GREAT TALESFROM

E N G L I S HH I S T O R Y

H i s t o r y

Also by Robert Lacey

ROBERT, EARL OF ESSEX

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HE NRY VIII

THE QUEE NS OF THE NORTH ATL ANTIC

SIR WALTER RALEGH

MAJES TY: ELIZABETH II AND THE HOUSE OF WI NDSOR

THE KI NGD OM

PRI NCESS

ARIS TO CRATS

FORD: THE ME N AND THE MACHI NE

GOD BLESS HER!

LIT TLE MAN

GRACE

SOTHEBY ’S : BIDDI NG FOR CL ASS

THE YEAR 1000

THE QUEE N MOTHER’S CE NTURY

ROYAL: HER MAJES TY QUEE N ELIZABETH II

GREAT TALES FROM E NGLISH HIS TORY:

CHEDDAR MAN TO THE PEASANTS ’ REVOLT

GREAT TALES FROM E NGLISH HIS TORY:

CHAUCER TO THE GLORIOUS REVOLU TION

GREAT TALESFROM

E N G L I S HH I S T O R YThe Battle of the Boyne

to DNA

1690‒1953

ROBERT LACEY

L I T T L E , B R O W N

First published in Great Britain in 2006 by Little, BrownThis edition published in 2006 by Little, Brown

Copyright © 2006 Robert Lacey

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

We thank Methuen Publishing Ltd for kindpermission to use a facsimile of the illustration by John Reynolds

from the cover of 1066 and All That by W.C. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman, and SouvenirPress Ltd for permission to quote ‘The Life That I Have’

from the poetry collection of the same name by Leo Marks.

All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writingof the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover otherthan that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this

condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 0 7088 0773 9

Illustrations and family trees © 2006 by Fred van Deelen

FRONT COVER IMAGES: Spitfires on patrol over a coastline during the Battle of Britain© Getty Images. A Lancashire suffragette being escorted through the Palace Yard,

Westminster © Museum of London. Sir Winston Churchill © Getty Images.DNA spiral © Corbis. WRAP-AROUND IMAGE: Original score for Handel’s ‘Birthday

Ode for Queen Anne’, 1713 © The British Library/Bridgeman Art Library. SPINE

IMAGE: Gold medal of Horatio Nelson, 1805 © The British Museum/HIP. BACK

COVER IMAGES: Exterior of Crystal Palace, Sydenham by George Baxter ©Maidstone Museum and Art Gallery/Bridgeman Art Library. Dick Turpin and Bess

c. 18th century © Mary Evans Picture Library.

Typeset in Jenson by M RulesPrinted and bound in Great Britain by

Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

Little, BrownAn imporint of

Little, Brown Book GroupBrettenham House

Lancaster PlaceLondon WC2E 7EN

A Member of the Hachette Livre Group of Companies

www.littlebrown.co.uk

F O R B R U N O

C O N T E N T S

The Stuarts and the Hanoverians xVictoria and Her Descendants xi

Introduction: Tale of a Whale 1

1690 John Locke and Toleration 81690 ‘Remember the Boyne!’ – the Birth of the

Orangemen 131693 Britannia Rules the Waves – the Triangular Trade 171701 Jethro Tull’s ‘Drill’ and the Miner’s Friend 221704 Marlborough Catches the French Sleeping at the

Village of the Blind 251707 Union Jack 301714 Made in Germany 331720 South Sea Bubble 361721–42 Britain’s First Prime Minister 391738 Born Again 431739 Dick Turpin – ‘Stand and Deliver!’ 461745 God Save the King! 501755 Dr Johnson’s Dictionary 551759 General Wolfe and the Capture of Quebec 591766 James Hargreaves and the Spinning Jenny 631770 Captain Cook – Master of the Pilotage 671773 The Boston Tea Party 711785 Thomas Clarkson – the Giant with One Idea 751788 The Madness of King George III 791789 ‘Breadfruit Bligh’ and the Mutiny on the Bounty 83

· vii ·

1791 Thomas Paine and the Rights of Man 881792 Mary Wollstonecraft and the Rights of Woman 931805 England Expects . . . 981811 Fanny Burney’s Breast 1031812 Who Was Ned Ludd? 1071815 Wellington and Waterloo 1121823 Stone Treasures – Mary Anning and the Terror

Lizards 1171830 Blood on the Tracks 1201819–32 The Lung Power of Orator Hunt 1241834 The Tolpuddle Martyrs 1291837 ‘I Will Be Good’ – Victoria Becomes Queen 1331843 ‘God’s Wonderful Railway’ – Isambard Kingdom

