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.
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Elizabeth Fry
The “Angel of Prisons”. A Quaker minister, social reformer and mother of 11 children, Elizabeth Fry is perhaps best known for her work on behalf of the women and children in Newgate Prison in London. Some of the more specific requirements she concerned herself with after her numerous visits to the prison included ensuring that men and women would be separated, with female guards provided for the female inmates.
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Battle of Talana, 1899
Take a pompous general who objects to fighting before breakfast, 200 cavalrymen who disappear into thick mist, Irishmen shooting at one another on opposite sides and British infantrymen shelled by their own artillery – and you have the tragicomic ingredients for the Battle of Talana…
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General Charles Gordon: Chinese Gordon, Gordon of Khartoum
In the early hours of Monday, January 26th, 1885, Major-General Charles Gordon was killed by Mahdist forces overrunning Khartoum, Sudan. Also known as Chinese Gordon, he was one of the most admired heroes of Victorian England…
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Lord Woolton: Feeding Wartime Britain
As Minister of Food during the Second World War, Lord Woolton kept Britain from starving. He was determined that Britain’s larder remained well-stocked, and that, despite rationing and poverty, everyone had something to put on the table. “We must all be fighting fit,” he declared.
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Joseph Knight
The name ‘Joseph Knight’ is largely unknown, yet he played an important role in the history of Scotland, its laws and the abolition of slavery…
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The Anonymous Peter Puget
In a small graveyard in a tiny English village lies the tomb of Rear-Admiral Peter Puget. Virtually unknown in his homeland, this fine sailor rose from midshipman to Rear Admiral and gave his name to Puget Sound, Seattle in the USA…
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Gun Law
In the hot summer of 1901 the country mourned the death of Queen Victoria. However once the period of mourning was over, with the hot weather a new craze was born: cycling. Thousands of cyclists eager to escape the city spilled out into the countryside, taking with them the latest fashionable accessory, a product known as ‘The Cyclist’s Friend’; a scaled-down handgun…
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Admiral John Byng
“In this country, it is good to kill an admiral from time to time, in order to encourage the others”. This comment is taken from Voltaire’s ‘Candide’ which commented on the execution of the Admiral John Byng on 14th March 1757, with the charge of “failing to do his utmost”…
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The Coronation 1953
On 2nd June 1953, the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place, and the whole country joined in celebration. The Queen arrived at Westminster Abbey looking radiant, but there was a problem in the Abbey: the carpet…
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Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne on the death of her father George VI in 1952, with the promise “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service”. And so it was with great sadness that on 8th September 2022, the death of our sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth II was announced. She had reigned for 70 years, 3 months and 5 days the longest-serving monarch in British history. God bless you Ma’am…