th September 1485, following his victory at the Battle of Bosworth, the Yeoman of the Guard,
the bodyguard of the English Crown we know as Beefeaters were established this day by King Henry VII.

Confusingly, there are two different groups of soldiers that perform a service within the Tower of London, that is the aforementioned Yeoman of the Guard and the Yeoman Warders. Today, the Yeomen of the Guard have a purely ceremonial role and accompany the sovereign on various ceremonial occasions.

The Yeoman Warders can trace their origins back to the time the Tower of London was a prison when Henry I sent the Bishop of Durham there in 1100. You can read that story here

meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/history-blog/category/ranulf-flambard

The Tower of London stands proudly on the banks of the River Thames, guarding our nation's capital as it has done
for the last nine hundred years. The tower has been a Royal Palace, a fortress, a place of execution, an arsenal, and a Royal Mint, it has of course been a prison holding prisoners such as William the Count of Mortain in 1106 and the Kray twins in 1952 before being taken elsewhere. So, with its thick stone walls, its armed guards, and huge towers, you would expect it to be secure, and of course, it is. Every evening, the main gates of the Tower of London are secured by the Chief Yeoman Warder and his armed guard. This event, which has taken place every night without fail for over 500 years, is called the
Ceremony of the Keys.

The Chief Yeoman Warder in his distinctive red coat and Tudor hat emerges from the Byward Tower carrying The Queen’s Keys and a lantern, he walks into Water Lane and is joined at Traitor’s Gate by his armed guard, a salute is given then they proceed to the outer gates. The Chief Yeoman Warder proceeds to lock the series of large gates, outermost first and walks back along Water Lane and back towards Traitor’s Gate, where he is stopped by a sentry and asked to prove his identity.
After confirming that he carries The Queen’s Keys, he walks through the Bloody Tower archway to where the main body of
the guard is assembled. The guard presents arms, the Chief Yeoman Warder raises his hat and calls
“God Save Queen Elizabeth” followed by an Amen from the guard. The keys are then taken to the Queen's House for safekeeping accompanied by the Last Post.

This wonderful ceremony has only been delayed once when during WWII a bomb knocked the warders off their feet. It has never been canceled.

Coronation of Richard I

3/9/2016

King Richard I was crowned this day at Westminster Abbey in 1189.

The Bodleian Library in Oxford holds an account of the coronation that gives the names of those who were in attendance and a description of the event. In the account, the chronicler records Richard as the Duke of Normandy and writes how he lead the procession with

"triumphal chanting."

Richard took the oath and then anointed himself, taking the crown from the alter on which it sat. According to the chronicler, the crown was so heavy that two earls helped support it above the kings head. Interestingly, during the ceremony a bat flew around Richard's head and a strange pealing of bells could be heard an

'evil omen'

writes the chronicler. It is easy with hind sight to say that the recorder of the coronation was correct in his assumption, as it turned out he was. Richard I was a selfish and cruel king and a favourite of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. He only spent six months of his ten year reign in England claiming it was

"cold and always raining"

He bankrupted the treasury to fund his hobby........crusading. He famously said

"I would sell London itself if only I could find a rich enough buyer."

Richard's brother, later King John, was left to pick up the pieces. Could you run a country effectively with an empty treasury? John, was not perfect by any means, he was seen as the evil villain, a view which continues to this day.

Richard however still remains an iconic figure. A hero king? A good king?

I think not!

William Lilly

2/9/2016

Sitting with his astrological charts and book of symbols is seventeenth century astrologer William Lilly.

Lilly was the author of such works as Christian Astrology, The Prophecy of the White King and Monarchy or No Monarchy.
These books contained predictions that made him famous and very wealthy. Lilly had begun to study astrology in 1632
when he was aged thirty, stating that his interest in the subject was

"whether there was any verity in the art or not."

Leicestershire born, Lilly attended Ashby de la Zouch grammar school taking easily to English and Latin which later
enabled him to study classical astrology. His ambitions to attend university followed by a life in the church was put on
hold when his father had money troubles, but within a year he had left his home county for London.

Lilly began charting significant events that took place between Charles I and Parliament, convinced that the movements
of the stars influenced the decisions made, and in 1644 he published Merlinus Anglicus Junior. By 1659, Lilly's work
was popular reading and his annual almanac sold around 30,000 copies a year.