Brunel 1371843 Rain, Steam & Speed – the Shimmering Vision

of J.M.W. Turner 1421851 Prince Albert’s Crystal Palace 1451852 ‘Women and Children First!’ – the Birkenhead Drill 1491854 Into the Valley of Death 1531854–5 The Lady of the Lamp and the Lady with the

Teacup (plus the Odd Sip of Brandy) 1591858 Charles Darwin and the Survival of the Fittest 1671878 The Great Stink – and the Tragedy of the

Princess Alice 1721887 Lord Rosebery’s Historical Howler 1771888 Annie Besant and ‘Phossy Jaw’ – the Strike of the

Match Girls 1791897 Diamond Jubilee – the Empire Marches By 1831900 Slaughter on Spion Kop 1871903 Edward VII and the Entente Cordiale 1921910 Cellar Murderer Caught by Wireless –

Dr Crippen 1961912 ‘I May Be Some Time . . .’ – the Sacrifice of

Captain Oates 2001913 The King’s Horse and Emily Davison 2051914 When Christmas Stopped a War 2101915 Patriotism Is Not Enough – Edith Cavell 214

contents

· viii ·

1916 Your Country Needs You! – the Sheffield Pals 2181926 A Country Fit for Heroes? 2231930 The Greatest History Book Ever 2281933 Not Cricket – ‘Bodyline’ Bowling Wins the Ashes 2311936 Edward the Abdicator 2361938 Peace for Our Time! – Mr Chamberlain

Takes a Plane 2401940 Dunkirk – Britain’s Army Saved by the

Little Boats 2451940 Battle of Britain – the Few and the Many 2491943 Code-making, Code-breaking – ‘The Life That

I Have’ 2541945 Voice of the People 2581953 Decoding the Secret of Life 262

Bibliography and Source Notes 267Acknowledgements 289Index 292

contents

· ix ·· ix ·

I N D E X

· 292 ·

1066 and All That, 6, 228–30, 265, 285

Abolition Bill (1807), 78Accrington Pals, 220–2Act of Settlement (1701), 31Act of Union (1707), 32Adams, Samuel, 72, 91Adelaide, 233aeroplanes, 238, 251–2Africa, 60, 185, 188, 193

see also South Africa; West AfricaAgincourt, Battle of, 25agriculture, 22–3, 126

‘Captain Swing’ disturbances, 127Ainsworth, William Harrison, 48–9Alaska, 70Albert, Prince, 146–7, 175, 184Albert Hall, 147Alexandria, 220Alien Act (1705), 31Americas, discovery of, 63

see also Canada; United States ofAmerica

Amiens, Peace of, 104Amsterdam, 8Amundsen, Roald, 201–2animals

cattle, 31dogs, 134, 136, 201–2

ponies, 201–2whales, 1–3

Anmer (racehorse), 205–6, 208Anne, Queen, 26, 28, 30, 56Anning, Mary, 117–19Antwerp, 197appeasement, 242, 244Apprentice Boys, 16Apsley House, 115Arctic Ocean, 98Arkwright, Richard, 65–6Armentières, 211Armes, Captain R. J., 211army

Catholics excluded, 15and General Strike, 226and Luddite disturbances, 109and ‘Peterloo’, 125Prussian, 151–2reform, 162tallest officer, 185see also regiments

army regimentsBlack Watch, 151Cheshire Regiment, 215Gordon Highlanders, 212North Staffordshire Regiment, 211Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 212Royal Welch Fusiliers, 213

York & Lancaster Regiment, 220astronomy, 68–9, 169Atlantic Ocean, 19, 68, 76, 139, 197atmospheric railway, 140Attlee, Clement, 261Austen, Jane, 104Australia, 69, 86, 145, 185, 236

cricket in, 231–5transportation to, 110, 131

Austria, 27, 60, 241Austria-Hungary, 218, 225

Bairnsfather, Captain Bruce, 212–13Balaclava, Battle of, 153, 161Baldwin, Stanley, 239Balfour, A. J., 238nBallot Act (1872), 131Bank of England, 37Banks, Sir Joseph, 69, 84Barbados, 19Barber, Frank, 58Barking, 174Barnsley Pals, 220, 222Battle of Britain, 250–3Baxter, Richard, 20Bazalgette, Joseph, 173, 176Beatty, Dr, 102Beaverbrook, Lord, 252Belgium, 197, 214–16, 246Bering Strait, 83Berkshire, 127Berlin, 219, 250, 261Besant, Annie, 179–82, 251nBesant, Frank, 181Bethlehem hospital (‘Bedlam’), 143Beveridge, William, 259–60Bible, 119, 169, 177, 188, 224nBirmingham, 34, 126Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, 240birth control, 182Black Sea, 155n, 164Blenheim, Battle of, 25–8Blenheim Palace, 28–9Bletchley Park, 254–5

