Category: Parliament And Parliamenairians

Death of Oliver Cromwell

2/9/2020

On the 3rd September in 1658 Oliver Cromwell died due to complications relating to Malaria and the effects of a kidney stone.

To this day Oliver Cromwell continues to be one of England's most controversial and fascinating figures whose notoriety revolves around his views on monarchy and his attempts to turn the country into a republic. Cromwell had appointed Richard, his son, as his successor, but by May the following year he had renounced power, thus ending the protectorate.

I used to straddle the line when it comes to liking/disliking Oliver Cromwell (I was felt much the same about Simon de Montfort) Montfort over the years he has gone up in my estimation as has Oliver Cromwell. Therefore I ask this question -

Should we look at Cromwell as good or bad or should we at least consider him a victim of propaganda?

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April 12th, 2020

12/4/2020

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On the 2nd August in 1894, Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary introduced the tax of Death Duty, we know it as Inheritance Tax.

This new law was introduced to raise money to pay off a four million pound government shortfall.

In the story of Downton Abbey, it was taxes and a medieval inheritance system that was the real root of the families troubles. Both together, these two things threatened to ruin the life that Earl of Grantham's ancestors had built up over many years.
Robert Crawley and his wife had daughters and no sons and because of the laws of primogeniture, none of them could inherit their father's title, house, or land. It was Robert's first cousin James and his son Patrick who stood to inherit, but when they died on the Titanic, it was Matthew Crawley, Robert's third cousin once removed, who became heir presumptive.

Primogeniture is centuries old however the taxation of a person's wealth at the time of their death dates from the the
end of the 17th century.

It's a good job a person wasn't taxed on the amount of names he had isn't it?

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Battle of Stratton

15/5/2018

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The Cornish town of Stratton, that lies close to the boarder with Devon, was a manor owned by my ancestors in the early 12th century, its history, and theirs is quite fascinating. Stratton was the head of its hundred (a division of the county for judicial purposes) which is a good indicator of its importance in the north of Cornwall. It had a thriving agricultural and leather trade.

By the 17th century there was little to show that my ancestors ever lived there, however on the 16th May 1643, a civil war battle, the Battle of Stratton, took place at the base of Stamford Hill, less than a mile north of the family's castle.

The battle raged for most of the day, but by the end of it Henry Grey, Earl of Stamford, had lost half of his forces enabling the Cornish Royalist army to march across the border from Cornwall to Devon. It was a Royalist victory, and a quite remarkable one considering the three thousand Royalist troops, under Sir Ralph Hopton, faced Grey's Parliamentarian army that numbered over five and a half thousand.

By July, Hopton had lead his forces in two more battles, one at Crediton and one at Landsdowne, where Hopton was injured. A year later he successfully defended Devizes from an attack by William Waller's forces and two years after that he had taken up a defensive position in the Devon town ofTorrington, a battle that marked the end of Royalist resistance in the West Country.

Henry Grey, Earl of Stamford

Sir Ralph Hopton

Henry Grey's failure at Stratton and the surrender of the City of Exeter after a three month siege effectively ended his career as a Parliamentary commander.

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The Introduction of Income Tax

9/1/2017

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9th January 1799: William Pitt introduces Income Tax.

Towards the end of the 18th century, the war against Napoleon was not going very well, the French army was much better organised and to make matters worse Britain’s finances were in a bit of a mess.

"With the War of the Second Coalition in full swing and France the better organized country, Britain's national debt was on the rise. William Pitt the Younger, functioning as both Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, saw an income tax as the much needed source of funds for the war. Obviously, when it was first instituted the income tax was a 'temporary' tax, but it remained in place almost continually until 1816 when the Napoleonic Wars concluded."

The satirical cartoon below was circulated in 1806, and as you can see it is a representation of the unpopularity of this tax and its impact on the population of the country.

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Death of Oliver Cromwell

April 12th, 2020

Battle of Stratton

The Introduction of Income Tax

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