His predictions of specific events eventually got him into trouble. It was in the aforementioned Monarchy or No Monarchy
that he predicted the Great Plague and the Fire of London, which later he was accused of starting it to prove his point!

In defense of this he said

"I conclude that it was the finger of God only; but what instruments he used thereunto I am ignorant."

Later in his career he was ridiculed by the likes of Samuel Pepys, he was forced to retire to his home in Surrey where
he used his skills in the practice of medicine.

William Lilly died in 1681.

Marie Lloyd, My Grandma and Me.

28/8/2014

Nearly all the newspapers in the April of 2013 published the results of Great British Class Survey where it was suggested that there are now seven different social classes where once there were three, working, middle and upper class. This report reminded me of what T S Elliot said in 1922 on the death of Marie Lloyd, the 19th century music hall performer.

"Among the small number of music-hall performers, whose names are familiar to what is called the lower class,
Marie Lloyd had far the strongest hold on popular affection.”

I had finished a biography on Marie Lloyd entitled "Our Marie” by Naomi Jacobs, just last year. I was given this book by a lovely lady at our local library who knew I was interested in her, her songs and her lower/working class roots. Marie always fascinated me, her songs featured in my early life, and this is due to my grandmother.

My grandmother, like Lloyd, liked to sing and knew nearly all her songs off by heart, I have such fond memories of her singing in the kitchen, in the bathroom, even hanging out the washing. My brother and I used to get into bed with Gran every morning and how I loved it when she sang all the old music hall songs she learnt as a child. Song such as My Old Man, The boy that I love is up in the Gallery, Pop goes the Weasel,’ and One of the Ruins the Cromwell Knocked about a Bit.

There also was a song which I think was called the Grand Hotel, which was my favourite, yet I only remember a few lines from the end of the song.

"there’s a cow with three legs that doesn’t lay eggs and the chickens don’t lay any milk. They’ve a graveyard of their own, were some of the past lodger's dwell. It must not be forgotten, the grubs simply rotten, but that’s why we stay at the Grand Hotel.

If anyone knows the rest of it or anything about it, please do let me know.

My grandmother's early life in the East End was much the same as Marie Lloyd's, maybe that’s why the songs appealed to her, it may also be the fact that her mother, my great grandmother, sang at the Crystal Palace as a young girl and also she always maintained that we were related in some way to Lloyd. This connection I have yet to find. Like Lloyd, my beloved grandmother was born in the East End of London, the family lived in Canning Town and her father worked as a boiler maker on the docks. My grandmother's family can be found living in the blue highlighted area of Charles Booths 1898 poverty map of London which represented the group of people described as “Very poor, casual. Chronic want.” Today my grandmother's family would probably fit into what is stated to be the Precariat Class “The most deprived class of all with low levels of economic, cultural and social capital.” The birth certificates of all the children show that they were never in the same house for more than two years, this was probably due to rent arrears and my great grandfather sometimes being out of work.

Gran was one of sixteen children, only five of her siblings living into adulthood. Her mother was a seamstress and gran, from
an early age, went from door to door selling the items of clothing her mother had made, I believe that Marie Lloyd's song
My Old Man was too close to home for my gran to find it amusing.

My old man said: "Foller the van,
And don't dilly-dally on the way".
Off went the van wiv me 'ome packed in it.
I walked be'ind wiv me old cock linnet.
But I dillied and dallied, Dallied and dillied;
Lost me way and don't know where to roam.

http://youtu.be/lfW3TxQhy20

My grandmother left London at the age of fourteen, finding her way to Cornwall bringing with her, Marie Lloyd story, her songs and the memories that went with it.

Marie's Story

Marie Lloyd was born in Hoxton London, in 1870, and named Matilda Alice Victoria Wood. Both parents were from Bethnal Green. Marie Lloyd's biographer Naomi Jacobs stated that her father, John Wood, was an intelligent man,
and her mother, Matilda Caroline Archer a remarkable woman and it was probably from her mother's side that
she inherited her talents.