Bligh, Captain William, 83–7Blitzkrieg, 246Blücher, General Gebhard von, 115Boer War, 188–93, 203, 219Boger, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley,

215–16Bolton, 65Bonaparte, Joseph, 113Borneo, 185Boston Tea Party, 71–4Boswell, James, 57Botany Bay, 69Boulogne, 224Bowes, W. E. (‘Bill’), 231–3Box Tunnel, 139–40Boyne, Battle of the, 7, 13–16Bradford Pals, 222Bradman, Donald, 232–4Brest, 26Brighton, 148Bristol, 34, 45

railway links, 138, 143–4and slave trade, 20, 76–7

British Association for the Advancementof Science, 119

British Broadcasting Company (BBC),226

British Commonwealth, 178n, 258British Empire, 7, 21, 62, 183–5, 193,

238, 258British Expeditionary Force, 213, 215British Isles, inhabitants of, 7, 54nBrontë, Charlotte, 108‘Brown, John’, 17–18Brueys, Admiral François, 99Brunel, Isambard Kingdom, 137–41, 144,

173Brunel, Marc, 138Brussels, 115, 216–17Bryant & May, 180–1Buckingham Palace, 135, 183, 212, 242,

260Burke, Edmund, 57, 90Burney, Esther, 105

index

· 293 ·

Burney, Fanny, 53, 56, 82, 94, 103–6Evelina, 103

Byron, Lord, 109

Cadiz, 100–1Calais, 91Cambridge, 76, 263–4Canada, 60–1, 131–2, 183, 185, 197, 236canals, 122Cape Coast Castle, 18Cape Horn, 84Caribbean, 19, 60, 84

see also West IndiesCarlisle, 52Carlos II, King of Spain, 27Caroline, Queen, 41Cartwright, Edmund, 65–6Catherine the Great, 42Cavell, Edith, 215–17Chamberlain, Ida, 243Chamberlain, Neville, 240–4, 246, 253Charles I, King, 4n, 5, 9, 108, 125Charles II, King, 5, 9, 16, 20, 201nCharlotte, Queen, 79–80, 100Chartist movement, 131Cheddar Man, 265Cheltenham, 53, 79Chesapeake Bay, 74Cheshire, 125Chesterfield, Earl of, 40China, 145Chinery, Thomas, 160Christian, Fletcher, 84–7Christmas trees, 146, 210Church of England, 44–5, 170Churchill, Winston, 29, 60

and Boer War, 189election defeat, 260–1and General Strike, 226and Second World War, 243–4,

246–8, 250–2, 255, 258–60speeches, 258and welfare state, 259–60

cinematograph, 186

Civil List, 41Civil War, 5, 9Clarkson, Thomas, 76–8class system, 126–7Cleveland, Duke of, 121coal, 31, 68, 225Codrington, Captain Edward, 100coffee-houses, 36–7Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 78Collingwood, Admiral Cuthbert, 101Combination Acts (1799, 1800), 110n,

121, 130Communism, 11Compiègne, 249Compton, Sir Spencer, 41concentration camps, 192, 219Conroy, Sir John, 134–5Constantinople, 160Cook, Captain James, 67–70, 83–4Copenhagen, Battle of, 100Cornwall, 24, 197cotton, 20, 63–4Covent Garden, 143Cowper, William, 75Crean, Tom, 200Crick, Francis, 262–5cricket, 80, 231–5

‘Ashes’, 232, 235crime and punishment

criminal code, 184death penalty, 91, 109policing, 47transportation, 110, 127, 131–2

Crimean War, 153–8, 160–5, 195, 224nCrippen, Cora, 196–8Crippen, Dr Hawley Harvey, 196–9Cromford, Derbyshire, 65Crompton, Samuel, 65–6Cromwell, Oliver, 2, 5, 9, 15Crossness, 174Crystal Palace, 145–8, 175Culloden, Battle of, 53, 61Cumberland, Duke of, 52–3, 60Czechoslovakia, 241–3

great tales of english history

· 294 ·

Dangan, County Meath, 112d’Arblay, Alexandre, 104–5Darwin, Charles, 167–71, 175nDash (dog), 134, 136Davison, Emily, 206–9D-Day, 256Declaration of Rights, 5Declaratory Act (1720), 15Defoe, Daniel, 32, 48Degas, Edgar, 144democracy, 6–7, 11, 261

extension of suffrage, 126–8, 131patronage, 41rotten boroughs, 126–7secret ballot, 7, 126, 128, 131, 184women’s suffrage, 6, 170, 184, 206–9

Denmark, 53Derby, 52Derby, Lord, 226Derby, the, 178n, 205–9Derry, 15Devon, 117, 139dictionaries, 55–8dinosaurs, 118–19, 148, 168disease and illness

breast cancer, 104–6cholera, 163, 175dysentery, 192enteric fever, 193malaria, 168measles, 193phossy jaw, 179–80porphyria, 81–2scabies, 90scrofula, 56scurvy, 69smallpox, 56typhoid, 147, 175

