The History of Britain Magazine
Welcome to the History of Britain! The home nations share a varied and shared history unlike anywhere else, so we thought it only right to create a section dedicated to our mutual heritage.
Crossword Panic of 1944
The planning of the D Day landings was almost complete – what could possibly go wrong?…
Piltdown Man: Anatomy of a Hoax
It was a storyline worthy of the world’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes; and Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, the creator of the great sleuth, was caught up in the plot…
London’s Great Stink
It’s a cliché that it takes a lot to rouse the reserved, polite British to action, but during the long hot summer of 1858 it was clear that the time for talking was over. The Mother of Parliaments was deeply offended by the poor personal hygiene of her neighbour, Old Father Thames…
British Convicts to Australia
26th January is the official national day of Australia and marks the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships and the raising of the Union flag at Sydney Cove. The fleet included six ships transporting around 1,000 convicts…
Spencer Perceval
The only British Prime Minister ever to be assassinated, Spencer Perceval was shot in the lobby of the House of Commons in 1812…
Empire Day
The words “Empire Day” summon up an image of a motherly Queen Victoria presiding over an Empire which spanned almost a quarter of the entire globe. However it was not until after the death of Queen Victoria that Empire Day was first celebrated…
Hannah Beswick, the Mummy in the Clock
Taphophobia, the fear of being buried alive and waking up in one’s own grave, is the stuff of nightmares. Hannah Beswick had a pathological fear of premature burial, after her brother John was found to be still alive at his own funeral…
The Cotton Industry
By 1825, cotton was Britain’s biggest import. It became the centrepiece of the developing industrial revolution which impacted the country socially, economically and culturally for generations…
The 19th century Garotting Panic
During the Garotting Panic of 1862, sensational newspaper reports led the public to believe would-be attackers lurked around every corner. The satirical magazine Punch produced cartoons showing wittily ingenious ways in which people might tackle this “crisis”…