Jacobs also states that a streak of “theatrical spirit” ran through her family, her sister was a successful dancer and her brother's daughter a talented comedienne. Marie, the eldest of eleven children, was singing and dancing from an early age
and by 1879 she and her siblings were in The Fairy Bell Troupe. They were a popular, much sort after act and for a time very successful.

Marie Lloyd was an opinionated, strong-willed girl who hated authority and it seems that it was only her mother who was able to manage her temperament. Lloyd's talent soon enabled her to take to the stage where at the age of fifteen she was still known as Matilda Wood, by the June of that same year she had changed it to Marie Lloyd. It was as Marie Lloyd appearing at the Falstaff Music Hall that she had her first taste of fame singing The Boy I love is up in the Gallery, and by 1886 she was singing it in the West End.

The music halls in which Lloyd began her career were really a sort of public house where the working class could get in for nothing. In these places all sorts of entertainment took place. It was in one such place that Marie Lloyd made her stage debut aged only fourteen. This establishment was later to become famous for the nursery rhyme Pop goes the Weasel the song which my grandmother sang to me over eighty years later.

Today, Marie Lloyd's songs appear to be harmless, but were classed as racy in the 1890’s. These songs, along with her use of innuendo and double entendre plus the addition of her famous wink created a relationship with her audience, she
was really saying I know that you know what I really mean. “She'd never had her ticket punched before” one of her phrases from the song 'Oh, Mr Porter' is a good example of this. On the surface it is a story of a young innocent girl travelling alone to the big city, but the winks and gesturing gave it another complete meaning. Another example is ‘A Little of What You Fancy doe’s you good’

I always hold in having it if you fancy it
If you fancy it, that's understood
And suppose it makes you fat?
I don't worry over that
A little of what you fancy does you good.

http://youtu.be/L5xqrr2YoQY

She sang this to a committee who were asked to deal with her immorality, she sang them so nicely that they could not understand what all the fuss was about. She never lost her hated of authority and followed with the song 'Come into the garden Maud’ in such a bawdy way that the group were totally shocked.

Asked later about this she replied

"They don't pay their sixpences and shillings at a music hall to hear the Salvation Army. If I was to try to sing
highly moral songs, they would fire ginger beer bottles and beer mugs at me. I can't help it if people want to turn and twist my meanings."

I cannot say if Marie Lloyd life was a happy one, she was married three times, two of her husbands were drinkers and abusive, but she did have a daughter Marie by her first husband Percy Courtney.

Marie Lloyd last appeared before an audience at the Alhambra Theatre in 1922 she was taken ill there and died at home of heart and kidney failure, she was just fifty two. It is a testament to her popularity that thousands of people attended her funeral and six hearses were used to carry the flowers.

Jacques de Morlay

16/11/2013

The last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was one Jacques de Molay, and it was on an island on the River Seine that he was executed. On the Pont Neur Bridge, that overlooks the island, there is a plaque that reads

'At this location, Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was burned on 18 March 1314.

Molay, was born either in the French village of Rahon or Molay in 1244. Around the middle of the thirteenth century, Molay became a templar knight after he had fought in Syria and was Grand Master of the Order by 1298. You could call the Templar's astute businessmen, for not only did they own large areas of land, but they also owned farms and vineyards and built churches and castles. They had large fleets of ships and at one time they owned the island of Cyprus.

By the end of the century, the order was in decline due to Saladin and his forces taking control in the Middle East. 1306 saw Philip IV expel all the Jewish population and at the same time he was probably responsible for the false, but nonetheless damaging, rumour's regarding the Order and because of this it was Molay who asked Pope Clement V to investigate. A year later the king had the French Templar Knights, including Molay, arrested. Under torture he confessed the rumors of blasphemy to be true but argued others accusations were not. Initially, the pope intervened on behalf of the Templar's and encouraged by Molay they all retracted their confessions. Six years later a commission of three Cardinals condemned Molay an order of life imprisonment was placed on him but he stood by his original statement, Phillip IV called him a 'relapsed heretic' and ordered his death at the stake.

In a book, The Second Messiah: Templars, the Turin Shroud and the Great Secret of Freemasonry, the author suggests that Morlay was crucified and that the image on the famous Shroud of Turin is that of Molay, but I believe tests have proved that origins of the shroud predate Molay.