Disraeli, Benjamin, 173Dissenters, 12divorce, 238–9DNA, 263–5Dorchester, 130–1Dorset, 117, 119, 130

Dover, 224Dowding, Air Marshal Sir Hugh, 251–3Downing Street, 242Drew, Inspector Walter, 197–8Dublin, 13–14, 57, 113Dubois, Antoine, 104Dunkirk evacuation, 245–8, 250Dunn, Captain J.C., 213Durban, 190Durham Pals, 222Dutch East Indies, 167

Eden, Anthony, 243Edinburgh, 31, 51education, 95, 184Edward III, King, 173Edward VII, King, 193–5, 205Edward VIII, King, 236–9Edwards, Ernest, 190–1Egypt, 99, 220Elba, 114Elizabeth I, Queen, 178Elizabeth II, Queen, 264–5English Channel, 92, 214, 224, 245, 247

bombing in, 250–1English language, 33, 35‘Enigma’ code, 254Enlightenment, 11Entente Cordiale, 195Epsom Downs, 205, 208Essex Gang, 47Eton College, 200Eugene, prince, 27Evans, Edgar, 202–3Examiner, 157Exclusion Bill (1681), 9

factories, 23, 65match, 179–81women working in, 208

Farington, Joseph, 65farming, see agricultureFiji, 86, 185film stars, 87

index

· 295 ·

Finchley, 52First World War (Great War), 151, 208,

210–26, 228, 236, 251alcohol during, 237–8Armistice, 224, 249–50casualties, 224–5Christmas truce, 210–13, 217conscription, 222Europe after, 241–2pals’ battalions, 219–22recruitment, 218–19

Flanders, 212, 223Fleet Street, 57, 180Flintoff, Andrew ‘Freddie’, 235food and drink

breadfruit, 83–5, 87coconuts, 85coffee, 20in hospital, 161packages, 212on polar expeditions, 201–2rum, 20, 75at sea, 69–70, 84–6sugar, 20, 75, 78tea, 71–2

food prices, 23food riots, 109football, 213

clubs, 148, 190–1Football Association, 148Frame-Breaking Bill (1812), 109France, 95, 114

and American War of Independence,74

English prisoners of war in, 103in First World War, 211–12, 214–15,

218, 220food prices, 23Jacobites and, 15, 34, 52relations with Britain, 193–5religious intolerance, 10and Second World War, 241–2,

245–6, 249, 252, 256at war with Britain, 27, 60

Franklin, Rosalind, 263, 265Franz Ferdinand, Archduke, 214Frederick, Prince of Wales, 80French, Sir John, 213French Academy, 55–6French Revolution, 88–93, 96, 104

Galapagos Islands, 168Gandhi, Mohandas (‘Mahatma’), 189–90Garrick, David, 57gaslight, 184General Strike, 226–7Geological Society, 119geology, 118George I, King, 33–5, 38, 40

mistresses, 33, 35, 37George II, King, 41, 51–2, 61, 72, 80George III, King, 53, 103, 133–4

and American colonies, 72–3, 81illness, 79–82and Nelson, 100and voyages of discovery, 68–9

George IV, King, 82George V, King, 205

and General Strike, 226–7reinvention of monarchy, 237–8

George VI, King, 242, 260George, Prince of Denmark, 30Germany, 80, 95, 195

and First World War, 218, 225and Second World War, 240–3, 254,

259–60unified, 151, 243n

Gestapo, 256, 260Gladstone, William Ewart, 183Glorious Revolution, 7, 16‘God Save the King/Queen’, see national

anthemGodkin, Edwin, 157Godwin, William, 96–7Goering, Hermann, 250Goldsmith, Oliver, 57Gooch, Daniel, 141Granier, Jeanne, 194

great tales of english history

· 296 ·

Gray, Thomas, 59–62Great Britain, 7, 32, 34, 54n, 128Great Depression, 228Great Exhibition, 145–7Great North Road, 49Great Seal of England, 5Great Western Railway, 138–9, 141–3Greenland, 38Greenwich, Painted Hall, 34Grey, Lord, 127‘Guinea’, 18

Hamilton, Lady Emma, 99–102Hamilton, Sir William, 99Hamilton-Dalrymple, Lady, 115Hampshire, 127Hampton Court, 30, 224Hanover, 33, 35Hardy, Captain Thomas, 101–2Hargreaves, James, 64, 66, 107Harley Street, 160Hawaii, 70, 83, 259Heidelberg, 27Henry III, King, 2Henry VIII, King, 173Herbert, Sidney, 160, 163Hewitt, Joe, 191highwaymen, 46–9Hitler, Adolf, 240–4, 246, 248–50, 252,

