History Blogs

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Edwardian Promenade

Book: Colored People’s Blue-Book and Business Directory of Chicago - Fri, 03 Feb 2012
I could find little on the author of this business directory, which was published privately in 1905, but the directory itself is a goldmine of social history. To give a little context, Chicago was one of the destinations for African-Americans during the Great Migration; morever, the city was founded by a Haitian fur trader in [...]

Vintage Fiction for Your Downton Fix - Wed, 01 Feb 2012
Major publishers were quick to cash in on the rousing success of Downton Abbey by suggesting books they felt would appeal to fans of the show. Not surprisingly, they and the multitude of comments from others, chimed in to suggest tons of non-fiction, literary fiction, and classic fiction of the Edwardian era and WWI. Longtime [...]

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The Early Modern Intelligencer

History Comes to Life: Seventeenth-Century Natural History, Medicine and the ‘New Science’ - Tue, 31 Jan 2012
History Comes to Life: Seventeenth-Century Natural History, Medicine and the ‘New Science’ 27 April 2012 9am -5:30 pm The Royal Society, London  A conference organised by Dr Anna Marie Roos and sponsored by Cultures of Knowledge, University of Oxford and the Mellon Foundation; the Royal Society; and the Wellcome Trust. Registration for this event is [...]

State Papers Talk at The National Archives, 8 Mar 2012 - Sat, 21 Jan 2012
‘There is no aspect of government activity on which the State Papers may not throw light’: The papers of the secretaries of state 1509-1782 A talk by Dr Adrian Ailes and Dr Katy Mair (TNA) Thursday, 8 March 2012, 2pm Talks Room, The National Archives, Kew Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU (tel: 020 876 3444) The [...]

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Cardinal Wolsey’s Today in History

How Greece lost her Marbles - Wed, 23 Mar 2011
photo: a decent view of the Parthenon without too much scaffolding (copyright the author)

On a recent trip to Athens, the cultural hot potato that is the Elgin Marbles was very much in play. Piles of leaflets at the entrance to the Acropolis make the case for the return of these treasures of the Parthenon (or stolen booty depending on your stance) from the British Museum to Athens.

A brief summary of the story:

From 1799 the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople was Thomas Bruce, Earl of Elgin. At this time the Ottomans were in charge of Athens, and in 1801 Elgin obtained permission (or so he claimed) to remove around half the existing sculptures from the Parthenon and other structures on the Acropolis. This his agents duly did and in by 1812 they had been shipped back to Blighty.

Although Elgin's motives were based on a love of antiquity (he had heard that some sculptures had previously been burnt to extract lime), a row broke out almost immediately, and has been running off and on for the 200 years since.

Arguments for keeping the marbles in the BM:

1. They are closer to my house (and for Londoners generally). OK, this might have held water when it took a week by sea to get to Athens, but that was before Easyjet & co.

2. The Greeks won't look after them. Pollution in Athens is less of an issue since the Olympics clean-up, and the fab new Acropolis Museum makes the BM look very last year. They even have a space ready.

3. It will set a precedent for returning stuff which will empty our museums. Well, you shouldn't have nicked it in the first place. See this site for more hot potatoes.

4. We built a nice gallery for them. Just move with the times and use it for a permanent exhibition of our best graffiti artists. The Athens galleries are full of light and a much better setting for the marbles.

That's my balanced opinion anyway.

West Wycombe Park - Wed, 01 Dec 2010





An autumn view of West Wycombe Park, an early 18th century English Palladian mansion in the Chiltern Hills, north-west of London. The house was built by Sir Francis Dashwood, sometime Chancellor of the Exchequer and founder of the Dilettante Society and slightly more notorious Hellfire Club. The caves where the latter Club held meetings are nearby and make an interesting visit.

The house is still in the family:the 12th Baronet Edward Dashwood currently enjoys the modest 5000-acre estate, albeit shared with visitors as the property is run by the National Trust.

Nearly West Wycombe village dates from the 16th century and is also looked after by the National Trust. The pubs and jettied shops on the old coaching road feel in a different age to dreary High Wycombe up the road.


The peace of this area of the Chilterns is now threatened by the High Speed 2 train project.

Photo: the author.

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History News Network

Way back in the day: Ye olde New England vs NY - Sun, 05 Feb 2012

ALBANY, N.Y. — Think this New York vs. New England thing is a product of the modern sports era? Prithee, fuggedaboudit.

"It doesn't quite go back to the glaciers, but it's close," said William Fowler, author and history professor at Northeastern University in Boston.

The regional rivalry long predates the Super Bowl matchup, Giants vs. Patriots, or baseball's Yankees vs. Red Sox. New York and its neighbors to the east have bad blood stretching all the way back to Colonial America, when New England militiamen viewed "Yorkers" as blasphemous, profane drunks, while their counterparts next door considered the men of the Massachusetts Bay colony to be Puritan-raised prudes who didn't know how to have a good time, even going so far as to ban Christmas in Boston during a 22-year period in in the 1600s.

"New Englanders, even by middle of the 18th century, are so strictly religious that you find them picking fights for cursing in military camps and ganging up on people and beating them up for not following the Sabbath. That certainly didn't help relations," said Stuart Lilie, director of interpretation at upstate New York's Fort Ticonderoga, near the Vermont state line....

Fiscal Hawk Blocks Federal Aid for 9/11 Memorial Museum - Thu, 02 Feb 2012

Another September 11th-related funding clash is poised to erupt in Congress, as one fiscal hawk senator blocks a bill that would see $20 million in taxpayer funds go to the creation of the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who proudly wears the moniker of "Dr. No" due to his opposition to deficit spending, has refused to sanction the legislation in the wake of trillion dollar deficits that are now projected to continue through the current fiscal year and possibly beyond.

"Dr. Coburn believes we can best honor the heroism and sacrifices of 9/11 by making hard choices and reducing spending on less vital priorities rather than borrowing money," Coburn spokesman John Hart tells Fox. "This funding dispute could be solved in minutes if the sponsors would look at the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and duplication in the federal government that has been identified by the Government Accountability Office and others. Finding $20 million in savings is the least we can do to demonstrate that Congress also understands the value of service and sacrifice."...

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