259–60Holland, see NetherlandsHoly Roman Empire, 243nHong Kong, 185Hood, Robin, 47, 110Hooker, Joseph, 169–70Howard, Henrietta, 41Huguenots, 10Hundred Years War, 195Hunt, Henry ‘Orator’, 124–8, 130–1Huskisson, William, 121–3Hyde Park, 145–7, 241

Imlah, Lance Corporal Alex, 212Imlay, Captain Gilbert, 96

Imperial College, 147Impressionism, 144Independent Labour Party, 206–7India, 60, 71, 113, 145, 162, 185

Home Rule campaign, 182independence movement, 189

Industrial Revolution, 7, 23, 65–6, 173industrialisation, 23–4, 63–6, 126

see also factories; Luddites; railwaysinvasion threats, 92, 101, 108, 250, 252Iraq, 244Ireland, 7, 13–16, 95, 139

anthem, 54nParliament, 15–16

Isle of Sheppey, 87Italy, 27, 55, 241

Jacobites, 14–15, 30, 40rebellions, 34, 51–3

Jamaica, 58James I, King, 31, 34, 178James II, King, 9, 26, 51

absolutism, 5, 40and Battle of the Boyne, 13–14deposition, 4–5descendants of, 27, 34, 51rule in Ireland, 15

Japan, 83, 225, 259Jardine, Douglas, 231–5Jefferson, Thomas, 10, 73–4Jennings, George, 147Jews, 7jingoism, 188n, 219Joan of Arc, 159, 193Johnson, Samuel, 55–8, 74, 103Jones, Herbert, 206, 208Josephine, Empress, 104

Kaffir Wars, 149Kay, John, 65–6Kendall, Captain Henry, 197–8Kensington Palace, 133–5Kent, 127Kent, Duchess of, 134–5

index

· 297 ·

Kent, Edward, Duke of, 134Kew Gardens, 86Khartoum, 219Kingston, Jamaica, 163–4Kipling, Rudyard, 151

‘Recessional’, 187–8Kitchener, Horatio Herbert, Lord, 192,

218–19, 221

Labour Party, 207, 260–1Ladysmith, 188Lancashire, 64, 108, 120

regiments, 188Larwood, Harold, 233–5le Neve, Ethel, 196–9Leeds, 126, 232Leeds Pals, 222Leicestershire, 107Leipzig, Battle of, 114Levellers, 89Levet, Robert, 58Lexington, 73Lichfield, 56Liechtenstein, 54Light Brigade, Charge of the, 153–7, 161Lightoller, C.H., 247Lille, 211Lincolnshire, 44, 181Lind, James, 69linen, 31Linnaean Society, 170Lisbon, 113Liverpool, 188, 197

Football Club, 190–1railway, 120–3and slave trade, 20, 76–8

Lloyd George, David, 193, 207, 225, 237,238n

Local Defence Volunteers, 248Locke, John, 8–12, 21, 73

An Essay on Human Understanding,9–10

A Letter concerning Toleration, 11Two Treatises on Civil Government, 11

LondonCecil Hotel, 212coffee-houses, 36–7demonstrations in, 34, 131diamond jubilee, 184–5Entente Cordiale signed, 195and Jacobite rebellion, 52poverty in, 45railway links, 138, 142and Second World War, 250, 252sewage disposal, 173–6stock exchange, 37Unknown soldier buried, 224see also Albert Hall; Apsley House;

Barking; Bethlehem hospital;Buckingham Palace; CoventGarden; Crossness; CrystalPalace; Downing Street;Finchley; Fleet Street;Greenwich, Painted Hall;Hampton Court; Harley Street;Hyde Park; Imperial College;Kensington Palace; LondonZoo; Lords cricket ground;Ludgate Hill; MadameTussaud’s; National Gallery;Natural History Museum;Putney; Richmond;Rotherhithe; Royal Academy; StMary-at-Lambeth churchyard;St Paul’s Cathedral; ScienceMuseum; Scotland Yard;Sydenham Hill; Tower ofLondon; Victoria and AlbertMuseum; Wapping;Westminster Abbey; Woolwich

London Zoo, 168Lonsdale, Earl of, 126Lords cricket ground, 232nLouis XIV, King of France, 10, 13, 27Louis XVI, King of France, 88, 91Loveless, George, 129, 131Lowther, Katherine, 61–2Lucan, Lord, 154–5

great tales of english history

· 298 ·

Lucas, Ensign, 152Lud, King, 109‘Ludd, General’, 107–11, 127Luddites, 107–11, 127Ludgate Hill, 109Luftwaffe, 247, 250Luther, Martin, 43, 45Luxembourg, 246Lyell, Charles, 169–70Lyme Regis, 117–18

Macaulay, Thomas, 138MacDonald, Flora, 53MacDonald, John, 161Madame Tussaud’s, 199Madras, 182Maidenhead railway bridge, 139, 144Malplaquet, Battle of, 28Manchester, 52, 108–9, 126

railway, 120, 122–3St Peter’s Fields, 124–5, 130

Mandela, Nelson, 149nMarconi, Guglielmo, 197, 251Marie-Antoinette, Queen, 88Marks, Leo, 254–7Marlborough, John Churchill, Duke of,

25–9, 194Marlborough, Sarah, Duchess of, 26, 28marriage, 94, 97

see also divorceMarx, Karl, 11Mary II, Queen, 4–6, 10–12, 26, 41Mary Queen of Scots, 81, 178Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), 232,

234match girls’ strike, 180–1Maxton, James, 242Mbeki, Thabo, 149nMeachin, Company Sergeant-Major

Frank, 215–16medicine

anaesthetics, 105, 184antiseptics, 184hospitals, 159–62

nursing, 159–62surgery, 105–6, 180see also disease and illness

Mediterranean Sea, 60, 155nMethodists, 44–5, 76Middle Passage, 19–20, 78mining, 24, 225minutemen, 73Monet, Claude, 144Monroe, James, 91–2Montagu, Edwin, 209Montcalm, Louis-Joseph, Marquis de, 60,

62Montreal, 198Mosel, River, 27Munich agreement, 242, 244mutinies

Bounty, 84–8mutiny on the Bounty films, 87Nore, 87

Nantes, Edict of, 10Naples, 99Napoleon Bonaparte, 99, 103–4, 108, 194

invasion plans, 92, 101and Waterloo, 113–15

Natal, 188, 190national anthem, 50–1, 53–4, 186National Gallery, 144native Americans, 72, 74Natural History Museum, 147natural selection, 167–71Nature, 264navigation, 67–9navy, see Royal NavyNelson, Admiral Horatio, 98–103, 163Nelson, Fanny, 99Nelson, Horatia, 100Netherlands (Holland), 8–9, 26–7, 114,

246New South Wales, 69, 87New York, 139New Zealand, 69–70Newcastle, Duke of, 61

index

· 299 ·

Newcomen, Thomas, 24, 66Newfoundland, 68newspapers and magazines

Boy’s Own Paper, 151British Gazette, 226Daily Express, 252Daily Mail, 212Daily News, 157Daily Telegraph, 92Leeds Mercury, 108The Link, 179–180Liverpool Post and Echo, 190London Gazette, 38Mechanics’ Magazine, 121Morning Post, 189New York Times, 248Punch, 165Reynolds News, 242Sporting Times, 232nThe Times, 138, 153, 155–7, 160–1,

165, 174–5, 206, 208Nightingale, Florence, 159–65, 216Nile, Battle of the, 99Nobel Prize, 265Nore mutiny, 87Norfolk, 89, 216Normans, 15North America, 19, 60, 71

see also Canada; United States ofAmerica

North, Frederick Lord, 73–4North Sea, 68Northern Ireland, 16Norway, 243Norwich, 34, 217Nottingham, 108, 233Nottinghamshire, 107

Oahu, 259Oates, Captain Lawrence, 200–4Old Sarum, Wiltshire, 126old-age pension, 225Oldfield, Bert, 234Olympic Games, 54n

O’Meara, Jane, 142–4Orange Order, 16Oswaldtwistle, 64Ottawa, 183Oudenarde, Battle of, 28Oxford, 10, 22, 44–5, 57, 228, 265

Pacific Ocean, 60, 68, 84, 85nPaine, Thomas, 89–92, 94, 96

The American Crisis, 90Common Sense, 89–90The Rights of Man, 90, 92–3

Pakenham, Kitty, 112–13Pakenham, Thomas, 189palaeontology, 118‘Palmer, John’, see Turpin, DickPanama, 163Pankhurst, Christabel, 206Pankhurst, Emmeline, 206, 208Pankhurst, Sylvia, 208Paris, 104, 114, 214

Edward VII visits, 193–5during French Revolution, 88, 91–2, 96in Second World War, 246

Parkinson, Sydney, 70Parliament

under George III, 80–1and Glorious Revolution, 5–7, 11and ‘Great Stink’, 173House of Lords reform, 170Irish, 15–16passes legislation, 34, 40, 78rewards Marlborough, 28rewards Mary Anning, 119and railways, 122and Restoration, 9Scottish, 31–2and union of kingdoms, 31–2

Paxton, Sir Joseph, 147Pearl Harbor, 259Peninsular War, 113, 115penny post, 184Perceval, Spencer, 109‘Peterloo’ Massacre, 124–5

great tales of english history

· 300 ·

Philadelphia, 89Phillips, Captain Thomas, 17–19Piddle, River, 130nPissarro, Camille, 144Pitcairn, 86Pitt, William (the elder), Lord Chatham,

72, 80plus-fours, 237nPoland, 243Ponsonby, Frederick, 194Popish Plot, 201nPortugal, 113Potsdam Conference, 260–1Presbyterian Church (Kirk), 32Preston, 34, 52, 65, 127prime ministers, official title of, 41Protestants, 7, 15, 30–1, 34Prussia, 53, 60public conveniences, 146–7Putney, 96

Quakers, 75, 89Quebec, 60, 62, 67–8

Raglan, Lord, 154railways, 120–3, 137–40, 184

Turner’s painting of, 143–4Ramillies, Battle of, 28Ramsay, Admiral Sir Bertram, 247Ramsgate, 135Ravensbrück labour camp, 256Reform Bill (1832), 127religious toleration, 7, 8, 10–12, 15Renoir, Auguste, 144Reynolds, Joshua, 57Rhineland, 241Richard II, King, 224nRichmond, 82Richmond, Charlotte, Duchess of, 115Riot Act (1715), 34Rockingham, Charles, Marquess of, 81Roman Catholics, 7, 13–17, 30–1, 34Rosebery, Archibald, Earl of, 177–8,

238n

Rotherhithe, 138rotten boroughs, 126–7Royal Academy, 143–4Royal Africa Company, 18–20Royal Air Force (RAF), 246, 250Royal Flying Corps, 251Royal Humane Society, 96royal jubilees, 82, 177, 183–6, 188Royal Navy, 24, 68, 70, 149, 241

and Dunkirk, 246, 248Royal Society, 11, 68Royal Society of Arts and Commerce,

84‘Rule Britannia’, 21–2Russell, Lord John, 131Russell, William Howard, 153–5, 157,

162Russia, 53, 60, 114, 195, 218, 225

Hitler attacks, 252, 259Soviet, 261, 263see also Crimean War

St Lawrence River, 60, 67–8St Mary-at-Lambeth churchyard, 87St Paul’s Cathedral, 28, 185St Pol, 223Salisbury Plain, 26, 220Salmond, Captain Robert, 150Sandringham, 205nsans-culottes, 88Sarajevo, 214Savery, Thomas, 24Science Museum, 147Scotland, 16, 20

anthem, 54ndiet, 57integrated into United Kingdom,

31–2Jacobite rebellions, 34, 51–3Parliament, 31–2subduing of Highlands, 61

Scotland Yard, 197–8Scott, Captain Robert, 200–4Scutari, Turkey, 160, 163

index

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Seacole, Edwin Horatio Hamilton, 163Seacole, Mary, 162–6Sebastopol, siege of, 164–5, 224nSecond Reform Act (1872), 131Second World War, 29, 240–57, 262–3

see also Battle of Britain; Dunkirkevacuation

Sellar, Walter, 228–30Serre, 220, 221nSeton, Colonel, Alexander, 150–2Seven Years War, 60, 73–4Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper,

Earl of, 9, 11Shakespeare, William, 240

Henry IV Part I, 241Sheffield, 126

Corn Exchange, 219, 222Sheffield Pals, 219–22Shelley, Mary, 97Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 97Sherwood Forest, 110ships

Beagle, 168Birkenhead, 149–52Bounty, 84–8Brookes, 77–8Bywell Castle, 174Endeavour, 68–9Great Britain, 139Great Eastern, 140Great Western, 139Laurentic, 197Montrose, 197–8Orion, 100Pandora, 86Princess Alice, 174–5Resolution, 83Terra Nova, 200Titanic, 151Victory, 100–1

Siberia, 201‘Silent Night’, 210Silvester, Lady Harriet, 118Simpson, Mrs Wallis Warfield, 238–9

Skye, 53slave trade, 4, 17–21, 37

abolition of, 75–8slavery, 58, 74–5, 183, 193Smiles, Samuel, 175socialism, 45, 170Somme, Battle of the, 220–1Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 31South Africa, 149, 192–3

apartheid, 193see also Boer War

South Pole, 201–2South Sandwich Islands, 70South Sea Bubble, 37–40Soyer, Alexis, 161Spain, 60, 113Special Operations Executive (SOE),

254–7spinning and weaving, 63–5Spion Kop, 188–91spiritualism, 170Spitzbergen, 98Stalin, Josef, 261steam power, 23, 65–6steamships, 139–40, 184Stephenson, George, 121Stephenson, Robert, 121Stewart, Colonel William, 100Stockton and Darlington railway, 121Stuart, Charles Edward, (Bonnie Prince

Charlie, the Young Pretender), 51–3Stuart, James Francis Edward (the Old

Pretender), 27, 34, 51Sudan, 219Sudetenland, 241–2Suez Canal, 220, 244suffragettes, 206–9suicides, 38Surrey, 104, 231Sussex, 127Swindon, 139‘Swing, Captain’, 127Switzerland, 53Sydenham Hill, 147–8

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Sydney, 69, 233Szabo, Violette, 256–7

Tahiti (Otaheite), 70, 85–7Targett, Adrian, 266tattooing, 70taxation, 11, 71–2Taylor, John, ‘the Water Poet’, 172telegraph, 183Tennyson, Alfred, 156–7Ternate, 167Thackeray, William Makepeace, 144Thames, River, 1–2, 4–5, 48, 87, 269

disasters, 174–5, 269embankments, 173Maidenhead bridge, 139, 144navigation rules, 175sewage and pollution, 172–6tunnel under, 138

theosophy, 182, 251Thorneycroft, Alec, 190Thurlow, Edward, Lord, 80Timor, 86tobacco, 20Tolpuddle Martyrs, 129–32Tories, 40, 127Toronto University, 62Tower of London, 40Toynbee, Arnold, 65trade, 108–9Trades Union Congress (TUC), 225–6trades unions, 110, 122, 181Trafalgar, Battle of, 101, 103, 108Transvaal, 188Truman, Harry, 261Tull, Jethro, 22–4Turkey, 155n, 160Turner, Joseph Mallord William,

143–4Turpin, Dick, 46–9Tyler, Wat, 89Tyneside, 68

Ulster, 15

unemployment, 228insurance, 225

Union Jack, 32, 164, 223United Kingdom, 32United States of America, 53, 91–2, 95,

145, 196Declaration of Independence, 10, 73economic power, 147, 225and First World War, 225Napoleon and, 108and Second World War, 248, 259War of Independence, 73–4, 81, 84,

89, 92see also Boston Tea Party

Unknown Soldier, 223–4USSR, see Russia

van Limborch, Philip, 8, 10–12Vaudreuil, Pierre, Marquis de, 67VE Day, 260Versailles, Treaty of, 241–2Victoria, Queen, 139, 145–7, 175, 224n

childhood and accession, 133–6death, 193visits Great Exhibition, 147jubilees, 177–8, 183–6marriage, 146

Victoria and Albert Museum, 147Victoria Cross, 224nVienna, Congress of, 114Vienna, siege of, 33Vimy Ridge, Battle of, 222Virginia, 38, 73Voce, Bill, 233Voltaire, 7

Wade’s Mill, Hertfordshire, 76, 78Wales, 32, 54n, 126Walkinton, Major Leslie, 211Wallace, Alfred Russel, 168–71Wallace, Edgar, 198Walpole, Horace, 95Walpole, Sir Robert, 39–42, 95Wapping, 138

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war correspondents, 157–8War of the Spanish Succession, 27Warner, Pelham (‘Plum’), 231, 233Warrington, 65Washington, George, 73–4, 89Waterloo, Battle of, 115–16, 125Watson, James D., 263–5Watt, James, 66Wedgwood, Josiah, 77welfare state, 225, 259–61Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of,

112–16, 122–3, 127Wesley, Charles, 44Wesley, John, 43–5, 76West, Benjamin, 62West Africa, 17–18West Indies, 58, 84, 86–7

see also Barbados; JamaicaWestern Isles, 53Westminster Abbey, 62, 217, 224wet-nursing, 94whale oil, 2, 140Whigs, 9, 40–1Whitby, 68white papers, 260nWhitehall, Banqueting Chamber, 5Wigan, 52Wilberforce, William, 77–8‘Wild Geese’, 15Wilhelm, Kaiser, 212, 217Wilkins, Maurice, 263, 265William I, Emperor, 151William III, King, 26, 41, 194

accession, 4–7death, 30in Ireland, 13–16

William IV, King, 135Williams, Anna, 58Willis, Bishop Richard, 34wireless, 197, 251Wolfe, General James, 59–62, 67Wollstonecraft, Edward, 94–5Wollstonecraft, Mary, 93–7

Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman, 96Thoughts on the Education of Daughters,

95A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,

94–5women, 93–6

executed, 217preaching, 58suffrage, 6, 170, 184, 206–9war work, 208wife-beating, 94–5see also birth control; marriage

Women’s Social and Political Union,206–7

Woodfull, W.M., 233Woodstock, 28Woolf, Virginia, 96Woolwich, 174, 191workhouses, 162Wrington, Somerset, 10

Xhosa people, 149

Yeatman, Robert, 228–30York, 46, 48York, Duke of, 80Yorkshire, 48, 67–8, 231

West Riding, 108Yorktown, 74, 81

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